Malawi vs Sierra Leone: Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty
Malawi
12.8%
in 2020
Sierra Leone
12.0%
in 2021
Malawi rank
36th
Sierra Leone rank
38th
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty over time
- Malawi
- Sierra Leone
How they compare
Malawi currently reports 12.8% against 12.0% in Sierra Leone, a difference of 0.8%.
That makes Malawi's figure about 1.1 times Sierra Leone's.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 5 shared years of data; in 2000 it was Sierra Leone ahead.
Malawi ranks 36th and Sierra Leone ranks 38th of 96 countries.
Sierra Leone has averaged higher in every one of the 2 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Malawi | Sierra Leone | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 21.5% | 23.4% | 1.9% | Sierra Leone |
| 2010s | 13.4% | 15.2% | 1.7% | Sierra Leone |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty, Malawi or Sierra Leone?
- Malawi, at 12.8% against 12.0% in Sierra Leone as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty between Malawi and Sierra Leone?
- 0.8%, with Malawi ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Malawi and Sierra Leone?
- 5 years are reported by both, from 2000 to 2019.
- How do Malawi and Sierra Leone rank globally for share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty?
- Malawi ranks 36th and Sierra Leone ranks 38th of 96 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - UNICEF, WHO, and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Underweight children are those less than 5 years old, whose weight for age is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population. Extreme poverty is defined as living below the International Poverty Line of $3 per day.