Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Burundi
Burundi: Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty was 28.3% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Burundi, 1987–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - UNICEF, WHO, and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of children under 5.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Burundi is 28.3%, measured in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.1% on the previous year and up 1.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Burundi peaked at 39.1% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 27.0%, in 2019.
Burundi ranks 5th of 96 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Burundi, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 30.4% | — |
| 2000 | 39.1% | +28.6% |
| 2005 | 35.2% | -10.0% |
| 2010 | 29.1% | -17.3% |
| 2012 | 27.9% | -4.1% |
| 2016 | 29.3% | +5.0% |
| 2018 | 29.6% | +1.0% |
| 2019 | 27.0% | -8.8% |
| 2020 | 27.7% | +2.6% |
| 2022 | 27.6% | -0.4% |
| 2023 | 28.0% | +1.4% |
| 2024 | 28.3% | +1.1% |
Burundi compared with similar countries
- Burundi's 28.3% is above the median for low income countries, which is 16.9%, 1.7× the median. (21 countries reporting)
- Burundi's 28.3% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 14.3%, 2.0× the median. (34 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 30.4% | 30.4% | 30.4% | 1 |
| 2000s | 37.2% | 35.2% | 39.1% | 2 |
| 2010s | 28.6% | 27.0% | 29.6% | 5 |
| 2020s | 27.9% | 27.6% | 28.3% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Burundi
More poverty & inequality data for Burundi
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 1 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 4.88 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 1,163 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -0.3512 % change on previous year (2024)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gender Inequality Index 0.501 (2023)
- Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty 27.9% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Burundi?
- Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Burundi was 28.3% in 2024, according to Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - UNICEF, WHO, and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty recorded in Burundi?
- The highest recorded value was 39.1% in 2000.
- What is the lowest share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty recorded in Burundi?
- The lowest recorded value was 27.0% in 2019.
- How does Burundi rank for share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty?
- Burundi ranks 5th out of 96 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty rising or falling in Burundi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Burundi data come from?
- The figures come from Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - UNICEF, WHO, and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
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.