Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Cameroon
Cameroon: Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty was 11.0% in 2018. ▼ Falling
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Cameroon, 1991–2018
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
Cameroon recorded 11.0% for share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in 2018. That is the lowest value across all 7 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 33.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Cameroon peaked at 18.1% in 1998 and was at its lowest, 11.0%, in 2018.
Cameroon ranks 44th of 96 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Cameroon, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 12.9% | — |
| 1998 | 18.1% | +40.3% |
| 2004 | 15.1% | -16.6% |
| 2006 | 16.5% | +9.3% |
| 2011 | 15.2% | -7.9% |
| 2014 | 14.8% | -2.6% |
| 2018 | 11.0% | -25.7% |
Cameroon compared with similar countries
- Cameroon's 11.0% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 11.6%, 95% of the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Cameroon's 11.0% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 14.3%, 77% of the median. (34 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 15.5% | 12.9% | 18.1% | 2 |
| 2000s | 15.8% | 15.1% | 16.5% | 2 |
| 2010s | 13.7% | 11.0% | 15.2% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Cameroon
More poverty & inequality data for Cameroon
- 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 4.32 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 1,770 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 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 13.04 (2019)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 13.0% (2019)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2019)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Cameroon?
- Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Cameroon was 11.0% in 2018, 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 Cameroon?
- The highest recorded value was 18.1% in 1998.
- What is the lowest share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty recorded in Cameroon?
- The lowest recorded value was 11.0% in 2018.
- How does Cameroon rank for share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty?
- Cameroon ranks 44th out of 96 countries with data for 2018.
- Is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty rising or falling in Cameroon?
- Over the last ten years it is down 33.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Cameroon 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 — 7 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.