Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Colombia
Colombia: Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty was 3.7% in 2016. ▼ Falling
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Colombia, 1986–2016
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 Colombia is 3.7%, measured in 2016.
That represents a change of down 26.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Colombia peaked at 8.8% in 1988 and was at its lowest, 3.4%, in 2010.
Colombia ranks 68th of 96 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Colombia, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 8.6% | — |
| 1988 | 8.8% | +2.3% |
| 1995 | 6.3% | -28.4% |
| 2000 | 4.9% | -22.2% |
| 2005 | 5.0% | +2.0% |
| 2010 | 3.4% | -32.0% |
| 2016 | 3.7% | +8.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 8.7% | 8.6% | 8.8% | 2 |
| 1990s | 6.3% | 6.3% | 6.3% | 1 |
| 2000s | 5.0% | 4.9% | 5.0% | 2 |
| 2010s | 3.5% | 3.4% | 3.7% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Colombia
More poverty & inequality data for Colombia
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 9 surveys (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.65 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 4,422 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 2.81 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 25.22 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 25.2% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, annual growth rate 14.1 % change on previous year (2023)
- Gender Inequality Index 0.393 (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Colombia?
- Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Colombia was 3.7% in 2016, 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 Colombia?
- The highest recorded value was 8.8% in 1988.
- What is the lowest share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty recorded in Colombia?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.4% in 2010.
- How does Colombia rank for share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty?
- Colombia ranks 68th out of 96 countries with data for 2016.
- Is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty rising or falling in Colombia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 26.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Colombia 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.