Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Ghana
Ghana: Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty was 12.0% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Ghana, 1988–2022
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
In 2022, share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Ghana stood at 12.0%.
The figure is down 10.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Ghana peaked at 25.1% in 1993 and was at its lowest, 11.2%, in 2014.
That places Ghana 38th out of 96 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Ghana, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 22.9% | — |
| 1993 | 25.1% | +9.6% |
| 1997 | 22.2% | -11.6% |
| 1998 | 20.1% | -9.5% |
| 2003 | 19.0% | -5.5% |
| 2006 | 13.9% | -26.8% |
| 2008 | 14.4% | +3.6% |
| 2011 | 13.4% | -6.9% |
| 2014 | 11.2% | -16.4% |
| 2017 | 12.6% | +12.5% |
| 2022 | 12.0% | -4.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 22.9% | 22.9% | 22.9% | 1 |
| 1990s | 22.5% | 20.1% | 25.1% | 3 |
| 2000s | 15.8% | 13.9% | 19.0% | 3 |
| 2010s | 12.4% | 11.2% | 13.4% | 3 |
| 2020s | 12.0% | 12.0% | 12.0% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Ghana
More poverty & inequality data for Ghana
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 1 surveys (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 3.4 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 2,688 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate 10.43 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 13.54 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 13.5% (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 3.36 % change on previous year (2023)
- Gender Inequality Index 0.514 (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Ghana?
- Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Ghana was 12.0% in 2022, 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 Ghana?
- The highest recorded value was 25.1% in 1993.
- What is the lowest share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty recorded in Ghana?
- The lowest recorded value was 11.2% in 2014.
- How does Ghana rank for share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty?
- Ghana ranks 38th out of 96 countries with data for 2022.
- Is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty rising or falling in Ghana?
- Over the last ten years it is down 10.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ghana 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.
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CSV · JSON — 11 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.