Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Kuwait
Kuwait: Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty was 2.8% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Kuwait, 1996–2023
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 Kuwait is 2.8%, measured in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.4% on the previous year and down 22.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Kuwait peaked at 3.6% in 2013 and was at its lowest, 1.5%, in 1996.
Kuwait ranks 79th of 96 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Kuwait, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 1.5% | — |
| 2001 | 2.2% | +46.7% |
| 2002 | 2.1% | -4.5% |
| 2003 | 2.3% | +9.5% |
| 2004 | 2.8% | +21.7% |
| 2005 | 2.6% | -7.1% |
| 2006 | 2.9% | +11.5% |
| 2007 | 2.9% | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 2.4% | -17.2% |
| 2009 | 1.7% | -29.2% |
| 2010 | 1.7% | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 2.1% | +23.5% |
| 2012 | 2.1% | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 3.6% | +71.4% |
| 2014 | 3.0% | -16.7% |
| 2015 | 3.2% | +6.7% |
| 2016 | 3.3% | +3.1% |
| 2017 | 3.6% | +9.1% |
| 2018 | 3.3% | -8.3% |
| 2019 | 2.0% | -39.4% |
| 2020 | 1.8% | -10.0% |
| 2021 | 2.4% | +33.3% |
| 2022 | 2.9% | +20.8% |
| 2023 | 2.8% | -3.4% |
Kuwait compared with similar countries
- Kuwait's 2.8% is above the median for high income countries, which is 2.8%, 1.0× the median. (11 countries reporting)
- Kuwait's 2.8% is below the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 3.8%, 74% of the median. (16 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1 |
| 2000s | 2.4% | 1.7% | 2.9% | 9 |
| 2010s | 2.8% | 1.7% | 3.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.5% | 1.8% | 2.9% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Kuwait
More poverty & inequality data for Kuwait
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.52 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 14,957 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 3.2 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 1.19 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 1.2% (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 34.42 % change on previous year (2023)
- Gender Inequality Index 0.188 (2023)
- Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty 15.9% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Kuwait?
- Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Kuwait was 2.8% in 2023, 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 Kuwait?
- The highest recorded value was 3.6% in 2013.
- What is the lowest share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty recorded in Kuwait?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.5% in 1996.
- How does Kuwait rank for share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty?
- Kuwait ranks 79th out of 96 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty rising or falling in Kuwait?
- Over the last ten years it is down 22.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Kuwait 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 — 24 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.