Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Malaysia
Malaysia: Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty was 15.3% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Malaysia, 1990–2022
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 Malaysia stood at 15.3%.
That represents a change of up 3.4% on the previous year and up 22.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Malaysia peaked at 23.1% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 12.5%, in 2015.
Malaysia ranks 29th of 96 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
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 Malaysia, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 22.1% | — |
| 1991 | 23.1% | +4.5% |
| 1992 | 22.6% | -2.2% |
| 1993 | 20.5% | -9.3% |
| 1994 | 19.7% | -3.9% |
| 1995 | 17.7% | -10.2% |
| 1999 | 16.7% | -5.6% |
| 2006 | 12.7% | -24.0% |
| 2015 | 12.5% | -1.6% |
| 2016 | 13.7% | +9.6% |
| 2019 | 14.8% | +8.0% |
| 2022 | 15.3% | +3.4% |
Malaysia compared with similar countries
- Malaysia's 15.3% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 4.0%, 3.8× the median. (26 countries reporting)
- Malaysia's 15.3% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 15.3%, 1.0× the median. (13 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 20.3% | 16.7% | 23.1% | 7 |
| 2000s | 12.7% | 12.7% | 12.7% | 1 |
| 2010s | 13.7% | 12.5% | 14.8% | 3 |
| 2020s | 15.3% | 15.3% | 15.3% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
More poverty & inequality data for Malaysia
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 2 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 1.55 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 3,524 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 -1.48 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 12.57 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 12.6% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Malaysia?
- Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Malaysia was 15.3% 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 Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 23.1% in 1991.
- What is the lowest share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.5% in 2015.
- How does Malaysia rank for share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty?
- Malaysia ranks 29th out of 96 countries with data for 2022.
- Is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 22.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malaysia 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.