Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Nepal
Nepal: Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty was 18.3% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Nepal, 1995–2022
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
The most recent figure for share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Nepal is 18.3%, measured in 2022. That is the lowest value across all 11 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 25.0% on the previous year and down 36.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Nepal peaked at 42.8% in 1996 and was at its lowest, 18.3%, in 2022.
Nepal ranks 19th of 96 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
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 Nepal, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 42.6% | — |
| 1996 | 42.8% | +0.5% |
| 1998 | 36.5% | -14.7% |
| 2001 | 42.8% | +17.3% |
| 2006 | 38.6% | -9.8% |
| 2010 | 31.1% | -19.4% |
| 2011 | 28.9% | -7.1% |
| 2014 | 29.7% | +2.8% |
| 2016 | 27.0% | -9.1% |
| 2019 | 24.4% | -9.6% |
| 2022 | 18.3% | -25.0% |
Nepal compared with similar countries
- Nepal's 18.3% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 11.6%, 1.6× the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Nepal's 18.3% is above the median for South Asia, which is 17.7%, 1.0× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 40.6% | 36.5% | 42.8% | 3 |
| 2000s | 40.7% | 38.6% | 42.8% | 2 |
| 2010s | 28.2% | 24.4% | 31.1% | 5 |
| 2020s | 18.3% | 18.3% | 18.3% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Nepal
- 16 Guinea-Bissau 18.8% compare
- 17 Afghanistan 18.4% compare
- 17 Central African Republic 18.4% compare
- 20 Chad 18.2% compare
- 21 Djibouti 17.7% compare
- 22 Sri Lanka 17.1% compare
More poverty & inequality data for Nepal
- 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 1.98 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 3,344 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 3.91 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 17.67 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 17.7% (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 Nepal?
- Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Nepal was 18.3% 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 Nepal?
- The highest recorded value was 42.8% in 1996.
- What is the lowest share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty recorded in Nepal?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.3% in 2022.
- How does Nepal rank for share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty?
- Nepal ranks 19th out of 96 countries with data for 2022.
- Is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty rising or falling in Nepal?
- Over the last ten years it is down 36.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Nepal 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 — 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.