Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Peru
Peru: Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty was 2.7% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Peru, 1991–2023
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 Peru is 2.7%, measured in 2023.
The figure is up 12.5% on the previous year and down 25.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Peru peaked at 8.8% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 2.1%, in 2021.
That places Peru 80th out of 96 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Peru, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 8.8% | — |
| 1996 | 5.7% | -35.2% |
| 1997 | 7.6% | +33.3% |
| 1998 | 6.3% | -17.1% |
| 1999 | 7.8% | +23.8% |
| 2000 | 5.2% | -33.3% |
| 2001 | 6.0% | +15.4% |
| 2005 | 5.4% | -10.0% |
| 2007 | 4.3% | -20.4% |
| 2009 | 4.3% | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 4.3% | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 4.2% | -2.3% |
| 2012 | 3.4% | -19.0% |
| 2013 | 3.6% | +5.9% |
| 2014 | 3.2% | -11.1% |
| 2015 | 3.4% | +6.2% |
| 2016 | 3.2% | -5.9% |
| 2017 | 3.2% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 2.6% | -18.8% |
| 2019 | 3.3% | +26.9% |
| 2020 | 2.2% | -33.3% |
| 2021 | 2.1% | -4.5% |
| 2022 | 2.4% | +14.3% |
| 2023 | 2.7% | +12.5% |
Peru compared with similar countries
- Peru's 2.7% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 4.0%, 67% of the median. (26 countries reporting)
- Peru's 2.7% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 3.7%, 73% of the median. (17 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 7.2% | 5.7% | 8.8% | 5 |
| 2000s | 5.0% | 4.3% | 6.0% | 5 |
| 2010s | 3.4% | 2.6% | 4.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.4% | 2.1% | 2.7% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Peru
More poverty & inequality data for Peru
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 9 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 4,851 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 1.12 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 16.91 (2022)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 16.9% (2022)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Peru?
- Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Peru was 2.7% 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 Peru?
- The highest recorded value was 8.8% in 1991.
- What is the lowest share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty recorded in Peru?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.1% in 2021.
- How does Peru rank for share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty?
- Peru ranks 80th out of 96 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty rising or falling in Peru?
- Over the last ten years it is down 25.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Peru 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.