Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Rwanda
Rwanda: Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty was 7.7% in 2020. ▼ Falling
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Rwanda, 1992–2020
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
Rwanda recorded 7.7% for share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 10 years on record.
That represents a change of down 37.4% on the previous year and down 34.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Rwanda peaked at 24.2% in 1992 and was at its lowest, 7.7%, in 2020.
That places Rwanda 56th out of 96 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 10 years of available data.
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Rwanda, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 24.2% | — |
| 1996 | 22.6% | -6.6% |
| 2000 | 20.3% | -10.2% |
| 2005 | 17.9% | -11.8% |
| 2009 | 14.3% | -20.1% |
| 2010 | 11.7% | -18.2% |
| 2012 | 10.9% | -6.8% |
| 2015 | 9.6% | -11.9% |
| 2018 | 12.3% | +28.1% |
| 2020 | 7.7% | -37.4% |
Rwanda compared with similar countries
- Rwanda's 7.7% is below the median for low income countries, which is 16.9%, 46% of the median. (21 countries reporting)
- Rwanda's 7.7% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 14.3%, 54% of the median. (34 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 23.4% | 22.6% | 24.2% | 2 |
| 2000s | 17.5% | 14.3% | 20.3% | 3 |
| 2010s | 11.1% | 9.6% | 12.3% | 4 |
| 2020s | 7.7% | 7.7% | 7.7% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Rwanda
More poverty & inequality data for Rwanda
- 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 3.7 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 1,784 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 11.15 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 13.98 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 14.0% (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 Rwanda?
- Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in Rwanda was 7.7% in 2020, 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 Rwanda?
- The highest recorded value was 24.2% in 1992.
- What is the lowest share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty recorded in Rwanda?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.7% in 2020.
- How does Rwanda rank for share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty?
- Rwanda ranks 56th out of 96 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty rising or falling in Rwanda?
- Over the last ten years it is down 34.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Rwanda 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 — 10 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.