Severe wasting in children — all countries

Severe wasting in children — India

Severe wasting in children in India in 2020 — 7.5%. Ranked 25 in the world out of 25. Since 1992, the indicator has risen by 0.6 pp.

2020 7.5% +2.7 pp vs 2017
World rank 25of 25
Period maximum 7.7%2015
Period minimum 4.6%2014

Trend over time

1992–2020 · % of children under 5

Severe wasting in children — India, 1992–20204567819921995199820012004200720102013201620191992: 6.9%1999: 6%2006: 6.8%2014: 4.6%2015: 7.7%2017: 4.8%2020: 7.5%
Change over the period: +0.6 pp Annual average: 0.02 pp

Comparison, 2020

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: India

India 7.5%
World 1.93%
South Asia 5.04%
Severe wasting in children — India, by year India All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2020 7.5
2017 4.8
2015 7.7 +3.1 pp
2014 4.6
2006 6.8
1999 6
1992 6.9

Southern Asia, 2020

The same indicator for neighboring countries — with links to their pages

LK Sri Lanka 1.2 IN India 7.5

About the indicator

The share of children under five whose weight falls short of the WHO norm for their height by more than three standard deviations. This is a subset of wasting, its extreme degree: without treatment mortality in this group runs into the tens of percent, which is why such cases are counted as a medical emergency and are treated with special therapeutic food. The indicator is the most sensitive of the child ones: it responds to a crisis earlier than the rest.

Important: Part of the wasting indicator rather than an addition to it: the two series cannot be added. The aggregate by group is weighted by the number of children aged 0–14.

Source: Global Health Observatory (WHO), license CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.