Severe wasting in children — all countries

Severe wasting in children — North Korea

Severe wasting in children in North Korea in 2017 — 0.5%. Ranked 7 in the world out of 29. Since 2002, the indicator has fallen by 3 pp.

2017 0.5% −0.1 pp vs 2012
World rank 7of 29
Period maximum 3.5%2002
Period minimum 0.5%2009

Trend over time

2002–2017 · % of children under 5

Severe wasting in children — North Korea, 2002–2017012342002200420062008201020122014201620172002: 3.5%2009: 0.5%2012: 0.6%2017: 0.5%
Change over the period: −3 pp Annual average: -0.2 pp

Comparison, 2017

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

North Korea 0.5%
World 2%
Severe wasting in children — North Korea, by year North Korea All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2017 0.5
2012 0.6
2009 0.5
2002 3.5

Eastern Asia, 2017

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

KR South Korea 0.1 KP North Korea 0.5

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.