Stunting in children — all countries

Stunting in children — North Korea

Stunting in children in North Korea in 2017 — 19.1%. Ranked 17 in the world out of 30. Since 1998, the indicator has fallen by 44.8 pp.

2017 19.1% −8.8 pp vs 2012
World rank 17of 30
Period maximum 63.9%1998
Period minimum 19.1%2017

Trend over time

1998–2017 · % of children under 5

Stunting in children — North Korea, 1998–2017020406080199820002002200420062008201020122014201620171998: 63.9%2000: 51%2002: 44.7%2004: 43.1%2009: 32.4%2012: 27.9%2017: 19.1%
Change over the period: −44.8 pp Annual average: -2.36 pp
Stunting in children — North Korea, by year North Korea All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2017 19.1
2012 27.9
2009 32.4
2004 43.1
2002 44.7
2000 51
1998 63.9

Eastern Asia, 2017

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

About the indicator

The share of children under five whose height falls short of the WHO norm for their age by more than two standard deviations. Stunting is the trace of a prolonged shortage of nutrition in the first years of life, and it is irreversible: height cannot be made up later. That is why the indicator is considered the main measure of chronic undernutrition, unlike wasting, which speaks of an acute shortage of food right now.

Important: The data come from sample household surveys and are not annual: for the intervening years there are no values. The aggregate by country group is weighted by the number of children aged 0–14 — it cannot be weighted by population, the share of small children is too different.

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