Wasting in children — all countries

Wasting in children — Bolivia

Wasting in children in Bolivia in 2016 — 2%. Ranked 11 in the world out of 36. Since 1989, the indicator has fallen by 0.2 pp.

2016 2% +0.5 pp vs 2012
World rank 11of 36
Period maximum 4.8%1994
Period minimum 1.4%2008

Trend over time

1989–2016 · % of children under 5

Wasting in children — Bolivia, 1989–2016024619891992199519982001200420072010201320161989: 2.2%1994: 4.8%1998: 1.6%2003: 1.7%2008: 1.4%2012: 1.5%2016: 2%
Change over the period: −0.2 pp Annual average: -0.01 pp

Comparison, 2016

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

Bolivia 2%
World 7%
Wasting in children — Bolivia, by year Bolivia All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2016 2
2012 1.5
2008 1.4
2003 1.7
1998 1.6
1994 4.8
1989 2.2

South America, 2016

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

About the indicator

The share of children under five whose weight falls short of the WHO norm for their height by more than two standard deviations. Unlike stunting, wasting speaks of an acute shortage of nutrition or of a recent illness, and it is reversible: with normal feeding a child regains the weight. That is exactly why wasting serves as an indicator of a current crisis — drought, war, breaks in supply — and not of long-standing poverty.

Important: The data come from sample surveys, so the years are intermittent. 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.