Wasting in children — all countries

Wasting in children — Cambodia

Wasting in children in Cambodia in 2021 — 9.6%. Ranked 27 in the world out of 32. Since 1996, the indicator has fallen by 3.8 pp.

2021 9.6% −0.1 pp vs 2014
World rank 27of 32
Period maximum 17.1%2000
Period minimum 8.5%2005

Trend over time

1996–2021 · % of children under 5

Wasting in children — Cambodia, 1996–20217.51012.51517.51996199920022005200820112014201720201996: 13.4%2000: 17.1%2005: 8.5%2008: 9.1%2010: 11%2014: 9.7%2021: 9.6%
Change over the period: −3.8 pp Annual average: -0.15 pp

Comparison, 2021

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

Cambodia 9.6%
World 6.7%
Wasting in children — Cambodia, by year Cambodia All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2021 9.6
2014 9.7
2010 11
2008 9.1
2005 8.5
2000 17.1
1996 13.4

South-Eastern Asia, 2021

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.