Wasting in children — all countries

Wasting in children — Iraq

Wasting in children in Iraq in 2018 — 3%. Ranked 21 in the world out of 48. Since 1991, the indicator has fallen by 1.4 pp.

2018 3% −3.5 pp vs 2011
World rank 21of 48
Period maximum 6.9%2004
Period minimum 3%2018

Trend over time

1991–2018 · % of children under 5

Wasting in children — Iraq, 1991–20183456719911994199720002003200620092012201520181991: 4.4%2000: 6.6%2003: 5.6%2004: 6.9%2006: 5.8%2011: 6.5%2018: 3%
Change over the period: −1.4 pp Annual average: -0.05 pp

Comparison, 2018

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

Iraq 3%
World 6.8%
Wasting in children — Iraq, by year Iraq All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2018 3
2011 6.5
2006 5.8
2004 6.9 +1.3 pp
2003 5.6
2000 6.6
1991 4.4

Western Asia, 2018

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.