Wasting in children — all countries

Wasting in children — Malaysia

Wasting in children in Malaysia in 2022 — 11%. Ranked 29 in the world out of 31. Since 1999, the indicator has fallen by 4.3 pp.

2022 11% +1.3 pp vs 2019
World rank 29of 31
Period maximum 15.3%1999
Period minimum 8.1%2015

Trend over time

1999–2022 · % of children under 5

Wasting in children — Malaysia, 1999–20228101214161999200220052008201120142017202020221999: 15.3%2006: 13.2%2015: 8.1%2016: 11.6%2019: 9.7%2022: 11%
Change over the period: −4.3 pp Annual average: -0.19 pp

Comparison, 2022

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

Malaysia 11%
World 6.7%
Wasting in children — Malaysia, by year Malaysia All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2022 11
2019 9.7
2016 11.6 +3.5 pp
2015 8.1
2006 13.2
1999 15.3

South-Eastern Asia, 2022

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.