Wasting in children — all countries

Wasting in children — Mozambique

Wasting in children in Mozambique in 2022 — 3.8%. Ranked 13 in the world out of 31. Since 1995, the indicator has fallen by 5.8 pp.

2022 3.8% −0.1 pp vs 2020
World rank 13of 31
Period maximum 9.6%1995
Period minimum 3.8%2022

Trend over time

1995–2022 · % of children under 5

Wasting in children — Mozambique, 1995–202224681019951998200120042007201020132016201920221995: 9.6%1997: 9.5%2001: 8.1%2003: 5.4%2008: 4.2%2011: 6.1%2015: 4.4%2020: 3.9%2022: 3.8%
Change over the period: −5.8 pp Annual average: -0.21 pp

Comparison, 2022

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

Mozambique 3.8%
World 6.7%
Wasting in children — Mozambique, by year Mozambique All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2022 3.8
2020 3.9
2015 4.4
2011 6.1
2008 4.2
2003 5.4
2001 8.1
1997 9.5
1995 9.6

Eastern Africa, 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.