Wasting in children — all countries

Wasting in children — Rwanda

Wasting in children in Rwanda in 2020 — 1.1%. Ranked 3 in the world out of 26. Since 1992, the indicator has fallen by 3.9 pp.

2020 1.1% −1 pp vs 2018
World rank 3of 26
Period maximum 11%1996
Period minimum 1.1%2020

Trend over time

1992–2020 · % of children under 5

Wasting in children — Rwanda, 1992–202005101519921995199820012004200720102013201620191992: 5%1996: 11%2000: 8.7%2005: 4.9%2009: 5.1%2010: 2.9%2012: 3.1%2015: 2.3%2018: 2.1%2020: 1.1%
Change over the period: −3.9 pp Annual average: -0.14 pp

Comparison, 2020

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

Rwanda 1.1%
World 6.7%
Wasting in children — Rwanda, by year Rwanda All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2020 1.1
2018 2.1
2015 2.3
2012 3.1
2010 2.9 −2.2 pp
2009 5.1
2005 4.9
2000 8.7
1996 11
1992 5

Eastern Africa, 2020

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.