Wasting in children — all countries

Wasting in children — Zimbabwe

Wasting in children in Zimbabwe in 2024 — 5.1%. Ranked 3 in the world out of 6. Since 1988, the indicator has risen by 3.4 pp.

2024 5.1% +2.2 pp vs 2019
World rank 3of 6
Period maximum 8.3%1999
Period minimum 1.7%1988

Trend over time

1988–2024 · % of children under 5

Wasting in children — Zimbabwe, 1988–202402.557.51019881992199620002004200820122016202020241988: 1.7%1994: 5.6%1999: 8.3%2005: 7.2%2009: 2.4%2010: 3.2%2012: 2.9%2014: 3.2%2015: 3.3%2019: 2.9%2024: 5.1%
Change over the period: +3.4 pp Annual average: 0.09 pp

Comparison, 2024

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

Zimbabwe 5.1%
World 6.6%
Wasting in children — Zimbabwe, by year Zimbabwe All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2024 5.1
2019 2.9
2015 3.3 +0.1 pp
2014 3.2
2012 2.9
2010 3.2 +0.8 pp
2009 2.4
2005 7.2
1999 8.3
1994 5.6
1988 1.7

Eastern Africa, 2024

The same indicator for neighboring countries — with links to their pages

ZW Zimbabwe 5.1 BI Burundi 7.8

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.