Malnutrition: Number of children who are wasted in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Malnutrition: Number of children who are wasted was 150,800 in 2024. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Number of children who are wasted in Sri Lanka, 1987–2024
Source: World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for malnutrition: number of children who are wasted in Sri Lanka is 150,800, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of down 7.8% on the previous year and down 60.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: number of children who are wasted in Sri Lanka peaked at 385,980 in 2012 and was at its lowest, 136,220, in 2021.
Sri Lanka ranks 39th of 99 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 228,280 | 228,280 | 228,280 | 1 |
| 1990s | 251,885 | 248,590 | 255,180 | 2 |
| 2000s | 255,347 | 215,740 | 276,280 | 3 |
| 2010s | 273,280 | 167,830 | 385,980 | 3 |
| 2020s | 152,226 | 136,220 | 166,420 | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More environment data for Sri Lanka
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 37.17 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.7 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 5.57 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.6851 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 0.0046 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0737 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 11.12 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0059 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0632 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 4.72 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: number of children who are wasted in Sri Lanka?
- Malnutrition: number of children who are wasted in Sri Lanka was 150,800 in 2024, according to World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest malnutrition: number of children who are wasted recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 385,980 in 2012.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: number of children who are wasted recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 136,220 in 2021.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for malnutrition: number of children who are wasted?
- Sri Lanka ranks 39th out of 99 countries with data for 2024.
- Is malnutrition: number of children who are wasted rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 60.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Malnutrition: Number of children who are wasted. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Estimated number of children younger than five who are 'wasted'. Wasting is when a child’s weight is significantly lower than the average for their height, for example because of acute food shortage or disease.