Chapter 2 Sustainable Development Target 2.2: Malnutrition

2.1 Stunting among children under 5 years of age

Stunting in the region was lower than the world average throughout the 2000–2022 period. In addition, the region has made significant improvements in reducing stunting in the last two decades. As a result, stunting has decreased from 28.0 percent in 2000 to 19.9 percent in 2022 (Figure 10, Table A-6).

FIGURE 10.

Prevalence of stunting among children under 5 years of age in the Arab States by country income group, conflict status and least developed country status

Notes: Definitions of country groupings are contained in Annex IV.
Source: Based on UNICEF, WHO & World Bank. 2023. Levels and trends in child malnutrition. UNICEF / WHO / World Bank Group Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates – Key findings of the 2023 edition. New York, USA, UNICEF; Geneva, Switzerland, WHO and Washington, DC, World Bank. https://data.unicef.org/resources/jme-report-2023
Download: https://doi.org/10.4060/cd3550en-fig10

Arab States LDCs have had a consistently high prevalence of stunting, although the prevalence decreased notably during 2000–2022, falling from 43.5 percent to 31.2 percent (12.3 percentage points) (Table A-6).

The country income group with the consistently lowest prevalence of stunting is high-income countries, with a prevalence of 10.8 percent in 2022.