Chapter 2 Sustainable Development Target 2.2: Malnutrition

2.4 Anaemia among women aged 15 to 49 years

FIGURE 13.

Prevalence of anaemia among women aged 15 to 49 years in the Arab States by country income group, conflict status and least developed country status

Note: The estimates refer to women aged 15 to 49 years, including pregnant, non-pregnant women and lactating women and were adjusted for altitude and smoking. WHO defines anaemia in pregnant women as a haemoglobin concentration <110 g/L at sea level, and anaemia in non-pregnant women and lactating women as a haemoglobin concentration <120 g/L. Definitions of country groupings are contained in Annex IV.
Source: Based on WHO. 2021. WHO global anaemia estimates, 2021 edition. In: WHO. [Cited 24 July 2024]. www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/topics/anaemia_in_women_and_children
Download: https://doi.org/10.4060/cd3550en-fig13

The prevalence of anaemia among women aged 15 to 49 years in 2019 was 33.2 percent in Arab States, which was higher than the global average (29.9 percent) (Figure 13, Table A-9). However, it is worth noting that, between 2000 and 2019, Arab States experienced a larger improvement in their anaemia prevalence estimates than the global average; Arab States fell by 4.9 percentage points from 38.1 percent to 33.2 percent, while the world fell by 1.3 percentage points from 38.1 to 33.2 percent.

The prevalence of anaemia among women aged 15 to 49 years in Arab States LDCs was 45.9 percent in 2019. Among the country income groups, high-income countries have consistently had the lowest prevalence (27.1 percent). Every subgroup has witnessed a decrease in their respective prevalence between 2000 and 2022; the subgroup that saw the largest improvement was the upper-middle-income countries group, which saw its prevalence fall from 38 percent to 29 percent. The subgroup that experienced the lowest level of improvement was the low-income countries group, which fell by 3.4 percentage points from 47.3 to 43.9 percent.