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Table 2 Distribution of stunting among under 5 children in African countries; using DHS 2002–2020

From: Inequalities in the prevalence of stunting, anemia and exclusive breastfeeding among African children

Country

Sex (%)

Residence (%)

Mother’s education (%)

Wealth quintile (%)

Birth interval (%)

Male

Female

Urban

Rural

No education or primary

Secondary or higher

Lowest

Second

Middle

Fourth

Highest

First birth

Less than 24 months

24–47 months

48 + months

Angola

41.0

34.1

31.8

45.7

42.8

24.5

47.3

45.1

38.8

26.6

20.4

35.0

46.4

37.8

27.5

Benin

35.1

29.1

27.5

35.2

33.4

22.3

41.2

38.2

32.9

28.5

18.6

31.8

35.6

32.9

24.3

Burkina Faso

36.8

32.3

21.3

37.3

35.7

10.8

41.9

37.0

37.6

33.2

18.6

35.3

40.2

35.8

27.1

Burundi

59.4

52.4

27.8

58.8

58.8

31.3

69.1

63.7

60.2

49.7

31.2

55.0

55.9

58.1

49.3

Cameroon

31.2

26.6

19.8

36.2

35.4

20.0

40.4

38.7

27.8

20.2

9.1

25.6

38.9

29.5

22.1

Chad

41.0

38.8

32.4

41.6

41.2

25.6

41.2

39.8

40.4

44.7

31.5

36.2

47.7

38.2

34.3

Comoros

32.0

28.3

24.9

32.1

33.1

21.6

38.2

32.5

25.9

27.0

21.9

29.7

38.0

27.8

23.0

Congo

25.1

23.7

20.3

30.4

28.8

19.6

34.5

27.6

26.9

17.0

9.3

22.5

32.9

25.6

16.3

Congo Democratic Republic

45.2

40.2

32.5

47.1

48.3

32.5

49.7

48.3

45.8

41.4

22.9

41.2

48.4

42.4

34.7

Cote d’Ivoire

32.7

26.9

20.5

34.9

31.2

16.9

38.1

36.1

26.3

23.8

15.6

32.6

32.1

30.6

25.0

Egypt

22.8

19.9

23.0

20.7

25.3

20.1

24.1

23.1

18.1

20.0

23.4

21.2

23.1

21.6

20.7

Eritrea

44.4

41.4

31.7

48.6

46.1

18.9

50.1

50.3

48.5

39.2

21.0

34.7

47.3

46.0

38.4

Eswatini

32.2

25.6

23.1

30.0

34.5

21.7

38.3

32.3

26.5

25.3

16.6

27.4

34.2

29.4

22.0

Ethiopia

39.8

33.6

26.2

40.4

39.2

19.5

43.3

38.6

42.2

35.2

22.6

35.5

42.7

39.7

29.6

Gabon

19.0

13.9

14.1

28.5

21.6

13.1

29.9

18.8

12.3

11.9

5.8

14.8

18.0

20.0

11.3

Gambia

18.5

16.4

16.3

19.7

17.6

16.1

22.5

19.5

15.7

13.4

15.3

14.5

19.1

18.3

15.2

Ghana

20.4

17.0

14.8

22.1

23.5

12.8

24.8

25.5

17.9

14.4

8.5

16.9

28.7

18.9

14.3

Guinea

33.8

26.8

21.7

33.8

32.5

20.9

38.0

32.8

31.4

25.3

19.3

28.7

39.9

32.4

24.7

Kenya

29.7

22.3

19.8

29.1

29.9

17.3

35.9

30.2

25.4

20.7

13.8

21.8

32.6

29.6

21.0

Lesotho

38.8

28.1

27.3

35.1

38.5

27.2

45.6

38.1

34.8

28.2

13.4

30.9

46.9

39.0

25.4

Liberia

31.8

27.9

25.0

35.1

31.7

17.0

37.9

34.7

31.3

24.3

13.6

30.6

40.8

30.9

21.7

Madagascar

52.9

47.3

43.4

50.9

51.3

46.3

47.6

54.0

52.5

51.0

43.6

47.6

59.7

50.4

44.7

Malawi

39.0

35.4

25.0

38.9

38.7

28.1

45.7

40.4

36.8

33.1

24.3

36.5

44.4

36.8

34.1

Mali

28.0

25.7

16.9

29.4

29.1

13.1

33.4

32.4

29.3

23.2

12.8

26.4

30.0

27.2

22.3

Morocco

23.9

21.0

16.2

28.8

24.9

13.5

35.0

24.8

19.7

14.7

12.5

19.3

29.3

25.7

19.6

Mozambique

44.7

40.5

35.0

45.5

44.9

27.0

51.1

48.0

46.4

37.4

24.1

46.3

45.5

43.6

36.0

Namibia

26.5

20.9

16.7

27.8

30.4

18.3

31.3

28.7

24.1

16.7

8.7

21.7

22.8

25.9

19.0

Niger

45.8

41.9

29.6

45.9

44.1

22.7

46.9

48.0

41.8

46.7

34.5

44.6

51.1

41.7

35.6

Nigeria

39.4

34.2

26.8

44.8

49.2

21.2

55.4

49.4

37.8

26.9

16.8

30.1

42.6

38.6

30.9

Rwanda

37.0

29.2

19.8

35.8

37.0

20.5

48.5

40.5

32.8

28.6

10.7

30.5

36.9

35.1

31.2

Sao Tome and Principe

29.1

29.5

29.3

29.3

31.0

24.6

38.2

34.9

32.2

20.5

17.6

27.5

38.0

32.0

25.7

Senegal

18.9

16.8

11.5

21.4

18.6

13.3

27.1

20.7

13.2

14.0

9.3

18.3

19.6

18.0

15.6

Sierra Leone

32.1

26.8

24.5

31.9

31.2

24.3

32.7

32.3

31.2

23.4

24.1

28.5

34.4

30.7

25.3

South Africa

29.8

25.0

25.7

29.2

40.4

24.8

36.3

29.4

23.9

24.5

12.5

24.0

27.1

31.0

26.6

Tanzania

36.7

32.2

24.7

37.8

35.9

23.3

39.9

39.4

38.7

29.7

19.2

33.7

35.5

36.8

28.9

Togo

28.1

26.9

16.0

33.3

29.1

17.9

33.4

37.5

32.5

19.4

10.6

24.8

35.6

28.4

21.5

Uganda

30.9

26.9

23.5

30.2

31.2

19.9

32.3

33.2

33.0

27.2

16.7

28.0

32.5

28.8

21.5

Zambia

38.3

31.0

32.1

35.9

37.6

29.9

40.1

36.6

32.9

35.3

23.9

35.0

42.1

35.1

30.5

Zimbabwe

29.6

24.0

22.1

28.5

31.8

23.4

33.0

28.8

25.4

26.3

16.6

24.3

27.3

31.9

21.3