Timor-Leste · Child Nutrition Brief

Childhood stunting in Timor-Leste

Nearly half of under-fives are stunted. Nine years of national effort brought a drop of 0.7 points.

TLDHS 2025-26, TL-FNS 2020, JME 2025, World Bank costing 2024. Compiled October 2026.

44.9%

of children under five are stunted

About 70,000 children; 16.5% of them severely. The rate is the second highest in Southeast Asia.

TLDHS 2025-26 Key Indicators Report; JME 2024

The crisis at a glance

Every figure carries its survey year. Highlighted tiles are moving the wrong way.

Severe stunting

16.5%

of all under-fives; stunting overall is 44.9%

TLDHS 2025-26

Children affected

≈70,000

of roughly 157,000 under-fives nationwide

JME 2024; UNICEF

Wasting (acute)

18.5%

up from 8.6% in 2020, an emergency signal

TLDHS 2025-26

Underweight

41.4%

now the most prevalent form of malnutrition

TLDHS 2025-26

Dietary diversity

19.1%

of children 6-23m, down from 35.3% in 2020

TLDHS 2025-26

Maternal anaemia

30.0%

of women 15-49; 41.7% during pregnancy

TLDHS 2025-26

Progress has stalled

Two decades of surveys show a plateau since 2016, while the national target sits far below the current path.

60 50 40 30 20 2002 2010 2016 2020 2026 2030 MICS 2002: 55.7% TL-DHS 2003: 54.8% National survey 2007: 57.2% TL-DHS 2009-10: 58.1%, highest recorded TL-FNS 2013: 50.2% TL-DHS 2016: 45.6% TL-FNS 2020: 47.1% JME 2025, modelled 2024: 45.4% TLDHS 2025-26: 44.9% PANKOS target: below 25% by 2030 58.1% 50.2% 45.6% 47.1% 44.9% below 25% by 2030 at recent pace
Stunting prevalence, children under five (%), height-for-age below -2 SD of the WHO median; axis truncated at 20%. Dotted grey: continuing at the 2016-2025 pace of about 0.1 points a year. Dashed rust: path to the PANKOS target, which the World Bank estimates needs 2-3 points a year.

The burden is concentrated

Second highest in Southeast Asia, and inside the country a child's risk depends heavily on where they are born.

Papua New Guinea: 47.6% Timor-Leste: 45.4% (JME 2024, modelled) Laos: 29.9% Philippines: 27.7% Myanmar: 24.5% Indonesia: 22.6% Cambodia: 22.0% Vietnam: 19.2% PNG Timor-Leste Laos Philippines Myanmar Indonesia Cambodia Vietnam 47.6 45.4 29.9 27.7 24.5 22.6 22.0 19.2 SE Asia average 22.7
Stunting prevalence under five (%), JME 2025 edition, modelled 2024. Timor-Leste in rust; roughly twice the regional average.
Ermera: 57.4% (severe 30.2%) Oecusse (RAEOA): 56.9% Viqueque: 54.7% Ainaro: 52.3% Bobonaro: 49.5% Liquiça: 46.6% Aileu: 46.1% Baucau: 42.8% Covalima: 39.4% Manufahi: 37.1% Lautém: 36.9% Dili: 34.9% Manatuto: 34.9% Ermera Oecusse Viqueque Ainaro Bobonaro Liquiça Aileu Baucau Covalima Manufahi Lautém Dili Manatuto 57.4 56.9 54.7 52.3 49.5 46.6 46.1 42.8 39.4 37.1 36.9 34.9 34.9
By municipality, TLDHS 2025-26 (%). Rust bars sit above the national average of 44.9% (dashed line). Atauro (52.2%) omitted, sample of 21.

Gradients run the same way everywhere: rural 47.6% vs urban 36.7%; poorest wealth quintile 56.5% vs richest 32.3%, a gap that has doubled since 2016. A 22.5-point spread separates Ermera from Dili.

Why it persists

A chain of deprivation runs from the mother's plate to the national purse. Three tiers, UNICEF framework.

Immediate

  • Diet. 96.9% of toddlers ate starchy staples in the prior day; only 36.6% ate flesh foods and 3.1% dairy (2020).
  • Illness. Diarrhoea 14% and fever 22% in two weeks; sick children are often fed less, not more.
  • Timing. Stunting peaks at 55.5% at ages 24-35m, the tail of the first 1,000 days.

Underlying

  • Households. 50.4% moderately or severely food insecure (2020); the lean season runs November to March.
  • Hygiene. 28.4% basic handwashing facility; 6.2% of caregivers wash hands before feeding a child.
  • Care. 21.7% of women never attended school; 57.8% of births come within 36 months of the last.

Structural

  • Poverty. 41.8% by the national line (2014); 48.3% multidimensionally poor.
  • Food system. Rain-fed farming, about 60% of cereals imported, El Niño drought in 2023-24.
  • Fiscal cliff. The Petroleum Fund is projected to deplete around 2034; nutrition gets about 2% of the budget.

What works, and what it costs

The evidence base is strong, the national plan exists, and the financing gap is small by budget standards.

Proven interventions

  • Small-quantity lipid-based nutrients for ages 6-24m: severe stunting down 15-17% in trial meta-analyses.
  • Treat wasting now. CMAM/RUTF reached 63% of cases in 2023; wasting has doubled since 2020.
  • Feeding counselling. Exclusive breastfeeding has sat near 50-55% for fifteen years; dietary diversity collapsed to 19.1%.
  • The Lancet core package at 90% coverage would avert about 20% of stunting and 15% of under-five deaths.

$1 → $23

return per dollar on full-scale nutrition action, World Bank Investment Framework for Nutrition, 2024.

  • Timor-Leste ask: +US$55M to 2030, about US$7M a year or 0.3% of GDP.
  • Documented return: more than US$10 per US$1 invested (World Bank national costing).
  • Cost of inaction: US$41M a year in lost economic activity, about 1% of GDP.
  • Goal: stunting below 25% by 2030 under PANKOS, approved November 2025.

Was this brief useful?

Thirty seconds. No name or email is requested. Submitted responses go to the feedback endpoint and are also stored in this browser for export.

Overall usefulness for your work

Collected responses