What countries have the highest cases of anemia?

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A lack of enough healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin leads to anemia. Around a quarter of the world population, including a significant number of children, are affected by this condition.

According to a World Bank data of 2011, 43 percent of children aged five and below were affected by anemia around the world. However, when compared to 1990, the percentage had witnessed a decline. In 1990, the anemia was prevalent among 52 percent of the children around the world. Though some nations have combated anemia to a large extent, other nations have not been so successful.

Anemia is widely prevalent in the African continent with Burkina Faso being the most badly affected. According to the World Bank data, anemia was prevalent among 86 percent of children aged under five in Burkina Faso. In fact, majority of the countries at the top of the list — barring two nations — were located in Africa where more than 60 percent of children aged five were affected by anemia.

Among the regions, South Asia was the second most badly affected by anemia. The region, on an average, witnessed 58 percent of the children aged five and under, affected by anemia. While Pakistan reported a high figure with 61 percent, nations such as Sri Lanka and Maldives were better of at 36 and 30 percent respectively.

Children are leading much healthy lives in European and North American countries, which reported very low percentages of 16 percent and 7 percent respectively. Among the World Bank list, the United States reported the lowest figure, with just 6 percent of the children aged five and below affected by anemia

Country	Anemia (%)
Burkina Faso	86
Mali	80
Senegal	79
Ghana	76
Guinea	76
Niger	76
Cote d’Ivoire	75
Sierra Leone	74
Chad	74
Central African Republic	72
Liberia	72
Guinea-Bissau	71
Togo	71
Nigeria	71
Mauritania	71
Congo, Dem. Rep.	67
Mozambique	67
Equatorial Guinea	66
Malawi	66
Benin	65
Congo, Rep.	65
Gambia, The	65
Cameroon	63
Haiti	62
Pakistan	61
Tanzania	61
Cabo Verde	61
Gabon	60
Yemen, Rep.	59
Eritrea	59
India	59
Zimbabwe	59
Sudan	59
Sao Tome and Principe	59
Zambia	58
Somalia	57
Uganda	56
Bolivia	56
Bangladesh	56
Bhutan	55
Cambodia	55
Angola	52
Comoros	51
Nepal	51
Madagascar	50
Ethiopia	50
Namibia	49
Lesotho	48
Guatemala	47
Burundi	47
Kenya	46
Egypt, Arab Rep.	45
Timor-Leste	45
Papua New Guinea	44
Afghanistan	44
Swaziland	44
Arab World	44
Mauritius	44
Uzbekistan	43
World	43
Djibouti	43
Botswana	43
Lao PDR	42
Guyana	41
St. Lucia	41
Oman	41
South Africa	41
Solomon Islands	40
Myanmar	40
Ecuador	40
Grenada	40
Honduras	40
Saudi Arabia	39
Trinidad and Tobago	39
Suriname	39
IBRD only	39
Antigua and Barbuda	39
Vanuatu	38
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	38
Rwanda	38
Seychelles	37
Barbados	37
Kiribati	37
Syrian Arab Republic	37
Dominica	37
Tonga	36
Sri Lanka	36
Iraq	36
Kyrgyz Republic	36
Caribbean small states	36
Morocco	36
Azerbaijan	35
Belize	35
Philippines	35
Armenia	34
Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	34
Korea, Dem. People’s Rep.	34
Cuba	34
Dominican Republic	33
Peru	33
Bahamas, The	33
Costa Rica	33
Marshall Islands	33
Fiji	33
Indonesia	33
Iran, Islamic Rep.	33
Algeria	32
Venezuela, RB	32
Samoa	32
Bahrain	32
Malaysia	32
Turkmenistan	32
Jamaica	32
Panama	32
Vietnam	31
Jordan	31
Libya	30
Turkey	30
Kazakhstan	30
Maldives	30
El Salvador	30
Thailand	30
Tunisia	30
United Arab Emirates	29
Moldova	29
Bosnia and Herzegovina	28
Colombia	28
Montenegro	27
Tajikistan	27
Bulgaria	27
Slovenia	27
Paraguay	27
Romania	27
Slovak Republic	27
Czech Republic	27
Croatia	27
Ukraine	27
Hungary	27
Georgia	27
Kuwait	26
Poland	26
Serbia	26
Mongolia	26
Lithuania	26
Mexico	26
Russian Federation	26
Latvia	26
Qatar	26
Estonia	26
Belarus	25
Lebanon	24
Brazil	24
Uruguay	24
Albania	22
Macedonia, FYR	22
Chile	21
Argentina	21
Singapore	19
Cyprus	19
Nicaragua	19
China	19
Brunei Darussalam	18
Australia	15
Israel	15
Japan	15
Greece	15
New Zealand	15
Korea, Rep.	15
Canada	14
Malta	14
Italy	14
Andorra	14
Norway	14
Switzerland	14
Germany	14
Spain	14
Ireland	14
Portugal	14
Austria	14
France	14
Netherlands	14
Denmark	14
Finland	14
Belgium	14
Iceland	14
Sweden	14
Luxembourg	13
United Kingdom	13
North America	7
United States	6

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