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Daily Data InsightsMuch more progress can be made against child mortality

Much more progress can be made against child mortality

This world map titled "Child mortality rate, 2021," visually conveys the estimated share of newborns who die before age five in each country. The color-coding of the countries reveals that Central Africa experiences the highest child mortality rates, indicated by the darkest shades. The bottom of the image credits the "UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (2023)" as the source of the data.

The world has made great progress against child mortality. But in many countries, a significant share still die during childhood.

The data on this map comes from the UN IGME, which estimates child mortality rates worldwide using detailed household surveys and vital statistics.

As the map shows, child mortality is much lower in rich countries, where fewer than 1% of children die before the age of five.

However, the figures are much higher in poor countries, especially across Africa and South Asia. In Pakistan, for example, 6% die before their fifth birthday. In Nigeria and Somalia, the figure is 11%.

These statistics show that despite impressive falls in child mortality, much more progress can be made.

We live in a world in which 10 children die every minute.

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