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<!doctype html><html><head><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"/><title>Child and Infant Mortality - Our World in Data</title><meta name="description" content="Why are children dying and what can be done to prevent it?"/><link rel="canonical" href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality"/><link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" href="/atom.xml"/><link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="180x180" href="/apple-touch-icon.png"/><meta property="fb:app_id" content="1149943818390250"/><meta property="og:url" content="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality"/><meta property="og:title" content="Child and Infant Mortality"/><meta property="og:description" content="Why are children dying and what can be done to prevent it?"/><meta property="og:image" content="https://ourworldindata.org/app/uploads/2019/11/Child-deaths-by-cause-1990-to-2017-IHME-01-768x548.png"/><meta property="og:site_name" content="Our World in Data"/><meta name="twitter:card" 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content="2013/05/10"/><meta name="citation_journal_title" content="Our World in Data"/><meta name="citation_journal_abbrev" content="Our World in Data"/><meta name="citation_author" content="Max Roser"/><meta name="citation_author" content="Hannah Ritchie"/><meta name="citation_author" content="Bernadeta Dadonaite"/></head><body class=""><header class="site-header"><div class="wrapper site-navigation-bar"><div class="site-logo"><a href="/">Our World<br/> in Data</a></div><nav class="site-navigation"><div class="topics-button-wrapper"><a href="/#entries" class="topics-button"><div class="label">Articles <br/><strong>by topic</strong></div><div class="icon"><svg width="12" height="6"><path d="M0,0 L12,0 L6,6 Z" fill="currentColor"></path></svg></div></a></div><div><div class="site-primary-navigation"><form class="HeaderSearch" action="/search" method="GET"><input type="search" name="q" placeholder="Search..."/><div class="icon"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" 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class="alert-banner"><div class="content"><div class="text"><strong>COVID-19 vaccinations, cases, excess mortality, and much more</strong></div><a href="/coronavirus#explore-the-global-situation" data-track-note="covid-banner-click">Explore our COVID-19 data</a></div></div><main><article class="page with-sidebar large-banner"><div class="offset-header"><header class="article-header"><div class="article-titles"><h1 class="entry-title">Child and Infant Mortality</h1></div><div class="authors-byline"><a href="/team">by Max Roser, Hannah Ritchie and Bernadeta Dadonaite</a></div><div class="blog-info">This entry was first published in 2013 and updated in November 2019.</div><div class="tools"><a href="#licence"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fab" data-icon="creative-commons" class="svg-inline--fa fa-creative-commons " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 496 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M245.8 214.9l-33.22 17.28c-9.43-19.58-25.24-19.93-27.46-19.93-22.13 0-33.22 14.61-33.22 43.84 0 23.57 9.21 43.84 33.22 43.84 14.47 0 24.65-7.09 30.57-21.26l30.55 15.5c-6.17 11.51-25.69 38.98-65.1 38.98-22.6 0-73.96-10.32-73.96-77.05 0-58.69 43-77.06 72.63-77.06 30.72-.01 52.7 11.95 65.99 35.86zm143.1 0l-32.78 17.28c-9.5-19.77-25.72-19.93-27.9-19.93-22.14 0-33.22 14.61-33.22 43.84 0 23.55 9.23 43.84 33.22 43.84 14.45 0 24.65-7.09 30.54-21.26l31 15.5c-2.1 3.75-21.39 38.98-65.09 38.98-22.69 0-73.96-9.87-73.96-77.05 0-58.67 42.97-77.06 72.63-77.06 30.71-.01 52.58 11.95 65.56 35.86zM247.6 8.05C104.7 8.05 0 123.1 0 256c0 138.5 113.6 248 247.6 248 129.9 0 248.4-100.9 248.4-248 0-137.9-106.6-248-248.4-248zm.87 450.8c-112.5 0-203.7-93.04-203.7-202.8 0-105.4 85.43-203.3 203.7-203.3 112.5 0 202.8 89.46 202.8 203.3-.01 121.7-99.68 202.8-202.8 202.8z"></path></svg>Reuse our work freely</a><a href="#citation"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="book" class="svg-inline--fa fa-book " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 448 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M448 336v-288C448 21.49 426.5 0 400 0H96C42.98 0 0 42.98 0 96v320c0 53.02 42.98 96 96 96h320c17.67 0 32-14.33 32-31.1c0-11.72-6.607-21.52-16-27.1v-81.36C441.8 362.8 448 350.2 448 336zM143.1 128h192C344.8 128 352 135.2 352 144C352 152.8 344.8 160 336 160H143.1C135.2 160 128 152.8 128 144C128 135.2 135.2 128 143.1 128zM143.1 192h192C344.8 192 352 199.2 352 208C352 216.8 344.8 224 336 224H143.1C135.2 224 128 216.8 128 208C128 199.2 135.2 192 143.1 192zM384 448H96c-17.67 0-32-14.33-32-32c0-17.67 14.33-32 32-32h288V448z"></path></svg>Cite this research</a></div></header></div><div class="content-wrapper"><div class="toc-wrapper"><aside class="entry-sidebar"><div class="sticky-sentinel"></div><nav class="entry-toc"><ul><li><a href="#" data-track-note="toc-header">Child and Infant Mortality</a></li><li class="section"><a href="#summary" data-track-note="toc-link">Summary</a></li><li class="section"><a href="#child-mortality-where-we-are-today" data-track-note="toc-link">Child mortality- where we are today</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#child-mortality-is-an-everyday-tragedy-of-enormous-scale-that-rarely-makes-the-headlines" data-track-note="toc-link">Child mortality is an everyday tragedy of enormous scale that rarely makes the headlines</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#child-mortality-achieving-the-global-goal-for-2030-would-be-a-huge-achievement-but-we-are-currently-far-away" data-track-note="toc-link">Child mortality: achieving the global goal for 2030 would be a huge achievement – but we are currently far away</a></li><li class="section"><a href="#child-mortality-in-the-past" data-track-note="toc-link">Child mortality in the past</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#mortality-in-the-past-around-half-died-as-children" data-track-note="toc-link">Mortality in the past – around half died as children</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#child-mortality-around-the-world-since-1800" data-track-note="toc-link">Child mortality around the world since 1800</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#child-mortality-from-the-parents-perspective" data-track-note="toc-link">Child mortality from the parents perspective</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#global-picture-of-child-mortality-from-1800-until-today" data-track-note="toc-link">Global picture of child mortality from 1800 until today</a></li><li class="section"><a href="#where-and-why-do-children-die-today" data-track-note="toc-link">Where and why do children die today</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#where-in-the-world-are-children-dying" data-track-note="toc-link">Where in the world are children dying?</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#what-are-children-dying-from" data-track-note="toc-link">What are children dying from?</a></li><li class="section"><a href="#the-major-causes-of-child-mortality" data-track-note="toc-link">The major causes of child mortality</a></li><li class="section"><a href="#pneumonia" data-track-note="toc-link">Pneumonia</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#pneumonia-is-the-leading-cause-of-child-mortality" data-track-note="toc-link">Pneumonia is the leading cause of child mortality</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#where-are-children-dying-from-pneumonia" data-track-note="toc-link">Where are children dying from pneumonia?</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#why-are-children-still-getting-pneumonia" data-track-note="toc-link">Why are children still getting pneumonia?</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#how-can-we-reduce-the-number-of-children-dying-from-pneumonia" data-track-note="toc-link">How can we reduce the number of children dying from pneumonia?</a></li><li class="section"><a href="#diarrheal-diseases" data-track-note="toc-link">Diarrheal diseases</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#diarrheal-diseases-are-one-of-the-biggest-killers-of-children-worldwide" data-track-note="toc-link">Diarrheal diseases are one of the biggest killers of children worldwide</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#where-are-children-dying-from-diarrheal-diseases" data-track-note="toc-link">Where are children dying from diarrheal diseases?</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#why-are-children-still-dying-from-diarrhea" data-track-note="toc-link">Why are children still dying from diarrhea?</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#how-can-we-stop-child-deaths-from-diarrhea" data-track-note="toc-link">How can we stop child deaths from diarrhea?</a></li><li class="section"><a href="#malaria" data-track-note="toc-link">Malaria </a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#the-majority-of-deaths-from-malaria-are-among-children-under-5" data-track-note="toc-link">The majority of deaths from malaria are among children under-5</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#where-are-children-dying-from-malaria" data-track-note="toc-link">Where are children dying from malaria?</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#how-can-we-reduce-childhood-deaths-from-malaria" data-track-note="toc-link">How can we reduce childhood deaths from malaria?</a></li><li class="section"><a href="#hiv-aids" data-track-note="toc-link">HIV/AIDS</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#children-living-with-aids" data-track-note="toc-link">Children living with AIDS</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#where-do-most-new-cases-of-aids-in-children-occur" data-track-note="toc-link">Where do most new cases of AIDS in children occur?</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#how-do-we-prevent-children-from-dying-from-aids" data-track-note="toc-link">How do we prevent children from dying from AIDS?</a></li><li class="section"><a href="#neonatal-disorders" data-track-note="toc-link">Neonatal disorders</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#children-are-most-likely-to-die-in-the-first-few-days-of-life" data-track-note="toc-link">Children are most likely to die in the first few days of life</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#what-are-neonates-dying-from" data-track-note="toc-link">What are neonates dying from?</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#preterm-birth-complications-is-the-leading-cause-of-death-among-neonates" data-track-note="toc-link">Preterm birth complications is the leading cause of death among neonates</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#what-we-can-do-to-reduce-preterm-mortality-rates" data-track-note="toc-link">What we can do to reduce preterm mortality rates?</a></li><li class="section"><a href="#correlates-determinants-consequences" data-track-note="toc-link">Correlates, Determinants & Consequences</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#child-mortality-by-sex" data-track-note="toc-link">Child mortality by sex</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#child-mortality-and-income-level" data-track-note="toc-link">Child mortality and income level</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#inequality-by-socio-economic-class" data-track-note="toc-link">Inequality by socio-economic class</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#better-education-of-women-reduces-child-mortality" data-track-note="toc-link">Better education of women reduces child mortality</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#health-care-and-child-mortality" data-track-note="toc-link">Health care and child mortality</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#when-more-infants-survive-fertility-goes-down" data-track-note="toc-link">When more infants survive – fertility goes down</a></li><li class="section"><a href="#data-quality-definition" data-track-note="toc-link">Data Quality & Definition</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#definitions" data-track-note="toc-link">Definitions</a></li><li class="subsection"><a href="#data-quality" data-track-note="toc-link">Data Quality</a></li><li class="section"><a href="#endnotes" data-track-note="toc-link">Endnotes</a></li><li class="section"><a href="#licence" data-track-note="toc-link">Licence</a></li><li class="section"><a href="#citation" data-track-note="toc-link">Citation</a></li></ul></nav><div class="toggle-toc"><button data-track-note="page-toggle-toc" aria-label="Open table of contents"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="bars" class="svg-inline--fa fa-bars " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 448 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M0 96C0 78.33 14.33 64 32 64H416C433.7 64 448 78.33 448 96C448 113.7 433.7 128 416 128H32C14.33 128 0 113.7 0 96zM0 256C0 238.3 14.33 224 32 224H416C433.7 224 448 238.3 448 256C448 273.7 433.7 288 416 288H32C14.33 288 0 273.7 0 256zM416 448H32C14.33 448 0 433.7 0 416C0 398.3 14.33 384 32 384H416C433.7 384 448 398.3 448 416C448 433.7 433.7 448 416 448z"></path></svg><span class="label">Contents</span></button></div></aside></div><div class="offset-content"><div class="content-and-footnotes"><div class="article-content"><section><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>In this entry we are giving an overview of the mortality of infants and children. In demography, <span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="child mortality" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-child-mortality","excerpt":"Child mortality measures the share of newborns who die before reaching the age of five."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-child-mortality">child mortality</a></span> refers to the death of children under the age of five while <span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="infant mortality" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-infant-mortality","excerpt":"Infant mortality measures the share of newborns who die before reaching one year of age."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-infant-mortality">infant mortality</a></span> refers to the death of those under the age of one.</p><div class="wp-block-owid-summary">
<h2 id="summary">Summary<a class="deep-link" href="#summary"></a></h2>
<ul><li><a href="#child-mortality-is-an-everyday-tragedy-of-enormous-scale-that-rarely-makes-the-headlines">15,000 children die every day – Child mortality is an everyday tragedy of enormous scale that rarely makes the headlines </a></li><li><a href="#child-mortality-achieving-the-global-goal-for-2030-would-be-a-huge-achievement-but-we-are-currently-far-away">Child mortality rates have declined in all world regions, but the world is not on track to reach the Sustainable Development Goal for child mortality </a></li><li><a href="#mortality-in-the-past-around-half-died-as-children">Before the Modern Revolution child mortality was very high in all societies that we have knowledge of – a quarter of all children died in the first year of life, almost half died before reaching the end of puberty </a></li><li><a href="#child-mortality-around-the-world-since-1800">Over the last two centuries all countries in the world have made very rapid progress against child mortality. From 1800 to 1950 global mortality has halved from around 43% to 22.5%. Since 1950 the mortality rate has declined five-fold to 4.5% in 2015. All countries in the world have benefitted from this progress</a></li><li><a href="#child-mortality-from-the-parents-perspective">In the past it was very common for parents to see children die, because both, child mortality rates and fertility rates were very high. In Europe in the mid 18th century parents lost on average between 3 and 4 of their children</a></li></ul>
<p>Based on this overview we are asking where the world is today – where are children dying and what are they dying from?</p>
<ul><li><a href="#where-in-the-world-are-children-dying">5.4 million children died in 2017 – Where did these children die? </a></li><li><a href="#what-are-children-dying-from">Pneumonia is the most common cause of death, preterm births and neonatal disorders is second, and diarrheal diseases are third – What are children today dying from?</a></li></ul>
<p>This is the basis for answering the question what can we do to make further progress against child mortality? We will extend this entry over the course of 2020.</p>
</div></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="block-wrapper" data-reactroot=""><div data-variation="full-width" data-default-open="false" class="wp-block-owid-additional-information"><h3 data-track-note="additional-information-toggle"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="angle-right" class="svg-inline--fa fa-angle-right " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 256 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M64 448c-8.188 0-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25L178.8 256L41.38 118.6c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0l160 160c12.5 12.5 12.5 32.75 0 45.25l-160 160C80.38 444.9 72.19 448 64 448z"></path></svg>All our interactive charts on Child and Infant Mortality</h3><div style="height:0;overflow:hidden" aria-hidden="true" class="rah-static rah-static--height-zero"><div style="transition:opacity 250ms ease 0ms;-webkit-transition:opacity 250ms ease 0ms;opacity:0"><div class="content">
<div><div class="related-charts"><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><ul><li class="active"><a href="/grapher/annual-number-of-births-by-world-region"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/annual-number-of-births-by-world-region.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Annual number of births by world region</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/breakdown-of-child-mortality-by-cause"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/breakdown-of-child-mortality-by-cause.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Breakdown of child mortality by cause</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/causes-of-death-in-children"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/causes-of-death-in-children.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Causes of death in children under five years old</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-deaths-by-cause-by-sex-india"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-deaths-by-cause-by-sex-india.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child death rates by cause for boys vs. girls in India</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-deaths-by-life-stage"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-deaths-by-life-stage.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child deaths by life stage</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-deaths-from-rotavirus"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-deaths-from-rotavirus.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child deaths from rotavirus</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-deaths-in-1960-vs-2019"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-deaths-in-1960-vs-2019.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child deaths in 1960 vs. 2019</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/infant-deaths"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/infant-deaths.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child deaths in the 1st year of life</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-around-the-world"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-around-the-world.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality</span></a><span class="variantName">UN (from 1950)</span></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality</span></a><span class="variantName">Long-run data; Gapminder & UN IGME</span></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-by-income-level-of-country"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-by-income-level-of-country.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality by income level of country</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-line-chart-by-sex"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-line-chart-by-sex.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality by sex</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-by-sex"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-by-sex.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality by sex</span></a><span class="variantName">World Bank</span></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-by-source"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-by-source.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality by source</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/diarrheal-diseases-vs-handwashing-facilities"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/diarrheal-diseases-vs-handwashing-facilities.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality from diarrheal diseases vs. access to basic handwashing facilities</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/diarrheal-diseases-vs-sanitation"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/diarrheal-diseases-vs-sanitation.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality from diarrheal diseases vs. access to sanitation</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-respiratory-infections-vs-clean-fuels"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-respiratory-infections-vs-clean-fuels.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality from respiratory infections vs. access to clean fuels for cooking</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-from-ari-vs-treatment"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-from-ari-vs-treatment.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality from respiratory infections vs. share taken to a healthcare provider</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/u5mr-vs-2019"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/u5mr-vs-2019.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality in the past vs 2019</span></a><span class="variantName">UN IGME</span></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-rate-sdgs"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-rate-sdgs.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality rate</span></a><span class="variantName">With SDG Target</span></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-rate-ihme"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-rate-ihme.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality rate</span></a><span class="variantName">IHME, GBD</span></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-1990-vs-latest-slope"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-1990-vs-latest-slope.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality rate</span></a><span class="variantName">UN IGME</span></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-igme"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-igme.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality rate</span></a><span class="variantName">UN IGME</span></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-slope"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-slope.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality rate in 2010 and 2017</span></a><span class="variantName">UN IGME</span></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-rate-by-gender"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-rate-by-gender.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality rate in boys and girls per 1,000 live births</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-vs-liberal-democracy"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-vs-liberal-democracy.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality rate vs. liberal democracy</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-vs-open-defecation"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-vs-open-defecation.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality rate vs. share of population practicing open defecation</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-1970-vs-now"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-1970-vs-now.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality rate, 1970 v. 2019</span></a><span class="variantName">UN IGME</span></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-rate-including-un-projections-through-2100"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-rate-including-un-projections-through-2100.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality rate, including UN projections</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-gdp-per-capita"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-gdp-per-capita.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality vs GDP per capita</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-byvs-level-of-prosperity-regression"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-byvs-level-of-prosperity-regression.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality vs level of prosperity</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/per-capita-total-expenditure-on-health-vs-child-mortality"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/per-capita-total-expenditure-on-health-vs-child-mortality.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality vs per capita total health expenditure</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-vs-share-of-children-immunized-against-diphtheria-pertussis-and-tetanus"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-vs-share-of-children-immunized-against-diphtheria-pertussis-and-tetanus.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality vs share of children immunized against diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-vs-anemia-pregnant-women"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-vs-anemia-pregnant-women.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality vs. Prevalence of anemia among pregnant women</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-vs-wasting"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-vs-wasting.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality vs. Prevalence of child wasting</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-vs-prevalence-of-stunting"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-vs-prevalence-of-stunting.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality vs. Prevalence of stunting</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-vs-share-who-are-anemic"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-vs-share-who-are-anemic.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality vs. Share of children who are anemic</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/extreme-poverty-vs-child-mortality"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/extreme-poverty-vs-child-mortality.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality vs. extreme poverty</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-vs-health-expenditure-over-time"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-vs-health-expenditure-over-time.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality vs. health expenditure</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-vs-teenage-pregnancy"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-vs-teenage-pregnancy.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality vs. prevalence of teenage pregnancy</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-vs-ari-treatment"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-vs-ari-treatment.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality vs. share with respiratory infections taken to a healthcare provider</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/correlation-between-child-mortality-and-mean-years-of-schooling-for-those-aged-15-and-older"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/correlation-between-child-mortality-and-mean-years-of-schooling-for-those-aged-15-and-older.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality vs. women's average years of schooling</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-ihme-vs-un-igme"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-ihme-vs-un-igme.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality: IHME vs UN IGME estimates</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/un-igme-vs-un-desa"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/un-igme-vs-un-desa.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Child mortality: UN IGME vs UN DESA comparison</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/childhood-deaths-from-the-five-most-lethal-infectious-diseases-worldwide"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/childhood-deaths-from-the-five-most-lethal-infectious-diseases-worldwide.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Childhood deaths from the five most lethal infectious diseases worldwide</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/Children-woman-death-vs-survival"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/Children-woman-death-vs-survival.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Children per woman that survived childhood vs those that died in childhood</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/deaths-from-preterm-birth-complications"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/deaths-from-preterm-birth-complications.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Death rate from neonatal preterm birth complication</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/pneumonia-death-rates-in-children-under-5"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/pneumonia-death-rates-in-children-under-5.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Death rates from pneumonia in children under 5</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/diarrheal-disease-death-rates-in-children-under-5"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/diarrheal-disease-death-rates-in-children-under-5.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Diarrheal diseases death rates in children under 5</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/govt-effectiveness-healthcare-spending-child-mortality"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/govt-effectiveness-healthcare-spending-child-mortality.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Effect of gov't effectiveness & healthcare spending on child mortality</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/poverty-and-child-mortality"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/poverty-and-child-mortality.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Extreme poverty and child mortality</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/global-child-deaths-by-cause"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/global-child-deaths-by-cause.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Global child deaths by cause</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/global-child-mortality-timeseries"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/global-child-mortality-timeseries.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Global child mortality</span></a><span class="variantName">Gapminder & the World Bank</span></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/global-infant-deaths-by-region"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/global-infant-deaths-by-region.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Global infant deaths by region</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/infant-death-rates-by-cause-by-sex"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/infant-death-rates-by-cause-by-sex.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Global infant mortality by cause for boys vs. girls</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/sdg-target-on-child-mortality"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/sdg-target-on-child-mortality.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Has country already reached SDG target on child mortality?</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/sdg-target-on-neonatal-mortality"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/sdg-target-on-neonatal-mortality.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Has country already reached SDG target on neonatal mortality?</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/infant-mortality-by-sex"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/infant-mortality-by-sex.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Infant mortality by sex</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/infant-mortality"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/infant-mortality.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Infant mortality rate</span></a><span class="variantName">UN IGME</span></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/infant-mortality-vs-prenatal-care"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/infant-mortality-vs-prenatal-care.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Infant mortality vs. prevalence of prenatal care</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/births-in-uk-22-weeks-gestation"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/births-in-uk-22-weeks-gestation.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Live births in England and Wales at or under 22 weeks gestation</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-mortality-mdgs"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-mortality-mdgs.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>MDG4.A: Child mortality rate</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/maternal-mortality-vs-neonatal-mortality"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/maternal-mortality-vs-neonatal-mortality.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Maternal mortality vs. Neonatal mortality</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/neonatal-mortality-vs-births-attended-by-staff"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/neonatal-mortality-vs-births-attended-by-staff.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Neonatal mortality vs. births attended by skilled health staff</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/neonatal-infant-and-child-mortality-rates"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/neonatal-infant-and-child-mortality-rates.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Neonatal, infant and child mortality rates</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/number-of-child-deaths-slope-chart"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/number-of-child-deaths-slope-chart.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Number of child deaths</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-deaths-igme-data"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-deaths-igme-data.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Number of child deaths</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/child-deaths-by-source"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/child-deaths-by-source.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Number of child deaths by source</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/children-died-before-five-per-woman"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/children-died-before-five-per-woman.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Number of children per who died before they were five years old per woman</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/number-of-deaths-from-pneumonia-in-children-under-5"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/number-of-deaths-from-pneumonia-in-children-under-5.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Number of deaths from pneumonia in children under 5</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/number-of-infant-deaths"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/number-of-infant-deaths.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Number of infant deaths</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/number-of-neonatal-deaths-ihme"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/number-of-neonatal-deaths-ihme.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Number of neonatal deaths</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/number-of-neonatal-deaths-by-region"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/number-of-neonatal-deaths-by-region.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Number of neonatal deaths by region</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/number-of-under-five-deaths"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/number-of-under-five-deaths.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Number of under-five deaths</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/number-of-under-five-deaths-by-region"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/number-of-under-five-deaths-by-region.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Number of under-five deaths by region</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/diarrheal-prevalence-rates-vs-gdp-per-capita"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/diarrheal-prevalence-rates-vs-gdp-per-capita.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Prevalence diarrheal diseases in children vs. GDP per capita</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/prevalence-of-diarrheal-disease-vs-treatment"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/prevalence-of-diarrheal-disease-vs-treatment.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Prevalence of diarrheal disease in children vs. diarrheal treatment</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/avertable-deaths-from-rotavirus-with-full-vaccine-coverage"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/avertable-deaths-from-rotavirus-with-full-vaccine-coverage.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Preventable child deaths from rotavirus vaccination</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/pneumonia-careseeking"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/pneumonia-careseeking.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Share of children with symptoms of pneumonia who are taken to a health provider</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/stillbirth-rate-uk"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/stillbirth-rate-uk.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Stillbirth rate in England and Wales (per 1,000 total births)</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/the-decline-of-child-mortality-by-healtcare-spending-endpoints"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/the-decline-of-child-mortality-by-healtcare-spending-endpoints.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>The decline of child mortality by healthcare spending</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/the-decline-of-child-mortality-by-level-of-prosperity-endpoints"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/the-decline-of-child-mortality-by-level-of-prosperity-endpoints.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>The decline of child mortality by level of prosperity</span></a></li><li class=""><a href="/grapher/youth-mortality-rate"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/youth-mortality-rate.svg" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="true" data-no-img-formatting="true" width="850" height="600"><span>Youth mortality rate</span></a></li></ul></div><div class="wp-block-column" id="all-charts-preview"><figure data-grapher-src="/grapher/annual-number-of-births-by-world-region"></figure></div></div></div></div>
</div></div></div></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p><strong>Related research entries:</strong></p><p><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/causes-of-death">Causes of deaths</a> – What are people dying from?</p><p><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/fertility-rate">Fertility rate</a> – How many children are born?</p><p><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy">Life expectancy</a> – What is the impact of child mortality for life expectancy? And how is mortality at later stages of life changing?</p><p><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/maternal-mortality">Maternal mortality</a> – How many mothers are dying when giving birth to children?</p><p><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/malaria">Malaria</a> – most malaria victims are children and it is one of the main causes of death of children</p><p><strong>Related writing:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/much-better-awful-can-be-better">The world is much better; The world is awful; The world can be much better</a></li><li><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-everyday-tragedy-no-headlines">Child mortality is an everyday tragedy of enormous scale that rarely makes the headlines</a></li><li><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-in-the-past">Mortality in the past – around half died as children</a></li><li><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-global-overview">From commonplace to rarer tragedy – declining child mortality across the world</a></li><li><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/global-child-deaths-have-halved-since-1990">The number of children dying each year has more than halved since 1990</a></li><li><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-global-goal">Child mortality: achieving the global goal for 2030 would be a huge achievement – but we are currently far away</a></li><li><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/malaria-net-results">Net Results: We are winning the fight against malaria and you can help</a></li><li><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/malaria-past-prevalence">Malaria was common across half the world – since then it has been eliminated in many regions</a></li><li><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/where-are-children-dying">Where are children dying in the world?</a></li><li><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/what-are-children-dying-from-and-what-can-we-do-about-it">What are children dying from and what can we do about it?</a></li><li><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-globally">Global child mortality: it is hard to overestimate both the immensity of the tragedy, and the progress the world has made</a></li></ul><p><a href="https://sdg-tracker.org/good-health">Global Health</a> – See where the world stands on Goal 3 in our Sustainable Goals Tracker</p></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div></section>
<section><div class="section-heading"><div class="wrapper"><div><h2 id="child-mortality-where-we-are-today">Child mortality- where we are today<a class="deep-link" href="#child-mortality-where-we-are-today"></a></h2></div><div class="in-this-section"><div class="label">In this section</div><div class="border"></div></div><ul class="subheadings"><li><a href="#child-mortality-is-an-everyday-tragedy-of-enormous-scale-that-rarely-makes-the-headlines"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="arrow-down" class="svg-inline--fa fa-arrow-down " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 384 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M374.6 310.6l-160 160C208.4 476.9 200.2 480 192 480s-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375l-160-160c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0L160 370.8V64c0-17.69 14.33-31.1 31.1-31.1S224 46.31 224 64v306.8l105.4-105.4c12.5-12.5 32.75-12.5 45.25 0S387.1 298.1 374.6 310.6z"></path></svg><span>Child mortality is an everyday tragedy of enormous scale that rarely makes the headlines</span></a></li><li><a href="#child-mortality-achieving-the-global-goal-for-2030-would-be-a-huge-achievement-but-we-are-currently-far-away"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="arrow-down" class="svg-inline--fa fa-arrow-down " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 384 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M374.6 310.6l-160 160C208.4 476.9 200.2 480 192 480s-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375l-160-160c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0L160 370.8V64c0-17.69 14.33-31.1 31.1-31.1S224 46.31 224 64v306.8l105.4-105.4c12.5-12.5 32.75-12.5 45.25 0S387.1 298.1 374.6 310.6z"></path></svg><span>Child mortality: achieving the global goal for 2030 would be a huge achievement – but we are currently far away</span></a></li></ul></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right">
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<p><span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="Child mortality" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-child-mortality","excerpt":"Child mortality measures the share of newborns who die before reaching the age of five."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-child-mortality">Child mortality</a></span> today is the lowest it has ever been. In less than three decades child mortality has more than halved — from <span data-type="block-wrapper" data-reactroot=""><span class="annotating-data-value"><script data-type="AnnotatingDataValue" type="component/props">{"value":12493789,"template":"12.5 million in %year","year":1990,"unit":"","entityName":"World"}</script><span class=""><span class="data-value">12.5 million in 1990</span></span></span></span> to <span data-type="block-wrapper" data-reactroot=""><span class="annotating-data-value"><script data-type="AnnotatingDataValue" type="component/props">{"value":5188872,"template":"5.2 million in %year","year":2019,"unit":"","entityName":"World"}</script><span class=""><span class="data-value">5.2 million in 2019</span></span></span></span>. This is a huge accomplishment that should not be overlooked. </p>
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<p>Of course, the death of every child is an enormous tragedy, and in many countries far too many children die because of causes we know how to prevent and treat. As the map here shows, today the highest child mortality rates are in Sub-Saharan Africa, where we still have countries with child mortality rates greater than 10% — this means that one out of 10 children born never reach their 5th birthday. </p>
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<figure data-grapher-src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/child-mortality-igme" class="grapherPreview">
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<div><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/exports/child-mortality-igme_v17_850x600.svg" width="850" height="600" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="" alt="Child mortality igme v17 850x600"></div>
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<path fill="currentColor" d="M448,344.59v96a40.36,40.36,0,0,1-1.06,9.16l-32,136A40,40,0,0,1,376,616.59H168a40,40,0,0,1-32.35-16.47l-128-176a40,40,0,0,1,64.7-47.06L104,420.58v-276a40,40,0,0,1,80,0v200h8v-40a40,40,0,1,1,80,0v40h8v-24a40,40,0,1,1,80,0v24h8a40,40,0,1,1,80,0Zm-256,80h-8v96h8Zm88,0h-8v96h8Zm88,0h-8v96h8Z" transform="translate(0 -0.41)"></path>
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</div><h3 id="child-mortality-is-an-everyday-tragedy-of-enormous-scale-that-rarely-makes-the-headlines">Child mortality is an everyday tragedy of enormous scale that rarely makes the headlines<a class="deep-link" href="#child-mortality-is-an-everyday-tragedy-of-enormous-scale-that-rarely-makes-the-headlines"></a></h3><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>56 million people in the world died in 2017. How old were they when their lives ended?</p><p>The answer can be seen in the bar chart. It shows all deaths in the world by age in five-year age groups, starting with the youngest on the left towards the oldest age group (95+ years) on the right.</p><p>What stands out is the death toll for the very youngest age-group. 5.4 million children died before they had their fifth birthday. On any average day, that’s 15,000 young children.</p><p>The suffering and dying of children remains immense, yet these daily tragedies continue without receiving the attention this injustice deserves. A comparison of the tragedy of child deaths with those tragedies that do receive public attention puts it in perspective. A large jumbo jet can carry up to 620 passengers.<a id="ref-1" class="ref" href="#note-1"><sup>1</sup></a></p><p>The number of child deaths is that of 24 jumbo jet crashes, with only children on board, every single day.</p><p>Single events – such as plane crashes – always make the headlines. Daily tragedies – even the worst ones like the deaths of thousands of children – never make the headlines.</p><p>Every case of a family losing a child is a tragedy, regardless of how common or uncommon the cause. Spectacular events that grab global attention in the media are not more important than everyday human suffering. But unfortunately this is not how our minds and our media work. What we focus our attention on are either the spectacular tragedies (natural disasters, terrorist attacks, crime) or new problems (fake news, risks from automation). The first category keeps the breaking news cycle running, the second category keeps the op-ed writers employed. But in many aspects the biggest threats to our lives are the same threats that all the generations that came before us have faced. And this seems unfortunately to be true for what kills children around the world; it’s neither new nor spectacular.</p><p>A newspaper that would cover the most important facts about the last 24 hours would cover the 15,000 child deaths on its cover page every day.</p></div><div class="wp-block-column"><figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" width="786" height="550" src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/05/Deaths-globally-by-age_2017-data-IHME-786x550.png" alt="Deaths globally by age 2017 data ihme" class="wp-image-23516" srcset="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/05/Deaths-globally-by-age_2017-data-IHME-786x550.png 786w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/05/Deaths-globally-by-age_2017-data-IHME-150x105.png 150w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/05/Deaths-globally-by-age_2017-data-IHME-400x280.png 400w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/05/Deaths-globally-by-age_2017-data-IHME-768x538.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 786px) 100vw, 786px" data-high-res-src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/05/Deaths-globally-by-age_2017-data-IHME.png"></figure></div></div><h3 id="child-mortality-achieving-the-global-goal-for-2030-would-be-a-huge-achievement-but-we-are-currently-far-away">Child mortality: achieving the global goal for 2030 would be a huge achievement – but we are currently far away<a class="deep-link" href="#child-mortality-achieving-the-global-goal-for-2030-would-be-a-huge-achievement-but-we-are-currently-far-away"></a></h3><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right">
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<p>Every country in the world agreed to reach the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).<a id="ref-2" class="ref" href="#note-2"><sup>2</sup></a></p>
<p><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://sdg-tracker.org/good-health#3.2" target="_blank">Goal 3.2</a> is to reduce the <span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="child mortality rate" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-child-mortality","excerpt":"Child mortality measures the share of newborns who die before reaching the age of five."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-child-mortality">child mortality rate</a></span> to at least as low as 2.5% in all countries by 2030. This would mean that more than 97.5% of all newborns would survive the first five years of their life no matter where they are born.</p>
<p>We are currently far away from the goal for 2030. Globally 3.9% of all children die before reaching the age of five, which means that on average 15,000 children die every day.<a id="ref-3" class="ref" href="#note-3"><sup>3</sup></a></p>
<p>And the visualization shows that while the child mortality rate declined around the world there are still many countries in which the mortality rate is higher than 2.5%.</p>
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<div><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/exports/child-mortality-2010-vs-2017-slope_v19_850x600.svg" width="850" height="600" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="" alt="Child mortality 2010 vs 2017 slope v19 850x600"></div>
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</div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><h4 id="how-likely-is-it-that-the-world-reaches-sdg-3-2">How likely is it that the world reaches SDG 3.2?<a class="deep-link" href="#how-likely-is-it-that-the-world-reaches-sdg-3-2"></a></h4></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right">
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<p>The visualization shows five scenarios for the 15-year period of the SDG era to answer this question.</p>
<p>Stagnation in child health would mean 100 million child deaths in the SDG era. The number of births in the world is <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/peak-child">expected to stagnate</a> between 2015 and 2030 at around 140 million births per year. If we assume the global child mortality rate to remain at the level it was at the beginning of the SDG era (4.5%) then we would live in a world with 6.3 million child deaths every year – 100 million child deaths until 2030.<a id="ref-4" class="ref" href="#note-4"><sup>4</sup></a></p>
<p>Stagnation, however, is not what global health researchers expect. Based on past trends and levels in 2015 the UN Population Division made projections for the number of births and the mortality rate of children in all countries of the world. According to these projections the number of child deaths will be almost two million lower in 2030 than in a stagnating world: 4.5 million child deaths. This improvement of child health would still mean terrible suffering: 86 million child deaths in the SDG era.</p>
<p>And while these UN projections expect a further improvement of global child health this trajectory would fall short of reaching the SDG. The scenario in green shows what it would mean to reach the SDGs. In this scenario I made a projection in which all countries would reduce child mortality to at least 2.5% and meet goal 3.2.<a id="ref-5" class="ref" href="#note-5"><sup>5</sup></a> Reaching the SDG would mean again almost 2 million fewer child deaths when compared with the UN projections.</p>
<p>Some suggest that the UN goals are set in a way that makes them easy to achieve. The motivation is supposedly that the UN defined goals which are easy to reach so that the international organization looks good after achieving them. This is not true. Just how ambitious the child mortality goal is becomes clear when you see it in historical context: The scenario called ‘US path’ shows what would happen to the global child mortality rate if it would follow the decline of child mortality in the US when the US had a mortality rate of 4.5% (in 1946). And the ‘Western Europe path’ plays out what would happen if the world would follow the path Western Europe took when it was at that level.</p>
<p>The SDG goal is much more ambitious than what the richest regions in the world have achieved when they had the same level of child health.</p>
<p>We know that it is possible to change the world. Two hundred years ago the child mortality rate was extremely high around the world – <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-global-overview">more than 40% of all children died</a>. Since then the child mortality rate has declined more than 10-fold. In ‘<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/much-better-awful-can-be-better">The world is much better; The world is awful; The world can be much better</a>‘ I’ve written about how we can think about the big gap between the current state of the world and what we know is possible and the big gap between the terrible living conditions in the past and the improvements since then. Because we need to further reduce child deaths we are studying the causes of death of children today and how it was possible to improve child health so very substantially in the past in our <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality">entry on child mortality</a>.</p>
<p>We are currently far away from reaching the global goal for child mortality. Achieving it, however, is tremendously important – it would spare millions of families one of the most horrible tragedies anyone can imagine.</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" width="800" height="447" src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/04/Projections-of-u5mr_how-many-children-will-die-800x447.png" alt="Projections of u5mr how many children will die" class="wp-image-23184" srcset="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/04/Projections-of-u5mr_how-many-children-will-die-800x447.png 800w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/04/Projections-of-u5mr_how-many-children-will-die-150x84.png 150w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/04/Projections-of-u5mr_how-many-children-will-die-400x224.png 400w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/04/Projections-of-u5mr_how-many-children-will-die-768x430.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" data-high-res-src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/04/Projections-of-u5mr_how-many-children-will-die.png"></figure>
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<section><div class="section-heading"><div class="wrapper"><div><h2 id="child-mortality-in-the-past">Child mortality in the past<a class="deep-link" href="#child-mortality-in-the-past"></a></h2></div><div class="in-this-section"><div class="label">In this section</div><div class="border"></div></div><ul class="subheadings"><li><a href="#mortality-in-the-past-around-half-died-as-children"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="arrow-down" class="svg-inline--fa fa-arrow-down " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 384 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M374.6 310.6l-160 160C208.4 476.9 200.2 480 192 480s-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375l-160-160c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0L160 370.8V64c0-17.69 14.33-31.1 31.1-31.1S224 46.31 224 64v306.8l105.4-105.4c12.5-12.5 32.75-12.5 45.25 0S387.1 298.1 374.6 310.6z"></path></svg><span>Mortality in the past – around half died as children</span></a></li><li><a href="#child-mortality-around-the-world-since-1800"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="arrow-down" class="svg-inline--fa fa-arrow-down " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 384 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M374.6 310.6l-160 160C208.4 476.9 200.2 480 192 480s-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375l-160-160c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0L160 370.8V64c0-17.69 14.33-31.1 31.1-31.1S224 46.31 224 64v306.8l105.4-105.4c12.5-12.5 32.75-12.5 45.25 0S387.1 298.1 374.6 310.6z"></path></svg><span>Child mortality around the world since 1800</span></a></li><li><a href="#child-mortality-from-the-parents-perspective"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="arrow-down" class="svg-inline--fa fa-arrow-down " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 384 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M374.6 310.6l-160 160C208.4 476.9 200.2 480 192 480s-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375l-160-160c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0L160 370.8V64c0-17.69 14.33-31.1 31.1-31.1S224 46.31 224 64v306.8l105.4-105.4c12.5-12.5 32.75-12.5 45.25 0S387.1 298.1 374.6 310.6z"></path></svg><span>Child mortality from the parents perspective</span></a></li><li><a href="#global-picture-of-child-mortality-from-1800-until-today"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="arrow-down" class="svg-inline--fa fa-arrow-down " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 384 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M374.6 310.6l-160 160C208.4 476.9 200.2 480 192 480s-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375l-160-160c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0L160 370.8V64c0-17.69 14.33-31.1 31.1-31.1S224 46.31 224 64v306.8l105.4-105.4c12.5-12.5 32.75-12.5 45.25 0S387.1 298.1 374.6 310.6z"></path></svg><span>Global picture of child mortality from 1800 until today</span></a></li></ul></div></div><h3 id="mortality-in-the-past-around-half-died-as-children">Mortality in the past – around half died as children<a class="deep-link" href="#mortality-in-the-past-around-half-died-as-children"></a></h3><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>What was the mortality rate in the past? Anthony Volk and Jeremy Atkinson<a id="ref-6" class="ref" href="#note-6"><sup>6</sup></a> set out to answer this question. They brought together quantitative estimates on mortality at a young age from a wide range of geographic locations and cultures, going back many centuries.</p><p>The authors report mortality rates relative to two different age cut-offs:</p><p>– The <i><span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="infant mortality rate" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-infant-mortality","excerpt":"Infant mortality measures the share of newborns who die before reaching one year of age."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-infant-mortality">infant mortality rate</a></span></i> measures the share who died in their first year of life.</p><p>– The <i>youth mortality rate</i> measures the share who died before reaching “approximate sexual maturity at age 15”.<a id="ref-7" class="ref" href="#note-7"><sup>7</sup></a></p></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><h4 id="historical-estimates-of-mortality">Historical estimates of mortality<a class="deep-link" href="#historical-estimates-of-mortality"></a></h4></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right">
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<p>This visualization shows the historical estimates Volk and Atkinson brought together from a large number of different studies. Shown with the blue marks are estimates of the share of newborns that died in the first year of life – the <span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="infant mortality" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-infant-mortality","excerpt":"Infant mortality measures the share of newborns who die before reaching one year of age."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-infant-mortality">infant mortality</a></span> rate. And shown with the red marks you see different estimates of the share that never reached adulthood – what we here refer to as the ‘youth mortality rate’.</p>
<p>Across the entire historical sample the authors found that on average, 26.9% of newborns died in their first year of life and 46.2% died before they reached adulthood. Two estimates that are easy to remember: Around a quarter died in the first year of life. Around half died as children.</p>
<p>What is striking about the historical estimates is how similar the mortality rates for children were across this very wide range of 43 historical cultures. Whether in Ancient Rome; Ancient Greece; the pre-Columbian Americas; Medieval Japan or Medieval England; the European Renaissance; or Imperial China: Every fourth newborn died in the first year of life. One out of two died in childhood.</p>
<p>The available evidence for the mortality rates of children in hunter-gatherer societies and also for our closest relatives – Neanderthals and primates – I <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-in-the-past#additional-information">summarize at the end of this post</a>.</p>
<p>On the very right of the chart you see the statistics on child health in the world today: <a href="https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/topics/topic-details/GHO/child-mortality-and-causes-of-death">The global infant mortality rate is now 2.9%</a>. And 4.6% die before reaching the age of 15.</p>
<p>The global mortality rates over the course of the 20th century are also shown in the chart. Just as recently as 1950 the global mortality rates were five times higher. We have seen a very steep decline during our lifetimes.</p>
<p>The chances of survival for a newborn today are around 10-times higher than the past. But in some countries mortality rates are still much higher than the world average. The country with the highest infant mortality rate is the Central African Republic where close to 9% of all infants die.</p>
<p>The country with the lowest infant mortality rate today is Iceland at 0.16%. The chances of an infant surviving there are 170-times higher than in the past.</p>
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<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" width="800" height="533" src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/06/Mortality-rates-of-children-over-last-two-millennia-800x533.png" alt="Mortality rates of children over last two millennia" class="wp-image-23679" srcset="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/06/Mortality-rates-of-children-over-last-two-millennia-800x533.png 800w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/06/Mortality-rates-of-children-over-last-two-millennia-150x100.png 150w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/06/Mortality-rates-of-children-over-last-two-millennia-400x267.png 400w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/06/Mortality-rates-of-children-over-last-two-millennia-768x512.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" data-high-res-src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/06/Mortality-rates-of-children-over-last-two-millennia.png"></figure></div>
<div class="block-wrapper"><div class="wp-block-owid-prominent-link with-image" data-no-lightbox="true" data-style="is-style-thin" data-title="The youth mortality rate over 2400 years"><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2021/03/Youth-mortality-rates-over-last-two-millennia.png"><figure><img width="768" height="451" src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2021/03/Youth-mortality-rates-over-last-two-millennia-768x451.png" class="attachment-medium_large size-medium_large" alt="Youth mortality rates over last two millennia" loading="lazy" srcset="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2021/03/Youth-mortality-rates-over-last-two-millennia-768x451.png 768w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2021/03/Youth-mortality-rates-over-last-two-millennia-400x235.png 400w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2021/03/Youth-mortality-rates-over-last-two-millennia-800x470.png 800w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2021/03/Youth-mortality-rates-over-last-two-millennia-150x88.png 150w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2021/03/Youth-mortality-rates-over-last-two-millennia-1536x902.png 1536w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2021/03/Youth-mortality-rates-over-last-two-millennia-2048x1202.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" data-high-res-src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2021/03/Youth-mortality-rates-over-last-two-millennia.png"></figure><div class="content-wrapper"><div class="content">
<p>A different version of the chart above that is only showing the share of children who died before they reached the end of puberty.</p>
</div><div class="title"><span>The youth mortality rate over 2400 years</span><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="arrow-right" class="svg-inline--fa fa-arrow-right " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 448 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M438.6 278.6l-160 160C272.4 444.9 264.2 448 256 448s-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25L338.8 288H32C14.33 288 .0016 273.7 .0016 256S14.33 224 32 224h306.8l-105.4-105.4c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0l160 160C451.1 245.9 451.1 266.1 438.6 278.6z"></path></svg></div></div></a></div></div></div>
</div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><h4 id="are-these-high-historical-mortality-rates-plausible">Are these high historical mortality rates plausible?<a class="deep-link" href="#are-these-high-historical-mortality-rates-plausible"></a></h4></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>Even on the basis of many dozen studies we only have some snapshots of the long history of our species. Could they all mislead us to believe that mortality rates were higher than they actually were?</p><p>There is another piece of evidence to consider that suggests the mortality of children was in fact very high in much of humanity’s history: birth rates were high, but population growth was close to zero.</p><p>The <span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="fertility rate" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-fertility-rate","excerpt":"Children per woman is measured as the total fertility rate, which is the number of children that would be born to the average woman if she were to live to the end of her child-bearing years and give birth to children at the current age-specific fertility rates."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-fertility-rate">fertility rate</a></span> was commonly higher than 6 children per woman on average, as we discuss <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/fertility-rate#total-fertility-rate-around-the-world-over-the-last-two-centuries">here</a>. A fertility rate of 4 children per woman would imply a doubling of the population size each generation; a rate of 6 children per woman would imply a tripling from one generation to the next. But instead population barely increased: From 10,000 BCE to 1700 the world population grew by only <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth#world-population-from-10-000-bc-to-today">0.04% annually</a>. A high number of births without a rapid increase of the population can only be explained by one sad reality: a high share of children died before they could have had children themselves.</p><p>Volk and Atkinson also explain that their historical mortality rates “should be viewed as conservative estimates that generally err toward underestimating actual historic rates”. A first reason is that death records were often not produced for children, especially if children died soon after birth. A second reason they cite is that child burial remains, another important source, are often incomplete “due to the more rapid decay of children’s smaller physical remains and the lower frequency of elaborate infant burials”.<a id="ref-8" class="ref" href="#note-8"><sup>8</sup></a></p><p>And lastly, we find that a large number of independent studies for very different societies, locations, and times come to surprisingly similar assessments: all point to very high mortality rates for children. For societies that lived thousands of kilometers away from each other and were separated by thousands of years of history, mortality in childhood was terribly high in all of them. The researchers find that on average a quarter of infants died before their first birthday and half of all children died before they reached puberty.</p></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><h4 id="during-the-last-century-the-global-mortality-at-a-young-age-declined-10-fold">During the last century the global mortality at a young age declined 10-fold<a class="deep-link" href="#during-the-last-century-the-global-mortality-at-a-young-age-declined-10-fold"></a></h4></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right">
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<p>How does the historical data compare with the world today? Globally <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/youth-mortality-rate?tab=chart&time=1990..2017&country=OWID_WRL">95.4%</a> of all children survive the first 15 years of life.</p>
<p>This is a dramatic change from the past. As we’ve seen above: The research suggests that in our long history the chances for a child to survive were about fifty-fifty.</p>
<p>The map shows the mortality up to the age of 15 in every country today. By clicking on any country in this map you see the change over time. You will find that the mortality rate declined in every country around the world.</p>
<p>But you also see that in some parts of the world, youth mortality is still very common. Somalia – on the Horn of Africa – is the country with the highest rate at 14.8%.</p>
<p>And the map also shows the regions with the best health. In the richest parts of the world deaths of children became very rare. In Iceland, the country with the lowest youth mortality, the chances a child survives their first 15 years of life are 99.71%.</p>
<p>The second metric we studied above was the infant mortality rate in the first year of life. Across the historical societies this rate was around a quarter; the global rate today is 2.9%. In <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/infant-mortality">our map for infant mortality</a> you find the data for every country in the the world.</p>
<p>Today’s mortality rates of children are still <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/much-better-awful-can-be-better">unacceptably high</a>, but the progress that humanity has achieved is substantial. Our ancestors could have surely not imagined what is reality today. And for me this progress is one of the greatest achievements of humanity.</p>
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<div><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/exports/youth-mortality-rate_v12_850x600.svg" width="850" height="600" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="" alt="Youth mortality rate v12 850x600"></div>
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</div><div class="block-wrapper" data-reactroot=""><div data-variation="full-width" data-default-open="true" class="wp-block-owid-additional-information open"><h3 data-track-note="additional-information-toggle"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="angle-right" class="svg-inline--fa fa-angle-right " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 256 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M64 448c-8.188 0-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25L178.8 256L41.38 118.6c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0l160 160c12.5 12.5 12.5 32.75 0 45.25l-160 160C80.38 444.9 72.19 448 64 448z"></path></svg>Additional information</h3><div style="height:auto;overflow:visible" aria-hidden="false" class="rah-static rah-static--height-auto"><div style="transition:opacity 250ms ease 0ms;-webkit-transition:opacity 250ms ease 0ms"><div class="content">
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<h4>Mortality at young ages in hunter gatherer societies</h4>
<p>The historical record the authors investigated goes back 2500 years. What about prehistory when our ancestors lived as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter-gatherer">hunter-gatherers</a>?</p>
<p>Good evidence here is much harder to come by. To study mortality at a young age in prehistoric societies the researchers need to mostly rely on evidence from modern hunter-gatherers. Here, one needs to be cautious of how reflective modern societies are of the past. This is because recent hunter-gatherers might have been in exchange with surrounding societies and “often currently live in marginalized territories”, as the authors say. Both of these could matter for mortality levels.</p>
<p>To account for this, Volk and Atkinson have attempted to only include hunter-gatherers that are best representative for the living conditions in the past; they limited their sample “only to those populations that had not been significantly influenced by contact with modern resources that could directly influence mortality rates, such as education, food, medicine, birth control, and/or sanitation.”</p>
<p>Again, the researchers find very similar mortality rates across their sample of 20 different studies on hunter-gatherer societies from very different locations: The average infant mortality rate (younger than 1) was 26.8% and the average mortality before puberty, 48.8%. Almost exactly the same as the historical sample discussed above.</p>
<p>All but one of these studied societies are modern hunter-gatherers. The one study on mortality rates of paleolithic hunter-gatherers investigates the famous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Knoll">Indian Knoll</a> archaeological site from around 2,500 BCE, located in today’s area of Kentucky.<a id="ref-9" class="ref" href="#note-9"><sup>9</sup></a></p>
<p> For this community the estimates suggest that mortality at a young age was even higher than the average for modern-day hunter-gatherers: 30% died in their first year of life, and 56% did not survive to puberty.</p>
<h4>Neanderthals and primates – the mortality of our closest relatives</h4>
<p>Going beyond our own species (homo sapiens), researchers have also attempted to measure the mortality rates at young ages for our closest relatives.</p>
<p>Studies that focussed on the Neanderthals, our very closest relatives who lived within Eurasia from circa 400,000 until 40,000 years ago, suggest that they suffered infant mortality rates similar to our species before modernization: it is estimated that around 28% died in the first year of life.<a id="ref-10" class="ref" href="#note-10"><sup>10</sup></a></p>
<p>Atkinson and Volk also compared human <span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="child mortality" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-child-mortality","excerpt":"Child mortality measures the share of newborns who die before reaching the age of five."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-child-mortality">child mortality</a></span> rates across species with other primates. Bringing together many different sources the authors find the mortality rates of young chimpanzees and gorillas to be similar to the mortality rates of humans of the past, while other primates differ: orangutans and bonobos appear to have somewhat lower mortality rates and baboons, macaques, colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, lemurs and other primates suffer from higher mortality rates.</p>
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</div></div></div></div></div><h3 id="child-mortality-around-the-world-since-1800">Child mortality around the world since 1800<a class="deep-link" href="#child-mortality-around-the-world-since-1800"></a></h3><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><h4 id="global-child-mortality-since-1800">Global child mortality since 1800<a class="deep-link" href="#global-child-mortality-since-1800"></a></h4></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>Since the beginning of the age of the Enlightenment the mortality of children has declined rapidly. Child mortality in rich countries today is much lower than 1%. This is a very recent development and was only reached after a hundredfold decline in child mortality in these countries. In early-modern times, child mortality was very high; in 18th century Sweden every third child died, and in 19th century Germany every second child died. With declining poverty and increasing knowledge and service in the health sector, child mortality around the world is declining very rapidly: Global child mortality fell from 19% in 1960 to just below 4% in 2017; while 4% is still too high, this is a substantial achievement.</p><p>One reason why we do not hear about how global living conditions are improving in the media is that these are the slow processes that never make the headlines: A century ago every third child died before it was five years old, almost a century later the <span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="child mortality rate" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-child-mortality","excerpt":"Child mortality measures the share of newborns who die before reaching the age of five."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-child-mortality">child mortality rate</a></span> has fallen to 4%. We will not learn about this development from the news as such a slow development is never fast enough to make a headline. The headline that could have been published on every average day in the last century is “The global child mortality rate fell by 0.0008 percentage points since yesterday”.<a id="ref-11" class="ref" href="#note-11"><sup>11</sup></a></p><p>Big countries like Brazil and China reduced their child mortality rates 10-fold over the last 4 decades. Other countries – especially in Africa – still have high child mortality rates, but it’s not true that these countries are not making progress. In Sub-Saharan Africa, child mortality has been continuously falling for the last 50 years (1 in 4 children died in the early 60s – today it is less than 1 in 10). Over the last decade this improvement has been happening faster than ever before. Rising prosperity, rising education and the spread of health care around the globe are the major drivers of this progress.</p></div><div class="wp-block-column"><figure data-grapher-src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-child-mortality-timeseries" class="grapherPreview">
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</figure></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><h4 id="from-commonplace-to-rarer-tragedy-declining-child-mortality-across-the-world">From commonplace to rarer tragedy – declining child mortality across the world<a class="deep-link" href="#from-commonplace-to-rarer-tragedy-declining-child-mortality-across-the-world"></a></h4></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>There are few events more tragic than the loss of a child. It’s therefore hard to grasp just how common child deaths were for almost all of our history.</p><p>In the map here we’ve visualized the estimated child mortality rate – the share of children (born alive) who died before reaching their 5th birthday – in 1800, 1950 and 2015.</p><p><strong>1800</strong>: Demographic research suggests that through to at least the year 1800 more than one-third of children failed to reach the age of five. Despite estimates in 1800 coming with substantial uncertainty, it’s expected that in some countries rates could have been as high as every 2nd child. Let’s think about what this meant for parents of this period. The average woman in 1800 <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://ourworldindata.org/fertility-rate#total-fertility-rate-around-the-world-over-the-last-two-centuries" target="_blank">had between 5 to 7 children</a>.<a id="ref-12" class="ref" href="#note-12"><sup>12</sup></a></p><p>Parents probably <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality#how-many-children-did-a-woman-give-birth-to-that-died-before-their-5th-birthday" target="_blank">lost 2 or 3 of their children</a> in the first few years of life. Such loss was not a rare occurrence but the norm for most people across the world.</p><p><strong>1950</strong>: By 1950, the outlook has changed dramatically — but only for some. For the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/entries/economic-growth">richest countries</a> at the time — across Europe, Australasia, North America, and some parts of South America — child mortality had fallen to less than 5 percent (1-in-20). The <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://ourworldindata.org/fertility-rate#total-fertility-rate-around-the-world-over-the-last-two-centuries" target="_blank">fertility rate</a> across these countries had also fallen to around 2 to 3 children per woman. Major improvements in living standards, medical knowledge and care, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/hunger-and-undernourishment">nutrition</a>, water and sanitation, and treatment of disease had transformed outcomes for mothers and children. For the first time in millennia, most parents would not lose a child. Child mortality was still fairly common, but no longer the norm.</p><p>But 1950 was also a divided world. Child mortality rates across the rest of the world were still unimaginably high. With one-in-three children (sometimes higher) dying in their first few years, most parents across Africa, Asia and much of South America were probably still losing several children.</p><p><strong>2015</strong>: If we fast-forward to 2015 we see how far the world has progressed. Child mortality continued to fall across Europe, North America and Australasia; in 2015 around 1-in-200 children died before their 5th birthday. But the rest of the world has also seen dramatic improvements. Many countries across South America, Asia and Africa have reduced child mortality to 1 to 2 percent (between 1-in-50 and 1-in-100). China reduced child deaths from 1-in-3 to 1-in-100; India from 1-in-4 to 1-in-20; Kenya from 1-in-3 to 1-in-20; and Tanzania from greater than 1-in-3 (40 percent) to 1-in-20. The countries where child mortality is highest today have comparable rates to many countries across Europe in 1950.</p><p>Many of us <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/wrong-about-the-world">are not aware</a> that child mortality has declined substantially <em>everywhere</em> and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.gapminder.org/factfulness-book/" target="_blank">still imagine the divided world</a> as it was in 1950. A divided world where progress in the richest countries was dynamic, but static and persistently bad elsewhere.</p><p>As the chart shows, substantial declines in child mortality have occurred across <em>all</em> regions. Average rates in Africa are now lower than the European average in 1950.</p><ul><li>global rates fell five-fold from 22.5 percent to 4.5 percent;</li><li>European rates from 11 to 0.6 percent;</li><li>North American rates from 3.8 to 0.6 percent;</li><li>Oceania rates from 9 to 2.5 percent;</li><li>Latin American rates almost ten-fold from 20 to 2.4 percent;</li><li>Asian rates from 1-in-4 children (25 percent) to below 1-in-20 (3.5 percent);</li><li>African rates from 1-in-3 children (32 percent) to below 1-in-12 (8 percent).</li></ul><p>The frequency of child deaths today (as high as 1-in-7 in the handful of poorest cases) is still tragically high. We must do better. But we also know that we can do better. History has shown that no country is an exception to this.</p></div><div class="wp-block-column"><figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="3000" height="4296" src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/10/3-maps-of-Child-mortality.png" alt="3 maps of child mortality" class="wp-image-23348" srcset="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/10/3-maps-of-Child-mortality.png 3000w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/10/3-maps-of-Child-mortality-105x150.png 105w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/10/3-maps-of-Child-mortality-279x400.png 279w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/10/3-maps-of-Child-mortality-768x1100.png 768w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/10/3-maps-of-Child-mortality-384x550.png 384w" sizes="(max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px" data-high-res-src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/10/3-maps-of-Child-mortality.png"><figcaption>[<em>Clicking on the visualization will open it in higher resolution</em>]. </figcaption></figure><figure data-grapher-src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/child-mortality-around-the-world" class="grapherPreview">
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</figure></div></div><h3 id="child-mortality-from-the-parents-perspective">Child mortality from the parents perspective<a class="deep-link" href="#child-mortality-from-the-parents-perspective"></a></h3><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><h4 id="how-common-was-it-was-for-parents-to-lose-a-child">How common was it was for parents to lose a child?<a class="deep-link" href="#how-common-was-it-was-for-parents-to-lose-a-child"></a></h4></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right">
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</div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><h4 id="conclusion">Conclusion<a class="deep-link" href="#conclusion"></a></h4></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>The experience of Mary and John Evelyn, and Elizabeth Duncombe and her husband William Brownlow are heartbreaking, but in our long past seeing children die was part of almost all parents’ experience and often not only once.</p><p>When I write about child mortality some commentators respond by speculating that in times and places where many children die the loss of a child does not hurt parents as much. The mortality that these two couples experienced was higher than the average – which was likely between two and four dead children – and show that parents did not, in any circumstances, find it bearable to lose a child. There is no reason to suppose – no evidence anywhere, including that of common sense – that parents were ever, at any point in the past, indifferent to the happiness and well-being of their children.</p><p>Losing a child has always been terrible for parents, whether it was as common as it was in the past or much rarer as it is today.</p></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><h3 id="global-picture-of-child-mortality-from-1800-until-today">Global picture of child mortality from 1800 until today<a class="deep-link" href="#global-picture-of-child-mortality-from-1800-until-today"></a></h3><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>The chart shows the child mortality rate for the entire world population at 4 different points in time.</p><p><em><strong>How to read the following graph:</strong> On the x-axis you find the cumulative share of the world population. The countries are ordered along the x-axis descending by the country’s child mortality rate. This makes it possible to see the child mortality rate for each country. Some countries are labelled, but not all. It is also possible to see which share of the world population had a child mortality rate lower than a given level. For the orange line – referring to data from 1950-60 – we see that close to 70% of the world population have a child mortality rate of higher than 10% back then.<br></em></p><p>For 1800 (red line), you see that the countries on the very left – Yemen, India, and others that are not labelled – had a child mortality rate higher than 50%. Every second child died before the age of 5. On the very right of the red line you see that in 1800 the best-off countries in the world had a child mortality rate higher than 30%: Every third child died in the countries with the <em>best</em> health.</p><p>Looking at the orange line, you see that in the following 150 years some countries substantially reduced their child mortality rate: 30% of the world population has a child mortality under 10%. Other countries were stuck in poor health: More than half of the world (57%) had child mortality that were still higher than 20%. The world was clearly divided into developed and developing countries. The rapid progress of the industrialized countries had the consequence that the distribution of global health was hugely unequal.</p><p>The latest data refers to 2013. Global health has improved hugely. Particularly those countries that had the worst health in the 1950s experienced the most dramatic improvements. China for example reduced its child mortality from 28.4% to now 1.3%. The consequence of the faster progress in former developing countries is that global health inequality has fallen since the 1950s.</p><p>The global average child mortality rate (weighted population) was 43.3% in 1800 and now fell to 3.4%. Focusing at global inequality we see that in 1800 health was bad around the world, in the 1950s the world became unequal, and today we are back to higher equality but on a much higher level.</p><p>Comparing the position of countries on the red, orange, green and blue lines also makes it possible to see the change in a single countries: In 1800 every second child in South Korea died, in the 1950s the rate was halved (26%), and today it is down to 2.7%.</p></div><div class="wp-block-column"><h6>World population by level of child mortality over time, 1800-2013<a id="ref-13" class="ref" href="#note-13"><sup>13</sup></a></h6><div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" width="750" height="525" src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/05/ourworldindata_world-population-by-level-of-child-mortality-750x525.png" alt="World population by level of fertility over time, 1950-2050 – Max Roser" class="wp-image-5568" srcset="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/05/ourworldindata_world-population-by-level-of-child-mortality-750x525.png 750w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/05/ourworldindata_world-population-by-level-of-child-mortality-150x105.png 150w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/05/ourworldindata_world-population-by-level-of-child-mortality-400x280.png 400w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" data-high-res-src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/05/ourworldindata_world-population-by-level-of-child-mortality.png"></figure></div></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><h4 id="catch-up-improvements-in-child-mortality">Catch-up improvements in child mortality<a class="deep-link" href="#catch-up-improvements-in-child-mortality"></a></h4></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>In the chart we compare the period over which it took a range of countries to reduce child mortality from one-third (1-in-3) of children dying before their 5th birthday, down to 1-in-20 (5%). Also noted here is the start and end date by which this was achieved.<a id="ref-14" class="ref" href="#note-14"><sup>14</sup></a></p><p>Here we see that countries which industrialized rapidly during the 19th century (many countries across Europe), it took more than century (as high as 148 years in the case of the UK) for child mortality to fall from 1-in-3 to 1-in-20. If we look at countries who achieved this in the late 20th or early 21st century, we see that this reduction was much faster. Many (across all regions) achieved this in under 50 years. South Korea achieved it in only 25 years.</p><p>Whilst progress may at times seem persistently slow, we see that fast catch-up improvements are possible. What it took today’s rich countries centuries to achieve, many are now achieving within decades.</p></div><div class="wp-block-column"><div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" width="12502" height="9990" src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/07/Child-mortality-catch-up-improvement.png" alt="Child mortality catch up improvement" class="wp-image-19517" srcset="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/07/Child-mortality-catch-up-improvement.png 12502w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/07/Child-mortality-catch-up-improvement-150x120.png 150w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/07/Child-mortality-catch-up-improvement-400x320.png 400w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/07/Child-mortality-catch-up-improvement-768x614.png 768w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/07/Child-mortality-catch-up-improvement-688x550.png 688w" sizes="(max-width: 12502px) 100vw, 12502px" data-high-res-src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/07/Child-mortality-catch-up-improvement.png"></figure></div></div></div></section>
<section><div class="section-heading"><div class="wrapper"><div><h2 id="where-and-why-do-children-die-today">Where and why do children die today<a class="deep-link" href="#where-and-why-do-children-die-today"></a></h2></div><div class="in-this-section"><div class="label">In this section</div><div class="border"></div></div><ul class="subheadings"><li><a href="#where-in-the-world-are-children-dying"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="arrow-down" class="svg-inline--fa fa-arrow-down " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 384 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M374.6 310.6l-160 160C208.4 476.9 200.2 480 192 480s-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375l-160-160c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0L160 370.8V64c0-17.69 14.33-31.1 31.1-31.1S224 46.31 224 64v306.8l105.4-105.4c12.5-12.5 32.75-12.5 45.25 0S387.1 298.1 374.6 310.6z"></path></svg><span>Where in the world are children dying?</span></a></li><li><a href="#what-are-children-dying-from"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="arrow-down" class="svg-inline--fa fa-arrow-down " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 384 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M374.6 310.6l-160 160C208.4 476.9 200.2 480 192 480s-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375l-160-160c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0L160 370.8V64c0-17.69 14.33-31.1 31.1-31.1S224 46.31 224 64v306.8l105.4-105.4c12.5-12.5 32.75-12.5 45.25 0S387.1 298.1 374.6 310.6z"></path></svg><span>What are children dying from?</span></a></li></ul></div></div><h3 id="where-in-the-world-are-children-dying">Where in the world are children dying?<a class="deep-link" href="#where-in-the-world-are-children-dying"></a></h3><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>5.4 million children under five years old died in 2017. The fact that in those countries with the best health, <span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="child mortality" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-child-mortality","excerpt":"Child mortality measures the share of newborns who die before reaching the age of five."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-child-mortality">child mortality</a></span> rates are 10-times lower than the global average <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/much-better-awful-can-be-better">suggests</a> that most of these child deaths are preventable.</p><p>To reduce the number of children dying we need to know two things: where they’re dying and <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality#child-mortality-by-cause-of-death">what they’re dying from</a>. Here we take a look at the first question: where in the world are children dying?</p><p>We mapped the global distribution of child deaths in the somewhat unusual visualization. This type of visualization is called a <a href="https://datavizcatalogue.com/methods/treemap.html">treemap</a>. Each rectangle’s size corresponds to the number of child deaths in a particular region.</p><p>The treemap shows the distribution of child deaths in 1990 and 2017:</p><ul><li>The number of child deaths declined in all but 14 countries from 1990 to 2017: for these countries, the outer box represents 1990 and inner box marks 2017.</li><li>There are 14 countries where the number of child deaths increased: in this case only a single box is shown, representing deaths in 2017.<a id="ref-15" class="ref" href="#note-15"><sup>15</sup></a></li></ul><p>At a time during which the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth#how-many-people-die-and-how-many-children-are-born-every-year">number of births increased</a> globally, the number of child deaths fell. In 1990, 12.6 million under-5s died; this <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/global-child-deaths-have-halved-since-1990">more than halved to 5.4 million</a> until 2017. Every world region also saw a decline.</p><p>Some countries have achieved a dramatic reduction:</p><ul><li>In India, the number of child deaths fell from 3.4 million to one million;</li><li>In China it fell nine-fold from 1.4 million to less than 160,000;</li><li>In Bangladesh more than five-fold from over 500,000 to 100,000;</li><li>In Ethiopia from 439,000 to 189,000;</li><li>And in Brazil from 235,000 to 43,000.<a id="ref-16" class="ref" href="#note-16"><sup>16</sup></a></li></ul><p>But, some of the countries which have seen the greatest progress are still those where most children are dying today. India has suffered the most child deaths: one million in 2017. This was followed by Nigeria (714,000); Pakistan (400,000); the Democratic Republic of Congo (300,000); Ethiopia (189,000); and China (156,000).</p><p>The total number of children dying depends on two factors: the likelihood a newborn will die in the first years of life and the number of children born. Countries where the most children die are not necessarily those where a child’s chances of dying are highest. <strong><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/child-mortality-igme">Here</a></strong> is the map of the mortality rate of children. India has a <span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="child mortality rate" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-child-mortality","excerpt":"Child mortality measures the share of newborns who die before reaching the age of five."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-child-mortality">child mortality rate</a></span> of around 4% – the same as the global <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/child-mortality-igme?tab=chart&country=IND+OWID_WRL">average</a> – and three times lower than <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/child-mortality-igme">some of the highest countries in the world</a>. But it has, by far, the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/population-under-five-years-old">largest number of children under five years old</a>.</p><p>This matters for the possibility to make progress in the future. India – for example – doesn’t only have a falling child mortality rate, but has also passed ‘<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/peak-child">peak child</a>’. The number of children under five years old <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/indias-population-growth-will-come-to-an-end">has already peaked</a> and is now falling: in the coming decades, its <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/change-in-under-5s-2015-to-2050">under-5 population will decline</a>. Fewer children and a lower likelihood of child mortality means we’d expect the total number of children dying in India to fall quickly.</p><p>Our concern will then turn towards countries where the chances of child mortality is high, and the number of births increasing. Countries where children are <em><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/child-mortality-igme">most likely to die</a></em> – Somalia, Chad, Central African Republic, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Mali – will all have an <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/change-in-under-5s-2015-to-2050">increasing number of children</a> in the coming decades. Progress on reducing child deaths will here therefore become a race between declining child mortality rates and an increasing number of children.</p><p>But the two runners in the race are not independent: <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/fertility-rate#increasing-well-being-and-status-of-children">one of the reasons</a> couples have many children is because they do – or expect to – lose some of them early in life. Our progress on reducing child deaths can therefore be amplified if falling child mortality leads to falling <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/fertility-rate">fertility rates</a>.</p><p>We know that most child deaths today are preventable. They result from causes we know we can tackle. How do we know this? Because we already averted many millions of child deaths in the past few decades. Between 1990 and 2017 the number of children dying each year fell by 7.2 million. By stopping those we know are preventable, we <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/much-better-awful-can-be-better">could save at least another 5 million children</a> every year. We can reach a world with many fewer child deaths than ever <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-in-the-past">before</a>.</p></div><div class="wp-block-column"><div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" width="657" height="550" src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/06/Child-deaths-treemap-657x550.png" alt="Child deaths treemap" class="wp-image-23724" srcset="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/06/Child-deaths-treemap-657x550.png 657w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/06/Child-deaths-treemap-150x126.png 150w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/06/Child-deaths-treemap-400x335.png 400w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/06/Child-deaths-treemap-768x643.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 657px) 100vw, 657px" data-high-res-src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/06/Child-deaths-treemap.png"></figure></div></div></div><h3 id="what-are-children-dying-from">What are children dying from?<a class="deep-link" href="#what-are-children-dying-from"></a></h3><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><h4 id="the-leading-causes-of-child-death-globally">The leading causes of child death – globally<a class="deep-link" href="#the-leading-causes-of-child-death-globally"></a></h4></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right">
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<p>In the chart presented here we see the major causes of death of children under 5 in 2017 compared to 1990. This type of chart is called a treemap, where the area of each box represents the total number of child deaths for each specific cause. The total colored area represents the total number of child deaths in 1990: 11.8 million children died back then, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.<a id="ref-17" class="ref" href="#note-17"><sup>17</sup></a></p>
<p>As the treemap shows, the boxes representing the numbers for child deaths in 2017 are almost always smaller – reflecting the fact that deaths from almost all causes have fallen significantly.<a id="ref-18" class="ref" href="#note-18"><sup>18</sup></a></p>
<p>There are two major exceptions: the number of <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/hiv-aids#hiv-aids-deaths-by-age-group">deaths from AIDS</a> and the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/child-deaths-from-invasive-non-typhoidal-salmonella">deaths caused by invasive non-typhoidal salmonella</a> (iNTS) has increased. Although those numbers were higher in 2017 than 1990, the deaths from both causes have been decreasing since their peak in 2005.</p>
<p>While the total number of child deaths has more than halved from 11.8 million in 1990 to 5.4 million in 2017, the major causes of child deaths have largely remained the same.</p>
<h4 id="15-of-all-child-deaths-in-2017-pneumonia-and-other-lower-respiratory-diseases">15% of all child deaths in 2017 – Pneumonia and other lower respiratory diseases<a class="deep-link" href="#15-of-all-child-deaths-in-2017-pneumonia-and-other-lower-respiratory-diseases"></a></h4>
<p>Almost every seventh child who died in 2017 died of a lower respiratory infection (LRI), which has remained the leading cause of mortality over the past three decades. Pneumonia is the leading LRI. It is caused primarily by bacterial infections.<a id="ref-19" class="ref" href="#note-19"><sup>19</sup></a></p>
<h4 id="12-of-deaths-preterm-births-and-neonatal-disorders">12% of deaths – Preterm births and neonatal disorders<a class="deep-link" href="#12-of-deaths-preterm-births-and-neonatal-disorders"></a></h4>
<p>When we talk about child mortality we usually refer to mortality of children under the age of 5. But of all children who die, most do not come close to their fifth birthday: the younger a child is, the higher the risk of mortality. Three times as many children die in the first year of their lives than in the next four years. And the majority of children who die in their first year <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/child-deaths-by-life-stage">die in the neonatal period</a>, the first 27 days after birth.</p>
<p>Premature birth (being born before the 37th week of gestation) is one of the major determinants of <span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="neonatal mortality" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-neonatal-mortality","excerpt":"Neonatal mortality measures the share of newborns who die before reaching 28 days of age."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-neonatal-mortality">neonatal mortality</a></span> and therefore complications arising from preterm birth are usually grouped with the neonatal disorders, as we did in our chart.<a id="ref-20" class="ref" href="#note-20"><sup>20</sup></a></p>
<p>Children born prematurely are at high risk of having birth injuries, underdeveloped organ failures, and attracting infectious diseases.<a id="ref-21" class="ref" href="#note-21"><sup>21</sup></a></p>
<h4 id="10-of-deaths-diarrheal-diseases">10% of deaths – Diarrheal diseases<a class="deep-link" href="#10-of-deaths-diarrheal-diseases"></a></h4>
<p>Every tenth child that died in 2017 died because of some diarrheal disease – rotavirus infection, cholera, shigellosis and other infectious diseases that result in diarrhea. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that diarrheal diseases are <em>“both treatable and preventable”.</em><a id="ref-22" class="ref" href="#note-22"><sup>22</sup></a></p>
<p>Clearly, the fact that diarrheal diseases are the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/causes-of-death-in-under-5s">third leading cause</a> of child mortality is simply inexcusable. As we will discuss in another post in this series, an increased coverage of oral rehydration therapy – an incredibly simple treatment for diarrhea – could help to prevent many of these deaths.</p>
<h4 id="9-of-deaths-congenital-defects">9% of deaths – Congenital defects<a class="deep-link" href="#9-of-deaths-congenital-defects"></a></h4>
<p>While classed separately from neonatal disorders, congenital birth defects are significant contributors to <span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="infant mortality" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-infant-mortality","excerpt":"Infant mortality measures the share of newborns who die before reaching one year of age."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-infant-mortality">infant mortality</a></span> as well.<a id="ref-23" class="ref" href="#note-23"><sup>23</sup></a> Congenital defects are defined as physical or genetic abnormalities present at birth and include neural tube defects, heart defects, Down syndrome, microcephaly and others.</p>
<h4 id="45-of-deaths-infectious-diseases">45% of deaths – Infectious diseases<a class="deep-link" href="#45-of-deaths-infectious-diseases"></a></h4>
<p>Infectious diseases have always been one of the major causes of child deaths, but the success of vaccination campaigns and antibiotic availability <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/vaccine-preventable-diseases">has done a great deal</a> to reduce mortality from infectious diseases. <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/measles-vaccine-coverage-worldwide-vs-measles-cases-worldwide">Measles vaccination</a> is a perfect example: the number of measles cases has shrunk by 86% since 1990. The WHO has estimated that between 2000 and 2017 measles vaccination has prevented 21.1 million deaths across Africa.<a id="ref-24" class="ref" href="#note-24"><sup>24</sup></a></p>
<p>Today we also have vaccines available for tuberculosis, meningitis, hepatitis, and whooping cough. The best way to protect children against <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/malaria">malaria</a> today is to <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/malaria-net-results">provide insecticide treated bednets</a>, but a new malaria vaccine implementation program is also underway. <a id="ref-25" class="ref" href="#note-25"><sup>25</sup></a></p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" width="770" height="550" src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/11/Child-deaths-by-cause-1990-to-2017-IHME-01-770x550.png" alt="Child deaths by cause 1990 to 2017 ihme 01" class="wp-image-27990" srcset="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/11/Child-deaths-by-cause-1990-to-2017-IHME-01-770x550.png 770w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/11/Child-deaths-by-cause-1990-to-2017-IHME-01-150x107.png 150w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/11/Child-deaths-by-cause-1990-to-2017-IHME-01-400x286.png 400w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/11/Child-deaths-by-cause-1990-to-2017-IHME-01-768x548.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-high-res-src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/11/Child-deaths-by-cause-1990-to-2017-IHME-01.png"></figure>
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</div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><h4 id="the-leading-causes-of-death-over-time">The leading causes of death over time<a class="deep-link" href="#the-leading-causes-of-death-over-time"></a></h4></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>The chart shows the annual change in the number of <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-child-deaths-by-cause">child deaths from leading causes</a> from 1990 onwards. Note that you can view this data for any country using the “change country” button on the interactive chart.</p><p>Here we see a dramatic decline in deaths from several causes: lower respiratory infections (pneumonia); preterm birth complications; and diarrheal diseases saw dramatic declines globally in recent decades. Vaccine coverage also saw a dramatic decline in deaths from measles.</p><p>Child deaths from malaria and HIV/AIDS increased over the 1990s and into the 21st century. However, more effective prevention for malaria in the form of bednets; and progress on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMCT) means these are now also in decline.</p></div><div class="wp-block-column"><figure data-grapher-src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/causes-of-death-in-children" class="grapherPreview">
<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/causes-of-death-in-children" target="_blank">
<div><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/exports/causes-of-death-in-children_v21_850x600.svg" width="850" height="600" loading="lazy" data-no-lightbox="" alt="Causes of death in children v21 850x600"></div>
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<section><div class="section-heading"><div class="wrapper"><div><h2 id="the-major-causes-of-child-mortality">The major causes of child mortality<a class="deep-link" href="#the-major-causes-of-child-mortality"></a></h2></div></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>In the following sections we take a closer look at the leading causes of <span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="child mortality" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-child-mortality","excerpt":"Child mortality measures the share of newborns who die before reaching the age of five."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-child-mortality">child mortality</a></span> one-by-one. In doing so, we also try to understand how can we reduce the number of children dying from each cause using treatments and interventions which are already available at our disposal.</p></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div></section>
<section><div class="section-heading"><div class="wrapper"><div><h2 id="pneumonia">Pneumonia<a class="deep-link" href="#pneumonia"></a></h2></div><div class="in-this-section"><div class="label">In this section</div><div class="border"></div></div><ul class="subheadings"><li><a href="#pneumonia-is-the-leading-cause-of-child-mortality"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="arrow-down" class="svg-inline--fa fa-arrow-down " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 384 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M374.6 310.6l-160 160C208.4 476.9 200.2 480 192 480s-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375l-160-160c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0L160 370.8V64c0-17.69 14.33-31.1 31.1-31.1S224 46.31 224 64v306.8l105.4-105.4c12.5-12.5 32.75-12.5 45.25 0S387.1 298.1 374.6 310.6z"></path></svg><span>Pneumonia is the leading cause of child mortality</span></a></li><li><a href="#where-are-children-dying-from-pneumonia"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="arrow-down" class="svg-inline--fa fa-arrow-down " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 384 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M374.6 310.6l-160 160C208.4 476.9 200.2 480 192 480s-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375l-160-160c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0L160 370.8V64c0-17.69 14.33-31.1 31.1-31.1S224 46.31 224 64v306.8l105.4-105.4c12.5-12.5 32.75-12.5 45.25 0S387.1 298.1 374.6 310.6z"></path></svg><span>Where are children dying from pneumonia?</span></a></li><li><a href="#why-are-children-still-getting-pneumonia"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="arrow-down" class="svg-inline--fa fa-arrow-down " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 384 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M374.6 310.6l-160 160C208.4 476.9 200.2 480 192 480s-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375l-160-160c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0L160 370.8V64c0-17.69 14.33-31.1 31.1-31.1S224 46.31 224 64v306.8l105.4-105.4c12.5-12.5 32.75-12.5 45.25 0S387.1 298.1 374.6 310.6z"></path></svg><span>Why are children still getting pneumonia?</span></a></li><li><a href="#how-can-we-reduce-the-number-of-children-dying-from-pneumonia"><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="arrow-down" class="svg-inline--fa fa-arrow-down " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 384 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M374.6 310.6l-160 160C208.4 476.9 200.2 480 192 480s-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375l-160-160c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0L160 370.8V64c0-17.69 14.33-31.1 31.1-31.1S224 46.31 224 64v306.8l105.4-105.4c12.5-12.5 32.75-12.5 45.25 0S387.1 298.1 374.6 310.6z"></path></svg><span>How can we reduce the number of children dying from pneumonia?</span></a></li></ul></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><div class="block-wrapper"><div class="wp-block-owid-prominent-link with-image" data-no-lightbox="true" data-style="is-style-default" data-title="More about pneumonia"><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/pneumonia"><h3><span>More about pneumonia</span><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fas" data-icon="arrow-right" class="svg-inline--fa fa-arrow-right " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 448 512"><path fill="currentColor" d="M438.6 278.6l-160 160C272.4 444.9 264.2 448 256 448s-16.38-3.125-22.62-9.375c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25L338.8 288H32C14.33 288 .0016 273.7 .0016 256S14.33 224 32 224h306.8l-105.4-105.4c-12.5-12.5-12.5-32.75 0-45.25s32.75-12.5 45.25 0l160 160C451.1 245.9 451.1 266.1 438.6 278.6z"></path></svg></h3><div class="content-wrapper"><figure><img width="768" height="542" src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/11/pneumonia-death-rates-age-standardized-768x542.png" class="attachment-medium_large size-medium_large" alt="Pneumonia death rates age standardized" loading="lazy" srcset="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/11/pneumonia-death-rates-age-standardized-768x542.png 768w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/11/pneumonia-death-rates-age-standardized-400x282.png 400w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/11/pneumonia-death-rates-age-standardized-779x550.png 779w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/11/pneumonia-death-rates-age-standardized-150x106.png 150w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/11/pneumonia-death-rates-age-standardized-1536x1084.png 1536w, https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/11/pneumonia-death-rates-age-standardized-2048x1446.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" data-high-res-src="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/11/pneumonia-death-rates-age-standardized.png"></figure><div class="content">
<p>The section below only discusses pneumonia in the context of child mortality. You can find a more in-depth look at the global burden of pneumonia, its causes and treatments in our pneumonia entry. </p>
</div></div></a></div></div></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><h3 id="pneumonia-is-the-leading-cause-of-child-mortality">Pneumonia is the leading cause of child mortality<a class="deep-link" href="#pneumonia-is-the-leading-cause-of-child-mortality"></a></h3><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>In the visualization here we see the global number of deaths from pneumonia<a id="ref-26" class="ref" href="#note-26"><sup>26</sup></a> by age group.</p><p>15% of all <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality">child deaths</a> in 2017 were caused by pneumonia and it is therefore the leading cause of death of children (see our discussion <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality#what-are-children-dying-from">here</a>).</p><p>The number of children dying from pneumonia has decreased substantially over the past three decades. In 1990, more than two million children died from pneumonia every year. By 2017, this number had fallen by almost two-thirds. </p><p>Improvements in the major risk factors such as <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/hunger-and-undernourishment#too-little-weight-for-height-wasting">childhood wasting</a>, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/air-pollution">air pollution</a>, and <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/death-rate-from-unsafe-sanitation">poor sanitation</a>, falling <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty">global poverty</a>, and a better availability of health technology such as pneumococcal vaccines and antibiotics have all contributed to this decline.</p><p>While the death <em>rate</em> for old people fell slightly, the <em>number</em> of deaths of people who are 70 years and older increased. <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/pneumonia-and-lower-respiratory-diseases-deaths">1.13 million</a>, who died from pneumonia where in this age group. This is because the number of people who reached the age of 70 increased very strongly globally as we show in <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/age-structure">our entry</a> on the changing global age structure. </p></div><div class="wp-block-column"><figure data-grapher-src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/pneumonia-and-lower-respiratory-diseases-deaths" class="grapherPreview">
<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/pneumonia-and-lower-respiratory-diseases-deaths" target="_blank">
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</figure></div></div><h3 id="where-are-children-dying-from-pneumonia">Where are children dying from pneumonia?<a class="deep-link" href="#where-are-children-dying-from-pneumonia"></a></h3><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>The map shows the number of child deaths due to pneumonia per 100,000 children per year.</p><p>It shows that children are most likely to die from pneumonia across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The deaths in just <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/number-of-deaths-from-pneumonia-in-children-under-5">5 countries</a> — India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ethiopia – accounted for more than half of all deaths from childhood pneumonia in 2019. </p><p>For this reason Kevin Watkins and Devi Sridhar called pneumonia <em>“the ultimate disease of poverty”</em> in a 2018 comment in the journal <em>The Lancet</em>.<a id="ref-27" class="ref" href="#note-27"><sup>27</sup></a> There is a very strong <span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="correlation" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-correlation","excerpt":"Correlation is a relationship between two variables. For example, the weight of human individuals is correlated with their height: a tall person usually, but not always, weighs more than a short person. The term correlation usually refers to a single number that reflects the strength of association between two numerical variables (e.g. human height and human weight, which can each be measured on a continuous numerical scale)."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-correlation">correlation</a></span> between a country’s income and the <span><script data-type="ExpandableInlineBlock" data-block="GlossaryExcerpt" data-label="child mortality rate" type="component/props">{"slug":"what-is-child-mortality","excerpt":"Child mortality measures the share of newborns who die before reaching the age of five."}</script><a class="expandable-block-button" href="/glossary#what-is-child-mortality">child mortality rate</a></span> from pneumonia as the scatter plot shows.</p><p>Pneumonia is not a disease that easily spreads across borders, its transmission is generally restricted to local communities and it can be controlled if basic health measures are available. The disease is therefore most common in poor places where healthcare infrastructure is lacking and people are least able to afford the treatment.<a id="ref-28" class="ref" href="#note-28"><sup>28</sup></a> </p></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-side-by-side"><div class="wp-block-column"><figure data-grapher-src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/pneumonia-death-rates-in-children-under-5" class="grapherPreview">
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</figure></div></div><h3 id="why-are-children-still-getting-pneumonia">Why are children still getting pneumonia?<a class="deep-link" href="#why-are-children-still-getting-pneumonia"></a></h3><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right">
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<p>To understand how we can reduce the number of children dying from pneumonia we need to understand both prevention and treatment. </p>
<p>In the chart we show the number of child deaths from pneumonia which are attributed to various risk factors. </p>
<h4 id="undernutrition-is-the-major-contributor-to-pneumonia-mortality">Undernutrition is the major contributor to pneumonia mortality<a class="deep-link" href="#undernutrition-is-the-major-contributor-to-pneumonia-mortality"></a></h4>
<p>Here we see that childhood undernutrition, especially so called ‘<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-children-with-a-weight-too-low-for-their-height-wasting">child wasting</a>’ (children who have a weight too low for their height), is the biggest risk factor for pneumonia in children.<a id="ref-29" class="ref" href="#note-29"><sup>29</sup></a> It contributed to 53% of pneumonia deaths in 2017. Without sufficient energy intake the body cannot cope with increased energy demands required to fight off the infection. </p>
<p>A literature review of pneumonia in malnourished children by Mohammod Jobayer Chisti and colleagues found that undernourished children are between two and four times more likely to be admitted to hospital due to pneumonia and up to 15 times more likely to die from it.<a id="ref-30" class="ref" href="#note-30"><sup>30</sup></a></p>
<h4 id="air-pollution-and-second-hand-smoke-increase-the-risk-of-getting-pneumonia">Air pollution and second-hand smoke increase the risk of getting pneumonia <a class="deep-link" href="#air-pollution-and-second-hand-smoke-increase-the-risk-of-getting-pneumonia"></a></h4>
<p><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/indoor-air-pollution">Indoor air pollution</a> was the risk factor that is estimated to have lead to 29% of pneumonia deaths in 2017. <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/outdoor-air-pollution">Outdoor air pollution</a> was responsible for another 18% of all deaths.</p>
<p>Studies have shown that high indoor air pollution in households can double the chances a child develops pneumonia and makes recovery less successful.<a id="ref-31" class="ref" href="#note-31"><sup>31</sup></a> One of the underlying reasons for why this is the case is that the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/air-pollution#exposure-to-particulate-matter">small polluting particles</a> impair the immune system’s ability to fight and clear the infection.</p>
<p>Laura Jones et <em>al. </em>(2011) reviewed studies which assessed the impact of secondhand smoke on children, and concluded that children who live in households with smoking parents are more likely to acquire pneumonia as well as other respiratory illnesses. A Global Burden of Disease study by Mattias Öberg et <em>al.</em> has estimated that in 2004, globally around 40% of children lived in households where at least one close relative smoked.<a id="ref-32" class="ref" href="#note-32"><sup>32</sup></a> The data shown here suggests that the exposure to secondhand smoke led to 61,000 deaths among children under 5 from lower respiratory diseases in 2017.</p>
<h4 id="the-risk-of-pneumonia-is-higher-for-children-with-hiv">The risk of pneumonia is higher for children with HIV<a class="deep-link" href="#the-risk-of-pneumonia-is-higher-for-children-with-hiv"></a></h4>
<p>Exposure to other pathogens such as <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/vaccination#measles-global-vaccination-coverage-and-decline-of-measles">measles</a> and <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/hiv-aids">HIV</a> also increases the risk of pneumonia in children. </p>
<p>When children who are infected with HIV develop AIDS – which weakens their immune system – their chances of dying from pneumonia increase significantly. A study by Evropi Theodoratou et <em>al., </em>published in <em>Lancet Infectious Diseases,</em> found that children with HIV have a seven times greater risk of dying from pneumonia compared to those without it.<a id="ref-33" class="ref" href="#note-33"><sup>33</sup></a></p>
<p>The same study also showed that the proportion of child deaths from pneumonia that can be attributed to HIV varies widely between countries: in 2010 only 1% of all child deaths from pneumonia in India could be directly attributed to HIV, compared to 64% in Eswatini and 62% in Lesotho. In Africa, a total of 3% of cases and 17% of all childhood deaths from pneumonia was attributable to HIV. These regional differences are important to know so that interventions that can save most lives can be prioritized. </p>
<h4 id="overcrowding-facilitates-pneumonia-transmission">Overcrowding facilitates pneumonia transmission <a class="deep-link" href="#overcrowding-facilitates-pneumonia-transmission"></a></h4>
<p>Pneumonia is not an easily transmittable disease, it requires close contact for the pathogens to be transmitted to another person via air droplets. Therefore overcrowding – too many people living in one space – also increases the risks of pneumonia. This is yet another reason why pneumonia is a disease of poverty: in 2015, 47% of children in low and middle-income countries were living in overcrowded households.<a id="ref-34" class="ref" href="#note-34"><sup>34</sup></a></p>
<p>Despite progress against it, more than 800,000 children still die from pneumonia each year. We know where children are dying, and the factors that make them vulnerable to the disease. The key question is how we continue to make progress against it.</p>
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</div><h3 id="how-can-we-reduce-the-number-of-children-dying-from-pneumonia">How can we reduce the number of children dying from pneumonia?<a class="deep-link" href="#how-can-we-reduce-the-number-of-children-dying-from-pneumonia"></a></h3><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>When we understand what risks can lead to pneumonia, we can find ways to reduce them. Furthermore, because a number of risks factors for pneumonia overlap with risk factors for other diseases, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/childhood-diarrheal-diseases">especially diarrheal diseases</a>, interventions that target pneumonia have the additional benefit of helping to limit other diseases and saving more lives.</p></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><h4 id="vaccines-against-pneumonia">Vaccines against pneumonia<a class="deep-link" href="#vaccines-against-pneumonia"></a></h4></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>There are several versions of <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-one-year-olds-who-received-the-final-dose-of-pneumococcal-vaccine">pneumococcal conjugate vaccine</a> (PCV), which target different serotypes of <em>S. pneumoniae </em>— the bacterium responsible for most cases of pneumonia. </p><p>The PCV vaccine is given to children younger than 24 months. According to a study by Cheryl Cohen et <em>al.</em> (2017), PVC13 – the currently recommended PCV vaccine version – has 85% effectiveness against invasive infections caused by the specific strains the pneumococcal strains<em> </em>included in the vaccine formulation.<a id="ref-35" class="ref" href="#note-35"><sup>35</sup></a> </p><p>It has been estimated that if PCV13 coverage in low income countries would reach the coverage of the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-children-immunized-dtp3">DTP3 vaccine</a>, then PCV13 could prevent 399,000 child deaths and 54.6 million pneumonia episodes annually when compared with a world in which no pneumococcal vaccination was available.<a id="ref-36" class="ref" href="#note-36"><sup>36</sup></a> India – which has the highest number of child deaths from pneumonia – only introduced PCV13 in 2017 and the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-one-year-olds-who-received-the-final-dose-of-pneumococcal-vaccine?tab=chart">coverage is still very low</a> — clearly the pneumococcal vaccine still has a lot of potential.<a id="ref-37" class="ref" href="#note-37"><sup>37</sup></a></p><p>Another vaccine widely used to protect children against both pneumonia is the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/hib-vaccine">Hib vaccine</a>. </p><p>Hib immunizes children against <em>Haemophilus influenzae</em> type b, a leading cause of meningitis in children that is also responsible for around 2% of pneumonia deaths of children younger than five years. In 2015 there were around 0.9 million cases of Hib-related pneumonia globally. The Hib immunization provides around 70% protection against Hib-related pneumonia and 84% protection against meningitis in children.<a id="ref-38" class="ref" href="#note-38"><sup>38</sup></a></p></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><h4 id="promoting-breastfeeding">Promoting breastfeeding<a class="deep-link" href="#promoting-breastfeeding"></a></h4></div><div class="wp-block-column"></div></div><div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><div class="wp-block-column"><p>Encouraging mothers to breastfeed during the first 6 months of a child’s life has a positive impact on reducing child undernutrition, which in turn protects from infectious diseases such as pneumonia. </p><p>According to Laura Lamberti et <em>al. </em>(2013), pneumonia mortality of children in developing countries who are not breastfed in the first 5 months of their lives is 15 times greater than those who exclusively received their mother’s milk.<a id="ref-39" class="ref" href="#note-39"><sup>39</sup></a> As the map shows, the number of infants who are exclusively breast fed is still low in many countries. Globally, an estimated 41% of infants were exclusively breastfed in 2017.<a id="ref-40" class="ref" href="#note-40"><sup>40</sup></a></p></div><div class="wp-block-column"><figure data-grapher-src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exclusive-breastfeeding" class="grapherPreview">
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