While the world has made remarkable progress in saving young lives, a heartbreaking truth persists: a child under five still dies every six seconds, with millions of these tragedies being preventable.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, approximately 4.9 million children under the age of 5 died worldwide, with 2.3 million being neonatal deaths
- The global under-5 mortality rate declined from 93 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 37 in 2022
- Neonatal mortality accounted for 47% of all under-5 deaths globally in 2022, totaling 2.3 million deaths
- Pneumonia caused 672,000 under-5 deaths globally in 2021, representing 14% of total under-5 mortality
- Diarrhoeal diseases led to 444,000 under-5 deaths worldwide in 2021, or 8% of all under-5 deaths
- Malaria caused 258,000 deaths in children under 5 globally in 2022
- In Nigeria, 777,000 children under 5 died in 2022, the highest number globally
- Sub-Saharan Africa had 2.7 million under-5 deaths in 2022, accounting for 55% of global total
- In India, under-5 mortality rate was 27 per 1,000 live births in 2022
- Boys under 5 have a 10% higher mortality risk than girls in poorest households globally
- Children in rural areas face 1.6 times higher under-5 mortality risk than urban children
- In the poorest quintile, under-5 mortality rate is 98 per 1,000 live births vs 12 in richest globally
- Globally, under-5 mortality fell 59% from 1990 to 2021
- Neonatal mortality declined only 39% from 2000-2022, slower than post-neonatal
- Progress in reducing under-5 mortality stalled in 2020-2022 due to COVID-19
Despite progress, preventable causes still claim millions of young children's lives each year.
Cause-Specific Mortality
- Pneumonia caused 672,000 under-5 deaths globally in 2021, representing 14% of total under-5 mortality
- Diarrhoeal diseases led to 444,000 under-5 deaths worldwide in 2021, or 8% of all under-5 deaths
- Malaria caused 258,000 deaths in children under 5 globally in 2022
- Measles resulted in 136,000 under-5 deaths worldwide in 2022
- HIV/AIDS caused 90,000 under-5 deaths globally in 2022
- Drowning accounted for 236,000 under-5 deaths annually on average from 2000-2019 globally
- Preterm birth complications were the leading cause of under-5 deaths, responsible for 18% or 862,000 deaths in 2021
- Intrapartum-related complications caused 17% of under-5 deaths, or 674,000 in 2021 globally
- Lower respiratory infections led to 16% of under-5 deaths, totaling 635,000 in 2021 worldwide
- Congenital birth defects caused 12% or 479,000 under-5 deaths in 2021 globally
- Road traffic injuries caused 115,000 under-5 deaths globally in 2019
- Meningitis killed 69,000 children under 5 worldwide in 2021
- Pertussis (whooping cough) resulted in 151,000 under-5 deaths in 2018 globally
- Rotavirus diarrhoea caused 128,500 under-5 deaths in 2019
- Neonatal tetanus deaths dropped to under 5,000 globally in 2021 due to vaccination
- Hypothermia contributes to 700,000 neonatal deaths annually worldwide
- Birth defects cause 270,000 neonatal deaths yearly globally
- Malnutrition underlies 45% of all under-5 deaths globally
- Unsafe water, sanitation, hygiene cause 829,000 under-5 deaths annually
- Indoor air pollution from solid fuels leads to 600,000 under-5 deaths per year
- Lower respiratory infections caused 15% of post-neonatal deaths in 2021
- Diarrhoeal diseases 11% of post-neonatal under-5 deaths globally 2021
- Malaria 9% of post-neonatal deaths in endemic areas 2021
Cause-Specific Mortality Interpretation
It is a grim irony that in an age of medical marvels, childhood remains besieged by a medieval roster of preventable enemies—from the air in a home to the water in a cup—proving that our greatest failure is not a lack of solutions, but a lack of will to deliver them.
Demographic Factors
- Boys under 5 have a 10% higher mortality risk than girls in poorest households globally
- Children in rural areas face 1.6 times higher under-5 mortality risk than urban children
- In the poorest quintile, under-5 mortality rate is 98 per 1,000 live births vs 12 in richest globally
- Stunting affects 149 million children under 5, increasing mortality risk by 45%
- Wasting in 45 million under-5 children raises death risk 11.6 times
- Children with HIV are 5-10 times more likely to die before age 5
- In conflict-affected countries, under-5 mortality is twice the global average
- Maternal death increases sibling under-5 mortality risk by 2-5 times
- Indigenous children have 2.5 times higher infant mortality in some regions like Australia
- Children born to adolescent mothers face 50% higher neonatal mortality risk
- Children of mothers with no education have 2.6 times higher under-5 mortality
- Male neonatal mortality rate is 20% higher than females globally
- Refugee and displaced children have 3 times higher mortality risk in humanitarian settings
- Children with disabilities face up to 5 times higher mortality before age 5
- In households without improved sanitation, under-5 mortality is 21% higher
- Low birthweight babies have 10 times higher neonatal mortality risk
- Multiple births increase neonatal mortality risk by 5-8 times
- Children in female-headed households have 15% higher under-5 mortality in some regions
- Overweight mothers' children have 20% increased risk of neonatal death
Demographic Factors Interpretation
The tragic arithmetic of childhood reveals a brutal calculus: whether a child survives to see their fifth birthday is disturbingly predictable by the cruel lottery of their birth—into poverty, conflict, or marginalization—rather than the inherent value of their life.
Global Statistics
- In 2022, approximately 4.9 million children under the age of 5 died worldwide, with 2.3 million being neonatal deaths
- The global under-5 mortality rate declined from 93 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 37 in 2022
- Neonatal mortality accounted for 47% of all under-5 deaths globally in 2022, totaling 2.3 million deaths
- In 2020, COVID-19 was associated with over 11,000 additional under-5 deaths globally compared to pre-pandemic levels
- Globally, 14,000 under-5 deaths occur every day, equivalent to one every 6 seconds in 2022
- From 2000 to 2022, global under-5 mortality dropped by 52%, averting 189 million deaths
- In 2022, 2.3 million babies died within the first 28 days of life globally
- Global neonatal mortality rate was 17 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022
- Under-5 mortality rate for boys was 38 per 1,000 live births compared to 36 for girls in 2022 globally
- In low-income countries, under-5 mortality rate was 72 per 1,000 live births in 2022
- Globally, preterm birth complications caused 680,000 neonatal deaths in 2022
- Intrapartum-related events (birth asphyxia) led to 500,000 neonatal deaths worldwide in 2022
- Sepsis and infections caused 460,000 neonatal deaths globally in 2022
- Congenital anomalies accounted for 240,000 neonatal deaths worldwide in 2022
- In 2022, South Asia accounted for 25% of global under-5 deaths despite 12% progress slowdown
- High-income countries have under-5 mortality rate of 5 per 1,000 live births in 2022
- Globally, 99% of neonatal deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries
- Under-5 mortality rate in least developed countries was 70 per 1,000 in 2022
- 2.4 million babies died in the first month of life in 2020 globally
- Asphyxia and trauma caused 17% of neonatal deaths globally in 2020
- Infections/sepsis represented 16% of global neonatal deaths in 2020
- Complications from preterm birth made up 35% of neonatal deaths worldwide in 2020
- Congenital anomalies caused 11% of global neonatal mortality in 2020
- Other unspecified causes accounted for 21% of neonatal deaths globally in 2020
- Eastern Asia under-5 mortality declined 78% from 1990-2022
- Western Europe has under-5 mortality rate of 4 per 1,000 live births in 2022
- 80% of countries have reduced under-5 mortality by over 50% since 1990
- Global stillbirth rate is 13.9 per 1,000 births, linked to child mortality
- 1.9 million babies born still in 2021, with high overlap in neonatal death causes
- Under-5 girls' mortality rate 36 vs boys 38 per 1,000 globally 2022
Global Statistics Interpretation
While the dramatic 52% drop in under-five mortality since 2000 is a staggering victory, the cold arithmetic of 4.9 million young lives lost in 2022 alone—one every six seconds, with nearly half succumbing in their first fragile month—reminds us that progress is a marathon, not a sprint, and the finish line is still a world away from these tiny graves.
Regional and Country-Specific
- In Nigeria, 777,000 children under 5 died in 2022, the highest number globally
- Sub-Saharan Africa had 2.7 million under-5 deaths in 2022, accounting for 55% of global total
- In India, under-5 mortality rate was 27 per 1,000 live births in 2022
- Pakistan saw 241,000 under-5 deaths in 2022
- Democratic Republic of the Congo had 296,000 under-5 deaths in 2022
- Ethiopia recorded 189,000 under-5 deaths in 2022
- In Central Europe, under-5 mortality rate was below 5 per 1,000 live births in 2022
- South Asia's under-5 mortality rate was 42 per 1,000 live births in 2022
- In the United States, 20,171 children aged 1-19 died in 2021
- Brazil had 119,000 under-5 deaths in 2022
- Afghanistan's under-5 mortality rate stood at 105 per 1,000 live births in 2022
- In Somalia, 1 in 11 children dies before age 5, with rate of 113 per 1,000 in 2022
- Central African Republic had under-5 mortality rate of 121 per 1,000 live births in 2022
- In Chad, under-5 mortality rate was 119 per 1,000 live births in 2022
- Niger had 1 in 8 children die before age 5 in 2022, rate 109 per 1,000
- Mali's under-5 mortality was 112 per 1,000 live births in 2022
- Burkina Faso recorded 106 per 1,000 under-5 mortality rate in 2022
- Sierra Leone had 95 per 1,000 under-5 deaths rate in 2022
- In South Sudan, rate was 99 per 1,000 live births for under-5 mortality in 2022
- Latin America and Caribbean under-5 mortality rate was 17 per 1,000 in 2022
- Middle East and North Africa had 23 per 1,000 under-5 mortality in 2022
- In the UK, infant mortality rate was 3.6 per 1,000 live births in 2021
- Canada reported 4.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021
- In Japan, under-5 mortality is 2.1 per 1,000 live births as of 2022
- In Nigeria, neonatal deaths were 418,000 in 2022
- Sub-Saharan Africa's neonatal mortality rate 26 per 1,000 in 2022
Regional and Country-Specific Interpretation
The grim geography of child survival reveals a world absurdly partitioned, where a child’s first breath in Japan is a near-certain promise of life, while in the Central African Republic it is a desperate gamble against a one-in-eight chance of death, exposing not fate but our collective failure.
Trends and Risk Factors
- Globally, under-5 mortality fell 59% from 1990 to 2021
- Neonatal mortality declined only 39% from 2000-2022, slower than post-neonatal
- Progress in reducing under-5 mortality stalled in 2020-2022 due to COVID-19
- Sub-Saharan Africa reduced under-5 mortality by 48% from 2000-2022
- Climate change could increase under-5 deaths by 9.7% by 2030 in vulnerable areas
- Vaccination averted 154 million deaths in children from 1974-2030 projected
- Oral rehydration therapy could prevent 93% of diarrhoeal deaths if scaled
- Insecticide-treated nets averted 2 million malaria deaths in children since 2000
- Global under-5 mortality rate needs to drop 10% annually to meet SDG target by 2030
- In 1990, 12.5 million under-5 deaths occurred globally, dropping to 4.9 million by 2022
- Under-5 mortality in fragile states declined only 30% from 2000-2022 vs 50% globally
- Pneumonia deaths in under-5s dropped 62% from 2000-2021 globally
- Diarrhoea mortality reduced by 60% in under-5s from 2000-2021 worldwide
- Malaria deaths in children under 5 fell 58% from 2000-2022
- Measles deaths plummeted 95% from 2000-2022 due to vaccines
- Neonatal deaths as proportion of under-5 deaths rose from 37% in 2000 to 47% in 2022
- COVID-19 directly caused 6,000-11,000 under-5 deaths but indirectly many more
- Air pollution causes 700,000 under-5 deaths yearly, with increasing trend in urban areas
- By 2030, without action, 64 million under-5 deaths could occur
Trends and Risk Factors Interpretation
While humanity's mighty, collective march to save its children has slashed under-five deaths dramatically since 1990, this hard-won progress now faces a precarious future where stalled momentum, stubborn neonatal mortality, and looming threats from climate change and pollution demand an urgent, scaled-up sprint to cross the finish line by 2030.
Sources & References
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- Reference 10STATCANstatcan.gc.caVisit source