What is the difference between infant and under-5 mortality?

Infant mortality counts deaths before the first birthday; under-5 mortality counts deaths before the fifth. The under-5 figure is always the larger of the two, and it is the one used for the child-mortality target in the Sustainable Development Goals.

Why does the rate change so much between countries?

The main factors are the availability of clean water and sanitation, vaccination coverage, maternal health care, and nutrition. The published series shows the outcome; it does not attribute it.

Under-5 mortality by country, 1950 to 2023

Under-5 mortality

Under-5 mortality is the probability that a child born in a given year dies before turning five, expressed per 1,000 live births. In 2023 the world figure was 36.8 per 1,000 — about 1 in 27. The range across countries was 1.4 in San Marino to 116.0 in Niger.

q5 = deaths below age five ÷ live births, expressed per 1,000

Source: UN World Population Prospects 2024

Stated as odds

A rate of 4 per 1,000 is one child in 250. A rate of 100 per 1,000 is one child in 10. Rates above 1,000 per 1,000 are impossible, so the odds never fall below 1 in 1.

The fastest decline in demography

The world under-5 rate fell from 277.4 per 1,000 in 1950 to 36.8 in 2023. No other mortality measure has moved that far in that time, and the fall is not evenly distributed: some countries reduced it by more than 90 %, others by less than a third.

World figures on this page are birth-weighted averages of the 237 national values, computed by us from the published series. They are not UN-published world aggregates; the formula for each is stated above.

Under-5 mortality per 1,000 live births, 2023
#	Country	Per 1,000	Odds	Change since 1950
1	San Marino	1.4	1 in 714	−24.7
2	Iceland	1.6	1 in 638	−25.9
3	Cayman Islands	1.6	1 in 631	−125.6
4	China, Hong Kong SAR	1.8	1 in 557	−118.3
5	Estonia	2.0	1 in 490	−52.7
6	Slovenia	2.2	1 in 450	−93.6
7	Singapore	2.2	1 in 449	−130.4
8	Japan	2.3	1 in 441	−87.3
9	Bermuda	2.4	1 in 425	−88.3
10	Sweden	2.4	1 in 425	−23.1
11	Norway	2.4	1 in 424	−31.7
12	Belarus	2.4	1 in 413	−128.0
13	Finland	2.5	1 in 397	−48.3
14	Italy	2.6	1 in 377	−78.5
15	Czechia	2.7	1 in 370	−71.5
16	Republic of Korea	2.8	1 in 363	−346.3
17	Spain	2.9	1 in 346	−97.9
18	China, Macao SAR	3.0	1 in 331	−94.6
19	Portugal	3.2	1 in 312	−140.8
20	Lithuania	3.2	1 in 309	−64.9
21	Ireland	3.3	1 in 306	−49.9
22	Montenegro	3.3	1 in 300	−123.1
23	Denmark	3.4	1 in 294	−32.3
24	Austria	3.5	1 in 286	−72.5
25	Germany	3.5	1 in 286	−62.4
26	Cyprus	3.6	1 in 281	−126.5
27	Switzerland	3.6	1 in 276	−34.6
28	Latvia	3.6	1 in 276	−70.7
29	Poland	3.7	1 in 270	−130.6
30	Australia	3.8	1 in 262	−27.2
31	Greece	3.8	1 in 261	−55.7
32	Hungary	3.9	1 in 260	−94.7
33	Belgium	3.9	1 in 258	−56.0
34	Netherlands	3.9	1 in 256	−28.8
35	Israel	3.9	1 in 254	−46.4
36	Croatia	4.0	1 in 252	−135.2
37	France	4.1	1 in 242	−55.7
38	China, Taiwan Province of China	4.2	1 in 238	−107.9
39	United Kingdom	4.2	1 in 236	−31.4
40	Russian Federation	4.4	1 in 225	−156.3
41	Monaco	4.6	1 in 219	−42.2
42	Canada	4.9	1 in 205	−44.1
43	Serbia	5.0	1 in 202	−143.4
44	Qatar	5.0	1 in 201	−179.0
45	Chile	5.0	1 in 198	−158.3
46	Maldives	5.2	1 in 192	−375.5
47	Tokelau	5.4	1 in 187	−68.4
48	New Zealand	5.4	1 in 185	−29.2
49	Slovakia	5.5	1 in 181	−120.5
50	Bulgaria	5.7	1 in 177	−117.0
51	Anguilla	5.7	1 in 176	−132.6
52	North Macedonia	5.7	1 in 175	−204.8
53	Cuba	5.7	1 in 175	−115.4
54	United States Virgin Islands	5.8	1 in 174	−75.8
55	Turks and Caicos Islands	5.8	1 in 172	−197.4
56	Romania	5.9	1 in 169	−123.7
57	Bosnia and Herzegovina	6.0	1 in 168	−226.2
58	United Arab Emirates	6.0	1 in 167	−295.7
59	Puerto Rico	6.0	1 in 167	−78.0
60	French Polynesia	6.1	1 in 164	−154.9
61	Saint Barthélemy	6.1	1 in 164	−138.8
62	Andorra	6.1	1 in 163	−45.4
63	United States of America	6.2	1 in 162	−30.8
64	Saudi Arabia	6.2	1 in 161	−313.4
65	Northern Mariana Islands	6.2	1 in 161	−56.7
66	Sri Lanka	6.3	1 in 159	−145.8
67	Bahrain	6.3	1 in 158	−334.8
68	Montserrat	6.4	1 in 156	−204.6
69	Réunion	6.4	1 in 155	−220.3
70	Liechtenstein	6.5	1 in 154	−55.1
71	Cook Islands	6.7	1 in 149	−188.4
72	Guernsey	6.7	1 in 149	−24.6
73	Luxembourg	6.8	1 in 148	−50.7
74	Uruguay	6.8	1 in 148	−60.7
75	Ukraine	7.0	1 in 143	−97.4
76	Holy See	7.0	1 in 143	−51.4
77	China	7.2	1 in 139	−199.0
78	Costa Rica	7.6	1 in 132	−123.7
79	Faroe Islands	7.7	1 in 130	−82.9
80	Malta	7.7	1 in 129	−77.0
81	Malaysia	7.8	1 in 128	−161.9
82	Thailand	8.1	1 in 123	−198.4
83	Kuwait	8.5	1 in 117	−221.4
84	Martinique	8.9	1 in 113	−86.4
85	Kosovo (under UNSC res. 1244)	9.0	1 in 111	−281.2
86	Guadeloupe	9.2	1 in 109	−101.0
87	Georgia	9.2	1 in 108	−126.5
88	Antigua and Barbuda	9.3	1 in 107	−110.2
89	Albania	9.5	1 in 105	−291.2
90	Kazakhstan	9.5	1 in 105	−120.7
91	Saint Martin (French part)	9.6	1 in 104	−54.8
92	Brunei Darussalam	9.7	1 in 103	−183.4
93	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	9.8	1 in 102	−36.1
94	Armenia	9.8	1 in 102	−172.2
95	Jersey	10.0	1 in 100	−29.1
96	Curaçao	10.2	1 in 98	−90.7
97	Argentina	10.3	1 in 97	−77.6
98	Belize	10.4	1 in 96	−177.1
99	Oman	10.4	1 in 96	−465.4
100	Barbados	10.5	1 in 95	−175.9
101	Gibraltar	10.5	1 in 95	−61.3
102	American Samoa	10.6	1 in 94	−95.1
103	Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	10.6	1 in 94	−172.7
104	Tonga	10.7	1 in 94	−159.4
105	Tunisia	10.7	1 in 93	−291.3
106	French Guiana	11.1	1 in 90	−147.4
107	Mayotte	11.3	1 in 89	−243.3
108	El Salvador	11.4	1 in 87	−213.5
109	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	11.6	1 in 86	−323.0
110	Greenland	11.7	1 in 86	−190.7
111	Ecuador	11.8	1 in 85	−208.2
112	New Caledonia	11.8	1 in 85	−174.3
113	Cabo Verde	11.8	1 in 85	−196.6
114	Colombia	11.9	1 in 84	−181.5
115	Mexico	12.4	1 in 80	−235.7
116	British Virgin Islands	12.7	1 in 79	−150.4
117	Bahamas	12.7	1 in 79	−76.9
118	Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba	12.7	1 in 79	−76.4
119	Mongolia	12.8	1 in 78	−291.5
120	Wallis and Futuna Islands	12.9	1 in 77	−160.0
121	Türkiye	13.1	1 in 76	−297.0
122	Guam	13.3	1 in 75	−33.3
123	Isle of Man	13.5	1 in 74	−70.3
124	Uzbekistan	13.6	1 in 74	−167.4
125	Sao Tome and Principe	13.7	1 in 73	−282.0
126	Jordan	13.7	1 in 73	−261.9
127	Brazil	13.8	1 in 73	−201.1
128	Republic of Moldova	13.9	1 in 72	−126.1
129	Saint Helena	14.1	1 in 71	−42.4
130	Mauritius	14.2	1 in 70	−118.1
131	Aruba	14.3	1 in 70	−96.0
132	Seychelles	14.3	1 in 70	−102.8
133	Nicaragua	14.7	1 in 68	−252.7
134	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	14.7	1 in 68	−203.4
135	Peru	14.8	1 in 68	−259.8
136	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	14.9	1 in 67	−68.5
137	Saint Kitts and Nevis	14.9	1 in 67	−111.3
138	Honduras	15.4	1 in 65	−260.5
139	Samoa	15.6	1 in 64	−139.8
140	Trinidad and Tobago	16.0	1 in 62	−80.6
141	Grenada	16.1	1 in 62	−132.9
142	Suriname	16.1	1 in 62	−106.8
143	Panama	16.1	1 in 62	−107.5
144	Paraguay	16.8	1 in 59	−86.0
145	Morocco	16.9	1 in 59	−270.9
146	Kyrgyzstan	17.0	1 in 59	−159.1
147	Saint Lucia	17.2	1 in 58	−157.1
148	Azerbaijan	17.5	1 in 57	−201.8
149	Vanuatu	17.7	1 in 57	−178.8
150	Egypt	17.7	1 in 56	−425.1
151	Solomon Islands	17.8	1 in 56	−213.9
152	Dem. People's Republic of Korea	18.0	1 in 55	−446.4
153	Lebanon	18.5	1 in 54	−87.6
154	Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	18.8	1 in 53	−131.8
155	Jamaica	19.4	1 in 51	−117.1
156	Tuvalu	19.7	1 in 51	−243.0
157	Viet Nam	20.2	1 in 49	−140.6
158	Indonesia	20.5	1 in 49	−278.9
159	Algeria	21.2	1 in 47	−242.6
160	Guatemala	21.5	1 in 47	−240.5
161	Palau	22.0	1 in 46	−99.6
162	Bhutan	22.7	1 in 44	−302.9
163	Micronesia (Fed. States of)	22.8	1 in 44	−149.2
164	Iraq	22.8	1 in 44	−335.0
165	Cambodia	22.9	1 in 44	−234.0
166	Syrian Arab Republic	23.1	1 in 43	−259.8
167	Niue	24.1	1 in 41	−109.6
168	Guyana	25.7	1 in 39	−127.8
169	Nauru	25.8	1 in 39	−62.8
170	State of Palestine	26.1	1 in 38	−187.1
171	Nepal	26.2	1 in 38	−314.1
172	Bangladesh	27.6	1 in 36	−320.5
173	India	27.6	1 in 36	−267.3
174	Philippines	27.7	1 in 36	−124.6
175	Marshall Islands	27.8	1 in 36	−103.5
176	Western Sahara	28.2	1 in 35	−302.5
177	Fiji	28.8	1 in 35	−98.7
178	Tajikistan	29.9	1 in 33	−198.2
179	Dominican Republic	31.7	1 in 32	−242.6
180	Libya	32.5	1 in 31	−354.5
181	Dominica	32.7	1 in 31	−196.1
182	Eritrea	35.3	1 in 28	−315.7
183	Senegal	35.6	1 in 28	−306.0
184	Rwanda	36.8	1 in 27	−224.8
185	Namibia	36.9	1 in 27	−234.9
186	South Africa	37.4	1 in 27	−194.5
187	Gabon	37.4	1 in 27	−261.6
188	Botswana	37.6	1 in 27	−180.2
189	Mauritania	38.0	1 in 26	−272.5
190	Lao People's Democratic Republic	38.9	1 in 26	−271.9
191	Uganda	38.9	1 in 26	−233.4
192	United Republic of Tanzania	39.0	1 in 26	−219.9
193	Malawi	39.3	1 in 25	−349.0
194	Myanmar	39.3	1 in 25	−313.3
195	Turkmenistan	39.5	1 in 25	−177.6
196	Papua New Guinea	39.8	1 in 25	−226.6
197	Yemen	39.8	1 in 25	−455.2
198	Congo	39.9	1 in 25	−239.3
199	Ghana	41.0	1 in 24	−212.6
200	Kenya	41.0	1 in 24	−279.5
201	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	41.4	1 in 24	−276.0
202	Gambia	44.0	1 in 23	−366.9
203	Ethiopia	44.6	1 in 22	−290.7
204	Zimbabwe	45.7	1 in 22	−138.9
205	Comoros	46.6	1 in 21	−272.6
206	Timor-Leste	46.6	1 in 21	−354.7
207	Burundi	48.8	1 in 21	−227.4
208	Eswatini	49.6	1 in 20	−189.2
209	Djibouti	50.3	1 in 20	−232.0
210	Sudan	50.3	1 in 20	−160.6
211	Zambia	52.0	1 in 19	−190.5
212	Kiribati	54.8	1 in 18	−164.0
213	Haiti	55.6	1 in 18	−318.5
214	Afghanistan	56.2	1 in 18	−357.5
215	Togo	58.5	1 in 17	−223.8
216	Pakistan	59.2	1 in 17	−319.8
217	Mozambique	64.3	1 in 16	−265.7
218	Angola	64.3	1 in 16	−276.7
219	Madagascar	65.6	1 in 15	−172.6
220	Côte d'Ivoire	67.3	1 in 15	−330.5
221	Cameroon	67.6	1 in 15	−302.9
222	Guinea-Bissau	69.4	1 in 14	−279.4
223	Equatorial Guinea	70.6	1 in 14	−228.5
224	Liberia	71.2	1 in 14	−237.6
225	Lesotho	71.6	1 in 14	−173.9
226	Democratic Republic of the Congo	73.4	1 in 14	−232.3
227	Burkina Faso	77.1	1 in 13	−311.3
228	Benin	78.6	1 in 13	−272.9
229	Mali	91.7	1 in 11	−368.0
230	Guinea	93.1	1 in 11	−265.6
231	Central African Republic	94.5	1 in 11	−223.8
232	Sierra Leone	97.2	1 in 10	−361.4
233	South Sudan	99.1	1 in 10	−294.4
234	Chad	99.7	1 in 10	−232.4
235	Somalia	103.2	1 in 10	−154.0
236	Nigeria	104.2	1 in 10	−236.7
237	Niger	116.0	1 in 9	−211.5

Ranked lowest rate first. Every location with a published under-5 rate is listed.

Questions this page answers

What is the difference between infant and under-5 mortality?: Infant mortality counts deaths before the first birthday; under-5 mortality counts deaths before the fifth. The under-5 figure is always the larger of the two, and it is the one used for the child-mortality target in the Sustainable Development Goals.
Why does the rate change so much between countries?: The main factors are the availability of clean water and sanitation, vaccination coverage, maternal health care, and nutrition. The published series shows the outcome; it does not attribute it.

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Data year: 2023