Levels and trends in child mortality

The United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) produces estimates of child and young adolescent mortality annually, reconciling the differences across data sources and taking into account the systematic biases associated with the various types of data on child and adolescent mortality. This report presents the UN IGME’s latest estimates – through 2018 – of neonatal, infant and under-five mortality as well as mortality among children aged 5–14 years. It assesses progress in the reduction of child and young adolescent mortality at the country, regional and global levels, and provides an overview of the methods used to estimate the mortality indicators mentioned above. Despite progress over the past two decades, in 2018 alone, an estimated 6.2 million children and young adolescents under age 15 died, mostly from preventable causes. Newborns account for 2.5 million of these deaths, children aged 1−11 months for 1.5 million, children aged 1−4 years for 1.3 million, and just under 1 million deaths for children and young adolescents aged 5-14 years. The youngest children face the greatest risk of dying among children under age 15. The age distribution of the mortality of children and young adolescents shows that the highest risk of death is during the neonatal period (the first 28 days of life). In 2018, the neonatal mortality rate was estimated at 18 deaths per 1,000 live births globally. The probability of dying after the first month and before reaching age 1 was at 11 per 1,000, and the probability of dying after reaching age 1 and before reaching age 5 was at 10 per 1,000. For children aged 5–14 years, the probability of dying was estimated at 7 per 1,000 children aged 5 years.