Number of under-five deaths in World
World: Number of under-five deaths was 4.86 million in 2024. ▼ Falling
Number of under-five deaths in World, 1990–2024
Source: UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
World recorded 4.86 million for number of under-five deaths in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
The figure is down 2.6% on the previous year and down 22.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of under-five deaths in World peaked at 12.97 million in 1990 and was at its lowest, 4.86 million, in 2024.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 11.70 million | 10.36 million | 12.97 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 8.60 million | 7.35 million | 10.06 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.22 million | 5.43 million | 7.08 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.11 million | 4.86 million | 5.26 million | 5 |
More health data for World
- Population ages 0-14, female 974.32 million (2025)
- Population ages 15-64, female 2.64 billion (2025)
- Population ages 65 and above, male 380.05 million (2025)
- Population, female 49.7% (2025)
- Population, male 4.13 billion (2025)
- Population ages 65 and above, female 474.56 million (2025)
- Population, male 50.3% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64, male 2.72 billion (2025)
- Population ages 65 and above, female 11.6% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64, female 64.5% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of under-five deaths in World?
- Number of under-five deaths in World was 4.86 million in 2024, according to UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
- What is the highest number of under-five deaths recorded in World?
- The highest recorded value was 12.97 million in 1990.
- What is the lowest number of under-five deaths recorded in World?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.86 million in 2024.
- Is number of under-five deaths rising or falling in World?
- Over the last ten years it is down 22.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this World data come from?
- The figures come from UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), published as part of Number of under-five deaths. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Number of children dying before reaching age five.