posts_gdocs: 1Yyu0OTxVWOvunt3iBFITuNTq6t6ECaTu3V3L-YxLdEI
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Yyu0OTxVWOvunt3iBFITuNTq6t6ECaTu3V3L-YxLdEI | child-mortality-global-overview | article | {
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"text": "This post was first published on 29th October 2018. Updated on 28th February 2019.",
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"text": "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.",
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"text": "In the map here we've visualized the estimated child mortality rate \u2013 the share of children (born alive) who died before reaching their 5th birthday \u2013 in 1800, 1950 and 2015.",
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"text": " \u2013 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 ",
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"text": "had between 5 to 7 children",
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"text": "Parents probably ",
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"text": "lost 2 or 3 of their children",
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"text": " in the first few years of life. Such loss was not a rare occurrence but the norm for most people across the world.",
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"text": "1950",
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"text": " \u2013 By 1950, the outlook has changed dramatically \u2014 but only for some. For the ",
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"text": "richest countries",
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"text": " at the time \u2014 across Europe, Australasia, North America, and some parts of South America \u2014 child mortality had fallen to less than 5 percent (1-in-20). The ",
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"text": " across these countries had also fallen to around 2 to 3 children per woman. Major improvements in living standards, medical knowledge and care, ",
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"text": ", 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.",
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"text": "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.",
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"text": " \u2013 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.",
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"text": "are not aware",
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"text": " that child mortality has declined substantially ",
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"text": " and\u00a0",
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"text": "still imagine the divided world",
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"text": " as it was in 1950. A divided world where progress in the richest countries was dynamic, but static and persistently bad elsewhere.",
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"text": "As the chart shows, substantial declines in child mortality have occurred across\u00a0",
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"text": "all",
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"text": " regions. In 2018, average rates in Africa are now lower than the European average in 1950.",
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"text": "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.",
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"text": "You can find data on the ",
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"text": ". Across Europe the estimated fertility rate was between 4.5 and 6 children. Across the rest of the world, rates were slightly higher, between 5.5 and 7.5 per woman.",
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"title": "How child mortality has declined in the last two centuries",
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1 | 2023-08-29 14:06:15 | 2018-10-29 13:00:08 | 2024-03-18 15:41:59 | listed | ALBJ4LuCBkT6A9Mm5V-EySn0tOC-O77U_a1sZf76IGLha3fGBult_tGCWEeo5oWO5w_z-IFwshqc3CYqR0nkmA | <Callout /> 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. 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. **1800** – 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 [had between 5 to 7 children](https://ourworldindata.org/fertility-rate#total-fertility-rate-around-the-world-over-the-last-two-centuries).1 Parents probably [lost 2 or 3 of their children](https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality#how-many-children-did-a-woman-give-birth-to-that-died-before-their-5th-birthday) in the first few years of life. Such loss was not a rare occurrence but the norm for most people across the world. **1950** – By 1950, the outlook has changed dramatically — but only for some. For the [richest countries](https://ourworldindata.org/entries/economic-growth) 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 [fertility rate](https://ourworldindata.org/fertility-rate#total-fertility-rate-around-the-world-over-the-last-two-centuries) across these countries had also fallen to around 2 to 3 children per woman. Major improvements in living standards, medical knowledge and care, [nutrition](https://ourworldindata.org/hunger-and-undernourishment), 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. 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. **2015** – 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. <Image filename="3-maps-of-Child-mortality.png" alt=""/> Many of us [are not aware](https://ourworldindata.org/wrong-about-the-world) that child mortality has declined substantially _everywhere_ and [still imagine the divided world](https://www.gapminder.org/factfulness-book/) as it was in 1950. A divided world where progress in the richest countries was dynamic, but static and persistently bad elsewhere. As the chart shows, substantial declines in child mortality have occurred across _all_ regions. In 2018, average rates in Africa are now lower than the European average in 1950. 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. <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/child-mortality-around-the-world?tab=chart"/> You can find data on the [long-run estimates of fertility rate](https://ourworldindata.org/fertility-rate#total-fertility-rate-around-the-world-over-the-last-two-centuries) across the world in our entry on [Fertility Rate](https://ourworldindata.org/fertility-rate). Across Europe the estimated fertility rate was between 4.5 and 6 children. Across the rest of the world, rates were slightly higher, between 5.5 and 7.5 per woman. | How child mortality has declined in the last two centuries |