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Child and maternal mortality

A falling rate can still mean millions of deaths

Child and maternal mortality have declined, but counts, age-specific probabilities, a live-birth ratio, shares, lifetime risk, and annual reduction statistics answer different questions.

Under-five deaths, 20244.86 million90% uncertainty interval: 4.69-5.21 million

Maternal deaths, 2023260,00080% uncertainty interval: 230,000–308,000

Core interpretation ruleDo not add themDifferent periods, populations, and statistical systems

Main takeaway. Progress is real, but it must be read through measures with explicit periods, populations, denominators, subsets, and uncertainty. This brief creates no combined child-plus-maternal total.

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Source lock closed; publication package validated

All seven exact official source binaries and the approved v2.6.1 website baseline were captured, validated, inspected, and hashed. Source-native values were reconciled before release.

Reproducibility controls

UN IGME child values were checked against four source-native XLSX files; child uncertainty intervals are 90%.
MMEIG maternal values were checked against the official XLSX and complete WHO data archive; maternal uncertainty intervals are 80%.
The WHO indicator export independently matched 193 of 195 2023 MMEIG entities; Palestine and Puerto Rico are absent from that indicator export.
The approved website baseline matched SHA-256 1df795fb9a819e82483c147888115268987af4060805d17d364883dff140b13e.
No child-plus-maternal total, country ranking, causal attribution, or mortality-to-USU conversion is published.

01 · Measures

Six measures, three different questions

Six cards separate counts, age-specific probabilities, and the maternal live-birth ratio. A denominator changes the question; it does not merely rescale the same number.

Six cards show 2024 under-five deaths, under-five mortality rate, neonatal deaths, neonatal mortality rate, and 2023 maternal deaths and maternal mortality ratio, each with its own unit and question. — The chart separates counts from probabilities and from the maternal ratio. It states that neonatal deaths are included in under-five deaths and that child 2024 and maternal 2023 counts must not be added.

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Measures and interpretation controls

Measures Guide links: UNIGME-U5-DEATHS UNIGME-U5MR UNIGME-NEONATAL-DEATHS UNIGME-NMR MMEIG-MATERNAL-DEATHS MMEIG-MMR

These measure definitions are active in the public Suffering Measures Guide.

02 · Rate and count

A falling rate can still mean millions of deaths

Between 1990 and 2024, the global under-five mortality rate fell 60%. The estimated number of under-five deaths fell 63%, yet 4.86 million deaths remained in 2024.

Two slope charts show global under-five mortality falling from 93.5 to 37.4 per 1,000 live births and under-five deaths falling from 12.97 million to 4.86 million between 1990 and 2024. — Both measures declined, by 60 percent for the rate and 63 percent for the count. The rate compares risk relative to live births while the count shows total scale. Error bars show 90 percent uncertainty intervals.

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Measures and interpretation controls

Measures Guide links: UNIGME-U5MR UNIGME-U5-DEATHS

These measure definitions are active in the public Suffering Measures Guide.

03 · Nested age interval

The first 28 days are a larger share of under-five deaths

Neonatal deaths fell, but more slowly than deaths later in childhood. Their share of under-five deaths rose from about 40% in 1990 to 47% in 2024. Neonatal deaths are already inside the under-five total.

Stacked bars show neonatal deaths increasing as a share of under-five deaths from about 40 percent in 1990 to 47 percent in 2024, although neonatal deaths declined in number. — Neonatal deaths fell from 5.22 million to 2.27 million while total under-five deaths fell from 12.97 million to 4.86 million. Neonatal deaths are a subset of under-five deaths and are not added on top.

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Measures and interpretation controls

Measures Guide links: UNIGME-NEONATAL-DEATHS UNIGME-U5-DEATHS UNIGME-NEONATAL-SHARE

These measure definitions are active in the public Suffering Measures Guide.

04 · Pace of change

Progress in child survival slowed after 2015

The source-reported annual rate of reduction in under-five mortality fell from 3.9% in 2000–2015 to 1.5% in 2015–2024; neonatal mortality slowed from 3.0% to 1.3%. These trend statistics do not identify a cause.

Bars compare annual mortality reduction in 2000 to 2015 and 2015 to 2024: under-five mortality slowed from 3.9 to 1.5 percent per year and neonatal mortality from 3.0 to 1.3 percent. — The later reduction pace was less than half the earlier pace for both measures. These are source-reported trend statistics and do not by themselves identify a cause.

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Measures and interpretation controls

Measures Guide links: UNIGME-CHILD-ARR

These measure definitions are active in the public Suffering Measures Guide.

05 · Maternal mortality

Maternal mortality fell, but the pace required for 2030 is much faster

The global maternal mortality ratio declined from 328 in 2000 to 197 in 2023. Reaching below 70 by 2030 would require a 14.8% annual reduction during 2024–2030—a target-consistent scenario, not a forecast.

A line chart shows the global maternal mortality ratio falling from 328 in 2000 to 197 in 2023, with a target below 70 in 2030; bars compare 2.2 percent historical annual reduction with 14.8 percent required. — The estimated ratio uses 80 percent uncertainty intervals. The required 2024 to 2030 pace is a target-consistent scenario, not a forecast. Separate cards show maternal deaths falling from 444,000 to 260,000 and adult lifetime risk improving from 1 in 130 to 1 in 272.

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Measures and interpretation controls

Measures Guide links: MMEIG-MMR MMEIG-MATERNAL-DEATHS MMEIG-LIFETIME-RISK MMEIG-MMR-ARR SDG-MMR-TARGET

These measure definitions are active in the public Suffering Measures Guide.

06 · Regional context

Rates and counts can tell different regional stories

Regional rates compare risk relative to live births, while counts show total scale. The same region can look different under the two measures. Child 2024 and maternal 2023 remain separate panels, not a combined ranking.

Four aligned regional dot plots compare 2024 child mortality rates and under-five death counts with 2023 maternal mortality ratios and maternal death counts across eight SDG regions. — Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest displayed rates and counts, while other regions shift position depending on whether risk or total deaths are shown. The display is not numbered as a ranking. Child and maternal panels use different years and uncertainty conventions.

Wide PNG Mobile PNG Wide SVG Mobile SVG Child data CSV Maternal data CSV

Measures and interpretation controls

Measures Guide links: UNIGME-U5MR UNIGME-U5-DEATHS MMEIG-MMR MMEIG-MATERNAL-DEATHS

These measure definitions are active in the public Suffering Measures Guide.

How to read the evidence

Keep the measure attached to its question

Counts show total scale. Rates and ratios introduce a denominator. Shares describe a subset of a total. Lifetime risk uses a different probability construct. Annual rates of reduction describe change over a period. None becomes interchangeable simply because the numbers appear in the same story.

Subset

Neonatal deaths occur within the under-five total; they are not added on top.

Denominators

U5MR and NMR are per 1,000 live births; MMR is per 100,000 live births.

Uncertainty

Child estimates use 90% uncertainty intervals; maternal estimates use 80% intervals.

Periods

Latest child estimates are for 2024; latest maternal estimates are for 2023.

Aggregates

Published regional and world aggregates control their own geographies; no forced summation.

Scope

No country ranking, causal attribution, combined mortality total, or mortality-to-USU conversion.

Measures in this brief

Under-five deaths

4.86 million in 2024

Count of estimated deaths before exact age 5 during the year.

Deaths; 90% UI 4.69-5.21 million

Relationship rule

Neonatal deaths are included.

Under-five mortality rate

37.4 per 1,000 live births in 2024

Probability of dying before exact age 5 under current conditions.

Deaths per 1,000 live births; 90% UI 36.0-40.2

Relationship rule

Not additive with neonatal mortality rate.

Neonatal deaths

2.27 million in 2024

Count of estimated deaths from birth to exact day 28.

Deaths; 90% UI 2.15-2.49 million

Relationship rule

Subset of under-five deaths.

Neonatal mortality rate

17.2 per 1,000 live births in 2024

Probability of dying from birth to exact day 28.

Deaths per 1,000 live births; 90% UI 16.3-18.8

Relationship rule

Nested age interval; not additive with U5MR.

Maternal deaths

260,000 in 2023

Estimated deaths from maternal causes in the reference year.

Deaths; 80% UI 230,000–308,000

Relationship rule

Separate period and population from child mortality.

Maternal mortality ratio

197 per 100,000 live births in 2023

Maternal deaths relative to live births in the same population and period.

Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births; 80% UI 174-234

Relationship rule

A ratio, not a probability or count.

Adult lifetime risk of maternal death

1 in 272 in 2023

Probability that a 15-year-old girl eventually dies from a maternal cause under current fertility and mortality conditions.

Probability expressed as 1 in N

Relationship rule

Depends on more than MMR; not a rescaled ratio.

Annual rate of reduction

Multiple periods

Average annual pace of decline in a rate or ratio over a stated interval.

Percent per year

Relationship rule

A trend statistic; not a death rate and not a causal explanation.

The mortality records are active in Suffering Measures Registry v1.2.0. The registry preserves measure definitions, source releases, observations, relationships, chart-series mappings, uncertainty conventions, and non-additivity rules.

Downloads

Use the brief at the level you need

Visual Brief

Eight-page publication brief with six charts and interpretation controls.

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Media summary

Two-page summary with key facts, definitions, and cautions.

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Source and methods note

Sources, uncertainty, geography rules, discrepancy decisions, and release status.

Open PDF

Chart pack

Wide/mobile PNG and SVG files, chart-data CSVs, and accessibility text.

Download ZIP

Accessible data tables

HTML tables for all six charts, including separate child and maternal regional data.

Open tables

Suffering Measures Registry

Published source, measure, observation, relationship, chart, entity, and content records.

Open JSON

Sources and release boundary

Official estimates remain in their own systems

Child mortality

United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, Levels & Trends in Child Mortality - Report 2025. Current-vintage trend window 1990-2024; 90% uncertainty intervals.

Maternal mortality

WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and UN DESA Population Division, Trends in maternal mortality estimates 2000 to 2023 (revised 2025 vintage); 80% uncertainty intervals.

The exact source binaries are retained in the private reproducibility archive and are not redistributed through the public site. Published charts use the source-native values documented in the v1.1 data package. See the source and methods note for hashes, schema findings, uncertainty, geography, and discrepancy decisions.