Countries by under-five mortality rate

South Sudan had the highest under-five mortality rate of 195 countries in 2016, at 272.9 per 1,000 live births. San Marino had the lowest, at 1.8 per 1,000 live births. The median was 17.8 per 1,000 live births and the figure for the World was 41.7 per 1,000 live births. Source: the World Bank.

Highest272.9South Sudan

Lowest1.8San Marino

Median17.8195 countries

World41.7History

Top 40 countries, 2016

per 1,000 live births. Source: World Bank (modelled estimate), Mortality rate, under-5, per 1,000 live births (SH.DYN.MORT). Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Full ranking

Rank	Countries	2016 per 1,000 live births	Change on 2015
1	South Sudan	272.9	+32.1
2	Somalia	130.2	-4.1
3	Central African Republic	126.8	+13.1
4	Chad	125	-3.7
5	Niger	124.3	-1.1
6	Sierra Leone	121.8	-15
7	Nigeria	117.4	-0.4
8	Guinea	111.4	-2.3
9	Mali	105.1	-4.6
10	Burkina Faso	97.4	-3.4
11	Benin	94	-2.1
12	Democratic Republic of the Congo	91.5	-0.4
12	Liberia	91.5	-1.7
14	Equatorial Guinea	89	-3.1
15	Guinea-Bissau	88.2	-3.4
16	Cameroon	85.1	-3.4
17	Côte d’Ivoire	83	-2.5
18	Mozambique	73.3	-2.5
19	Togo	72.8	-2.4
20	Pakistan	72.4	-2.4
21	Lesotho	71.4	-3.7
22	Afghanistan	69.4	-2.5
23	Haiti	67.2	-1.9
24	Madagascar	64.9	-0.4
25	Burundi	63.7	-3.2
26	Djibouti	63.2	-2
27	Sudan	61.6	-1.9
28	Ethiopia	61.3	-3.1
29	Angola	59.6	-2.2
30	Kiribati	59.1	+0.5
31	Timor-Leste	58.7	-1.5
32	Zimbabwe	57.5	-1.7
33	Zambia	57.1	-3.1
34	Gambia	56.6	-2.3
35	Malawi	55.8	-1.6
36	Uganda	55.6	-2.3
37	Eswatini	54.4	-3.1
38	Tanzania	52	-2.3
39	Namibia	51.4	-0.4
40	Republic of the Congo	51	-1.7
41	Senegal	50.8	-1.4
42	Papua New Guinea	50.4	-6.9
43	Ghana	50.3	-2.2
44	Myanmar	48.7	-1.8
45	Comoros	47.9	-1
45	Yemen	47.9	-1.4
47	Mauritania	47.7	-1.4
48	Rwanda	45.8	-1.5
49	Kenya	45.5	-1.3
50	Botswana	45.1	-1.6
51	Eritrea	44.7	-1.7
52	Turkmenistan	43.5	+0.3
53	Gabon	42.7	-1.7
54	Laos	42.2	-2.2
55	India	41.3	-2.4
56	South Africa	36.8	-1.4
57	Bangladesh	36.7	-1.8
58	Nepal	36	-1.8
59	Dominican Republic	34.9	0
60	Marshall Islands	34.2	-1
61	Guyana	32.4	-0.9
62	Syria	32.2	-4.9
63	Tajikistan	31.5	-0.7
64	Dominica	30.2	+1
65	Micronesia	28.9	-0.9
66	Iraq	28.4	-0.9
67	Philippines	27.8	-0.1
68	Cambodia	27.5	-2.1
69	Bhutan	27.4	-1.8
70	Guatemala	27	-1.1
71	Azerbaijan	26.5	-1.4
72	Egypt	26	-0.5
73	Tuvalu	25.2	-0.8
74	Bolivia	25	-1.7
74	Indonesia	25	-1.1
76	Solomon Islands	24.6	-0.4
77	Algeria	24.5	-0.4
78	Venezuela	24.2	+5.1
79	Trinidad and Tobago	22.3	-0.4
80	Morocco	21.9	-1.2
80	Palau	21.9	+0.6
82	Fiji	21.6	+0.7
83	São Tomé and Príncipe	21.3	-2
83	Vietnam	21.3	-0.3
85	Paraguay	21.2	-0.7
86	Kyrgyzstan	21.1	-1.2
87	North Korea	20.6	-0.8
88	Suriname	20.1	-0.5
89	Honduras	19.6	-0.7
90	Saint Kitts and Nevis	19.3	-0.1
91	Jamaica	18.7	0
92	Saint Lucia	18.6	-0.1
93	Mongolia	18.4	-1
93	Uzbekistan	18.4	-1.3
93	Vanuatu	18.4	-0.2
96	Samoa	18.1	-0.2
96	Tunisia	18.1	-0.1
98	Grenada	17.8	+0.3
99	Cape Verde	17.6	-1.6
100	Palestine	17.5	-0.7
101	Panama	17	-0.1
102	Brazil	16.8	+0.8
103	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	16.6	-0.8
104	Mexico	16.2	-0.4
105	Jordan	16.1	-0.4
105	Nicaragua	16.1	-1.1
105	Peru	16.1	-0.5
108	Nauru	15.9	-1.6
109	Moldova	15.5	-0.1
110	British Virgin Islands	15.2	-0.3
111	Belize	15	-0.6
111	Colombia	15	-0.5
113	Iran	14.9	-0.6
114	Ecuador	14.8	-0.5
115	Seychelles	14.7	+0.1
116	Mauritius	14.6	+0.1
117	Armenia	14	-0.7
118	El Salvador	13.9	-0.7
119	Bahamas	13.8	-0.2
120	Lebanon	13.2	+0.3
121	Libya	12.8	-0.5
122	Türkiye	12.7	-0.6
123	Barbados	12.4	-0.4
124	Tonga	11.6	-0.3
125	Thailand	11.5	-0.4
126	Argentina	11.4	-0.3
127	Kazakhstan	11	-0.9
127	Oman	11	-0.1
129	Antigua and Barbuda	10.8	-0.2
130	Brunei	10.7	0
131	North Macedonia	10.6	-0.5
132	Georgia	10.2	-0.4
133	China	10	-0.7
134	Albania	9.4	-0.2
135	Maldives	9.2	-0.7
136	Ukraine	9.1	-0.4
137	Kuwait	9	-0.1
138	Costa Rica	8.9	-0.1
139	Romania	8.5	-0.7
139	Saudi Arabia	8.5	-0.5
141	Uruguay	8.4	-0.5
142	Sri Lanka	8.3	-0.4
143	Malaysia	8.2	0
144	Bulgaria	7.7	-0.5
144	Chile	7.7	-0.2
146	Bahrain	7.6	-0.1
147	Qatar	7.5	-0.3
147	Russia	7.5	-0.7
149	United Arab Emirates	7.3	-0.3
150	Bosnia and Herzegovina	6.8	+0.1
151	United States	6.7	-0.1
152	Malta	6.5	-0.1
153	Cuba	6.3	+0.2
154	Serbia	6.1	-0.2
154	Slovakia	6.1	-0.1
156	Turks and Caicos Islands	6	-0.2
157	New Zealand	5.5	-0.1
158	Canada	5.3	0
159	Croatia	4.9	0
160	Latvia	4.8	-0.3
160	Lithuania	4.8	-0.2
160	Poland	4.8	-0.1
163	Hungary	4.7	-0.4
164	United Kingdom	4.4	-0.1
165	Greece	4.3	0
166	France	4.2	0
166	Switzerland	4.2	-0.1
168	Belgium	4.1	0
168	Netherlands	4.1	0
170	Denmark	4	-0.1
171	Belarus	3.9	-0.2
171	Germany	3.9	0
171	Montenegro	3.9	-0.3
174	Australia	3.8	-0.1
174	Israel	3.8	-0.1
176	Austria	3.6	-0.1
176	Ireland	3.6	-0.1
176	Portugal	3.6	0
179	Andorra	3.4	-0.1
179	Italy	3.4	-0.1
179	Monaco	3.4	-0.1
179	South Korea	3.4	-0.1
183	Spain	3.3	0
184	Czechia	3.2	0
185	Estonia	3	-0.2
186	Sweden	2.8	-0.1
187	Japan	2.7	-0.1
188	Iceland	2.6	0
188	Norway	2.6	-0.1
188	Singapore	2.6	-0.1
191	Cyprus	2.5	0
191	Luxembourg	2.5	0
191	Slovenia	2.5	-0.1
194	Finland	2.4	-0.1
195	San Marino	1.8	-0.1

Other periods

About this ranking

Probability that a newborn dies before reaching age five, per 1,000 live births, if subject to the age-specific mortality of the year.

Includes infant deaths, so it is always higher than the infant mortality rate.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

World Bank, World Development Indicators, modelled estimate. Mortality rate, under-5, per 1,000 live births (SH.DYN.MORT). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

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Questions

Which country has the highest under-five mortality rate?

South Sudan, with 272.9 per 1,000 live births in 2016, according to the World Bank.

Which country has the lowest under-five mortality rate?

San Marino, with 1.8 per 1,000 live births in 2016.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: World Bank, Mortality rate, under-5, per 1,000 live births (SH.DYN.MORT). Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Under-five mortality rate: other rankings

EU countries