One in twenty-five children still die before age five

Global child mortality has plunged — but the remaining burden is not evenly spread.

About 4% of the world's children — one in twenty-five — still die before their fifth birthday, according to UN IGME's 2024 estimates. The global rate has plunged over recent decades, but the remaining burden is not evenly spread: a child's odds of reaching age five still depend largely on where they are born.

1 cell = 8.2 million people (0.1% of world population) · 1,000 cells

Context

The estimate comes from the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME); its 2024 round — the basis for this 2026 edition — puts global under-five mortality at about 4%, rounded. The grid uses the world's population, roughly 8.2 billion people, as its whole.

A single global average conceals wide differences between countries and regions. The remaining burden is not evenly spread: children in the hardest-hit places face far higher odds of dying before five than the world average suggests.

The 4% rate represents dramatic progress — child mortality has plunged over recent decades — but it also marks an unfinished agenda. The task now is making sure the gains reach the children and places the average has left behind.

UN IGME 2024: ~4% under-five mortality globally, rounded.