Statizoid

Share of low birthweight babies born by country

Countries reporting
155
Highest
27.44
India
Lowest
3.99
Iceland
Median
10.16
Years covered
21
2000–2020
Data points
3,297

What the numbers show

Share of low birthweight babies born is currently reported for 155 countries. The highest value is 27.44 in India; the lowest is 3.99 in Iceland.

The median across all reporting countries is 10.16, and the mean is 10.85.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 7.

Over the past decade 70 countries rose and 85 fell. The largest increase was in South Korea (up 24.5%), and the largest decrease in Vietnam (down 21.3%).

Share of low birthweight babies born: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 India 27.44 2020 down 8.5% falling
2 Bangladesh 23.05 2020 down 5.9% falling
3 Comoros 23.03 2020 down 5.6% falling
4 Philippines 21.14 2020 up 0.1% flat
5 Liberia 19.88 2020 up 0.8% flat
6 Nepal 19.73 2020 down 7.2% falling
7 Guinea-Bissau 19.55 2020 down 12.1% falling
8 Papua New Guinea 19.38 2020 up 2.8% rising
9 Jordan 18.94 2020 up 14.8% rising
10 Madagascar 18.71 2020 down 4.4% falling
11 Mauritius 18.69 2020 down 3.2% falling
12 Burkina Faso 18.47 2020 down 4.1% falling
13 Cote d'Ivoire 18.29 2020 down 5.0% falling
14 East Timor 18.21 2020 up 8.8% flat
15 Sri Lanka 17.98 2020 down 3.6% falling
16 Mozambique 17.76 2020 down 3.2% falling
17 Senegal 17.25 2020 down 11.5% falling
18 Guyana 17.16 2020 up 1.7% rising
19 Botswana 16.83 2020 down 4.4% falling
20 Laos 16.73 2020 down 3.1% flat
22 Suriname 16.46 2020 up 6.7% rising
23 Benin 16.45 2020 down 7.1% falling
25 Trinidad and Tobago 16.27 2020 up 3.3% rising
26 Saint Lucia 16.25 2020 up 3.3% rising
27 Namibia 15.58 2020 down 3.1% falling
28 Malawi 15.58 2020 down 1.6% falling
29 Angola 15.53 2020 down 2.0% falling
30 Bahamas 15.4 2020 up 1.5% rising
31 Antigua and Barbuda 15.36 2020 up 2.8% rising
32 Eritrea 15.16 2020 down 1.8% falling
33 Burundi 14.78 2020 down 2.7% falling
34 Morocco 14.77 2020 down 10.5% falling
35 Gabon 14.65 2020 down 2.8% flat
36 Guatemala 14.49 2020 up 1.0% flat
37 Lesotho 14.45 2020 down 2.2% flat
38 Ghana 14.42 2020 down 4.6% falling
39 Kuwait 14.37 2020 up 20.0% rising
40 Togo 14.28 2020 down 6.7% falling
41 United Arab Emirates 13.94 2020 up 1.6% rising
42 Malaysia 13.81 2020 up 7.6% rising
43 Maldives 13.72 2020 down 0.6% flat
44 Jamaica 13.68 2020 down 5.4% falling
45 Brunei 13.64 2020 up 4.6% rising
46 Palau 13.53 2020 down 1.3% flat
47 Dominican Republic 13.44 2020 up 13.9% rising
48 Gambia 13.25 2020 down 3.9% falling
49 Oman 13.24 2020 down 0.7% flat
50 Solomon Islands 13.23 2020 up 0.2% flat
51 Honduras 13.09 2020 up 6.4% rising
52 Vanuatu 13.06 2020 up 3.5% rising
53 Turkey 12.9 2020 down 10.2% falling
54 Lebanon 12.6 2020 up 3.8% flat
55 Cameroon 12.51 2020 down 3.3% falling
56 Myanmar 12.48 2020 down 1.4% flat
57 Seychelles 12.48 2020 up 1.5% flat
58 Bahrain 12.44 2020 up 9.2% rising
59 Congo 11.93 2020 up 0.8% falling
60 Zimbabwe 11.83 2020 down 4.7% falling
61 Belize 11.56 2020 up 3.5% rising
62 Cambodia 11.45 2020 down 11.8% falling
63 Bhutan 11.43 2020 down 2.6% falling
64 Greece 11.41 2020 up 6.9% rising
65 Bulgaria 11.36 2020 up 5.1% rising
66 Japan 11.3 2020 up 2.5% flat
67 Zambia 11.25 2020 down 7.9% falling
68 Sao Tome and Principe 11.11 2020 up 5.2% rising
69 Azerbaijan 11.04 2020 up 0.8% flat
70 Colombia 10.95 2020 up 5.6% rising
71 Singapore 10.95 2020 up 3.1% flat
72 Iraq 10.86 2020 up 1.4% rising
73 Ecuador 10.63 2020 down 3.8% falling
74 Palestine 10.37 2020 up 6.7% rising
75 Sierra Leone 10.34 2020 down 11.8% falling
76 Thailand 10.3 2020 down 2.4% falling
77 Panama 10.28 2020 down 5.9% falling
78 El Salvador 10.22 2020 down 2.0% flat
79 Eswatini 10.2 2020 down 4.4% falling
80 Democratic Republic of Congo 10.16 2020 down 10.1% falling
81 Mexico 10.15 2020 up 0.0% flat
82 Nicaragua 10.1 2020 down 7.4% falling
83 Kenya 9.97 2020 down 8.3% falling
84 Paraguay 9.96 2020 down 0.8% flat
85 Qatar 9.96 2020 up 0.9% flat
86 Indonesia 9.93 2020 down 6.3% falling
87 Tanzania 9.7 2020 down 9.7% falling
88 Spain 9.64 2020 up 2.9% rising
89 Rwanda 9.4 2020 up 2.3% rising
90 Andorra 9.39 2020 up 4.0% rising
91 Venezuela 9.3 2020 up 4.1% rising
92 Kiribati 9.03 2020 down 4.1% flat
93 Israel 8.98 2020 down 5.4% falling
94 Portugal 8.92 2020 up 9.5% rising
95 Romania 8.82 2020 down 8.2% falling
96 Costa Rica 8.72 2020 up 2.8% flat
97 Tajikistan 8.72 2020 down 7.4% falling
98 Brazil 8.7 2020 up 4.9% rising
99 Hungary 8.32 2020 down 1.3% flat
100 North Macedonia 8.29 2020 up 1.8% flat
101 Armenia 8.27 2020 up 0.2% flat
102 United States 8.26 2020 up 1.7% rising
103 Tunisia 8.24 2020 up 2.5% rising
104 Bolivia 7.93 2020 down 5.7% falling
105 Slovakia 7.82 2020 up 5.8% rising
106 Uruguay 7.8 2020 down 3.5% falling
107 Luxembourg 7.75 2020 up 4.8% rising
108 Czechia 7.61 2020 up 6.2% rising
109 Peru 7.47 2020 down 13.4% falling
110 South Korea 7.46 2020 up 24.5% rising
111 France 7.43 2020 down 1.5% flat
112 Georgia 7.42 2020 up 8.8% rising
113 Fiji 7.4 2020 down 0.0% flat
114 Argentina 7.36 2020 up 1.6% flat
115 Russia 7.27 2020 up 0.5% flat
116 Italy 7.21 2020 up 3.2% rising
117 Algeria 7.2 2020 up 4.9% rising
118 Malta 7.18 2020 up 4.0% rising
119 Cuba 7.06 2020 down 1.7% flat
120 Chile 6.84 2020 up 14.4% rising
121 United Kingdom 6.83 2020 down 5.1% falling
122 Monaco 6.82 2020 down 4.4% falling
123 Belgium 6.76 2020 down 3.7% falling
124 Germany 6.71 2020 down 2.0% flat
125 Canada 6.63 2020 up 7.9% rising
126 Australia 6.55 2020 up 2.9% rising
127 Moldova 6.47 2020 down 0.6% flat
128 Switzerland 6.42 2020 up 0.8% flat
129 Vietnam 6.31 2020 down 21.3% falling
130 Austria 6.31 2020 down 6.5% falling
131 Slovenia 6.29 2020 up 3.0% rising
132 Montenegro 6.23 2020 down 2.4% flat
133 Serbia 6.2 2020 up 3.5% rising
134 Kyrgyzstan 6.04 2020 down 7.2% falling
135 Albania 5.99 2020 up 0.2% flat
136 New Zealand 5.86 2020 down 3.3% flat
137 Uzbekistan 5.85 2020 up 1.1% rising
138 Ukraine 5.73 2020 down 3.9% falling
139 Netherlands 5.65 2020 down 8.4% falling
140 Ireland 5.65 2020 up 5.6% rising
141 Poland 5.61 2020 down 3.3% falling
142 Kazakhstan 5.29 2020 down 9.0% falling
143 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5.15 2020 up 0.2% flat
144 Belarus 5.12 2020 up 2.0% flat
145 Croatia 4.99 2020 down 0.3% flat
146 China 4.97 2020 down 4.0% falling
147 Mongolia 4.9 2020 down 18.9% falling
148 Denmark 4.81 2020 down 6.7% falling
149 Norway 4.44 2020 down 7.3% falling
150 Lithuania 4.4 2020 down 6.2% flat
151 Turkmenistan 4.29 2020 down 15.1% falling
152 San Marino 4.24 2020 up 6.1% rising
153 Latvia 4.23 2020 down 8.2% falling
154 Estonia 4.17 2020 down 6.3% falling
155 Sweden 4.12 2020 down 2.6% flat
156 Finland 4.07 2020 down 1.4% falling
157 Iceland 3.99 2020 up 5.9% rising

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

About this data

Indicator
Share of low birthweight babies born
Source
Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
157 places, 3,297 data points, 2000–2020
Last refreshed