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Health · Africa ranking

Neonatal Mortality by African country

40.2South Sudan leads · 2023

South Sudan has the highest neonatal mortality rate of any African country, at 40.2 — 1.2× Somalia's 34.9.

Deaths in the first 28 days of life per 1,000 live births. 54 of 54 countries, ranked · WHO GHO, 2023.

1South Sudan40.22Somalia34.93Niger33.8
#1 vs #547.0×South Sudan vs Libya
Median23.1Togo
Lowest5.71Libya

By region

regional average
West Africa26.4
16 countries · led by Niger
Central Africa23
9 countries · led by Chad
East Africa22.1
16 countries · led by South Sudan
Southern Africa22
7 countries · led by Lesotho
North Africa12.3
6 countries · led by Sudan

Full ranking

54 of 54 countries
#CountryNeonatal MortalityPeriod
1South Sudan
40.22023
2Somalia
34.92023
3Niger
33.82023
4Nigeria
33.72023
5Guinea-Bissau
32.72023
6Mali
32.42023
7Chad
31.42023
8Central African Republic
30.72023
9Guinea
30.32023
10Liberia
29.62023
11Sierra Leone
29.32023
12Lesotho
28.72023
13Cote d'Ivoire
28.22023
14Djibouti
28.22023
15Benin
282023
16Ethiopia
27.42023
17Equatorial Guinea
27.22023
18Angola
25.62023
19Mozambique
25.42023
20Democratic Republic of the Congo
25.32023
21Cameroon
25.22023
22Sudan
24.82023
23Burkina Faso
24.52023
24Eswatini
24.52023
25Namibia
24.12023
26Madagascar
23.82023
27Gambia
23.72023
28Togo
23.12023
29Comoros
22.52023
30Zimbabwe
22.42023
31Senegal
22.32023
32Zambia
222023
33Kenya
21.52023
34Mauritania
21.52023
35Ghana
21.22023
36Botswana
20.92023
37Tanzania
20.62023
38Burundi
19.62023
39Malawi
18.82023
40Rwanda
18.12023
41Uganda
17.92023
42Republic of the Congo
17.72023
43Gabon
16.82023
44Eritrea
16.42023
45Algeria
15.32023
46South Africa
11.72023
47Morocco
10.22023
48Egypt
9.252023
49Mauritius
92023
50Seychelles
8.512023
51Tunisia
8.362023
52Cabo Verde
8.322023
53Sao Tome and Principe
6.762023
54Libya
5.712023

Get this ranking via API

GET /v1/data

One call to /v1/data returns the latest Neonatal Mortality figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.

curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=neonatal_mortality_rate&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"
Get a free API key

Cite or republish this ranking

Data: Africa API — WHO GHO, 2023. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.

Embed this ranking

free · auto-updating

Drop this chart into your article or site — it stays live as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed (a citation link is included).

<iframe src="https://africa-api.com/embed/neonatal-mortality" width="100%" height="560" loading="lazy" style="border:1px solid #e3e3e3;border-radius:10px;max-width:640px" title="Neonatal Mortality by African country — Africa API"></iframe>
<p style="font:13px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif;margin:.5rem 0"><a href="https://africa-api.com/data/neonatal-mortality">Neonatal Mortality by African country — Africa API</a></p>

Frequently asked questions

Which African country has the highest neonatal mortality rate?

South Sudan has the highest neonatal mortality rate in Africa at 40.2 (2023), followed by Somalia and Niger.

Which African country has the lowest neonatal mortality rate?

Libya has the lowest neonatal mortality rate of the 54 African countries with data, at 5.71 (2023).

How many African countries report Neonatal Mortality data?

54 of 54 African countries have a recent Neonatal Mortality figure in the Africa API. Each value links to the country's full series with source and history.

How do I get this ranking via API?

Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=neonatal_mortality_rate&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.

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