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Health · Africa ranking

Neonatal Mortality by African country

39.5South Sudan leads · 2024

South Sudan has the highest neonatal mortality rate of any African country, at 39.5, ahead of Nigeria and Somalia.

Deaths in the first 28 days of life per 1,000 live births. 54 of 54 countries, ranked · WHO GHO, 2024.

1South Sudan39.52Nigeria393Somalia34.2
#1 vs #547.6×South Sudan vs Libya
Median22.6Togo
Lowest5.2Libya

By region

regional average
West Africa25.9
16 countries · led by Nigeria
Southern Africa22.9
7 countries · led by Zimbabwe
East Africa22
16 countries · led by South Sudan
Central Africa21.4
9 countries · led by Chad
North Africa12.5
6 countries · led by Sudan

Full ranking

54 of 54 countries
#CountryNeonatal MortalityPeriod
1South Sudan
39.52024
2Nigeria
392024
3Somalia
34.22024
4Zimbabwe
33.72024
5Liberia
32.92024
6Niger
32.82024
7Guinea-Bissau
322024
8Chad
30.42024
9Central African Republic
29.92024
10Guinea
29.82024
11Lesotho
28.52024
12Sierra Leone
28.32024
13Mali
282024
14Cote d'Ivoire
27.42024
15Benin
27.22024
16Djibouti
27.12024
17Equatorial Guinea
26.32024
18Ethiopia
25.22024
19Mozambique
25.12024
20Eswatini
252024
21Cameroon
24.82024
22Burkina Faso
23.82024
23Sudan
23.72024
24Democratic Republic of the Congo
23.62024
25Malawi
23.62024
26Madagascar
23.12024
27Gambia
232024
28Togo
22.62024
29Comoros
22.12024
30Zambia
21.42024
31Namibia
21.42024
32Uganda
21.32024
33Senegal
20.92024
34Mauritania
20.82024
35Kenya
20.72024
36Tanzania
19.92024
37Burundi
19.12024
38Angola
18.12024
39Ghana
18.12024
40Botswana
17.62024
41Rwanda
17.42024
42Republic of the Congo
16.52024
43Gabon
16.32024
44Eritrea
15.62024
45Algeria
152024
46Egypt
13.92024
47South Africa
12.42024
48Morocco
9.642024
49Mauritius
9.592024
50Seychelles
8.342024
51Cabo Verde
8.042024
52Tunisia
7.752024
53Sao Tome and Principe
6.42024
54Libya
5.22024

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, 2024. 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 39.5 (2024), followed by Nigeria and Somalia.

Which African country has the lowest neonatal mortality rate?

Libya has the lowest neonatal mortality rate of the 54 African countries with data, at 5.2 (2024).

How many African countries report Neonatal Mortality data?

54 of 54 African countries have a Neonatal Mortality figure in the Africa API, each from the latest year available for that country (which can differ between countries). Every value links to its 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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