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Health · Africa ranking

Under-Five Mortality by African country

115.6Nigeria leads · 2024

Nigeria has the highest under-five mortality rate of any African country, at 115.6, ahead of Niger and Somalia.

Deaths before age five per 1,000 live births. 54 of 54 countries, ranked · WHO GHO, 2024.

1Nigeria115.62Niger110.73Somalia101.1
#1 vs #5412×Nigeria vs Libya
Median48.4Zambia
Lowest9.76Libya

By region

regional average
West Africa66.8
16 countries · led by Nigeria
Central Africa60.4
9 countries · led by Chad
East Africa48.4
16 countries · led by Somalia
Southern Africa46.6
7 countries · led by Zimbabwe
North Africa23.9
6 countries · led by Sudan

Full ranking

54 of 54 countries
#CountryUnder-Five MortalityPeriod
1Nigeria
115.62024
2Niger
110.72024
3Somalia
101.12024
4Chad
97.32024
5South Sudan
96.72024
6Guinea
92.12024
7Sierra Leone
90.52024
8Central African Republic
89.72024
9Democratic Republic of the Congo
89.72024
10Liberia
86.42024
11Burkina Faso
74.92024
12Benin
74.72024
13Mali
732024
14Equatorial Guinea
682024
15Guinea-Bissau
67.32024
16Cameroon
64.82024
17Zimbabwe
64.72024
18Cote d'Ivoire
64.52024
19Madagascar
62.42024
20Sudan
61.62024
21Lesotho
602024
22Mozambique
59.42024
23Togo
56.12024
24Angola
492024
25Djibouti
48.92024
26Malawi
48.82024
27Uganda
48.72024
28Zambia
48.42024
29Burundi
47.12024
30Eswatini
45.12024
31Ethiopia
44.52024
32Gambia
42.42024
33Namibia
39.52024
34Republic of the Congo
39.12024
35Comoros
392024
36Kenya
38.82024
37Rwanda
37.72024
38Tanzania
372024
39Mauritania
36.92024
40Senegal
36.52024
41Ghana
35.92024
42South Africa
35.12024
43Eritrea
34.32024
44Botswana
33.32024
45Gabon
32.62024
46Egypt
22.42024
47Algeria
21.62024
48Morocco
15.72024
49Mauritius
15.42024
50Seychelles
142024
51Sao Tome and Principe
13.62024
52Tunisia
12.12024
53Cabo Verde
11.12024
54Libya
9.762024

Get this ranking via API

GET /v1/data

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

curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=under_five_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/under-five-mortality" width="100%" height="560" loading="lazy" style="border:1px solid #e3e3e3;border-radius:10px;max-width:640px" title="Under-Five 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/under-five-mortality">Under-Five Mortality by African country — Africa API</a></p>

Frequently asked questions

Which African country has the highest under-five mortality rate?

Nigeria has the highest under-five mortality rate in Africa at 115.6 (2024), followed by Niger and Somalia.

Which African country has the lowest under-five mortality rate?

Libya has the lowest under-five mortality rate of the 54 African countries with data, at 9.76 (2024).

How many African countries report Under-Five Mortality data?

54 of 54 African countries have a Under-Five 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=under_five_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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