Low-birthweight babies in Brazil

Brazil: Low-birthweight babies was 8.7% in 2020. ▲ Rising

Latest (2020)
8.7%
Change on year
up 0.3%
World rank
98th
of 157 countries
All-time high
8.7%
in 2020
All-time low
8.0%
in 2000
Years of data
21
2000–2020

Low-birthweight babies in Brazil, 2000–2020

024682000201020202000: 8 % of births2001: 8 % of births2002: 8.1 % of births2003: 8.1 % of births2004: 8.2 % of births2005: 8.2 % of births2006: 8.2 % of births2007: 8.2 % of births2008: 8.3 % of births2009: 8.3 % of births2010: 8.3 % of births2011: 8.3 % of births2012: 8.3 % of births2013: 8.4 % of births2014: 8.4 % of births2015: 8.5 % of births2016: 8.6 % of births2017: 8.6 % of births2018: 8.6 % of births2019: 8.7 % of births2020: 8.7 % of births

Source: UNICEF-WHO Low birthweight estimates, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). Measured in % of births.

Analysis

In 2020, low-birthweight babies in Brazil stood at 8.7%. That is the highest value across all 21 years on record.

The figure is up 0.3% on the previous year and up 4.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, low-birthweight babies in Brazil peaked at 8.7% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 8.0%, in 2000.

Brazil ranks 98th of 157 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 21 years of available data.

Low-birthweight babies in Brazil, year by year

Annual values for Low-birthweight babies (% of births) in Brazil, 2000 to 2020.
Year % of births Change
2000 8.0%
2001 8.0% +0.5%
2002 8.1% +0.5%
2003 8.1% +0.5%
2004 8.2% +0.4%
2005 8.2% +0.4%
2006 8.2% +0.3%
2007 8.2% +0.3%
2008 8.3% +0.3%
2009 8.3% +0.3%
2010 8.3% +0.2%
2011 8.3% +0.3%
2012 8.3% +0.4%
2013 8.4% +0.5%
2014 8.4% +0.6%
2015 8.5% +0.7%
2016 8.6% +0.7%
2017 8.6% +0.6%
2018 8.6% +0.5%
2019 8.7% +0.4%
2020 8.7% +0.3%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 8.2% 8.0% 8.3% 10
2010s 8.5% 8.3% 8.7% 10
2020s 8.7% 8.7% 8.7% 1

Countries ranked near Brazil

  1. 95 Romania 8.8% compare
  2. 96 Costa Rica 8.7% compare
  3. 97 Tajikistan 8.7% compare
  4. 99 Hungary 8.3% compare
  5. 100 North Macedonia 8.3% compare
  6. 101 Armenia 8.3% compare

See the full ranking of 188 places →

More health data for Brazil

All data for Brazil →

Frequently asked questions

What is low-birthweight babies in Brazil?
Low-birthweight babies in Brazil was 8.7% in 2020, according to UNICEF-WHO Low birthweight estimates, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
What is the highest low-birthweight babies recorded in Brazil?
The highest recorded value was 8.7% in 2020.
What is the lowest low-birthweight babies recorded in Brazil?
The lowest recorded value was 8.0% in 2000.
How does Brazil rank for low-birthweight babies?
Brazil ranks 98th out of 157 countries with data for 2020.
Is low-birthweight babies rising or falling in Brazil?
Over the last ten years it is up 4.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Brazil data come from?
The figures come from UNICEF-WHO Low birthweight estimates, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), published as part of Low-birthweight babies (% of births). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Low-birthweight babies in Brazil. Statizoid, drawing on UNICEF-WHO Low birthweight estimates, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). Retrieved 05 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/low-birthweight-babies-percent-of-births/brazil/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://health.statizoid.com/stat/low-birthweight-babies-percent-of-births/brazil/">Low-birthweight babies in Brazil</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Low-birthweight babies (% of births)
Unit
% of births
Source
UNICEF-WHO Low birthweight estimates, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
188 places, 3,948 data points, 2000–2020
Last refreshed

Low-birthweight babies are newborns weighing less than 2,500 grams, with the measurement taken within the first hour of life, before significant postnatal weight loss has occurred.