Number of neonatal, infant and child deaths in Zambia

Zambia: Number of neonatal, infant and child deaths was 14,944 deaths in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
14,944 deaths
Change on year
up 1.2%
World rank
33rd
of 199 countries
All-time high
15,003 deaths
in 2000
All-time low
7,637 deaths
in 1970
Years of data
55
1970–2024

Number of neonatal, infant and child deaths in Zambia, 1970–2024

05.0k10.0k15.0k197019972024

Source: United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths.

Analysis

The most recent figure for number of neonatal, infant and child deaths in Zambia is 14,944 deaths, measured in 2024.

The figure is up 1.2% on the previous year and up 4.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of neonatal, infant and child deaths in Zambia peaked at 15,003 deaths in 2000 and was at its lowest, 7,637 deaths, in 1970.

Zambia ranks 33rd of 199 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 55 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 8,384 deaths 7,637 deaths 9,278 deaths 10
1980s 11,165 deaths 9,474 deaths 12,786 deaths 10
1990s 13,833 deaths 12,955 deaths 14,989 deaths 10
2000s 14,308 deaths 13,974 deaths 15,003 deaths 10
2010s 14,325 deaths 14,245 deaths 14,406 deaths 10
2020s 14,612 deaths 14,322 deaths 14,944 deaths 5

Countries ranked near Zambia

  1. 30 Mexico 16,661 deaths compare
  2. 31 Ghana 16,118 deaths compare
  3. 32 Malawi 15,906 deaths compare
  4. 34 South Africa 14,715 deaths compare
  5. 35 Iraq 14,670 deaths compare
  6. 36 Guinea 14,644 deaths compare

See the full ranking of 199 places →

More health data for Zambia

All data for Zambia →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of neonatal, infant and child deaths in Zambia?
Number of neonatal, infant and child deaths in Zambia was 14,944 deaths in 2024, according to United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest number of neonatal, infant and child deaths recorded in Zambia?
The highest recorded value was 15,003 deaths in 2000.
What is the lowest number of neonatal, infant and child deaths recorded in Zambia?
The lowest recorded value was 7,637 deaths in 1970.
How does Zambia rank for number of neonatal, infant and child deaths?
Zambia ranks 33rd out of 199 countries with data for 2024.
Is number of neonatal, infant and child deaths rising or falling in Zambia?
Over the last ten years it is up 4.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Zambia data come from?
The figures come from United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of neonatal, infant and child deaths. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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CSV · JSON — 55 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Number of neonatal, infant and child deaths
Unit
deaths
Source
United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
199 places, 10,164 data points, 1952–2024
Last refreshed

The estimated number of deaths of children aged less than 28 days .