Prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns in Canada

Canada: Prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns was 6.63 in 2020. ▲ Rising

Latest (2020)
6.63
Change on year
up 0.8%
World rank
125th
of 157 countries
All-time high
6.63
in 2020
All-time low
5.69
in 2000
Years of data
21
2000–2020

Prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns in Canada, 2000–2020

02462000201020202000: 5.72001: 5.72002: 5.82003: 5.82004: 5.92005: 5.92006: 5.92007: 62008: 62009: 6.12010: 6.12011: 6.22012: 6.22013: 6.32014: 6.32015: 6.42016: 6.42017: 6.52018: 6.52019: 6.62020: 6.6

Source: UNICEF.

Analysis

Canada recorded 6.63 for prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns in 2020. That is the highest value across all 21 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.8% on the previous year and up 7.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns in Canada peaked at 6.63 in 2020 and was at its lowest, 5.69, in 2000.

Canada ranks 125th of 157 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

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

Prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns in Canada, year by year

Annual values for Prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns in Canada, 2000 to 2020.
Year Value Change
2000 5.69
2001 5.73 +0.7%
2002 5.77 +0.7%
2003 5.81 +0.8%
2004 5.86 +0.8%
2005 5.9 +0.7%
2006 5.94 +0.7%
2007 5.99 +0.8%
2008 6.04 +0.8%
2009 6.09 +0.8%
2010 6.14 +0.9%
2011 6.19 +0.8%
2012 6.24 +0.8%
2013 6.29 +0.8%
2014 6.34 +0.7%
2015 6.38 +0.7%
2016 6.43 +0.7%
2017 6.48 +0.7%
2018 6.52 +0.8%
2019 6.57 +0.8%
2020 6.63 +0.8%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 5.88 5.69 6.09 10
2010s 6.36 6.14 6.57 10
2020s 6.63 6.63 6.63 1

Countries ranked near Canada

  1. 122 Monaco 6.82 compare
  2. 123 Belgium 6.76 compare
  3. 124 Germany 6.71 compare
  4. 126 Australia 6.55 compare
  5. 127 Moldova 6.47 compare
  6. 128 Switzerland 6.42 compare

See the full ranking of 313 places →

More health data for Canada

All data for Canada →

Frequently asked questions

What is prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns in Canada?
Prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns in Canada was 6.63 in 2020, according to UNICEF.
What is the highest prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns recorded in Canada?
The highest recorded value was 6.63 in 2020.
What is the lowest prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns recorded in Canada?
The lowest recorded value was 5.69 in 2000.
How does Canada rank for prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns?
Canada ranks 125th out of 157 countries with data for 2020.
Is prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns rising or falling in Canada?
Over the last ten years it is up 7.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Canada data come from?
The figures come from UNICEF, published as part of Prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under UNICEF Terms of Use (attribution required).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns in Canada. Statizoid, drawing on UNICEF. Retrieved 02 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/prevalence-of-low-birth-weight-among-new-borns/canada/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under UNICEF Terms of Use (attribution required); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://health.statizoid.com/stat/prevalence-of-low-birth-weight-among-new-borns/canada/">Prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns in Canada</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Prevalence of low birth weight among new-borns
Source
UNICEF
Licence
UNICEF Terms of Use (attribution required)
Coverage
313 places, 6,573 data points, 2000–2020
Last refreshed