UNICEF and WHO (Joint Low Birthweight Estimates) · Low Birthweight Prevalence
Low birthweight by country
What share of babies are born weighing less than 2.5 kilograms?
Of the 158 countries compared in 2020, Iceland had the lowest reading, 3.9928%, and India had the highest reading, 27.4353%. In the middle country the figure was 10.2123%. Among the 158 countries measured in every edition since 2000, the middle one moved from 10.1962% to 10.2123%.
Low birthweight · 2020
Context statistic
Lowest of 158Iceland
3.9928%012020 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 158 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Hansueli Krapf · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2Photo: Joonas Lyytinen · CC BY-SA 2.5, greyscale
3Photo: User:Pieter Kuiper · Public domain, greyscale
Highest in 2020
India27.4353%
Bangladesh23.0467%
Comoros23.0272%
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
Lowest on each continent
- Africa
Algeria7.1972% - Americas
Canada6.6254% - Asia
Turkmenistan4.2878% - EuropeIceland3.9928%
- Oceania
New Zealand5.8572% - Every region
02Every measured country
Low birthweight on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 15.1601–27.4353%
- 11.4059–14.7769%
- 8.8178–11.3616%
- 6.5537–8.7166%
- 3.9928–6.4705%
- No reading in 2020
- Europe
6.3608%
the middle country, of 42 measured · 49 members
Iceland3.9928%
Greece11.4059%Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Americas
10.2230%
the middle country, of 29 measured · 48 members
Canada6.6254%
Guyana17.1631%Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Oceania
10.2633%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 21 members
New Zealand5.8572%
Papua New Guinea19.3803%Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Asia
11.3678%
the middle country, of 40 measured · 52 members
Turkmenistan4.2878%India27.4353%Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Africa
14.7082%
the middle country, of 38 measured · 55 members
Algeria7.1972%Comoros23.0272%Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Northern Europe
4.3152%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Iceland3.9928%
United Kingdom6.8271%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Central Asia
5.8485%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Turkmenistan4.2878%
Tajikistan8.7161%Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Western Europe
6.7352%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Netherlands5.6518%
Luxembourg7.7499%Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- Southern Europe
6.7371%
the middle country, of 14 measured · 17 members
San Marino4.2443%Greece11.4059%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Eastern Europe
7.4389%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
Belarus5.1230%
Bulgaria11.3616%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- South America
9.0005%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Chile6.8367%Guyana17.1631%Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Central America
10.2534%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica8.7166%
Guatemala14.4944%Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Western Asia
11.7384%
the middle country, of 14 measured · 19 members
Georgia7.4206%
Jordan18.9367%Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- South-eastern Asia
12.4843%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
Vietnam6.3112%
Philippines21.1441%Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Middle Africa
12.5126%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
DR Congo10.1570%
Central African Republic16.3547%Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Eastern Africa
14.7769%
the middle country, of 13 measured · 19 members
Rwanda9.3985%Comoros23.0272%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Caribbean
15.3555%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 24 members
Cuba7.0620%
Trinidad and Tobago16.2741%Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Southern Africa
15.5815%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Eswatini10.2016%
Botswana16.8344%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
- Western Africa
16.8476%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 16 members
Sierra Leone10.3437%
Liberia19.8813%Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- Southern Asia
18.8549%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 9 members
Bhutan11.4310%India27.4353%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
New Zealand5.8572%
Australia6.5537%Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Eastern Asia
4 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: China, Japan, Mongolia, South Korea.
Mongolia4.8965%
Japan11.3047%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Melanesia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
Fiji7.4019%Papua New Guinea19.3803%Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Micronesia
2 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati, Palau.
Kiribati9.0314%
Palau13.5251%Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern Africa
3 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia.
Algeria7.1972%
Morocco14.7665%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada6.6254%
United States8.2614%Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
1 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Cook Islands.
Cook Islands10.2633%Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
158 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 10.2123%; a quarter are above 14.1963%, and a quarter below 7.1874%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 158 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way UNICEF and WHO (Joint Low Birthweight Estimates)’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. UNICEF and WHO (Joint Low Birthweight Estimates) ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. Many babies in low-income countries are never weighed at birth, so these are modelled estimates, adjusted for the births with no recorded weight. Each carries a published credible interval, and where few births are weighed the interval is wide.
Showing 25 of 158 countries
Values for 2020. The change column compares 2020 with 2019 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052000–2020 · 21 reference years
Over time
Each point is one year from 2000 to 2020. The estimates come from the July 2023 UNICEF-WHO round, the latest published, so the series stops in 2020 — read the most recent figure as a 2020 reading, not a current one.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 158 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 158 | 10.2123% | 7.1874% – 14.1963% | 10.2123% |
| 2019 | 158 | 10.2475% | 7.1526% – 14.0884% | 10.2475% |
| 2018 | 158 | 10.2525% | 7.1198% – 13.9255% | 10.2525% |
| 2017 | 158 | 10.3147% | 7.0882% – 13.9569% | 10.3147% |
| 2016 | 158 | 10.3870% | 7.0580% – 14.0248% | 10.3870% |
| 2015 | 158 | 10.4541% | 7.0578% – 14.0849% | 10.4541% |
| 2014 | 158 | 10.4979% | 7.0426% – 14.1422% | 10.4979% |
| 2013 | 158 | 10.5203% | 7.0378% – 14.1891% | 10.5203% |
| 2012 | 158 | 10.5131% | 7.0769% – 14.2620% | 10.5131% |
| 2011 | 158 | 10.5800% | 7.0651% – 14.3434% | 10.5800% |
| 2010 | 158 | 10.5805% | 7.0457% – 14.3581% | 10.5805% |
| 2009 | 158 | 10.5657% | 7.0442% – 14.4546% | 10.5657% |
| 2008 | 158 | 10.5300% | 7.0227% – 14.4669% | 10.5300% |
| 2007 | 158 | 10.5115% | 6.9736% – 14.4816% | 10.5115% |
| 2006 | 158 | 10.5118% | 6.9316% – 14.4785% | 10.5118% |
| 2005 | 158 | 10.5105% | 6.9054% – 14.4034% | 10.5105% |
| 2004 | 158 | 10.4955% | 6.9987% – 14.3476% | 10.4955% |
| 2003 | 158 | 10.4619% | 7.0731% – 14.2959% | 10.4619% |
| 2002 | 158 | 10.4105% | 7.0752% – 14.3353% | 10.4105% |
| 2001 | 158 | 10.3330% | 7.0961% – 14.3606% | 10.3330% |
| 2000 | 158 | 10.1962% | 7.0984% – 14.3548% | 10.1962% |
062019 → 2020
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after
Guinea-Bissau19.8319% → 19.5489% · 7th → 7th−0.2831
Senegal17.4880% → 17.2494% · 17th → 17th−0.2386
Lithuania4.5974% → 4.3979% · 150th → 151st−0.1995- India27.6206% → 27.4353% · 1st → 1st−0.1853
- Morocco14.9206% → 14.7665% · 33rd → 34th−0.1541
Worsened most
before → after- Jordan18.6622% → 18.9367% · 11th → 9th+0.2744
Kuwait14.1404% → 14.3660% · 40th → 39th+0.2256
Dominican Republic13.2234% → 13.4354% · 50th → 47th+0.2120
South Korea7.2943% → 7.4631% · 115th → 111th+0.1688
Malaysia13.6839% → 13.8114% · 44th → 42nd+0.1275
158 countries were measured in both 2019 and 2020.
07Across every edition
Low birthweight in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
32.4705%
Live births weighing under 2,500 g (%)
Lowest reading on record
3.5816%
Live births weighing under 2,500 g (%)
Biggest improvement between editions
−0.4039
18.4670% → 18.0630%
UNICEF and WHO (Joint Low Birthweight Estimates) · 2004 → 2005
Biggest decline between editions
+0.3535
17.3226% → 17.6761%
UNICEF and WHO (Joint Low Birthweight Estimates) · 2014 → 2015
Most improved since first measured
−5.0352
32.4705% → 27.4353%
UNICEF and WHO (Joint Low Birthweight Estimates) · 2000 → 2020
At the top most often
21 of 21
editions, alone at the first-listed end
UNICEF and WHO (Joint Low Birthweight Estimates) · 2000–2020
08The measure
About low birthweight
Low birthweight is the share of babies born weighing less than 2,500 grams. It reflects the health and nutrition of mothers during pregnancy, and it is one of the strongest predictors of whether a newborn survives its first month.
What the number is: Live births weighing under 2,500 g (%).
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Health & Wellbeing and Development & Human Capital, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Health & WellbeingDevelopment & Human CapitalWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where low birthweight is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Coefficient of Human InequalityUNDP Human Development Report Office · 142 countries in commonρ 0.75
- Stillbirth RateUN IGME · 158 countries in commonρ 0.74
- Learning PovertyWorld Bank Group and UNESCO Institute for Statistics · 94 countries in commonρ 0.70
Moves against
Where low birthweight is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 142 countries in commonρ −0.73
- Share of Firms' Payments Made ElectronicallyWorld Bank Group · 137 countries in commonρ −0.70
- Lower Secondary Completion RateUIS · 138 countries in commonρ −0.70
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 304 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
11Questions
Low birthweight: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest low birthweight?
Iceland, at 3.9928%, among the 158 countries compared in 2020.
Which country has the highest low birthweight?
India, at 27.4353%, among the 158 countries compared in 2020.
How many countries does the Low Birthweight Prevalence cover?
158 in 2020.
What is the world average low birthweight?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 158 compared in 2020, the figure was 10.2123%.
Is this UNICEF and WHO (Joint Low Birthweight Estimates)’s own ranking?
No. UNICEF and WHO (Joint Low Birthweight Estimates) publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Low Birthweight Prevalence published?
This site holds 21 reference years, 2000–2020, all recalculated in UNICEF and WHO (Joint Low Birthweight Estimates)’s 2023 report on one method — not 21 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From UNICEF and WHO (Joint Low Birthweight Estimates), under CC BY 3.0 IGO. From the UNICEF-WHO Joint Low Birthweight Estimates, read from the producers' own workbook, which carries the estimates in full where UNICEF's data warehouse trims them to four decimals. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Low Birthweight Prevalence — UNICEF and WHO (Joint Low Birthweight Estimates)
From the UNICEF-WHO Joint Low Birthweight Estimates, read from the producers' own workbook, which carries the estimates in full where UNICEF's data warehouse trims them to four decimals.
Newest edition
Report year 2020Data year 2020
Cite the source as: UNICEF and WHO. UNICEF-WHO Low Birthweight Estimates, 2023 edition. New York and Geneva: UNICEF and WHO.
Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO, checked 2026-09-29.
How this page reads the numbers
- UNICEF and WHO (Joint Low Birthweight Estimates) ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Iceland — Hansueli Krapf, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Finland — Joonas Lyytinen, CC BY-SA 2.5
- Sweden — User:Pieter Kuiper, Public domain
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Low birthweight by country: Low Birthweight Prevalence, data from UNICEF and WHO (Joint Low Birthweight Estimates). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/low-birthweight