UN IGME · Stillbirth Rate
Stillbirth rate by country
How many babies are stillborn for every thousand births?
Of the 200 countries compared in 2023, Monaco had the lowest reading, 1.1799, and Somalia had the highest reading, 34.8992. In the middle country the figure was 8.1635. Among the 200 countries measured in every edition since 2000, the middle one moved from 12.6023 to 8.1635.
Stillbirth rate · 2023
Context statistic
Lowest of 200Monaco
1.1799012023 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 200 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Martin Weber derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2Photo: JurriaanH · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
3Photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
Highest in 2023
Somalia34.8992
Central African Republic32.2962
Djibouti29.7497
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
02Every measured country
Stillbirth rate 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.
- 16.8570–34.8992
- 9.4306–16.2635
- 6.5018–9.3614
- 3.1590–6.4866
- 1.1799–3.0947
- No reading in 2023
- Europe
2.5576
the middle country, of 43 measured · 49 members
Monaco1.1799
Moldova7.6425Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Asia
6.7737
the middle country, of 48 measured · 52 members
Japan1.6552
Afghanistan28.0219Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Americas
8.1272
the middle country, of 39 measured · 48 members
United States2.6805
Haiti17.7953Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Oceania
8.5073
the middle country, of 16 measured · 21 members
Australia2.5792
Papua New Guinea19.2122Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Africa
18.4520
the middle country, of 54 measured · 55 members
Libya6.9552Somalia34.8992Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Northern Europe
2.1965
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Estonia1.8736
Latvia3.1590Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Europe
2.6331
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Monaco1.1799
Luxembourg3.3079Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- Southern Europe
2.8262
the middle country, of 15 measured · 17 members
Spain1.9679
Kosovo4.5924Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Eastern Europe
3.4667
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
Belarus2.1059Moldova7.6425Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Eastern Asia
4.3668
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
Japan1.6552
North Korea8.1998Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Western Asia
5.2413
the middle country, of 18 measured · 19 members
Qatar2.8129
Yemen20.7979Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- Central Asia
7.0400
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Kazakhstan4.2936
Tajikistan7.9916Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Central America
7.4003
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica4.4969
Guatemala12.3103Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- South America
7.4300
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Chile2.7500
Guyana12.3700Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- South-eastern Asia
8.3283
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
Singapore1.8195
Timor-Leste14.8206Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Polynesia
8.4350
the middle country, of 5 measured · 7 members
Cook Islands6.5938
Niue9.1986Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.
- Micronesia
8.5796
the middle country, of 5 measured · 7 members
Nauru5.2424
Micronesia11.2500Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern Africa
8.9974
the middle country, of 6 measured · 6 members
Libya6.9552
Sudan21.5080Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Caribbean
9.2501
the middle country, of 17 measured · 24 members
Barbados4.3305Haiti17.7953Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Southern Asia
11.8088
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Maldives5.1465Afghanistan28.0219Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- Southern Africa
16.2108
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Eswatini13.6450
Lesotho22.6665Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
- Eastern Africa
18.1478
the middle country, of 18 measured · 19 members
Seychelles7.4739Somalia34.8992Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Middle Africa
18.3234
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
São Tomé and Príncipe9.1128Central African Republic32.2962Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Western Africa
19.9152
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Cabo Verde8.1231
Guinea-Bissau29.1358Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia2.5792
New Zealand2.7527Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Melanesia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
Fiji7.3266Papua New Guinea19.2122Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
United States2.6805
Canada2.8386Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
03The whole field at once
The spread
200 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 8.1635; a quarter are above 13.9452, and a quarter below 3.9599. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 200 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way UN IGME’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. The rate is per thousand TOTAL births — live births plus stillbirths — so it cannot be set directly beside the infant or neonatal rates, which are per thousand live births. Stillbirths are rarely registered, so these are modelled estimates. For India, IGME's figure is far above the official Sample Registration System's, and IGME says its estimate is not India's official statistic.
Showing 25 of 200 countries
Values for 2023. The change column compares 2023 with 2022 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052000–2023 · 24 reference years
Over time
Each point is one year from 2000, when IGME's stillbirth estimates begin. The whole series is re-estimated at each IGME release, and each figure carries published uncertainty bounds.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 200 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 200 | 8.1635 | 3.9599 – 13.9452 | 8.1635 |
| 2022 | 200 | 8.2427 | 4.0424 – 14.0394 | 8.2427 |
| 2021 | 200 | 8.4021 | 4.2714 – 14.1713 | 8.4021 |
| 2020 | 200 | 8.4809 | 4.2120 – 14.3177 | 8.4809 |
| 2019 | 200 | 8.6227 | 4.2663 – 14.6174 | 8.6227 |
| 2018 | 200 | 8.6278 | 4.3501 – 15.0481 | 8.6278 |
| 2017 | 200 | 8.7932 | 4.3449 – 15.5950 | 8.7932 |
| 2016 | 200 | 8.9027 | 4.4885 – 15.6046 | 8.9027 |
| 2015 | 200 | 9.0541 | 4.5534 – 15.8091 | 9.0541 |
| 2014 | 200 | 9.1753 | 4.4841 – 16.2022 | 9.1753 |
| 2013 | 200 | 9.4382 | 4.5500 – 16.2598 | 9.4382 |
| 2012 | 200 | 9.5925 | 4.6382 – 16.1342 | 9.5925 |
| 2011 | 200 | 9.6529 | 4.7730 – 16.3514 | 9.6529 |
| 2010 | 200 | 9.8451 | 4.8834 – 16.6539 | 9.8451 |
| 2009 | 200 | 9.9888 | 5.0430 – 16.7210 | 9.9888 |
| 2008 | 200 | 10.2869 | 5.1884 – 17.1739 | 10.2869 |
| 2007 | 200 | 10.7308 | 5.3507 – 17.9601 | 10.7308 |
| 2006 | 200 | 11.0487 | 5.5100 – 18.6256 | 11.0487 |
| 2005 | 200 | 11.2769 | 5.7155 – 19.0042 | 11.2769 |
| 2004 | 200 | 11.5095 | 5.9522 – 19.3288 | 11.5095 |
| 2003 | 200 | 11.7633 | 6.0861 – 19.7674 | 11.7633 |
| 2002 | 200 | 12.2074 | 6.1754 – 20.3447 | 12.2074 |
| 2001 | 200 | 12.4251 | 6.3144 – 20.7887 | 12.4251 |
| 2000 | 200 | 12.6023 | 6.4621 – 21.3080 | 12.6023 |
062022 → 2023
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- Central African Republic34.4288 → 32.2962 · 2nd → 2nd−2.1326
Kenya17.0416 → 16.2635 · 40th → 41st−0.7781
India12.3841 → 11.8088 · 62nd → 62nd−0.5753
Pakistan28.0583 → 27.5548 · 7th → 9th−0.5035
Uzbekistan7.4366 → 7.0400 · 109th → 112th−0.3967
200 countries were measured in both 2022 and 2023.
07Across every edition
Stillbirth rate in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
51.9374
Stillbirths (per 1,000 total births)
Lowest reading on record
1.1799
Stillbirths (per 1,000 total births)
Biggest improvement between editions
−3.5060
14.8332 → 11.3271
Biggest decline between editions
+1.6388
17.0217 → 18.6606
Most improved since first measured
−22.8016
51.9374 → 29.1358
At the top most often
15 of 24
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About stillbirth rate
The stillbirth rate is how many babies are born with no sign of life, at 28 weeks of pregnancy or later, for every thousand births. These deaths are counted by neither infant nor under-five mortality, because they happen before a live birth, and most of them can be prevented with good care in pregnancy and at delivery.
What the number is: Stillbirths (per 1,000 total births).
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 stillbirth rate is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Infant Mortality RateUN IGME · 200 countries in commonρ 0.94
- Under-Five Mortality RateKeyUN IGME · 200 countries in commonρ 0.94
- Neonatal Mortality RateUN IGME · 200 countries in commonρ 0.93
Moves against
Where stillbirth rate is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 168 countries in commonρ −0.95
- Human Capital IndexWorld Bank Group · 170 countries in commonρ −0.94
- Human Development IndexKeyUNDP Human Development Report Office · 191 countries in commonρ −0.93
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 312 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The countries at either end
11Questions
Stillbirth rate: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest stillbirth rate?
Monaco, at 1.1799, among the 200 countries compared in 2023.
Which country has the highest stillbirth rate?
Somalia, at 34.8992, among the 200 countries compared in 2023.
How many countries does the Stillbirth Rate cover?
200 in 2023.
What is the world average stillbirth rate?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 200 compared in 2023, the figure was 8.1635.
Is this UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME)’s own ranking?
No. UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) 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 Stillbirth Rate published?
This site holds 24 reference years, 2000–2023, all recalculated in UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME)’s 2025 report on one method — not 24 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), under CC BY 3.0 IGO. From the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, read out of UNICEF’s own SDMX warehouse (CME_SBR), the same route as the child mortality rates beside it. 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
Stillbirth Rate — UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME)
From the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, read out of UNICEF’s own SDMX warehouse (CME_SBR), the same route as the child mortality rates beside it.
Newest edition
Report year 2023Data year 2023
Cite the source as: UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. Child mortality and stillbirth estimates. New York: UNICEF.
Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO, checked 2026-09-29.
How this page reads the numbers
- UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) 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.
- Monaco — Martin Weber derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Japan — JurriaanH, CC BY-SA 3.0
- South Korea — Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Stillbirth rate by country: Stillbirth Rate, data from UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/stillbirth-rate