World: Low-birthweight babies (% of births)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, World's low-birthweight babies (% of births) rose 0.1 percentage points on 2019 (from 14.62% to 14.72%).

Across the 19 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2019), the average change was −0.1 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.09 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.14 percentage points in 2018 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.21 percentage points in 2012. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2020 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.06 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 67% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

What this measures

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.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 21 values

Low-birthweight babies (% of births) in nearby economies

• Algeria — 7.2% (2020)
• Bahrain — 12.44% (2020)
• Iraq — 10.86% (2020)
• Israel — 8.98% (2020)
• Jordan — 18.94% (2020)
• Kuwait — 14.37% (2020)
• Lebanon — 12.6% (2020)
• Malta — 7.18% (2020)
• Morocco — 14.77% (2020)
• Oman — 13.24% (2020)
• Qatar — 9.96% (2020)

More health data for World

• Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 7.67% (2025)
• Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 7.97% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female — 974.32 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 23.85% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male — 1.03 billion (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 24.97% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, total — 2.01 billion (2025)
• Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 24.41% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 8.04% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, male (% of male population)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is World's low-birthweight babies (% of births)?

14.72% in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2000?

It is down 1.85 percentage points from 16.57% in 2000. The highest value was 16.62% in 2001 and the lowest 14.51% in 2017.

Is the latest change in low-birthweight babies (% of births) unusual for World?

In 2020, World's low-birthweight babies (% of births) rose 0.1 percentage points on 2019 (from 14.62% to 14.72%). Across the 19 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2019), the average change was −0.1 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.09 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: UNICEF-WHO Low birthweight estimates, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), uri: data.unicef.org; World Health Organization (WHO), uri: data.unicef.org, note: UNICEF-WHO Low birthweight estimates.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SH.STA.BRTW.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: UNICEF-WHO Low birthweight estimates, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), uri: data.unicef.org; World Health Organization (WHO), uri: data.unicef.org, note: UNICEF-WHO Low birthweight estimates Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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