⚠️ Unconfirmedhealth2019

Estimated mean blood lead level in children (≤5 years), 2019

Name: Estimated mean blood lead level in children (≤5 years), 2019
Creator: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Results
Keywords: statistic-of-the-day, ai-generated, lead, children, toxic exposure, pollution, environmental health, blood lead level, GBD, IHME

Estimated mean blood lead level among children aged ≤5 (µg/dL), 2019—global, country-by-country modeled estimates from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

Source: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Results•162 countries

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Key Insights

Global Average

2.3µg/dL

Median: 2.2µg/dL

Countries Covered

162

with available data

Highest

Pakistan

6.5µg/dL

Lowest

United States of America

1.0µg/dL

Top 5 Countries

1Pakistan6.5µg/dL

2Myanmar6.0µg/dL

3Nigeria5.8µg/dL

4Afghanistan5.8µg/dL

5Albania5.5µg/dL

By Region

Africa3.0µg/dL(9 countries)

Asia2.8µg/dL(24 countries)

Other2.6µg/dL(85 countries)

South America1.9µg/dL(7 countries)

North America1.7µg/dL(4 countries)

Key Findings

•Estimated mean child blood lead levels tend to be highest in parts of South Asia and West/Central Africa, reflecting ongoing exposure from multiple sources (informal recycling, contaminated products, legacy lead).
•Many high-income countries have low estimated means (~1 µg/dL), but ‘low’ does not mean ‘no risk’ for neurodevelopment.
•Because lead exposure is highly preventable, cross-country gaps often reflect policy, regulation, and infrastructure differences rather than inevitability.

Country Rankings

Top 10 Countries

Bottom 10 Countries

Data Analysis

Value Distribution

How countries are distributed across the value range

Low (1.0µg/dL)High (9.5µg/dL)

Regional Comparison

Average values by world region (Global avg: 2.3µg/dL)

Africa (9)

Asia (24)

Other (85)

South America (7)

North America (4)

Europe (31)

Oceania (2)

About This Statistic

Childhood lead exposure remains a major but often overlooked global health risk. This statistic reports the estimated mean blood lead level (BLL) among children aged 5 years and younger in 2019, expressed in micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL). Even low-level exposure is associated with reduced IQ and other neurodevelopmental harms, making BLL a powerful indicator of environmental health and equity.

The estimates come from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) as part of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study’s risk-factor assessment for “Lead exposure.” IHME models mean blood lead levels using available biomonitoring data and predictive covariates to generate comparable country estimates, especially where direct measurement data are sparse.

Full Data

Rank ↑	Country ↕	Value ↕
1	Pakistan	6.5µg/dL
2	Myanmar	6.0µg/dL
3	Nigeria	5.8µg/dL
4	Afghanistan	5.8µg/dL
5	Albania	5.5µg/dL
6	Chad	5.0µg/dL
7	India	4.9µg/dL
8	Central African Republic	4.8µg/dL
9	Democratic Republic of the Congo	4.8µg/dL
10	Somalia	4.8µg/dL
11	South Sudan	4.8µg/dL
12	Iraq	4.6µg/dL
13	Bulgaria	4.5µg/dL
14	Niger	4.5µg/dL
15	Sri Lanka	4.2µg/dL
16	Islamic Republic of Iran	4.0µg/dL
17	Lao People's Democratic Republic	4.0µg/dL
18	Yemen	4.0µg/dL
19	Algeria	4.0µg/dL
20	Eritrea	3.8µg/dL
21	Sudan	3.8µg/dL
22	Burundi	3.6µg/dL
23	Nepal	3.6µg/dL
24	Indonesia	3.4µg/dL
25	Syrian Arab Republic	3.2µg/dL
26	United Republic of Tanzania	3.2µg/dL
27	Uzbekistan	3.2µg/dL
28	Mozambique	3.1µg/dL
29	Senegal	3.1µg/dL
30	Cambodia	3.0µg/dL
31	Cote d'Ivoire	3.0µg/dL
32	Malawi	3.0µg/dL
33	Tajikistan	3.0µg/dL
34	Uganda	3.0µg/dL
35	Zambia	3.0µg/dL
36	Sierra Leone	2.9µg/dL
37	Kenya	2.8µg/dL
38	Madagascar	2.8µg/dL
39	Papua New Guinea	2.8µg/dL
40	Zimbabwe	2.8µg/dL
41	Colombia	2.7µg/dL
42	Ethiopia	2.7µg/dL
43	Ghana	2.7µg/dL
44	Haiti	2.7µg/dL
45	Guinea-Bissau	2.7µg/dL
46	Rwanda	2.7µg/dL
47	Bangladesh	2.7µg/dL
48	Republic of the Congo	2.6µg/dL
49	Guatemala	2.6µg/dL
50	Guinea	2.6µg/dL
51	Jordan	2.6µg/dL
52	Liberia	2.6µg/dL
53	Mali	2.6µg/dL
54	Philippines	2.6µg/dL
55	Vietnam	2.6µg/dL
56	Austria	2.6µg/dL
57	Solomon Islands	2.6µg/dL
58	People's Republic of China	2.4µg/dL
59	Timor-Leste	2.4µg/dL
60	Brunei Darussalam	2.4µg/dL
61	Djibouti	2.3µg/dL
62	Guyana	2.3µg/dL
63	Kyrgyzstan	2.3µg/dL
64	Libya	2.3µg/dL
65	Malaysia	2.3µg/dL
66	Vanuatu	2.3µg/dL
67	Peru	2.3µg/dL
68	South Africa	2.3µg/dL
69	Thailand	2.3µg/dL
70	Togo	2.3µg/dL
71	Egypt	2.3µg/dL
72	Angola	2.3µg/dL
73	Cuba	2.2µg/dL
74	El Salvador	2.2µg/dL
75	Kazakhstan	2.2µg/dL
76	Lesotho	2.2µg/dL
77	Mauritania	2.2µg/dL
78	Mongolia	2.2µg/dL
79	Morocco	2.2µg/dL
80	Venezuela	2.2µg/dL
81	Botswana	2.2µg/dL
82	New Caledonia	2.1µg/dL
83	Russian Federation	2.1µg/dL
84	Brazil	2.1µg/dL
85	Belarus	2.0µg/dL
86	Benin	2.0µg/dL
87	Ecuador	2.0µg/dL
88	Republic of The Gambia	2.0µg/dL
89	Honduras	2.0µg/dL
90	Jamaica	2.0µg/dL
91	Mexico	2.0µg/dL
92	Nicaragua	2.0µg/dL
93	Paraguay	2.0µg/dL
94	Türkiye	2.0µg/dL
95	Bahrain	2.0µg/dL
96	Bolivia	2.0µg/dL
97	Belize	2.0µg/dL
98	Cayman Islands	1.9µg/dL
99	Dominican Republic	1.9µg/dL
100	Gabon	1.9µg/dL
101	Lebanon	1.8µg/dL
102	Namibia	1.8µg/dL
103	Suriname	1.8µg/dL
104	Tunisia	1.8µg/dL
105	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.8µg/dL
106	Argentina	1.7µg/dL
107	Bahamas	1.7µg/dL
108	Cape Verde	1.6µg/dL
109	Costa Rica	1.6µg/dL
110	Samoa	1.6µg/dL
111	Belgium	1.6µg/dL
112	Georgia	1.5µg/dL
113	Cameroon	1.4µg/dL
114	Estonia	1.4µg/dL
115	Ukraine	1.4µg/dL
116	Armenia	1.4µg/dL
117	Chile	1.3µg/dL
118	Czech Republic	1.3µg/dL
119	Hungary	1.3µg/dL
120	Trinidad and Tobago	1.3µg/dL
121	Croatia	1.2µg/dL
122	Cyprus	1.2µg/dL
123	Greece	1.2µg/dL
124	Kuwait	1.2µg/dL
125	Mauritius	1.2µg/dL
126	Moldova, Republic of	1.2µg/dL
127	Oman	1.2µg/dL
128	Panama	1.2µg/dL
129	Romania	1.2µg/dL
130	Saudi Arabia	1.2µg/dL
131	Serbia	1.2µg/dL
132	The Republic of North Macedonia	1.2µg/dL
133	Uruguay	1.2µg/dL
134	Australia	1.2µg/dL
135	France	1.1µg/dL
136	Israel	1.1µg/dL
137	Italy	1.1µg/dL
138	Poland	1.1µg/dL
139	Qatar	1.1µg/dL
140	Slovakia	1.1µg/dL
141	United Arab Emirates	1.1µg/dL
142	Canada	1.0µg/dL
143	Denmark	1.0µg/dL
144	Finland	1.0µg/dL
145	Iceland	1.0µg/dL
146	Ireland	1.0µg/dL
147	Japan	1.0µg/dL
148	Latvia	1.0µg/dL
149	Lithuania	1.0µg/dL
150	Luxembourg	1.0µg/dL
151	Montenegro	1.0µg/dL
152	Netherlands	1.0µg/dL
153	New Zealand	1.0µg/dL
154	Norway	1.0µg/dL
155	Portugal	1.0µg/dL
156	Singapore	1.0µg/dL
157	Slovenia	1.0µg/dL
158	Spain	1.0µg/dL
159	Sweden	1.0µg/dL
160	Switzerland	1.0µg/dL
161	United Kingdom	1.0µg/dL
162	United States of America	1.0µg/dL

Showing 162 of 162 countries

Topics

#statistic-of-the-day #ai-generated #lead #children #toxic exposure #pollution #environmental health #blood lead level #GBD #IHME

Data Source

This data comes from Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Results (2019).

View Original Source