health2020

Low-birthweight babies (% of births)

Compare low-birthweight babies (% of births) across 157 countries using the latest fixed-year World Bank WDI observations for 2020.

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Key Insights

Global Average
10.9%
Median: 10.2%
Countries Covered
157
with available data
Highest
India
27.4%
Lowest
Iceland
4.0%
Top 5 Countries
1India27.4%
2Bangladesh23.0%
3Comoros23.0%
4Philippines21.1%
5Liberia19.9%
By Region
Africa13.1%(6 countries)
Asia13.0%(20 countries)
Other12.2%(87 countries)
North America9.9%(4 countries)
South America8.5%(7 countries)
Key Findings
  • 157 ISO-mapped countries or territories have a finite fixed-year observation.
  • India has the highest published value (27.4353 %).
  • Iceland has the lowest published value (3.99282 %).

Country Rankings

Top 10 Countries

Bottom 10 Countries

Data Analysis

Value Distribution

How countries are distributed across the value range

Low (4.0%)High (27.4%)

Regional Comparison

Average values by world region (Global avg: 10.9%)

Africa (6)
Asia (20)
Other (87)
North America (4)
South America (7)
Europe (31)
Oceania (2)

Percentile Profile

The curve shows how values change from the lowest to the highest country. Steep sections reveal inequality or outliers.

0th percentile · lowest100th percentile · highest

About This Statistic

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.

Values use one fixed 2020 reference year from World Development Indicators series SH.STA.BRTW.ZS. MapTheory excludes aggregates, missing/non-finite values, and geographies without an ISO 3166-1 numeric mapping; it does not interpolate missing countries.

Methodology

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.

Full Data

Rank Country Value
1India27.4%
2Bangladesh23.0%
3Comoros23.0%
4Philippines21.1%
5Liberia19.9%
6Nepal19.7%
7Guinea-Bissau19.5%
8Papua New Guinea19.4%
9Jordan18.9%
10Madagascar18.7%
11Mauritius18.7%
12Burkina Faso18.5%
13Cote d'Ivoire18.3%
14Timor-Leste18.2%
15Sri Lanka18.0%
16Mozambique17.8%
17Senegal17.2%
18Guyana17.2%
19Botswana16.8%
20Lao People's Democratic Republic16.7%
21South Africa16.6%
22Suriname16.5%
23Benin16.4%
24Central African Republic16.4%
25Trinidad and Tobago16.3%
26Saint Lucia16.3%
27Namibia15.6%
28Malawi15.6%
29Angola15.5%
30Bahamas15.4%
31Antigua and Barbuda15.4%
32Eritrea15.2%
33Burundi14.8%
34Morocco14.8%
35Gabon14.6%
36Guatemala14.5%
37Lesotho14.4%
38Ghana14.4%
39Kuwait14.4%
40Togo14.3%
41United Arab Emirates13.9%
42Malaysia13.8%
43Maldives13.7%
44Jamaica13.7%
45Brunei Darussalam13.6%
46Palau13.5%
47Dominican Republic13.4%
48Republic of The Gambia13.2%
49Oman13.2%
50Solomon Islands13.2%
51Honduras13.1%
52Vanuatu13.1%
53Türkiye12.9%
54Lebanon12.6%
55Cameroon12.5%
56Myanmar12.5%
57Seychelles12.5%
58Bahrain12.4%
59Republic of the Congo11.9%
60Zimbabwe11.8%
61Belize11.6%
62Cambodia11.4%
63Bhutan11.4%
64Greece11.4%
65Bulgaria11.4%
66Japan11.3%
67Zambia11.2%
68Sao Tome and Principe11.1%
69Azerbaijan11.0%
70Colombia11.0%
71Singapore11.0%
72Iraq10.9%
73Ecuador10.6%
74State of Palestine10.4%
75Sierra Leone10.3%
76Thailand10.3%
77Panama10.3%
78El Salvador10.2%
79Eswatini10.2%
80Democratic Republic of the Congo10.2%
81Mexico10.2%
82Nicaragua10.1%
83Kenya10.0%
84Paraguay10.0%
85Qatar10.0%
86Indonesia9.9%
87United Republic of Tanzania9.7%
88Spain9.6%
89Rwanda9.4%
90Andorra9.4%
91Venezuela9.3%
92Kiribati9.0%
93Israel9.0%
94Portugal8.9%
95Romania8.8%
96Costa Rica8.7%
97Tajikistan8.7%
98Brazil8.7%
99Hungary8.3%
100The Republic of North Macedonia8.3%
101Armenia8.3%
102United States of America8.3%
103Tunisia8.2%
104Bolivia7.9%
105Slovakia7.8%
106Uruguay7.8%
107Luxembourg7.7%
108Czech Republic7.6%
109Peru7.5%
110South Korea7.5%
111France7.4%
112Georgia7.4%
113Fiji7.4%
114Argentina7.4%
115Russian Federation7.3%
116Italy7.2%
117Algeria7.2%
118Malta7.2%
119Cuba7.1%
120Chile6.8%
121United Kingdom6.8%
122Monaco6.8%
123Belgium6.8%
124Germany6.7%
125Canada6.6%
126Australia6.6%
127Moldova, Republic of6.5%
128Switzerland6.4%
129Vietnam6.3%
130Austria6.3%
131Slovenia6.3%
132Montenegro6.2%
133Serbia6.2%
134Kyrgyzstan6.0%
135Albania6.0%
136New Zealand5.9%
137Uzbekistan5.8%
138Ukraine5.7%
139Netherlands5.7%
140Ireland5.6%
141Poland5.6%
142Kazakhstan5.3%
143Bosnia and Herzegovina5.2%
144Belarus5.1%
145Croatia5.0%
146People's Republic of China5.0%
147Mongolia4.9%
148Denmark4.8%
149Norway4.4%
150Lithuania4.4%
151Turkmenistan4.3%
152San Marino4.2%
153Latvia4.2%
154Estonia4.2%
155Sweden4.1%
156Finland4.1%
157Iceland4.0%
Showing 157 of 157 countries

Topics

Data Source

This data comes from World Bank World Development Indicators (2020).

View Original Source