The Ledger · Entry 01
Is child mortality falling?
Yes. Share of children worldwide who die before age five was 42.8% in 1800. By 2024 it was 3.7%. Data retrieved 2026-07-02.
Far fewer children die before their fifth birthday
For most of history, roughly four in ten children never reached their fifth year. Clean water, vaccines, oral rehydration, antibiotics, and skilled birth attendance each took a share of that toll, decade after decade.
The key rows
The rate is still far from zero, and it is uneven between countries. But the direction has not reversed in living memory.
Asked often
Is child mortality still falling?
Yes. The global under-five mortality rate reached its lowest recorded level, 3.7%, in 2024, continuing a decline that has run without reversal since the middle of the last century.
What caused child mortality to fall?
No single cause. Clean water and sanitation, childhood vaccines, oral rehydration therapy for diarrhoea, antibiotics, and skilled care at birth each removed a large share of the deaths.
The world also got better today.
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