Countries and areas; deaths during first 28 days per 1,000 live births, 2024.
Neonatal mortality rates are compared across WHO countries and reporting areas for 2024. Values are deaths in the first 28 days per 1,000 live births, so higher values indicate heavier neonatal mortality burdens. South Sudan ranks first at 39.47 deaths per 1,000 live births, 0.42 deaths per 1,000 live births above Nigeria. Guinea-Bissau is the final listed row at 31.98 deaths per 1,000 live births, making the first value 1.23 times the final listed value.
| Rank | Entry | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Sudan | 39.47 | 2024 |
| 2 | Nigeria | 39.05 | 2024 |
| 3 | Pakistan | 36.1 | 2024 |
| 4 | Somalia | 34.24 | 2024 |
| 5 | Zimbabwe | 33.68 | 2024 |
| 6 | Afghanistan | 33.14 | 2024 |
| 7 | Liberia | 32.94 | 2024 |
| 8 | Niger | 32.75 | 2024 |
| 9 | Guinea-Bissau | 31.98 | 2024 |
Source 1: World Health Statistics 2026 Statistical Annex: Neonatal mortality rate
Publisher: World Health Organization
Dataset/table: World Health Statistics 2026 Statistical Annex
Units: deaths per 1,000 live births
Date checked: 2026-06-26
Evidence: Supports the 2024 neonatal mortality rate values and country or area labels used in this ranking.
The values are WHO country and reporting-area indicator values for the stated reference year. WHO annex values may be adjusted for comparability or based on primary data reported by countries. Definitions and underlying data quality can differ, and values may not match national publications exactly. Uncertainty intervals are not included.
The ranking uses the World Health Statistics 2026 Statistical Annex for neonatal mortality rate, reference year 2024, and total or all-person coverage. Regional and global aggregates are excluded before country and reporting-area values are ordered from highest to lowest. Equal values retain their published order, and values are rounded for readability without changing rank.
All entries use the same WHO source family, health indicator, 2024 reference year, total-disaggregation frame and deaths per 1,000 live births unit. No cross-indicator or mixed-year values are included, and the listed entries are not treated as parts of a common total.
Keep the visible MarketStats attribution, source line and canonical page link intact. For clean unbranded assets, commercial use or higher-volume reuse, choose one of the licensing tiers below.
This specific graphic needs a source-rights review before an unbranded download. Branded use remains available.
* Free branded use is subject to the Terms and requires attribution/canonical-link preservation. MarketStats licenses the graphic presentation and MarketStats-created editorial layer, not the underlying third-party source data. Source attribution and source-provider obligations still apply.
