Cameroon - Mortality rate, neonatal (per 1,000 live births)

The value for Mortality rate, neonatal (per 1,000 live births) in Cameroon was 26.20 as of 2020. As the graph below shows, over the past 60 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 72.20 in 1960 and a minimum value of 26.20 in 2020.

Definition: Neonatal mortality rate is the number of neonates dying before reaching 28 days of age, per 1,000 live births in a given year.

Source: Estimates Developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.

See also:

Year Value
1960 72.20
1961 70.80
1962 69.60
1963 68.70
1964 67.70
1965 66.70
1966 65.50
1967 64.10
1968 62.40
1969 60.60
1970 58.80
1971 57.20
1972 56.00
1973 55.10
1974 54.50
1975 54.10
1976 53.80
1977 53.50
1978 53.00
1979 52.40
1980 51.50
1981 50.50
1982 49.20
1983 47.90
1984 46.40
1985 44.80
1986 43.30
1987 42.10
1988 41.10
1989 40.50
1990 40.20
1991 40.00
1992 39.90
1993 39.70
1994 39.60
1995 39.30
1996 38.80
1997 38.20
1998 37.40
1999 36.50
2000 35.60
2001 34.80
2002 34.10
2003 33.70
2004 33.50
2005 33.20
2006 33.00
2007 32.70
2008 32.40
2009 32.00
2010 31.70
2011 31.30
2012 30.90
2013 30.40
2014 29.90
2015 29.30
2016 28.70
2017 28.00
2018 27.40
2019 26.80
2020 26.20

Development Relevance: Mortality rates for different age groups (infants, children, and adults) and overall mortality indicators (life expectancy at birth or survival to a given age) are important indicators of health status in a country. Because data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. And they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries.

Limitations and Exceptions: Complete vital registration systems are fairly uncommon in developing countries. Thus estimates must be obtained from sample surveys or derived by applying indirect estimation techniques to registration, census, or survey data. Survey data are subject to recall error, and surveys estimating infant/child deaths require large samples because households in which a birth has occurred during a given year cannot ordinarily be preselected for sampling. Indirect estimates rely on model life tables that may be inappropriate for the population concerned. Extrapolations based on outdated surveys may not be reliable for monitoring changes in health status or for comparative analytical work.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The main sources of mortality data are vital registration systems and direct or indirect estimates based on sample surveys or censuses. A "complete" vital registration system - covering at least 90 percent of vital events in the population - is the best source of age-specific mortality data. Estimates of neonatal, infant, and child mortality tend to vary by source and method for a given time and place. Years for available estimates also vary by country, making comparisons across countries and over time difficult. To make neonatal, infant, and child mortality estimates comparable and to ensure consistency across estimates by different agencies, the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), which comprises the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the United Nations Population Division, and other universities and research institutes, developed and adopted a statistical method that uses all available information to reconcile differences. The method uses statistical models to obtain a best estimate trend line by fitting a country-specific regression model of mortality rates against their reference dates.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

General Comments: Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development ac

Classification

Topic: Health Indicators

Sub-Topic: Mortality