Kenya - Mortality rate, under-5 (per 1,000 live births)

The value for Mortality rate, under-5 (per 1,000 live births) in Kenya was 41.90 as of 2020. As the graph below shows, over the past 60 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 197.20 in 1960 and a minimum value of 41.90 in 2020.

Definition: Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified 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 197.20
1961 189.10
1962 182.00
1963 175.90
1964 170.90
1965 166.90
1966 163.50
1967 160.40
1968 157.40
1969 154.20
1970 150.90
1971 147.30
1972 143.70
1973 139.90
1974 135.90
1975 131.70
1976 127.40
1977 123.10
1978 118.70
1979 114.50
1980 110.70
1981 107.10
1982 103.80
1983 101.00
1984 98.70
1985 97.10
1986 96.20
1987 96.30
1988 97.20
1989 99.00
1990 101.50
1991 104.40
1992 107.20
1993 109.30
1994 110.60
1995 110.70
1996 109.80
1997 108.00
1998 105.40
1999 102.10
2000 98.50
2001 94.20
2002 89.80
2003 85.40
2004 81.00
2005 76.30
2006 72.00
2007 68.00
2008 63.50
2009 59.90
2010 57.40
2011 55.50
2012 54.10
2013 52.30
2014 50.60
2015 48.90
2016 47.20
2017 45.90
2018 44.30
2019 43.00
2020 41.90

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 Extrapolations based on outdated surveys may not be reliable for monitoring changes in health status or for comparative analytical work.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