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

The value for Mortality rate, neonatal (per 1,000 live births) in Lesotho was 44.30 as of 2020. As the graph below shows, over the past 60 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 65.10 in 1966 and a minimum value of 39.40 in 1987.

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 63.50
1961 63.80
1962 64.10
1963 64.50
1964 65.00
1965 65.10
1966 65.10
1967 64.70
1968 64.20
1969 63.40
1970 62.40
1971 61.10
1972 59.80
1973 58.40
1974 56.70
1975 54.80
1976 52.80
1977 50.70
1978 48.60
1979 46.60
1980 44.70
1981 43.10
1982 41.80
1983 40.90
1984 40.30
1985 39.80
1986 39.50
1987 39.40
1988 39.40
1989 39.50
1990 39.60
1991 39.70
1992 39.80
1993 39.80
1994 39.80
1995 39.80
1996 39.70
1997 39.50
1998 39.40
1999 39.40
2000 39.60
2001 39.90
2002 40.10
2003 40.20
2004 40.30
2005 40.50
2006 40.80
2007 41.10
2008 41.40
2009 41.70
2010 42.00
2011 42.40
2012 42.80
2013 43.50
2014 44.10
2015 44.70
2016 45.10
2017 45.20
2018 45.10
2019 44.80
2020 44.30

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 Extrapolations based on outdated surveys may not be reliable for monitoring changes in health status or for comparative analytical work.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