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

The value for Mortality rate, neonatal (per 1,000 live births) in South Africa was 10.60 as of 2020. As the graph below shows, over the past 45 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 28.50 in 1975 and a minimum value of 10.60 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
1975 28.50
1976 28.10
1977 27.80
1978 27.50
1979 27.10
1980 26.70
1981 26.20
1982 25.60
1983 25.00
1984 24.30
1985 23.70
1986 23.10
1987 22.60
1988 22.10
1989 21.70
1990 21.20
1991 20.90
1992 20.70
1993 20.30
1994 20.00
1995 19.60
1996 19.20
1997 18.60
1998 18.00
1999 17.50
2000 16.90
2001 16.40
2002 15.90
2003 15.40
2004 14.80
2005 14.40
2006 13.90
2007 13.40
2008 13.00
2009 12.50
2010 12.00
2011 11.60
2012 11.30
2013 11.10
2014 11.00
2015 11.10
2016 11.10
2017 11.10
2018 11.00
2019 10.80
2020 10.60

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 Extrapolations based on outdated surveys may not be reliable for monitoring changes in health status or for comparative analytical work.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