Levels & Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2014. UNICEF.
Substantial global progress has been made inreducing child deaths since 1990. The number ofunder-five deaths worldwide has declined from12.7 (12.5, 12.9)1 million in 1990 to 6.3 (6.1, 6.7)million in 2013. While that translates into around17,000 fewer children dying every day in 2013than in 1990, it still implies the deaths of about17,000 children under age five every day in 2013.
The leading causes of death among childrenunder age five include preterm birth complications (17 percent of under-five deaths),pneumonia (15 percent), intrapartum-relatedcomplications (complications during labour anddelivery; 11 percent), diarrhoea (9 percent) andmalaria (7 percent). Globally, nearly half of under-five deaths are attributable to undernutrition.
The global under-five mortality rate is fallingfaster than at any other time during thepast two decades. The global annual rateof reduction has steadily accelerated since1990–1995—more than tripling from 1.2percent to 4.0 percent in 2005–2013.
