Where do we stand?

Substantial progress in reducing child mortality has been made, but more children can be saved from death due to preventable causes.

Focusing on newborns and reducing socioeconomic disparities are critical to further accelerate progress in child survival.

Under- five mortality rate, 1990 and 2015 (deaths per 1,000 live births)

Source: The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015

• The global under-five mortality rate has declined by more than half, dropping from 90 to 43 deaths per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2015.
• The rate of reduction in underfive mortality has more than tripled globally since the early 1990s.
• Measles vaccination helped prevent nearly 15.6 million deaths between 2000 and 2013.
• About 84 percent of children worldwide received at least one dose of measles-containing vaccine in 2013.
• Every day in 2015, 16,000 children under five continue to die, mostly from preventable causes. Child survival must remain the focus of the post-2015 development agenda.

Read more in The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015.