The report "Levels and trends of child mortality" was prepared by several international institutions (Unicef, WHO, World Bank Group and United Nations) and indicates that, every 4.4 seconds, a child or young person died in 2021.
This document from the United Nations Interagency Group for the Estimation of Infant Mortality (IGME/UN) includes data from the countries that make up the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP): Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea , Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and Timor-Leste.
All these countries have improved their main indicators related to child mortality in the last three decades.
In 1990, Angola had an infant mortality rate under five of 223 per 1,000 births, a figure that dropped to 204 in 2000 and to 71 in 2020.
In this African country, 125,000 children under five died in 1990, 153,000 in 2000 and 91,000 in 2020.
The infant mortality rate was 132 per 1,000 births in 1990 and 48 per 1,000 births in 2020. Infant deaths increased from 76,000 (1990) to 62,000 in 2020.
Regarding the neonatal mortality rate, it stood at 54 per thousand births in 1990, 50 in 2000 and 27 in 2020. The decrease was not registered in neonatal deaths which were 32,000 in 1990, rising to 40,000 in 2000 and reaching 36,000 in 2020.
Indicators have improved in Brazil, where in 1990 there was an under-five mortality rate of 63 per 1,000 births, 35 in 2000 and 15 in 2020.
The number of children under five who died in 1990 was 234,000 in 1990, 122,000 in 2000, and twenty years later, 42,000.
Brazil recorded an infant mortality rate of 53 per thousand births in 1990 and, in 2020, 13 per thousand births.
In this Portuguese-speaking country, child deaths have decreased from 194,000 in 1990 to 38,000 in 2020.
The neonatal mortality rate was 25 per thousand births in 1990, 19 in 2000 and nine in 2020, while neonatal deaths reached 94,000 (1990), 65,000 (2000) and 25,000 (2020).
In Cape Verde, the under-five mortality rate per thousand births was 60 in 1990, 38 in 2000 and 14 in 2020. 1,000 deaths of children under five were recorded in 1990, with no deaths recorded in decades following.
The infant mortality rate (per thousand births) was 47 in 1990 and, 30 years later, 12. The number of infant deaths, which in 1990 was 1,000, has gone to zero in 2020.
The neonatal mortality rate was 20 per thousand births in 1990, 18 in 2000 and nine in 2020. No neonatal deaths were identified in the document in these periods.
In Guinea-Bissau, the under-five mortality rate was 222 (per 1,000 births) in 1990, 174 in 2000 and 77 in 2020.
Deaths before the fifth anniversary were: 10,000 in 1990, 8,000 in 2000, and 5,000 in 2020.
In this country, the infant mortality rate (per thousand births) was 131 in 1990 and 51 in 2020. There were 6,000 infant deaths in 1990 and 3,000 in 2020.
Regarding the neonatal mortality rate, this was 64 per thousand births in 1990, 55 in 2000 and 35 in 2020. Neonatal deaths reached 3,000 in 1990, the same number in 2000 and, in 2020, 2,000.
In Equatorial Guinea, the last country to join the CPLP, the under-five mortality rate was 178 (per thousand births) in 1990, 156 in 2000 and 78 in 2020.
Under-five deaths reached 3,000 in 1990, rose to 4,000 in 2000, and dropped back to 3,000 in 2020.
The infant mortality rate per thousand births in Equatorial Guinea was 121 in 1990 and 58 in 2020, while infant deaths stood at 2,000 in 1990 and 3,000 three decades later.
The neonatal mortality rate was 48 per thousand births in 1990, 44 in 2000 and 29 in 2020. The number of neonatal deaths was the same in the three periods: 1,000.
In 1990, Mozambique had a mortality rate of less than five years per thousand births of 245, which dropped to 170 in 2000 and to 71 in 2020.
There were 142,000 child deaths recorded in 1990, 128,000 in 2000 and 79,000 in 2020.
The infant mortality rate (per thousand births) in Mozambique was 163 in 1990 and 53 30 years later. The number of child deaths has dropped from 95,000 in 1990 to 60,000 in 2020.
The neonatal mortality rate was 63 per thousand births in 1990, 47 in 2000 and 28 in 2020, while neonatal deaths in those years were 38,000, 37,000 and 33,000, respectively.
Portugal registered, in 1990, a mortality rate under five of 15 per thousand births, a number that dropped to seven in 2000 and to three in 2020.
In this country, 2,000 children under five died in 1990, 1,000 in 2000 and none in 2020.
The infant mortality rate went from 12 per 1,000 births in 1990 to three per thousand births in 2020. Infant deaths, which were 1,000 in 1990, were zero in 2020.
Regarding the neonatal mortality rate, it stood at seven per thousand births in 1990, three in 2000 and two in 2020. Neonatal deaths were 1,000 in 1990, with no more records in the following decades.
São Tomé and Príncipe had an under-five mortality rate of 108 per thousand births in 1990, a figure that dropped to 82 in 2000 and to 16 in 2020.
No deaths under the age of five are indicated in the report.
The infant mortality rate in this African country was 69 per thousand births in 1990 and 13 per thousand births in 2020.
Regarding the neonatal mortality rate, it stood at 26 per thousand births in 1990, 22 in 2000 and eight in 2020. No neonatal death is indicated on the three dates.
In 1990, Timor-Leste had an infant mortality rate under five of 175 per 1,000 births, a figure that dropped to 108 in 2000 and to 42 in 2020.
In this country, 5,000 children under five died in 1990, 4,000 in 2000 and 2,000 in 2020.
The infant mortality rate stood at 132 per thousand births in 1990 and 37 in 2020. Infant deaths increased from 4,000 (1990) to 1,000 in 2020.
Regarding the neonatal mortality rate, it stood at 57 per thousand births in 1990, 38 in 2000 and 19 in 2020. Neonatal deaths also dropped from 2,000 in 1990 to 1,000 in 2000, maintaining this value in 2020.
According to the report, an estimated five million children will die before their fifth birthday and another 2.1 million children and young people aged 5-24 will lose their lives in 2021.
