May 2008
UNICEF released its 2006 child mortality figures, showing that for the first time ever, worldwide annual child deaths has fallen below 10 million. UNICEF reports that 15 of the least developed countries have reduced the under-5 mortality rate by 40 percent or more since 1990, Vaccines, better health education, mosquito nets which limit the spread of malaria, and vitamin A have been credited for the lower rates. Yet in some parts of the world, one in every 5 kids who are born still dies before their fifth birthday. Here’s how the different parts of the world stacked up:

Numbers are deaths by age 5

West and Central Africa
1990: 208 deaths per 1,000 live births
2006: 186 deaths per 1,000 live births

Sub-Saharan Africa
1990: 187 deaths per 1,000 live births
2006: 160 deaths per 1,000 live births

Eastern and Southern Africa
1990: 165 deaths per 1,000 live births
2006: 131 deaths per 1,000 live births

South Africa
1990: 123 deaths per 1,000 live births
2006: 83 deaths per 1,000 live births

All Developing Nations
1990: 103 deaths per 1,000 live births
2006: 79 deaths per 1,000 live births

Middle East and North Africa
1990: 79 deaths per 1,000 live births
2006: 46 deaths per 1,000 live births

East Asia and Pacific
1990: 55 deaths per 1,000 live births
2006: 29 deaths per 1,000 live births

Latin America and Caribbean
1990: 55 deaths per 1,000 live births
2006: 27 deaths per 1,000 live births

United States
1990: 12 deaths per 1,000 live births
2006: 8 deaths per 1,000 live births

All Industrialized Nations
1990: 10 deaths per 1,000 live births
2006: 6 deaths per 1,000 live births

Infant Morality rates by type of area
Drylands: 66.6 deaths per 1,000 live births
Mountain: 57.9 deaths per 1,000 live births
Forest: 57.7 deaths per 1,000 live births
Inland water: 57.6 deaths per 1,000 live births
Cultivated: 54.3 deaths per 1,000 live births
Coastal: 41.5 deaths per 1,000 live births
Island: 30.4 deaths per 1,000 live births
Polar: 12.8 deaths per 1,000 live births