Causes of mortality are a crucial input for health systems for identifying appropriate interventions for child survival. We present an updated series of cause-specific mortality for neonates and children younger than 5 years from 2000 to 2019.
This article presents an updated series of cause-specific mortality for neonates and children younger than 5 years from 2000 to 2019. In 2019, there were 5·30 million deaths (95% uncertainty range 4·92–5·68) among children younger than 5 years, primarily due to preterm birth complications (17·7%, 16·1–19·5), lower respiratory infections (13·9%, 12·0–15·1), intrapartum-related events (11·6%, 10·6–12·5), and diarrhoea (9·1%, 7·9–9·9), with 49·2% (47·3–51·9) due to infectious causes.