Nigeria’s latest health survey showed under-five mortality fell about 17% from the 2018 survey reading, while neonatal mortality rose, as a government plan says the country is not on track for 2030 goals.
The 2024 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) put under-five mortality at 110 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared with 132 in the 2018 survey. The neonatal figure was 39 per 1,000 live births in the 2018 survey reading and 41 in the 2024 reading.
Each reading summarizes mortality over the five years before its survey; neither is a count for the survey year alone. Neonatal mortality covers deaths in a child’s first month.
Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare Professor Muhammad Ali Pate cited the figures in an address for National Health Promotion Day in Abuja on Oct. 29, the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation said. Pate was represented by Permanent Secretary Daju Kachollom S. The ministry said he urged Nigerians to support preventive care, early diagnosis and timely access to quality health services.
Nigeria’s 2025–29 Child Survival Action Plan says the country is not on track to meet its 2030 targets: no more than 25 under-five deaths and 12 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births. The plan points to gaps in where health services are available and low investment in primary health care as obstacles to delivering interventions to children. It also reports under-five mortality of 140 per 1,000 in the Northwest and 42 in the Southwest.
The NDHS report traces the under-five rate from 128 deaths per 1,000 in the five years before the 2013 survey to 132 before the 2018 survey, followed by 110 before the 2024 survey.
The National Population Commission (NPC) implemented the 2024 NDHS under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. Fieldwork ran from Dec. 1, 2023, to May 7, 2024. The report cautions that estimates based on mothers’ pregnancy histories may be affected by recall problems, omitted births and birth-date displacement; omitted births could lower estimates, while displaced dates can distort trends.
