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Average Birth Weight by Country 2024
Low birth weight can be a significant concern for a newborn baby, as it could increase the risk of serious complications developing. Of all the countries on Earth, Pakistan has the highest prevalence of low birth weight, usually shortened to LBW. About 35 percent of all babies born in Pakistan have a low birth weight. Nepal is the country with the second-highest prevalence of a low birth weight, with approximately 30 percent of babies in Nepal being born with a low birth weight.
In Pakistan, the average birth weight is approximately 1988 grams. In Nepal, the average birth weight is approximately 2255 grams.
Which Country Has the Lowest Prevalence of Low Birth Weight?
Sweden has the lowest prevalence of babies being born with a low birth weight on Earth. Only approximately 2.5 percent of all babies born in Sweden are born with a low birth weight. Sweden does an exceptional job of educating mothers, making sure they eat a healthy diet, and ensuring that their population shows up for regular pregnancy care visits. That way, doctors have the opportunity to identify complications before the baby is born, ensuring that babies are able to grow adequately in the womb prior to birth and that babies are carried to term as much as possible. This can significantly reduce the chances of someone being born with a low birth weight.
What Is the Prevalence of Low Birth Weight in the United States?
In the United States, approximately eight percent of all babies are born with a low birth weight. This means that the United States ranks 31st in terms of low birth weight, which is about 20 slots behind China. While there are lots of other countries on Earth with a higher prevalence of low birth weight than the United States, that is not great for a country that should have the best medical care in the country. Every year, more than 300,000 babies are born in the United States weighing less than 5.5 pounds. While many of these babies survive thanks to exceptional neonatal care, there is still a higher rate of complications among babies that are born with a low birth weight.
What Is the Average Birth Weight of Babies in the United States?
If a baby in the United States is carried to full-term, it typically weighs approximately five pounds 11 ounces to eight pounds 5 ounces. Approximately 80 percent of all babies born in the United States fall somewhere in this range. A baby is considered to be larger if it weighs above the 90th percentile, while a baby weighing underneath the 10th percentile is considered smaller. This does not necessarily mean that the baby qualifies as having a low birth weight, but it does mean that it is a bit lower than average. There are lots of factors that will dictate how much a baby weighs at birth, including whether it reaches full term.
- Low birthweight is defined as a weight at birth of less than 2 500 g (less than 5.51 lbs), regardless of gestational age
- At the population level, the proportion of babies with a low birth weight is an indicator of a multifaceted public-health problem that includes long-term maternal malnutrition, ill health, hard work and poor health care in pregnancy. On an individual basis, low birth weight is an important predictor of newborn health and survival.
- There is a 95% probability that the true (unknown) LBW prevalence would lie within the upper and lower credible bounds, given the evidence provided by the observed data.
Country | LBW Estimate | Upper Interval | Lower Interval |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iceland | 4% | 3.7% | 4.2% |
| Sweden | 4.1% | 4% | 4.2% |
| Finland | 4.1% | 4% | 4.2% |
| Latvia | 4.2% | 4.1% | 4.4% |
| Estonia | 4.2% | 4% | 4.3% |
| San Marino | 4.2% | 3.5% | 5.1% |
| Turkmenistan | 4.3% | 3.6% | 5.1% |
| Norway | 4.4% | 4.3% | 4.6% |
| Lithuania | 4.4% | 4.2% | 4.6% |
| Denmark | 4.8% | 4.7% | 4.9% |
| Mongolia | 4.9% | 4.2% | 5.7% |
| China | 5% | 4.3% | 5.8% |
| Croatia | 5% | 4.8% | 5.1% |
| Belarus | 5.1% | 5% | 5.3% |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 5.2% | 4% | 6.7% |
| Kazakhstan | 5.3% | 4.4% | 6.3% |
| Poland | 5.6% | 5.5% | 5.7% |
| Ireland | 5.6% | 5.5% | 5.8% |
| Ukraine | 5.7% | 4.9% | 6.7% |
| Netherlands | 5.7% | 5.5% | 5.8% |
| Uzbekistan | 5.8% | 5.3% | 6.4% |
| New Zealand | 5.9% | 5.7% | 6% |
| Kyrgyzstan | 6% | 5.6% | 6.5% |
| Albania | 6% | 5.5% | 6.5% |
| Serbia | 6.2% | 6% | 6.4% |
| Montenegro | 6.2% | 4.8% | 8% |
| Vietnam | 6.3% | 5.4% | 7.4% |
| Austria | 6.3% | 6.1% | 6.5% |
| Slovenia | 6.3% | 6.1% | 6.5% |
| Switzerland | 6.4% | 6.3% | 6.6% |
| Moldova | 6.5% | 5.2% | 8.1% |
| Canada | 6.6% | 6.5% | 6.8% |
| Australia | 6.6% | 6.4% | 6.7% |
| Germany | 6.7% | 6.5% | 6.9% |
| United Kingdom | 6.8% | 6.7% | 7% |
| Chile | 6.8% | 6.7% | 7% |
| Belgium | 6.8% | 6.6% | 6.9% |
| Monaco | 6.8% | 4.4% | 10.5% |
| Cuba | 7.1% | 5.9% | 8.4% |
| Italy | 7.2% | 7% | 7.4% |
| Algeria | 7.2% | 6.3% | 8.2% |
| Malta | 7.2% | 6.8% | 7.5% |
| Russia | 7.3% | 6.7% | 7.9% |
| France | 7.4% | 7.2% | 7.7% |
| Argentina | 7.4% | 7.2% | 7.6% |
| Georgia | 7.4% | 6.8% | 8.1% |
| Fiji | 7.4% | 5.7% | 9.4% |
| South Korea | 7.5% | 6.9% | 8.1% |
| Peru | 7.5% | 7.1% | 7.9% |
| Czech Republic | 7.6% | 7.4% | 7.8% |
| Luxembourg | 7.7% | 7.1% | 8.5% |
| Slovakia | 7.8% | 7.6% | 8% |
| Uruguay | 7.8% | 7.6% | 8% |
| Bolivia | 7.9% | 6.9% | 9.1% |
| Tunisia | 8.2% | 7% | 9.7% |
| United States | 8.3% | 8.1% | 8.4% |
| Hungary | 8.3% | 8.1% | 8.5% |
| Armenia | 8.3% | 6.9% | 9.9% |
| North Macedonia | 8.3% | 6.6% | 10.3% |
| Brazil | 8.7% | 8.5% | 8.9% |
| Tajikistan | 8.7% | 7.6% | 9.9% |
| Costa Rica | 8.7% | 8% | 9.5% |
| Romania | 8.8% | 8.1% | 9.5% |
| Portugal | 8.9% | 8.7% | 9.1% |
| Israel | 9% | 8.3% | 9.7% |
| Kiribati | 9% | 7.3% | 11% |
| Venezuela | 9.3% | 6.3% | 13.7% |
| Rwanda | 9.4% | 8.5% | 10.4% |
| Andorra | 9.4% | 8.3% | 10.7% |
| Spain | 9.6% | 8.9% | 10.4% |
| Tanzania | 9.7% | 8.4% | 11.2% |
| Indonesia | 9.9% | 8.8% | 11.2% |
| Kenya | 10% | 8.5% | 11.7% |
| Paraguay | 10% | 8.1% | 12.1% |
| Qatar | 10% | 9.2% | 10.8% |
| Nicaragua | 10.1% | 9.3% | 11% |
| Mexico | 10.2% | 8.4% | 12.2% |
| DR Congo | 10.2% | 8.8% | 11.6% |
| El Salvador | 10.2% | 8.6% | 12.1% |
| Eswatini | 10.2% | 8.5% | 12.2% |
| Thailand | 10.3% | 9% | 11.8% |
| Sierra Leone | 10.3% | 9.3% | 11.5% |
| Panama | 10.3% | 9.5% | 11.1% |
| Cook Islands | 10.3% | 5.7% | 17.7% |
| Palestine | 10.4% | 9.3% | 11.6% |
| Ecuador | 10.6% | 9.8% | 11.5% |
| Iraq | 10.9% | 7.3% | 15.8% |
| Colombia | 11% | 10.1% | 11.9% |
| Azerbaijan | 11% | 8.9% | 13.5% |
| Singapore | 11% | 10.1% | 11.9% |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 11.1% | 9.5% | 12.9% |
| Zambia | 11.2% | 10% | 12.6% |
| Japan | 11.3% | 10.4% | 12.2% |
| Cambodia | 11.4% | 9.8% | 13.3% |
| Greece | 11.4% | 10.5% | 12.4% |
| Bulgaria | 11.4% | 10.5% | 12.3% |
| Bhutan | 11.4% | 8.9% | 14.6% |
| Belize | 11.6% | 9.5% | 14.1% |
| Zimbabwe | 11.8% | 10.7% | 13% |
| Republic of the Congo | 11.9% | 10.2% | 14% |
| Bahrain | 12.4% | 11.5% | 13.5% |
| Myanmar | 12.5% | 9.7% | 15.9% |
| Cameroon | 12.5% | 10.3% | 15.1% |
| Seychelles | 12.5% | 10.8% | 14.5% |
| Lebanon | 12.6% | 8.7% | 17.8% |
| Turkey | 12.9% | 11.4% | 14.5% |
| Honduras | 13.1% | 11.6% | 14.7% |
| Vanuatu | 13.1% | 10.3% | 16.6% |
| Oman | 13.2% | 8.9% | 19.2% |
| Gambia | 13.2% | 12% | 14.6% |
| Solomon Islands | 13.2% | 11.1% | 15.7% |
| Dominican Republic | 13.4% | 11.9% | 15.1% |
| Palau | 13.5% | 8.6% | 20.6% |
| Brunei | 13.6% | 12.6% | 14.8% |
| Jamaica | 13.7% | 11.8% | 15.8% |
| Maldives | 13.7% | 11.2% | 16.7% |
| Malaysia | 13.8% | 12.8% | 14.9% |
| United Arab Emirates | 13.9% | 12.8% | 15.2% |
| Togo | 14.3% | 12.5% | 16.2% |
| Ghana | 14.4% | 12.7% | 16.3% |
| Kuwait | 14.4% | 13% | 15.8% |
| Lesotho | 14.4% | 12.6% | 16.5% |
| Guatemala | 14.5% | 12.6% | 16.6% |
| Gabon | 14.6% | 12% | 17.7% |
| Morocco | 14.8% | 12.9% | 16.9% |
| Burundi | 14.8% | 13% | 16.7% |
| Eritrea | 15.2% | 12% | 18.9% |
| Bahamas | 15.4% | 10.6% | 22.1% |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 15.4% | 11.6% | 20% |
| Angola | 15.5% | 11.3% | 20.9% |
| Malawi | 15.6% | 14.2% | 17.1% |
| Namibia | 15.6% | 13.4% | 18% |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 16.3% | 12.1% | 21.6% |
| Saint Lucia | 16.3% | 12.4% | 21.1% |
| Benin | 16.4% | 14.8% | 18.2% |
| Central African Republic | 16.4% | 14.5% | 18.4% |
| Suriname | 16.5% | 15.2% | 17.8% |
| South Africa | 16.6% | 14.2% | 19.4% |
| Laos | 16.7% | 14.9% | 18.9% |
| Botswana | 16.8% | 10.9% | 25.2% |
| Senegal | 17.2% | 15.8% | 18.8% |
| Guyana | 17.2% | 14.9% | 19.7% |
| Mozambique | 17.8% | 15.1% | 20.7% |
| Sri Lanka | 18% | 15.9% | 20.3% |
| Timor Leste | 18.2% | 15.3% | 21.4% |
| Ivory Coast | 18.3% | 16.2% | 20.7% |
| Burkina Faso | 18.5% | 15.6% | 21.7% |
| Madagascar | 18.7% | 16.7% | 20.8% |
| Mauritius | 18.7% | 13.1% | 26.1% |
| Jordan | 18.9% | 17.1% | 20.8% |
| Papua New Guinea | 19.4% | 16.8% | 22.2% |
| Guinea Bissau | 19.5% | 17.3% | 22% |
| Nepal | 19.7% | 17.7% | 22% |
| Liberia | 19.9% | 17.4% | 22.6% |
| Philippines | 21.1% | 17.5% | 25.4% |
| Bangladesh | 23% | 20.8% | 25.5% |
| Comoros | 23% | 19.3% | 27.3% |
| India | 27.4% | 25.4% | 29.5% |