For the first time in decades, global child mortality is projected to rise this year, reversing years of steady progress and alarming health experts worldwide. New estimates suggest that nearly a quarter of a million more children will die in 2025 than in 2024, marking a significant and troubling setback.
For decades, improvements in vaccination, nutrition, sanitation, and maternal care helped drive child death rates down to historic lows. That progress is now under threat. Experts point to a convergence of crises fueling the increase, including armed conflicts, economic instability, climate-related disasters, and weakening healthcare systems in vulnerable regions. Disruptions to routine immunization programs and shortages of essential medicines have left millions of children exposed to preventable diseases.
Malnutrition is also playing a central role, with rising food insecurity pushing more children into life-threatening conditions. At the same time, climate change has intensified droughts, floods, and heatwaves, increasing the spread of disease and displacing families from basic health services.
Health organizations warn that without urgent global action—especially increased funding, restored health infrastructure, and targeted support for at-risk communities—the upward trend could continue. The projected rise is not just a statistic, but a stark reminder of how fragile decades of progress can be.
