The table below gives the average age of the latest internationally available data for three key indicators - the under-five mortality rate, the percentage of children who reach grade 5, and the percentage of under-fives who are underweight.
The more up-to-date statistics used by most governments and international organizations are often interpolated and/ or extrapolated from past surveys. The table shows the number of years which have elapsed, or average, between the last national on-the-ground surveys and the year 1995.
In some cases, governments may have more recent statistics that have not yet been made available to the United Nations.
A small number of countries have no known data at all for certain indicators. Published data for such countries usually represent estimates based on neighbouring countries in similar levels of GNP per capita.
| Average age of data (in years) on the three social indicators | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA | |||||
| Madagascar | 2.3 | Mauritius | 4.7 | Central African Rep. | 10.7 |
| Kenya | 2.7 | Niger | 4.7 | Gambia | 10.7 |
| Burkina Faso | 3.3 | Cameroon | 5.0 | Mozambique | 10.7 |
| Ghana | 3.3 | Zambia | 5.0 | Sierra Leone | 10.7 |
| Malawi | 3.3 | Cote d'Ivoire | 5.3 | Benin | 11.3 |
| Namibia | 3.3 | Nigeria | 5.3 | Guinea | 11.3 |
| Tanzania | 3.3 | Uganda | 5.7 | Angola | 11.7 |
| Zimbabwe | 3.3 | Eritrea | 6.0 | Chad | 12.0 |
| Burundi | 3.7 | Botswana | 6.3 | Gabon | 12.0 |
| Senegal | 3.7 | Togo | 6.3 | Guinea-Bissau | 12.3 |
| Rwanda | 4.0 | Zaire | 6.3 | Somalia | 12.7 |
| South Africa | 4.0 | Ethiopia | 6.7 | Liberia | 14.0 |
| Mauritania | 4.3 | Mali | 7.0 | ||
| Lesotho | 4.7 | Congo | 9.0 | ||
| MIDDLE EAST and NORTH AFRICA | |||||
| Turkey | 2.7 | Iraq | 4.3 | Tunisia | 5.3 |
| Egypt | 3.3 | Jordan | 4.3 | Israel | 6.3 |
| Morocco | 3.3 | Sudan | 4.3 | Saudi Arabia | 9.0 |
| Oman | 3.3 | Algeria | 4.7 | U. Arab Emirates | 9.0 |
| Syria | 3.7 | Yemen | 4.7 | Lebanon | 12.3 |
| Iran | 4.3 | Kuwait | 5.0 | Libya | 15.0 |
| CENTRAL ASIA | |||||
| Afghanistan | 12* | Kazakstan | - | Turkmenistan | - |
| Armenia | - | Kyrgyzstan | - | Uzbekistan | - |
| Azerbaijan | - | Tajikistan | - | ||
| ASIA and PACIFIC | |||||
| New Zealand | 2.0* | Philippines | 4.7 | Myanmar | 7.3 |
| Australia | 2.5* | Viet Nam | 4.7 | Singapore | 7.3 |
| China | 2.7 | Malaysia | 5.0 | Mongolia | 8.0 |
| India | 2.7 | Bangladesh | 5.3 | Hong Kong | 8.3 |
| Japan | 3.0* | Indonesia | 5.3 | Korea, Rep. | 8.3 |
| Nepal | 3.0 | Pakistan | 5.3 | Papua New Guinea | 9.7 |
| Sri Lanka | 4.0 | Thailand | 6.0 | Cambodia | 10.3 |
| Lao Rep. | 4.3 | Bhutan | 7.0 | Korea, Dem. | 12.7 |
| AMERICAS | |||||
| Chile | 2.3 | Panama | 4.3 | Honduras | 5.7 |
| Costa Rica | 2.3 | Jamaica | 4.7 | Trinidad/Tobago | 5.7 |
| Bolivia | 3.0 | Paraguay | 4.7 | Peru | 6.0 |
| Canada | 3.5* | Colombia | 5.0 | Brazil | 6.3 |
| United States | 3.5* | El Salvador | 5.0 | Cuba | 6.3 |
| Dominican Rep. | 3.7 | Nicaragua | 5.0 | Guatemala | 7.0 |
| Uruguay | 4.0 | Venezuela | 5.0 | Ecuador | 7.7 |
| Haiti | 4.3 | Mexico | 5.3 | Argentina | 11.7 |
| EUROPE | |||||
| Bulgaria | 1.5* | Finland | 2.0* | Spain | 2.5* |
| Estonia | 1.5* | Italy | 2.0* | Greece | 3.0* |
| Hungary | 1.5* | Lithuania | 2.0* | Norway | 3.0* |
| Poland | 1.5* | Romania | 2.0* | Albania | 3.5* |
| Russian Fed. | 1.5* | Slovakia | 2.0* | Netherlands | 4.0* |
| Slovenia | 1.5* | Ukraine | 2.0* | Portugal | 8.5* |
| Sweden | 1.5* | Belarus | 2.5* | United Kingdom | 9.0* |
| Switzerland | 1.5* | Denmark | 2.5* | Bosnia/Herzegovina | - |
| TFYR Macedonia | 1.5* | France | 2.5* | Croatia | - |
| Austria | 2.0* | Germany | 2.5* | Georgia | - |
| Belgium | 2.0* | Ireland | 2.5* | Moldova | - |
| Czech Rep. | 2.0* | Latvia | 2.5* | Yugoslavia | - |
New nations are excluded from this list when most of the available statistics predate independence
* Underweight not included