New Year’s Babies: Over 370,000 children will be born worldwide on New Year’s Day - UNICEF
With the calendar flipping to 2021, UNICEF dedicates its 75th year to reimagining a better world for children.
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NEW YORK, 1 January 2021 – An estimated 371,504 babies will be born around the world on New Year’s Day, according to UNICEF.
As the calendar turns to 2021, UNICEF is again celebrating the new lives being brought into the world on January 1. Fiji in the Pacific will welcome 2021’s first baby. The United States will welcome its last. Globally, over half of these births are estimated to take place in 10 countries: India (59,995), China (35,615), Nigeria (21,439), Pakistan (14,161), Indonesia (12,336), Ethiopia (12,006), the United States (10,312), Egypt (9,455), Bangladesh (9,236) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (8,640).
In total, an estimated 140 million children will be born in 2021. Their average life expectancy is expected to be 84 years.
“The children born today enter a world far different than even a year ago, and a New Year brings a new opportunity to reimagine it,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “Children born today will inherit the world we begin to build for them—today. Let us make 2021 the year we start to build a fairer, safer, healthier world for children.”
2021 will also mark the 75th anniversary of UNICEF. Over the course of the year, UNICEF and its partners will be commemorating the anniversary with events and announcements celebrating three-quarters of a century of protecting children from conflict, disease and exclusion and championing their right to survival, health and education.
“Today, as the world faces a global pandemic, economic slowdown, rising poverty and deepening inequality, the need for UNICEF’s work is as great as ever,” said Fore. “For the last 75 years, throughout conflicts, displacements, natural disasters and crises, UNICEF has been there for the world’s children. As a New Year dawns, we renew our commitment to protect children, to speak up for their rights, and to make sure their voices are heard, no matter where they live.”
In response to the global pandemic, UNICEF launched the Reimagine campaign, a global effort to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from becoming a lasting crisis for children. Through the campaign, UNICEF is issuing an urgent appeal to governments, the public, donors and the private sector to join UNICEF as we seek to respond, recover and reimagine a better, post-pandemic world.
On the 1st of January 2021 about 60,000 babies are expected to be born in India, with a life expectancy of 80.9 years.
An additional thousand babies are surviving each day due to the country’s efforts as envisaged in the India Newborn Action Plan 2014 - 2020. A million newborns with special needs survive each year thanks to the additional 320 district level Special Newborn Care Units established in this period
The Government of India has renewed its commitment towards ending preventable newborn mortality and strengthening services and systems for early childhood development.
Recognizing the challenges thrown up by the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF India Country Representative, Dr Yasmin Ali Haque said, “ Anticipating and addressing the potential impact of the pandemic is crucial if we are to prevent a roll back of gains made in saving the lives of children. As we do so, we must also think long term, to build back a better world when the crisis finally recedes. The pandemic has shown us the need for systems and policies to be in place to protect people all the time, not just in the event of a crisis. Under its Reimagine campaign, UNICEF appeals to governments, private sector entities, donors and all partners to join hands and lay the groundwork for building back better, to assure every child’s right to survive and thrive is protected and promoted at all times.”
Notes to Editors
For complete estimates on births for 236 countries and territories, click here.
For the estimates, UNICEF used vital registration and nationally representative household survey data to estimate the monthly and daily fractions of births in countries. UNICEF used the annual live births numbers and period life expectancy from the latest revision of the UN’s World Population Prospects (2019) to estimate the babies born on 1 January 2021 and their cohort life expectancy.
To download photos to accompany this story, visit here.
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About UNICEF
UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.
UNICEF India relies on the support and donations from businesses and individuals to sustain and expand health, nutrition, water and sanitation, education and child protection programmes for all girls and boys in India. Support us today to help every child survive and thrive!
For more information on UNICEF India and its work visit https://www.unicef.org/india/. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+ and LinkedIn
About the Reimagine Campaign
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF has launched Reimagine — an urgent appeal to governments, the public, donors and the private sector to support UNICEF’s efforts to respond, recover and reimagine a world currently besieged by COVID-19. Together, we can prevent this pandemic from becoming a lasting crisis for children—especially the most vulnerable—and Reimagine a fairer world for every child.
