Child mortality falls to 33 per 1,000 births: BBS

Bangladesh’s under-five mortality rate has declined to 33 deaths per 1,000 live births, down from 39 deaths recorded during the 10-14 years preceding the latest survey, according to the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2025.

The findings were published in the final report of MICS 2025, titled Progotir Pathey, released online by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) on Monday.

The survey, conducted by BBS in collaboration with UNICEF, provides nationally and internationally comparable data on children, women and households across Bangladesh.

However, the neonatal mortality rate remains high at 22 deaths per 1,000 live births, indicating that newborn survival continues to be a major policy challenge.

The survey found that 71% of recent births took place in health facilities. However, significant socioeconomic disparities remain, with facility deliveries ranging from 52.6% among women in the poorest wealth quintile to 86.9% among those in the richest quintile.

Only 59.2% of children under five had their births registered with civil authorities, meaning that more than two in five young children remained without birth registration at the time of the survey.

Among children aged 7–14, 50.2% demonstrated foundational reading skills. Girls performed better than boys, with rates of 54.5% and 45.6% respectively.

The survey also found that 9.1% of children aged 5-17 were engaged in child labour under the MICS/SDG definition.

Access to at least basic drinking water was high at 98.6%. However, 85% of household members were using drinking water contaminated with E coli at the point of consumption.

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A major concern was exposure to lead. Blood testing found that 38.4% of children aged 12–59 months had blood lead levels of at least 5 micrograms per decilitre, with prevalence considerably higher in urban areas and among children living near industrial and lead-related activities.

MICS 2025 covered 62,980 sampled households, of which 61,207 were successfully interviewed, achieving a response rate of 99.6%.

The survey provides representative estimates at national, urban-rural, divisional and district levels, as well as for Dhaka North, Dhaka South and Chattogram City Corporations.

The final report presents 173 indicators, including 27 directly linked to the Sustainable Development Goals. The findings are expected to support government agencies, development partners, researchers and civil society organisations in planning, resource allocation and monitoring national priorities.