20,210 Babies Born In Nigeria On January 1 – UNICEF

Nigeria would have approximately 20,210 babies born into the country on New Year day, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said. This represents the third largest population of newborns in the world on January 1, 2018.

UNICEF also said nearly 386,000 babies would be born worldwide on New Year day.

The agency reported that Kiribati’s Christmas Island in the Pacific would most likely welcome 2018’s first baby while the U.S., its last.



Globally, over half of these births are estimated to take place in nine countries, according to UNICEF.


These are: India, 69,070; China, 44,760; Nigeria, 20,210; Pakistan, 14,910; Indonesia, 13,370; United States, 11,280; Democratic Republic of Congo, 9,400; Ethiopia, 9,020; and Bangladesh, 8,370.

While many babies would survive, some would not make it past their first day, UNICEF said.

Stefan Peterson, UNICEF’s Chief of Health, said on Monday that the agency was challenging nations around the world to make sure more newborns survive their first days of life.

“This New Year, UNICEF’s resolution is to help give every child more than an hour, more than a day, more than a month – more than survival,” Peterson said.

In 2016, an estimated 2,600 children died within the first 24 hours every day of the year, according to the UN agency.

UNICEF said that for almost two million newborns, their first week was also their last.

In all, 2.6 million children died before the end of their first month, the global children’s agency disclosed.

UNICEF said more than 80 per cent of the children died from preventable and treatable causes such as premature birth, complications during delivery, and infections like sepsis and pneumonia.

NAN