With the birth of nearly 60,000 babies, India will see the highest number of births on New Year’s Day 2021 across the globe. However, it is 7,390 less than the number of births on the first day of 2020. This will be followed by China with half as many births – 35,615 – on January 1 this year, as estimated by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).
According to UNICEF, an estimated 371,504 babies will be born around the world on New Year’s Day.
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.
Just as a comparison, the number of children estimated to be born this year is almost 78 times the number of people who have died of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) across the globe so far. In India, the life expectancy of the babies born in 2021 will be 80.9 years, which is three years less than the global average. However, an additional 1,000 babies survive each day in India due to interventions by the government such as establishing Special Newborn Care Units (SNCU).
