Child Mortality (under 5) in Panama: 1800 to Today (and Tomorrow)

A statistic is rarely just a number; it is the quiet reality of a family holding its breath. Child mortality measures the fragile threshold between infancy and the fifth birthday, capturing the immense weight of human loss and survival across generations. Every figure represents real children born into a specific time, facing the stark probabilities of their era. These data points map the changing horizon of human vulnerability and endurance, transforming the raw grief of the past into a measurable trajectory of survival.

The historical arc reveals a profound transformation. In the 1800s estimate, child mortality (under 5) was 420 per 1,000 births, declining gradually through the 1810s estimate 413, the 1820s estimate 406, the 1830s estimate 399, the 1840s estimate 392, the 1850s estimate 385, the 1860s estimate 378, the 1870s estimate 371, the 1880s estimate 364, and the 1890s estimate 357. In 1900 it was 350 per 1,000 births. The decline steepened through the 1910s estimate 316, 1920s estimate 282, 1930s estimate 248, 1940s estimate 214, 1950s 180, 1960s 146.67, 1970s 113.33, 1980s 80, 1990s 56, 2000s 32, and 2010s 24.

Where you stand in history changes the fundamental odds of the earliest years. In the 2020s, child mortality (under 5) in Panama stands at 16 per 1,000 births — ranking #89 of 157 countries. This is a vastly different demographic reality than the 1800s estimate, where nearly half of all children faced the shadow of early death. Looking ahead, projections trace a continued descent through the 2030s projection 12.8, 2040s projection 10.24, 2050s projection 8.19, 2060s projection 6.55, 2070s projection 5.24, 2080s projection 4.19, 2090s projection 3.36, down to the 2100s projection 2.68.

Explore MYRIAD to compute how your own life compares to those born across these centuries.