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

Behind every statistic on MYRIAD is the measure of human lives actually lived. For Senegal, the metric we track is child mortality under five: of every 1,000 children born, how many died before their fifth birthday. These numbers are not abstract points on a graph. They represent the quiet arithmetic of families, the fragile beginnings of generations, and the profound weight of survival across three centuries. Every decade tells a precise story of how human societies confront the raw probabilities of existence, recording silent losses and enduring resilience.

The historical arc reveals a long, grinding plateau slowly yielding to profound change. In the 1800s estimate, the toll was recorded at 450 per 1,000 births, ticking down to 430 per 1,000 births in the 1900s estimate. The descent accelerated through the 1950s at 320 and the 1980s at 180. By the 2020s, child mortality stands at 75 per 1,000 births, with models tracing a hopeful trajectory down to a 2100s projection of 12.58.

Your encounter with the world is defined by the epochal odds of your decade. In the 2020s, Senegal is ranking #147 of 157 countries, yet the landscape of survival has shifted dramatically from the past. As projections stretch toward the 2030s projection of 60 and the 2050s projection of 38.4, the sheer probability of growing up continues to transform. This data maps the transition from a world of precarious beginnings to one of expanding possibility.

Explore MYRIAD to compute the parallel lives of your own ancestors.