The Law To Know

Law in Charts · Work and identity

Children whose births are registered

What share of children under five have had their birth registered, in each country?

164 of 164 shown in the list

% of children under five whose birth was registered

  1. Ethiopia2.7% 2016
  2. Somalia, Fed. Rep.5.9% 2020
  3. Papua New Guinea13.4% 2018
  4. Zambia14.0% 2018
  5. Angola25.0% 2016
  6. Chad25.7% 2019
  7. Tanzania26.4% 2016
  8. Yemen30.7% 2013
  9. Uganda32.2% 2016
  10. Democratic Republic of the Congo40.1% 2018
  11. Pakistan42.2% 2018
  12. Afghanistan42.3% 2015
  13. Nigeria42.6% 2018
  14. Vanuatu43.4% 2013
  15. Lesotho44.5% 2018
  16. Central African Republic44.8% 2019
  17. Mauritania44.8% 2021
  18. Guinea-Bissau46.0% 2019
  19. Zimbabwe48.7% 2019
  20. Eswatini53.5% 2014
  21. Mozambique55.0% 2015
  22. Bangladesh56.0% 2019
  23. Gambia59.0% 2020
  24. Timor-Leste60.4% 2016
  25. Cameroon61.9% 2018

Source: UNICEF (household surveys), Completeness of birth registration (%), via the World Bank. Data for 2012 to 2022. What it counts, how to cite it and the data

At a glance

  • 164 countries or territories have a figure.
  • The highest is Andorra at 100.0% (2022) and the lowest is Ethiopia at 2.7% (2016).
  • The middle value (the median) is 97.9%.

What it counts

The percentage of children under five whose births were registered at the time of a household survey, as compiled by UNICEF. A birth certificate is often the first proof of legal identity, of age and of nationality.

What it leaves out, and how far to trust a comparison

Figures come from surveys and censuses of different years (shown). Countries with complete civil registration often do not run these surveys, and some show 100 per cent by default. Registration is not the same as holding a certificate.

Source

UNICEF (household surveys): Completeness of birth registration (%), via the World Bank, compiled in World Bank, World Development Indicators. Source licence: CC BY 4.0. Data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.

Cite this chart

Free to use in teaching, articles, reports and slides, with credit. Our compilation is licensed CC BY 4.0; the source publishes the underlying data under its own licence, shown below.

Reference (APA style)

TheLawToKnow. (2026). Children whose births are registered [Chart]. Law in Charts. https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/birth-registration. Data: UNICEF (household surveys), Completeness of birth registration (%), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.REG.BRTH.ZS (data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25).

Short credit for slides and websites

Chart: TheLawToKnow, Law in Charts (https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/birth-registration). Data: UNICEF (household surveys), via World Bank, World Development Indicators.

BibTeX

@misc{birthregistration2026,
  author = {{TheLawToKnow}},
  title = {Children whose births are registered},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Law in Charts},
  url = {https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/birth-registration},
  note = {Data: UNICEF (household surveys), Completeness of birth registration (%), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.REG.BRTH.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.}
}

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