1 January 2019 – An estimated 2135 babies will be born in the United Kingdom on New Year’s Day, UNICEF said today. An estimated 395,072 babies will be born on New Year’s Day around the world, with Thomas topping the table as the most popular new-born name in the UK.
In cities around the world, revelers will welcome not only the New Year with great festivities but also their newest and tiniest residents. As the clock strikes midnight, London will greet an estimated 343 babies, followed by 17 in Glasgow, 46 in Birmingham, 17 in Bristol and, 5 in York.
Fiji in the Pacific will most likely deliver 2019’s first baby; the United States, its last. Over 20,000 babies will be born in Europe alone. Globally, over half of these births are estimated to take place in eight countries:
- India — 69,944
- China — 44,940
- Nigeria — 25,685
- Pakistan — 15,112
- Indonesia — 13,256
- The United States — 11086
- The Democratic Republic of Congo — 10,053
- Bangladesh — 8,428
Around the world on January 1, families will welcome countless Alexanders and Ayeshas, Zhengs and Zainabs. But in several countries, many babies will not even be named as they won’t make it past their first day. The top ten baby names for the United Kingdom are:
- Thomas
- Jack
- Logan
- Olivia
- Emily
- Isla
- James
- Noah
- Oliver
- Sophie
In 2017, about 1 million babies died the day they were born, and 2.5 million in just their first month of life. Among those children, most died from preventable causes such as premature birth, complications during delivery, and infections like sepsis and pneumonia, a violation of their basic right to survival.
“At current life expectancy rates, a child born in the United Kingdom in January 2019 is likely to live until the 22nd century,” said Mike Penrose, Executive Director, Unicef UK. “Unfortunately, nearly half of all children born around the world this year likely won’t. A child born in the United Kingdom in January 2019 is most likely to live to 2101, while a child from Somalia would be unlikely to live beyond 2077.”
“This New Year Day, let’s all make a resolution to fulfill every right of every child, starting with the right to survive,” added Mike Penrose, Executive Director, Unicef UK. “We can save millions of babies if we invest in training and equipping local health workers so that every newborn is born into a safe pair of hands.”
2019 also marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which UNICEF will be commemorating with worldwide events throughout the year. Under the convention, governments committed to, among other things, taking measures to save every child by providing good quality health care.
Over the past three decades, the world has seen remarkable progress in child survival, cutting the number of children worldwide who die before their fifth birthday by more than half. But there has been slower progress for newborns. Babies dying in the first month account for 47 per cent of all deaths among children under five.
UNICEF’s Every Child Alive campaign calls for immediate investment to deliver affordable, quality health care solutions for every mother and newborn. These include a steady supply of clean water and electricity at health facilities, the presence of a skilled health attendant during birth, ample supplies and medicines to prevent and treat complications during pregnancy, delivery and birth, and empowered adolescent girls and women who can demand better quality of health services.
Notes to Editors
For complete un-rounded estimates on births and life expectancy for 190 countries, click here. For top ten baby names across 20 countries and number of births across 26 cities, click here. For the data, UNICEF worked with the World Data Lab.
The estimates for the number of babies born draw on the period indicators and the life tables of the UN’s World Population Prospects (2017). Building on these datasets, World Data Lab’s (WDL) algorithm projects the number of births for each day by country and their corresponding life expectancy. Similar methods were applied to compute the number of babies born in specific US and international cities as well as the regional estimates. Other data sources include UN Data, different US governmental services, and national statistics across several countries.
To download photos or video to accompany this story, click here. For photos of 12 New Year’s babies from 12 time zones, click here (available only by 2 January 2019).
The total estimated Jan 1 births for Europe is 20775.
About UNICEF
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children visit www.unicef.org.
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Unicef UK Media Team, 0207 375 6030, [email protected]