Child deaths in 2012 were about 6.6 million or roughly half the number recorded in 1990 when more than 12 million children died.
A new joint report, published on Friday, shows that though the trend is encouraging, many more lives could be saved with access to basic health care services. Newborns are particularly at risk and nearly half of under-five deaths are linked to under-nutrition.
The report was jointly prepared by UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank Group and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Population Division.
"This trend is a positive one. Millions of lives have been saved," said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "And we can do still better. Most of these deaths can be prevented, using simple steps that many countries have already put in place - what we need is a greater sense of urgency," he added.
The leading causes of death among children aged less than five years include pneumonia, prematurity, birth asphyxia, diarrhea and malaria. Globally, about 45 percent of under-five deaths are linked to under-nutrition.
About half of under-five deaths occur in only five countries: China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. India (22 percent) and Nigeria (13 percent) together account for more than one-third of all deaths of children under the age of five.
"Up to half of all newborn deaths occur within the first day," says WHO Director-General Margaret Chan.
While the global average annual rate of reduction in under-five mortality accelerated from 1.2 percent a year for the period 1990-1995 to 3.9 percent for 2005-2012, it remains insufficient to reach Millennium Development Goal 4 which aims to reduce the under-five mortality rate by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015, WHO said in a press release.
Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, faces significant challenges as the region has the world's highest child mortality rates. With a rate of 98 deaths per 1,000 live births, a child born in sub-Saharan Africa faces more than 16 times the risk of dying before his or her fifth birthday than a child born in a high-income country.
However, sub-Saharan Africa has shown remarkable acceleration in its progress, with the annual rate of reduction in deaths increasing from 0.8 percent in 1990-1995 to 4.1 percent in 2005-2012.
Both globally and in countries, a series of initiatives are in place aimed at improving access to maternal and child health care, inspired by the U.N. Secretary-General's widely endorsed Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health.
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