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. 2025 Jun 17;57(1):2519686. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2025.2519686

Table 1.

Prevalence of congenital birth defects in 0–14 years old from 1990 to 2021 at the global and regional level.

Location Rate per 100 000 (95% UI), percent change (%)
 
1990   2021
1990–2021
Prevalence number Prevalence Rate Prevalence number Prevalence Rate Percent change EAPC AAPC
Global 29655482.29(26706229.74,32894804.58) 1705.17(1535.59,1891.43) 31636759.02(28440817.08,35157389.69) 1572.51(1413.66,1747.51) −7.78(-9.27,-6.30) −0.17(-0.21,-0.13) −4.20(-4.33,-4.08)
High SDI 3101400.62(2842296.64,3399234.72) 1669.14(1529.70,1829.44) 2623497.47(2408444.04,2864268.57) 1520.55(1395.90,1660.09) −8.90(-10.35,-7.44) −0.23(-0.26,-0.19) −4.80(-4.94,-4.67)
High-middle SDI 4667855.61(4232232.21,5130754.52) 1705.94(1546.74,1875.12) 3489088.95(3174130.74,3805648.62) 1511.15(1374.74,1648.25) −11.42(-13.47,-9.34) −0.12(-0.22,-0.02) −6.36(-6.51,-6.21)
Middle SDI 9187648.46(8269613.63,10219054.66) 1591.72(1432.68,1770.41) 8214106.06(7401467.68,9070575.32) 1449.05(1305.69,1600.14) −8.96(-10.78,-6.98) −0.15(-0.21,-0.10) −4.72(-4.82,-4.61)
Low-middle SDI 8410191.39(7541709.94,9406253.79) 1781.40(1597.44,1992.38) 9495469.46(8509708.00,10635960.24) 1637.60(1467.59,1834.29) −8.07(-9.57,-6.56) −0.24(-0.26,-0.21) −4.65(-4.75,-4.55)
Low SDI 4265884.07(3814937.04,4768848.67) 1863.54(1666.54,2083.25) 7791719.27(6937731.73,8682606.86) 1693.02(1507.46,1886.60) −9.15(-10.72,-7.52) −0.33(-0.37,-0.30) −5.36(-5.54,-5.18)
Andean Latin America 209116.48(186352.40,233807.98) 1408.00(1254.73,1574.25) 253454.93(229504.61,278461.42) 1400.71(1268.35,1538.90) −0.52(-3.86,3.14) −0.00(-0.04,0.03) −0.08(-0.22,0.07)
Australasia 72164.02(65948.73,79052.22) 1573.59(1438.06,1723.79) 82147.78(74917.56,89761.88) 1433.36(1307.20,1566.21) −8.91(-12.56,-5.22) −0.26(-0.30,-0.23) −4.93(-5.39,-4.47)
Caribbean 177637.67(159937.38,196311.42) 1556.53(1401.43,1720.16) 179205.57(160769.32,199228.94) 1557.62(1397.37,1731.66) 0.07(-2.52,2.45) 0.03(0.01,0.05) 0.03(-0.13,0.18)
Central Asia 477802.21(434256.92,522404.67) 1911.88(1737.64,2090.35) 531551.87(483756.61,583430.46) 1920.64(1747.94,2108.09) 0.46(-1.55,2.36) 0.24(0.11,0.36) 0.09(-0.21,0.38)
Central Europe 433700.10(397233.85,475431.63) 1470.99(1347.30,1612.53) 255067.99(233391.78,280593.84) 1440.96(1318.51,1585.17) −2.04(-3.92,-0.24) 0.04(-0.01,0.09) −0.91(-1.05,-0.77)
Central Latin America 1374061.17(1174995.96,1601052.36) 2134.26(1825.06,2486.83) 1235280.25(1071767.14,1417672.83) 1945.78(1688.22,2233.08) −8.83(-11.50,-6.12) −0.32(-0.34,-0.30) −6.17(-6.32,-6.01)
Central Sub-Saharan Africa 480552.91(429514.75,534143.38) 1899.52(1697.78,2111.35) 980981.71(877223.58,1100080.97) 1671.70(1494.89,1874.66) −11.99(-15.10,-8.97) −0.40(-0.46,-0.33) −7.11(-7.33,-6.89)
East Asia 4899250.54(4420609.08,5419042.17) 1485.37(1340.25,1642.96) 3264359.00(2970053.14,3569065.18) 1221.00(1110.91,1334.97) −17.80(-20.93,-14.52) −0.28(-0.40,-0.16) −8.84(-9.26,-8.41)
Eastern Europe 1018481.14(924301.20,1116394.25) 1979.09(1796.09,2169.36) 622934.80(566379.69,682382.86) 1757.52(1597.95,1925.24) −11.20(-12.79,-9.57) −0.01(-0.17,0.15) −7.07(-7.48,-6.66)
Eastern Sub-Saharan Africa 1627728.53(1460890.52,1818379.74) 1797.19(1612.98,2007.69) 2837515.10(2528821.72,3167769.44) 1590.25(1417.25,1775.34) −11.51(-13.49,-9.55) −0.41(-0.45,-0.38) −6.51(-6.78,-6.25)
High-income Asia Pacific 829646.00(723781.43,946799.69) 2356.98(2056.22,2689.81) 500742.26(437971.57,570313.87) 2232.91(1953.00,2543.14) −5.26(-8.38,-1.96) −0.19(-0.22,-0.15) −4.07(-4.31,-3.84)
High-income North America 862272.71(786239.59,947421.93) 1398.03(1274.76,1536.09) 818144.52(752480.01,884316.10) 1246.81(1146.74,1347.65) −10.82(-13.58,-8.24) −0.29(-0.35,-0.23) −4.56(-4.98,-4.14)
North Africa and Middle East 2611692.88(2363533.46,2896769.09) 1859.05(1682.40,2061.97) 3114927.37(2814423.58,3443403.63) 1699.16(1535.23,1878.34) −8.60(-10.36,-6.79) −0.18(-0.24,-0.12) −5.04(-5.34,-4.75)
Oceania 36568.09(33070.48,40388.19) 1364.55(1234.04,1507.10) 74727.39(67587.21,83158.76) 1470.76(1330.23,1636.70) 7.78(4.17,11.13) 0.27(0.25,0.29) 3.36(3.25,3.47)
South Asia 7862221.56(7019469.58,8873882.89) 1814.24(1619.77,2047.68) 8292168.03(7404632.26,9431558.89) 1635.47(1460.42,1860.19) −9.85(-11.48,-8.11) −0.31(-0.33,-0.28) −5.79(-5.92,-5.66)
Southeast Asia 2460290.37(2187223.67,2776613.73) 1440.89(1280.97,1626.15) 2372963.75(2111292.86,2668711.43) 1374.41(1222.85,1545.70) −4.61(-6.12,-2.92) −0.13(-0.15,-0.11) −2.19(-2.24,-2.13)
Southern Latin America 249631.94(222831.78,278496.02) 1672.42(1492.87,1865.79) 241944.60(216758.08,268647.77) 1669.10(1495.34,1853.31) −0.20(-4.37,4.20) 0.16(0.08,0.24) −0.10(-0.27,0.07)
Southern Sub-Saharan Africa 335590.44(304913.60,367933.25) 1622.05(1473.77,1778.37) 384297.58(348085.27,423085.87) 1596.86(1446.39,1758.03) −1.55(-3.66,0.64) 0.07(-0.00,0.13) −1.11(-1.30,-0.92)
Tropical Latin America 799568.09(732859.30,865954.40) 1491.34(1366.92,1615.17) 725190.26(658133.24,798048.66) 1444.80(1311.20,1589.96) −3.12(-6.86,0.82) −0.07(-0.09,-0.05) −1.45(-1.80,-1.10)
Western Europe 1194459.75(1102917.88,1290811.80) 1681.90(1553.01,1817.58) 1124837.82(1031660.11,1231368.96) 1651.30(1514.51,1807.69) −1.82(-4.44,0.58) 0.01(-0.03,0.06) −1.13(-1.25,-1.01)
Western Sub-Saharan Africa 1643045.70(1469390.12,1834623.30) 1869.65(1672.04,2087.65) 3744316.47(3343370.45,4181135.47) 1743.46(1556.77,1946.85) −6.75(-8.12,-5.25) −0.26(-0.32,-0.20) −4.05(-4.26,-3.85)

SDI, Sociodemographic Index (five categories; countries with a high, high-middle, middle, low-middle, or low sociodemographic index); UI, uncertainty interval; EAPC, Estimated Annual Percentage Change; AAPC, Average Annual Percent Change.