Number of children under 5 in Democratic Republic of Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo: Number of children under 5 was 19.28 million people in 2023. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2023)
19.28 million people
Change on year
up 2.8%
World rank
6th
of 236 countries
All-time high
19.28 million people
in 2023
All-time low
2.17 million people
in 1950
Years of data
74
1950–2023

Number of children under 5 in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1950–2023

05.0M10.0M15.0M20.0M195019862023

Source: UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

The most recent figure for number of children under 5 in Democratic Republic of Congo is 19.28 million people, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 74 years on record.

The figure is up 2.8% on the previous year and up 37.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of children under 5 in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 19.28 million people in 2023 and was at its lowest, 2.17 million people, in 1950.

Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 6th of 236 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 2.34 million people 2.17 million people 2.59 million people 10
1960s 3.09 million people 2.67 million people 3.56 million people 10
1970s 4.15 million people 3.67 million people 4.65 million people 10
1980s 5.62 million people 4.79 million people 6.56 million people 10
1990s 7.94 million people 6.77 million people 9.18 million people 10
2000s 10.71 million people 9.42 million people 12.22 million people 10
2010s 14.84 million people 12.66 million people 17.13 million people 10
2020s 18.48 million people 17.67 million people 19.28 million people 4

Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo

  1. 3 Nigeria 33.53 million people compare
  2. 4 Pakistan 31.79 million people compare
  3. 5 Indonesia 22.35 million people compare
  4. 7 Ethiopia 19.07 million people compare
  5. 8 United States 18.64 million people compare
  6. 9 Bangladesh 16.51 million people compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More reference data data for Democratic Republic of Congo

All data for Democratic Republic of Congo →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of children under 5 in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Number of children under 5 in Democratic Republic of Congo was 19.28 million people in 2023, according to UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest number of children under 5 recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The highest recorded value was 19.28 million people in 2023.
What is the lowest number of children under 5 recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The lowest recorded value was 2.17 million people in 1950.
How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for number of children under 5?
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 6th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is number of children under 5 rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Over the last ten years it is up 37.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo data come from?
The figures come from UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of children under 5. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Number of children under 5
Unit
people
Source
UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 17,464 data points, 1950–2023
Last refreshed

The total population, measured on 1 July of the year shown. This only includes people aged 0-4.