Health in Somalia: the key numbers for mothers, children and families

Where the numbers come from

The main source is the Somali Health and Demographic Survey 2020 (SHDS). It was run by the federal government with UNFPA and covered more than 100,000 households. Field work ran from 2018 to early 2020, and it reached nomadic families as well as towns and villages (UNFPA Somalia; National Bureau of Statistics). Recent yearly estimates come from the World Bank.

Children

• Under-five deaths: 101.1 per 1,000 live births in 2024 (World Bank, SH.DYN.MORT).
• Infant deaths (first year): 65.4 per 1,000 in 2024 (World Bank, SP.DYN.IMRT.IN).
• Full vaccination: only 11 percent of children aged 12 to 23 months had all basic vaccines (BCG, pentavalent, polio and measles) (SHDS 2020, Key findings).
• Nutrition: 28 percent of children under five are stunted (too short for their age) and 12 percent are wasted (too thin) (SHDS 2020).
• Birth registration: only 3.5 percent of births had been registered (SHDS 2020, foreword).

Mothers

• Maternal deaths: 563 per 100,000 live births in 2023, a modelled estimate (World Bank, SH.STA.MMRT). The SHDS measured 692, down from 732 in 2015 (SHDS 2020).
• Where babies are born: 79 percent at home and 21 percent in a health facility.
• Skilled help at birth: 32 percent.
• Antenatal care from a skilled worker: 31 percent.
• No check-up in the two days after birth: 89 percent of mothers.
• Main causes of maternal death: bleeding after birth, eclampsia, obstructed labour and infection.

All but the first: SHDS 2020, Key findings.

Families and homes

• Fertility: 6.9 children per woman. Women with no schooling have 7.2, and women with higher education 3.7.
• Early marriage: 36 percent of women aged 20 to 24 married before 18.
• Water: 65 percent of households use a safe water source. 12 percent travel 30 minutes or more for water.
• Toilets: 57 percent have an improved toilet not shared with other households.
• Phones: three in four women own a mobile phone, and 64 percent use it for payments.

Source: SHDS 2020, Key findings.

Barriers to care

73 percent of women face at least one problem in getting care. The top barriers are cost (65 percent) and distance (62 percent). Nearly half of households (48 percent) pay for health care from their own income (SHDS 2020). In 2014 Somalia had about 0.05 doctors per 1,000 people, the latest figure the World Bank holds (World Bank, SH.MED.PHYS.ZS).

Chronic disease and disability

6 percent of Somalis have a chronic disease. The most common are high blood pressure (33 percent of cases) and diabetes (20 percent). About 5 percent live with a disability, and 42 percent of them had no care in the past year (SHDS 2020).

Female circumcision

The survey found that 99 percent of women aged 15 to 49 had been cut, most between ages 5 and 9. 72 percent of women surveyed believe it is a religious requirement (SHDS 2020).

Hospitals rebuilt

New and rebuilt hospitals are opening. Mogadishu's former Digfeer hospital, rebuilt with Turkish support, opened in January 2015 with about 200 beds (Goobjoog; Wikipedia). It has trained about 250 doctors (Dawan).

Download the numbers: somalia-health-indicators.csv.