The number of children under five who die each year dropped by one third from 1990 to 2009, according to a United Nations report released on Thursday. Just over 8 million children around the world died before their fifth birthday last year, compared to almost 13 million children who died before the age of five in 1990. India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and China have the highest rates of under-five deaths, accounting for almost half the global total. Regionally, the highest rates of child mortality are in sub-Saharan Africa, where 1 in 8 children dies before their fifth birthday-nearly 20 times the average for developed regions. Southern Asia has the second highest rates, with about 1 in 14 children dying before age five, the U.N.'s 2010 Levels & Trends in Child Mortality report said.
