Country rankings
Breastfeeding Rates by Country
Sri Lanka has the highest % of Children Ever Breastfed (99.4%), followed by Bhutan (99.3%) and Nepal (99.1%). Ireland has the lowest (55.0%).
123 of 235 countries
% of Children Ever Breastfed
Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.
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Ranking
Highest first: the first 15 and last 5 of 123 countries.
Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →
Each dot is one country; the lines mark the median and the middle half.
Median
96.2%
Middle half 93.8% – 97.8%
Average
94.5%
123 countries
Highest
99.4%
Sri Lanka
Lowest
55.0%
Ireland
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
149 countries · # = rank by % of Children Ever Breastfed
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Sri Lanka | 99.4% | 80.9% |
| 2 |  Bhutan | 99.3% | 53.2% |
| 3 |  Nepal | 99.1% | 62.1% |
| 4 |  Madagascar | 99.0% | 50.6% |
| 5 |  Niger | 98.8% | 21.6% |
| 5 |  Rwanda | 98.8% | 80.9% |
| 7 |  Kenya | 98.7% | 61.4% |
| 7 |  Peru | 98.7% | 65.3% |
| 7 |  Burundi | 98.7% | 71.9% |
| 7 |  Uruguay | 98.7% | 57.7% |
| 7 |  Gambia | 98.7% | 53.6% |
| 12 |  Senegal | 98.5% | 40.8% |
| 12 |  Turkmenistan | 98.5% | 56.5% |
| 14 |  Ghana | 98.4% | 42.9% |
| 15 |  Mongolia | 98.3% | 58.0% |
| 16 |  DR Congo | 98.2% | 53.6% |
| 16 |  Uganda | 98.2% | 65.5% |
| 16 |  Bolivia | 98.2% | 55.7% |
| 16 |  Tajikistan | 98.2% | 35.8% |
| 20 |  Myanmar | 98.1% | 51.2% |
| 20 |  Chad | 98.1% | 9% |
| 20 |  Zimbabwe | 98.1% | 41.9% |
| 20 |  Guinea | 98.1% | 33.4% |
| 24 |  Sweden | 98.0% | — |
| 24 |  Togo | 98.0% | 64.3% |
| 24 |  Liberia | 98.0% | 55.2% |
| 24 |  Oman | 98.0% | 23.2% |
| 24 |  Guinea-Bissau | 98.0% | 59.3% |
| 29 |  Eritrea | 97.9% | 68.7% |
| 29 |  Solomon Islands | 97.9% | 76.2% |
| 31 |  Afghanistan | 97.8% | 57.5% |
| 32 |  Turkey | 97.7% | 40.7% |
| 32 |  Malawi | 97.7% | 59.4% |
| 34 |  Kyrgyzstan | 97.6% | 45.6% |
| 35 |  Iran | 97.4% | 53.1% |
| 35 |  Thailand | 97.4% | 14.0% |
| 35 |  Sao Tome and Principe | 97.4% | 63.1% |
| 38 |  Mozambique | 97.3% | 41.0% |
| 39 |  Guatemala | 97.2% | 53.2% |
| 39 |  Benin | 97.2% | 41.4% |
| 41 |  Kazakhstan | 97.1% | 37.8% |
| 42 |  Sierra Leone | 97.0% | 54.0% |
| 42 |  Costa Rica | 97.0% | 25.3% |
| 44 |  Vietnam | 96.9% | 24.0% |
| 44 |  Colombia | 96.9% | 36.7% |
| 46 |  Ethiopia | 96.8% | 58.8% |
| 46 |  Haiti | 96.8% | 39.9% |
| 46 |  Palestine | 96.8% | 38.9% |
| 49 |  Yemen | 96.7% | 9.7% |
| 49 |  Moldova | 96.7% | 36.4% |
| 51 |  Morocco | 96.6% | 35.0% |
| 51 |  Tunisia | 96.6% | 13.5% |
| 51 |  Paraguay | 96.6% | 29.6% |
| 54 |  Bangladesh | 96.5% | 62.6% |
| 54 |  Ivory Coast | 96.5% | 23.1% |
| 54 |  Republic of the Congo | 96.5% | 32.9% |
| 54 |  Armenia | 96.5% | 44.5% |
| 58 |  Panama | 96.4% | 21.5% |
| 59 |  Honduras | 96.3% | 30.7% |
| 59 |  Mauritania | 96.3% | 40.3% |
| 61 |  Cambodia | 96.2% | 65.2% |
| 61 |  Cuba | 96.2% | 40.6% |
| 63 |  China | 96.1% | 20.8% |
| 63 |  El Salvador | 96.1% | 46.7% |
| 65 |  Singapore | 96.0% | — |
| 66 |  Indonesia | 95.8% | 50.7% |
| 66 |  Argentina | 95.8% | 32.0% |
| 66 |  Cameroon | 95.8% | 39.4% |
| 69 |  Egypt | 95.7% | 39.5% |
| 69 |  Mali | 95.7% | 40.5% |
| 69 |  Namibia | 95.7% | 48.3% |
| 72 |  Sudan | 95.6% | 54.6% |
| 72 |  Laos | 95.6% | 44.4% |
| 74 |  India | 95.5% | 58.0% |
| 74 |  Zambia | 95.5% | 69.9% |
| 74 |  Saint Lucia | 95.5% | 3.5% |
| 77 |  Ukraine | 95.4% | 19.7% |
| 77 |  Jamaica | 95.4% | 23.8% |
| 77 |  Lesotho | 95.4% | 59.0% |
| 80 |  Tanzania | 95.3% | 57.8% |
| 80 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | 95.3% | 18.2% |
| 82 |  Nigeria | 95.0% | 25.2% |
| 82 |  Chile | 95.0% | — |
| 82 |  Norway | 95.0% | — |
| 85 |  Mexico | 94.9% | 27.1% |
| 85 |  Vanuatu | 94.9% | 72.6% |
| 87 |  Angola | 94.8% | 37.4% |
| 87 |  Central African Republic | 94.8% | 36.2% |
| 89 |  Qatar | 94.6% | 29.3% |
| 90 |  Pakistan | 94.4% | 47.5% |
| 91 |  North Macedonia | 93.9% | 27.5% |
| 92 |  Burkina Faso | 93.8% | 57.9% |
| 93 |  Philippines | 93.7% | 54.9% |
| 94 |  Barbados | 93.2% | 19.7% |
| 95 |  Jordan | 93.1% | 25.4% |
| 96 |  Comoros | 93.0% | 11.4% |
| 97 |  South Sudan | 92.7% | 44.5% |
| 97 |  Belize | 92.7% | 33.2% |
| 99 |  Belarus | 92.5% | 21.7% |
| 100 |  Nicaragua | 92.3% | 31.7% |
| 101 |  Iraq | 92.2% | 25.8% |
| 102 |  Eswatini | 92.1% | 63.8% |
| 103 |  Russia | 92.0% | — |
| 103 |  Australia | 92.0% | — |
| 103 |  Finland | 92.0% | — |
| 106 |  Tonga | 91.4% | 39.6% |
| 107 |  Dominican Republic | 91.2% | 4.6% |
| 108 |  Djibouti | 91.1% | 12.4% |
| 109 |  Serbia | 90.4% | 23.6% |
| 109 |  Suriname | 90.4% | 8.9% |
| 111 |  Gabon | 89.6% | 5.1% |
| 112 |  Algeria | 89.5% | 28.6% |
| 113 |  Canada | 89.0% | — |
| 113 |  Guyana | 89.0% | 21.1% |
| 115 |  Montenegro | 88.3% | 19.5% |
| 116 |  South Korea | 88.0% | — |
| 117 |  Italy | 86.0% | — |
| 118 |  Germany | 82.0% | — |
| 119 |  United Kingdom | 81.0% | — |
| 120 |  Spain | 77.0% | — |
| 121 |  United States | 74.4% | 25.8% |
| 122 |  France | 63.0% | — |
| 123 |  Ireland | 55.0% | — |
| — |  Brazil | — | 38.6% |
| — |  South Africa | — | 31.6% |
| — |  Uzbekistan | — | 49.5% |
| — |  Malaysia | — | 40.3% |
| — |  Venezuela | — | 7.1% |
| — |  North Korea | — | 71.4% |
| — |  Syria | — | 28.5% |
| — |  Somalia | — | 33.7% |
| — |  Romania | — | 15.8% |
| — |  Ecuador | — | 39.6% |
| — |  Papua New Guinea | — | 59.7% |
| — |  Azerbaijan | — | 12.1% |
| — |  Croatia | — | 23.5% |
| — |  Georgia | — | 20.4% |
| — |  Albania | — | 36.5% |
| — |  Botswana | — | 30.0% |
| — |  Equatorial Guinea | — | 7.4% |
| — |  Trinidad and Tobago | — | 21.5% |
| — |  Timor-Leste | — | 65.0% |
| — |  Fiji | — | 39.8% |
| — |  Maldives | — | 63.0% |
| — |  Samoa | — | 70.3% |
| — |  Kiribati | — | 63.6% |
| — |  Marshall Islands | — | 43.1% |
| — |  Nauru | — | 67.2% |
| — |  Tuvalu | — | 34.7% |
What correlates with % of Children Ever Breastfed?
Pearson r against 1,458 other country metrics sharing at least 74 countries. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher % of Children Ever Breastfed tend to score higher on these
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher % of Children Ever Breastfed tend to score lower on these
Quick answers
- Which country has the highest % of Children Ever Breastfed?
- Sri Lanka has the highest % of Children Ever Breastfed, at 99.4%, followed by Bhutan (99.3%) and Nepal (99.1%).
- Which country has the lowest % of Children Ever Breastfed?
- Ireland has the lowest % of Children Ever Breastfed, at 55.0%.
- What is the median % of Children Ever Breastfed across countries?
- The median is 96.2% across the 123 countries with data.
- Where does this breastfeeding rates by country data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Global Health Observatory data repository - World Health Organization; Breastfeeding by Country - Unicef.