Birth registration is the official recording of a child’s birth by the state. World Bank series SP.REG.BRTH.Q4.ZS does not cover all children under five. It measures birth registration among children in the fourth household wealth quintile, Q4—the second-highest 20% group when households are divided into five relative wealth groups. In percentile terms, it roughly corresponds to households between the 60th and 80th percentiles of the national wealth distribution.
The country-level table contains 105 latest non-missing observations dated from 2006 to 2021. Their median is 91.9% and the unweighted mean is 79.1%. The dates are not synchronized: 2014 alone accounts for 19 observations, while only three are dated 2021. The world map is therefore a latest-observation map rather than a 2021 global ranking.
Table of Contents
Q4 is the second-highest 20% of households, not the highest quintile
The label Q4 can be easy to misread. It is not a quartile and it does not mean the top 40% as one combined group. Households are divided into five wealth quintiles from Q1, the lowest, through Q5, the highest. Q4 is the fourth group: above Q1–Q3 but immediately below the wealthiest quintile, Q5.
In DHS and MICS-style household surveys, wealth quintiles are commonly based on a household wealth index derived from assets and living conditions rather than one directly reported income number. The ranking is relative within each country. A Q4 household in one country does not necessarily have the same absolute income or assets as a Q4 household in another.
Registration includes caregiver reports, not only certificates seen
World Bank metadata defines completeness of birth registration as the percentage of children under age five whose births were registered at the time of the survey. The numerator includes children whose birth certificate was seen by the interviewer and children whose mother or caretaker reported that the birth had been registered. The indicator is therefore broader than the share of children for whom a certificate could physically be shown during the interview.
Registration is an important component of legal identity, but a high registration rate does not by itself prove equal access to education, health care, social protection, or every administrative service. Likewise, a low value cannot be attributed to household resources alone. Administrative access, legal requirements, conflict, mobility, awareness, and survey timing may also matter.
The median latest observation is 91.9%
Across the 105 country/economy observations, the median is 91.9% and the unweighted mean is 79.1%. Fifty-four observations are at least 90%, and 40 are at least 95%. At the lower end, 32 are below 75% and 16 are below 50%. The spread shows that birth registration can remain incomplete even within a relatively advantaged household group.
| Birth-registration rate | Countries/economies | Share of 105 |
|---|---|---|
| Below 50% | 16 | 15.2% |
| 50% to <75% | 16 | 15.2% |
| 75% to <90% | 19 | 18.1% |
| 90% to <95% | 14 | 13.3% |
| 95% to <99% | 16 | 15.2% |
| 99% to <100% | 18 | 17.1% |
| 100% | 6 | 5.7% |
The 79.1% mean should not be interpreted as the population-weighted registration rate of all Q4 children worldwide. Each country or separately reported economy contributes one equally weighted row. A true global population share would require country-specific numbers of children in the fourth wealth quintile and appropriate survey weights.
The lowest latest observations are Ethiopia, Somalia, and Chad
Ethiopia has the lowest retained observation at 1.6% in 2016. Somalia is 4.9% in 2006, Chad 8.0% in 2015, and Papua New Guinea 13.4% in 2018. Zambia is 20.8% in 2018, Bangladesh 25.1% in 2018, the Democratic Republic of the Congo 25.5% in 2014, Angola 30.7% in 2016, Guinea-Bissau 32.0% in 2014, and Uganda 32.2% in 2016.
| Country/economy | Observation year | Q4 birth registration |
|---|---|---|
| Ethiopia | 2016 | 1.6% |
| Somalia, Fed. Rep. | 2006 | 4.9% |
| Chad | 2015 | 8.0% |
| Papua New Guinea | 2018 | 13.4% |
| Zambia | 2018 | 20.8% |
| Bangladesh | 2018 | 25.1% |
| Congo, Dem. Rep. | 2014 | 25.5% |
| Angola | 2016 | 30.7% |
| Guinea-Bissau | 2014 | 32.0% |
| Uganda | 2016 | 32.2% |
| Tanzania | 2016 | 37.2% |
| Yemen, Rep. | 2013 | 40.6% |
| South Sudan | 2010 | 42.7% |
| Nigeria | 2013 | 46.2% |
| Lesotho | 2014 | 47.0% |
The year column is essential. Somalia’s 2006 value and Papua New Guinea’s 2018 value describe different periods. Ranking them as if both measured the present would confuse time differences with country differences. The broad table is best used to identify the last recorded level for each country.
Among observations dated 2018–2021, Papua New Guinea, Zambia, and Bangladesh are lowest
Restricting the dataset to observations dated 2018–2021 leaves 18 countries. Their median is 84.6% and their unweighted mean is 72.9%. Papua New Guinea is lowest at 13.4%, followed by Zambia at 20.8% and Bangladesh at 25.1%, all dated 2018. The Gambia is 62.3% in 2020, Pakistan 63.4% in 2018, Mauritania 66.3% in 2021, and Liberia 68.8% in 2020.
| Country/economy | Observation year | Q4 birth registration |
|---|---|---|
| Papua New Guinea | 2018 | 13.4% |
| Zambia | 2018 | 20.8% |
| Bangladesh | 2018 | 25.1% |
| Gambia, The | 2020 | 62.3% |
| Pakistan | 2018 | 63.4% |
| Mauritania | 2021 | 66.3% |
| Liberia | 2020 | 68.8% |
| Guinea | 2018 | 74.9% |
| Cameroon | 2018 | 81.6% |
| Madagascar | 2021 | 87.6% |
| Rwanda | 2020 | 87.8% |
| Senegal | 2019 | 89.3% |
| Sierra Leone | 2019 | 91.9% |
| Benin | 2018 | 92.9% |
| India | 2021 | 93.4% |
| Mali | 2018 | 94.0% |
| Jordan | 2018 | 99.0% |
| Albania | 2018 | 99.2% |
At the upper end of this recent subset, India is 93.4% in 2021, Mali 94.0% in 2018, Jordan 99.0% in 2018, and Albania 99.2% in 2018. The narrower time window improves recency but reduces geographic coverage to only 18 countries, so it should not be described as a recent global ranking.
Q5 is higher than Q4 in 83 of 105 matched countries
Matching Q4 with the highest wealth quintile, Q5, produces 105 country pairs with the same observation year. Q5 is higher than Q4 in 83 countries, equal in 5, and lower in 17. The median Q5-minus-Q4 gap is 3.0 percentage points, and the unweighted mean gap is 5.7 points.
This comparison adds an important dimension to the Q4 map. A country may show near-universal registration among the wealthiest 20% while the immediately lower wealth group remains noticeably behind. However, the ordering is not strictly monotonic in every survey. Small negative differences can arise from sampling variability, rounding, survey design, or genuine local patterns, so they should not automatically be labeled errors.
| Country/economy | Year | Q4 | Q5 | Q5-Q4 gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chad | 2015 | 8.0% | 39.1% | +31.1 pp |
| Tanzania | 2016 | 37.2% | 65.1% | +27.9 pp |
| Niger | 2012 | 61.7% | 89.3% | +27.6 pp |
| Zimbabwe | 2015 | 54.3% | 79.0% | +24.7 pp |
| Angola | 2016 | 30.7% | 54.9% | +24.2 pp |
| Afghanistan | 2015 | 48.2% | 69.9% | +21.7 pp |
| Eswatini | 2014 | 57.2% | 78.4% | +21.2 pp |
| Nigeria | 2013 | 46.2% | 66.3% | +20.1 pp |
| Lesotho | 2014 | 47.0% | 62.8% | +15.8 pp |
| Yemen, Rep. | 2013 | 40.6% | 55.7% | +15.1 pp |
| Mauritania | 2021 | 66.3% | 81.3% | +15.0 pp |
| South Sudan | 2010 | 42.7% | 56.5% | +13.8 pp |
| Namibia | 2013 | 77.2% | 90.8% | +13.6 pp |
| Central African Republic | 2010 | 71.2% | 84.7% | +13.5 pp |
| Naoero | 2007 | 75.0% | 88.2% | +13.2 pp |
Chad has the largest gap: 8.0% in Q4 versus 39.1% in Q5, a difference of 31.1 percentage points. Tanzania follows at 27.9 points, Niger at 27.6, Zimbabwe at 24.7, and Angola at 24.2. Afghanistan has a 21.7-point gap, Eswatini 21.2, and Nigeria 20.1. These differences show where registration coverage varied strongly by adjacent household-wealth groups, but the indicator pair alone cannot establish the underlying cause.
Comparing Q4 and Q5 is more informative than a simple country ranking
A single Q4 value tells us the level observed in the second-highest wealth group. Adding Q5 shows whether the country had already achieved much higher coverage among the wealthiest households. A large positive Q5-Q4 gap can be a useful signal for further investigation into how administrative access and social conditions differ across household groups.
The gap should still be treated as descriptive rather than causal. Wealth quintile does not directly measure distance to registration offices, registration fees, parental education, rural residence, migration status, or legal barriers. Country-specific DHS or MICS reports are the appropriate next step when the goal is to explain why a gap appears.
The 2006–2021 spread in observation years is the main limitation
Observation years are widely distributed: 19 values are from 2014, 14 from 2012, and ten each from 2015 and 2016. There are ten observations from 2018, two from 2019, and only three each from 2020 and 2021. The maximum year of 2021 therefore does not mean that the full dataset is a 2021 survey.
For this reason, the map is explicitly labeled as a latest-observation view and the 2018–2021 subset is separated. A current global comparison would require newer harmonized observations or a much larger common-year subset from UNICEF or the World Bank.
Countries missing from the Q4 table are not zero
This wealth-disaggregated series covers 105 countries and separately reported economies. Countries such as Korea, the United States, Japan, and Germany do not appear in the retained table and must not be assigned a zero value. Wealth-quintile birth-registration statistics depend heavily on detailed household surveys, so geographic coverage differs from the general birth-registration indicator.
Gray areas on the map likewise mean no matched Q4 observation in this table or no visible polygon at the low-resolution map scale, not zero registration. Separating missing data from measured low values is essential for interpreting this type of map.
Data source and calculation method
The primary statistical source is World Bank SP.REG.BRTH.Q4.ZS, Completeness of birth registration (%): Q4. World Bank metadata defines birth-registration completeness as the percentage of children under five whose births were registered at the time of the survey, including births verified by a certificate and births reported as registered by a mother or caretaker. The underlying source is UNICEF global databases based on DHS, MICS, other household surveys, censuses, and vital registration systems.
The world map and distribution statistics use 105 latest non-missing Q4 observations dated 2006–2021. The wealth-gap analysis matches those rows to the World Bank Q5 series for the same country and observation year. ISO-3 codes are joined to a Natural Earth low-resolution world layer, with 95 polygons directly filled.
- World Bank DataBank – SP.REG.BRTH.Q4.ZS metadata
- World Bank – Completeness of birth registration (%): Q4
- World Bank – Completeness of birth registration (%): Q5 (highest)
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Q4 mean in this indicator?
Q4 is the fourth of five household wealth quintiles, the second-highest 20% group, roughly the 60th to 80th percentile within each country.
Is Q4 the wealthiest 20% of households?
No. The wealthiest 20% is Q5. Q4 is the 20% group immediately below Q5.
Can the 105 values be treated as a 2021 country ranking?
No. Observation years range from 2006 to 2021, so the world map represents the latest retained observation for each country.
Is Q5 birth registration always higher than Q4?
No. Q5 is higher in 83 of 105 matched countries, but some observations are equal or slightly lower, so the relationship is not perfectly monotonic.
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