Improving people’s health in the future starts with understanding people’s health today. What are people dying from? Are children surviving their first years? How does life expectancy compare with other countries? This page tracks key health metrics for Nauru.
The data is updated regularly with the latest global and country estimates. Sometimes the latest data is two or three years behind the current year.
What share of children die in Nauru?
The latest data, referring to 2023, shows that 1.1% died before the age of 15 in Nauru.
This is the youth mortality rate, which measures the share of newborns who die before reaching their 15th birthday.
This rate is shown for Nauru in the chart below, alongside neighboring countries for comparison.
What share of children under five die in Nauru?
What about deaths among younger children?
One of the most-used indicators of child health is the child mortality rate, which measures the share of newborns who die before the age of five.
In Nauru, 0.9% of children under the age of five died in 2023.
You can see how this rate has changed over time in the chart, compared to neighboring countries.
How many children under five die each year in Nauru?
What do these child mortality rates mean for the total number of children who die?
In the chart, you can see the number of children under five in Nauru who die in a particular year. In 2023, it was 3.00 children.
What do children die from in Nauru?
To stop children from dying, we need to know what they are dying from. Understanding this allows governments and society to develop and focus on the largest causes of death. That can lead to a stronger focus on the interventions that would make the biggest difference.
In the treemap below, you can see estimates for Nauru. The total size of the visualization represents the total number of under-fives that died. Each box inside is a cause of death, with its size proportional to the share of child deaths.
What share of children in Nauru are malnourished?
One of the largest drivers of poor health and mortality among children is malnutrition. It’s estimated to contribute to around half of child deaths worldwide. A malnourished child tends to be more vulnerable to infections and other illnesses. It also makes it harder for them to recover.
There are several measures of malnutrition among children.
Here, we look at stunting, which is when a child is deemed short for their age. It is often a sign of chronic malnutrition, and that their development has been hindered. Stunting is not just an issue during childhood: it affects both physical and cognitive development, and these impacts can persist into adulthood.
In the chart, you can see what share of children in Nauru are stunted, alongside neighboring countries. In 2024, this share was 16%.
How many mothers in Nauru die during pregnancy or childbirth?
Rates tell us about risk, but the total number of deaths shows the scale of the problem. How many women in Nauru die during pregnancy or childbirth?
In the chart, you can see the number of women in Nauru who died during pregnancy or in childbirth each year. In 2023, this was <1 women.
What share of births in Nauru are attended by skilled workers?
Having skilled health staff available at childbirth can improve health outcomes for both the mother and baby, especially if complications arise.
In the chart, you see the share of births attended by skilled workers in Nauru, alongside its neighbors. In 2007, this share was 97%.
What is Nauru’s life expectancy at birth?
In 2023, Nauru’s life expectancy at birth was 62.1 years.
You can see how this has changed over time in the chart, alongside neighboring countries.
This is a period measure of life expectancy, which tells us the average number of years a newborn would live if today’s death rates at each age remained constant throughout their life. This does not necessarily reflect the most common age of death in the country.
What is the life expectancy of men and women in Nauru?
In most countries, women live on average longer than men. But the size of this life expectancy gap varies.
In the chart, you can see life expectancy at birth for men and women in Nauru.
In 2023, life expectancy was 64.0 years for women, and 60.3 years for men.
What is Nauru’s life expectancy at different ages?
Life expectancy at birth is often sensitive to death rates at younger ages. In particular, life expectancy is low when child mortality rates are high. These figures would tell you very little about how long a 40, 50, or 60-year-old could expect to live.
It’s therefore useful to look at life expectancy at different ages. This is shown in the chart for 10, 25, 45, 65, and 80-year-olds.
What do people in Nauru die from?
Understanding what people die from allows countries to tailor resources, develop interventions, and allocate funding to areas where the most progress can be made.
In the treemap below, you can see estimates of what people in Nauru died from in 2023.
The total size of the visualization represents the total number of deaths in that year. Each box inside is a cause of death, with its size proportional to the share of all deaths.
How many people in Nauru die from infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, and injuries?
Causes of death can be categorized into broader categories: infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, and injuries. This can give us some insight into a country’s health challenges and how they’re changing.
Infectious, maternal, and nutritional diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS, are more common in low- and middle-income countries. In richer countries, most people die from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular disease or cancer.
In the chart, you can see the breakdown of deaths in Nauru by these broad categories. In 2023, 16.1 died from communicable diseases, 83.3 from NCDs, and 14.9 from injuries.
How are death rates from infectious diseases in Nauru changing?
Infectious diseases include a broad range of illnesses that can be spread through vectors, such as contaminated water or mosquitoes, or from person to person. This includes diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, pneumonia, influenza, and COVID-19.
In the chart, you can see how death rates from communicable diseases in Nauru have changed over time. This is shown alongside neighboring countries for comparison.
Are deaths from cardiovascular disease in Nauru increasing or decreasing?
One of the leading causes of death in many countries is cardiovascular disease. These deaths are far more likely in older people, so as countries make progress on reducing deaths at younger ages, it’s likely to become a more dominant cause of death.
Is Nauru making progress against cardiovascular disease?
There are several metrics we can use to understand mortality: the total number of deaths, the crude death rate (which simply divides the number of deaths by the country’s population), or the age-standardized death rate, which holds the age structure of the population constant, removing the effect of population aging from the trend.
In the chart below, you can see the change in these three metrics for Nauru.
Are deaths from cancer in Nauru increasing or decreasing?
Another leading cause of death in many countries is cancer.
Is Nauru making progress on reducing cancer deaths?
Again, we can use the same indicators to understand mortality: the total number of deaths, the crude death rate (which simply divides the number of deaths by the country’s population), or the age-standardized death rate, which holds the age structure of the population constant, so it tells us about how rates are changing regardless of aging. This is important because the risk of most cancers also increases steeply with age.
In the chart below, you can see the change in these three metrics for Nauru.
What are the largest health risk factors in Nauru?
Many environmental, societal, and lifestyle factors increase the risk of someone developing a disease or other health problem. These are called “risk factors” and include things such as smoking, air pollution, obesity, insufficient physical activity, and diet.
In the chart, you can see modeled estimates for how many people in Nauru die prematurely as a result of various risk factors. Note that the same death can be attributed to multiple risk factors, so the death tolls from different risk factors cannot simply be added up (this is why their sum can be higher than the total number of deaths).
Each figure estimates how many deaths would have been averted if that risk factor had not existed.
What share of adults in Nauru smoke?
In many countries, tobacco is one of the leading risk factors for premature death. It raises the risk of various illnesses, including lung cancer, stomach and bladder cancer, stroke, and others.
In the chart, you can see the share of adults in Nauru who use tobacco. This is shown alongside the average globally and regionally.
In 2022, 48.3% of adults used tobacco.
What share of adults in Nauru are overweight or obese?
Obesity is an important risk factor for health conditions and premature death. It can increase the risk of various cancers, cardiovascular disease, and other illnesses.
In the chart, you can see the share of adults in Nauru who are overweight or obese. This is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than 25. This is shown alongside the global and regional averages.
In 2022, 89% of adults were defined as overweight or obese.
How much air pollution are people in Nauru exposed to?
Air pollution is a key risk factor for premature death and illness in many countries. This can come from either indoor or outdoor exposure to air pollutants.
The health risks of outdoor air pollution depend on how much people are exposed to it.
In the chart, you can see the average level of exposure to small suspended particles in Nauru, compared to the global and regional averages.
What share of children in Nauru receive key vaccinations?
Many vaccinations are effective in protecting people against potentially fatal diseases. Most recommended vaccinations are administered during childhood, where they can give the most effective and prolonged protection. Childhood vaccinations are estimated to have saved the lives of around 150 million children globally over the last 50 years.
What share of children in Nauru get vaccinated? The chart below shows the data across a range of important vaccines.
Mental health is a crucial part of people’s overall health.
Mental health conditions are not uncommon. Hundreds of millions suffer from them yearly, and many more do over their lifetimes. It’s estimated that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men will experience major depression in their lives. Other conditions, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are less common but still have a large impact on people’s lives.
We think it’s important to present reliable data on the prevalence of mental health conditions, but unfortunately, good national estimates from across the world are not available.
This is a key data gap in our understanding of global health.
How much does Nauru spend per person on healthcare?
A well-financed healthcare system is crucial for the good health of a population.
How much is spent per person on healthcare in Nauru?
In 2023, annual spending was $2,474 per capita. This is shown relative to the global and regional average in the chart, for context.
This includes all sources of spending on health, including public and private funding, and people’s out-of-pocket spending.
How much does Nauru spend on healthcare as a share of GDP?
In 2022, Nauru’s healthcare spending was equivalent to 18% of its national gross domestic product (GDP).
This is shown relative to neighboring countries in the chart, for comparison.
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Hannah Ritchie (2026) - “Health” Published online at OurWorldinData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/profile/health/nauru' [Online Resource]BibTeX citation
@article{owid-health-nauru,
author = {Hannah Ritchie},
title = {Health},
journal = {Our World in Data},
year = {2026},
note = {https://ourworldindata.org/profile/health/nauru}
}
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