Nepal health profile
How the country's health compares, on the indicators the World Health Organization and the World Bank publish for Nepal. Every figure carries the year it was measured, because these series are not all equally fresh and a number without a date is a different claim.
- Life expectancy at birth
- 70.6
- Maternal mortality ratio
- 142
- Under-five mortality
- 22.2
- Physicians
- 1.01
People and life expectancy
| Indicator | Unit | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy at birth | years | 70.6 | 2024 |
| Life expectancy, women | years | 72.1 | 2024 |
| Life expectancy, men | years | 69.1 | 2024 |
| Fertility rate | births per woman | 1.96 | 2024 |
Mothers and children
| Indicator | Unit | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maternal mortality ratio Modelled estimate. | per 100,000 live births | 142 | 2023 |
| Under-five mortality Children dying before their fifth birthday. | per 1,000 live births | 22.2 | 2024 |
| Births attended by skilled staff | % | 77.2 | 2019dated |
| DTP3 immunisation coverage | % of one-year-olds | 97 | 2024 |
| Measles immunisation coverage | % of one-year-olds | 97 | 2024 |
Doctors, beds and money
| Indicator | Unit | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physicians Roughly one doctor for every 1,000 people. | per 1,000 people | 1.01 | 2023 |
| Hospital beds | per 1,000 people | 0.54 | 2023 |
| Health spending | % of GDP | 6.2 | 2023 |
| Health spending per person | USD | 84 | 2023 |
Food, water and weight
| Indicator | Unit | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undernourishment | % of population | 5.3 | 2023 |
| People using at least basic drinking water | % of population | 93.6 | 2024 |
| Women overweight or obese | % of women 15-69 | 1.3 | 2022 |
From the World Health Organization
Indicators the World Bank does not carry. WHO modelled estimates come with an uncertainty range, and that range is shown — a modelled figure is an estimate with edges, not a measurement.
| Indicator | Unit | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthy life expectancy at birth Years lived in full health, not just alive. likely range 56.9 – 67.3 | years | 62.1 | 2023 |
| Healthy life expectancy at 60 Healthy years still ahead at age 60. likely range 11.3 – 16.5 | years | 13.8 | 2023 |
| Tobacco use, adults WHO modelled estimate. Carries an uncertainty range. likely range 20.5 – 29.9 | % aged 15+ | 25.2 | 2025 |
| Mean haemoglobin, women 15-49 Low haemoglobin means anaemia. Nepal has carried a high burden. likely range 120 – 128 | g/L | 124 | 2019dated |
| Mean haemoglobin, pregnant women Anaemia in pregnancy raises risk for both mother and baby. likely range 109 – 116 | g/L | 112 | 2019dated |
| Estimated malaria cases Modelled estimate, concentrated in the lowlands and Terai. | cases | 37 | 2024 |
| Medical doctors Headcount, all levels of the system. | doctors | 32,247 | 2024 |
| Maternal mortality ratio, country-reported As reported by Nepal itself, which is why it differs from the modelled figure above. | per 100,000 live births | 281 | 2005dated |
Sources. World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0) and the WHO Global Health Observatory. Both are free and open, with no key and no registration. Retrieved about 18 hours ago.
Reading these numbers. Country indicators are estimates, not a census. The maternal mortality ratio modelled at 142 per 100,000 (2023) and the figure Nepal itself reported — 281, from 2005 — differ by a factor of two. That gap is a real disagreement between a statistical model and a national return, not an error on this page, and both are shown rather than quietly picking the one that looks better.
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