Breast-Feeding Around the World

Regions of the world differ dramatically in the rates of breast-feeding, with the highest rates in Southeast Asia, where half of all 2-year-olds are still breast-feeding. Rates vary dramatically. For example, within Europe, Norwegian babies are nearly twice as likely to be breast-fed at 1 year than are Italian babies.

Regional summaries Exclusively Breast-fed for 6 months Still Breast-fed 12–15 months
Africa 34 86
Sub-Saharan Africa 33 88
Eastern and Southern Africa 49 89
West and Central Africa 24 88
Middle East and North Africa 34 70
Asia 38 72
South Asia 45 87
East Asia and Pacific 29 51
Latin America and Caribbean 42 59
Central and Eastern Europe 30 59
Norway 9 46
Italy 2 24
Developing nations 37 75
Least developed nations 42 90
World 37 74
Sources: UNICEF, 2012; European Nutrition and Health Report, 2009 (for Italy and Norway).
Page A-8
[Leave] [Close]