Summary Congenital birth defects caused 549 000 deaths (95% UI 448 000–690 000) and was the fourth-ranked Level 3 cause of under-5 DALYs in 2019. The combined global incidence was 62·9 cases (54·0–73·3) per 1000 livebirths and 50·9 million (44·3–58·7) lived with birth defects in 2019.

Definition Congenital birth defects includes livebirths (ie, excludes stillbirths and pregnancy terminations) with any condition resulting from abnor-malities of embryonic development, excluding minor anomalies as defined by EUROCAT and defects arising from infections or substance abuse.

Total sources
Incidence 0
Prevalence 1875
Remission 0
Causes of death 3956
Other 215
Table 1: Total sources used in GBD 2019 estimation
What is new in GBD 2019?
  • •Data processing was revised to include age-sex splitting using location-year-specific empirical age-sex patterns, which improved how CoD results informed prevalence and incidence models.
  • •Data were adjusted for alternate definitions (alternates included when stillbirths or terminations included, chromosomal anomalies excluded, or datum included only a subset of defects) prior to modelling.
  • •Clinical administrative data processing was revised to better account for inpatient to outpatient ratios.
  • •DisMod-MR 2.1 covariates were revised to match those that were most predictive in CODEm.
  • •Model settings were revised to better account for possibility of remission in selected defects.
Prevalence
Incidence
Deaths
YLLs
YLDs
DALYs
Cases
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
Cases
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
Deaths
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
YLLs
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
YLDs
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
DALYs
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
2019
Both Sexes
50·9
(44·3
to 58·7)
692·1
(604·6
to 797·7)
8·52
(7·30
to 9·92)
131·5
(112·8
to 153·2)
0·549
(0·448
to 0·690)
8·3
(6·7
to 10·4)
46·5
(37·6
to 59·2)
704·3
(567·4
to 897·4)
6·25
(4·35
to 8·62)
84·4
(59·0
to 116·0)
52·8
(43·6
to 65·5)
788·7
(650·1
to 984·6)
Females
24·5
(21·4
to 28·2)
678·7
(594·5
to 776·3)
4·07
(3·48
to 4·75)
130·0
(111·2
to 151·8)
0·247
(0·199
to 0·316)
7·7
(6·1
to 9·8)
20·9
(16·7
to 26·8)
653·1
(520·9
to 840·4)
3·06
(2·13
to 4·16)
84·0
(58·6
to 114·0)
23·9
(19·9
to 30·1)
737·0
(608·1
to 929·8)
Males
26·3
(22·8
to 30·6)
705·4
(612·3
to 817·3)
4·45
(3·81
to 5·19)
132·9
(113·7
to 154·9)
0·302
(0·240
to 0·400)
8·8
(7·0
to 11·7)
25·6
(20·2
to 34·3)
752·3
(590·7
to 1005·7)
3·19
(2·21
to 4·46)
84·9
(58·8
to 118·3)
28·8
(23·1
to 37·2)
837·2
(670·3
to 1084·3)
Percentage change 2010-19
Both Sexes
4·5%
(2·7
to 6·2)
–2·2%
(–4·2
to –0·5)
1·3%
(0·1
to 2·6)
2·6%
(1·4
to 3·9)
–17·9%
(–29·7
to –0·8)
–18·4%
(–30·3
to –1·2)
–18·6%
(–30·5
to –1·1)
–18·7%
(–30·7
to –1·2)
4·5%
(2·3
to 6·4)
–2·4%
(–4·7
to –0·5)
–16·4%
(–27·3
to –0·6)
–17·2%
(–28·2
to –1·4)
Females
4·8%
(2·9
to 6·6)
–2·0%
(–3·9
to –0·3)
2·4%
(1·0
to 3·9)
3·7%
(2·2
to 5·2)
–17·6%
(–29·5
to –2·2)
–18·3%
(–30·2
to –3·0)
–18·3%
(–30·5
to –2·8)
–18·6%
(–30·7
to –2·9)
5·1%
(2·8
to 7·1)
–2·0%
(–4·3
to 0·0)
–15·9%
(–27·5
to –1·8)
–17·0%
(–28·5
to –2·8)
Males
4·2%
(2·2
to 6·0)
–2·4%
(–4·5
to –0·6)
0·3%
(–1·1
to 1·7)
1·6%
(0·2
to 3·1)
–18·1%
(–30·6
to 1·2)
–18·5%
(–31·0
to 0·8)
–18·8%
(–31·3
to 0·9)
–18·8%
(–31·4
to 0·9)
4·0%
(1·8
to 5·9)
–2·8%
(–5·1
to –0·8)
–16·8%
(–28·4
to 1·2)
–17·4%
(–29·3
to 0·5)
Numbers in parentheses are 95% uncertainty intervals.
Table 2: Global prevalence, incidence, deaths, YLLs, YLDs, and DALYs in counts and age-standardised rates for both sexes combined, females, and males, 2019, with percentage change between 2010 and 2019
Deaths YLLs YLDs DALYs
1990 11th 6th 29th 6th
2010 20th 9th 32nd 10th
2019 22nd 8th 33rd 10th
Table 3: Rank among Level 3 causes for global deaths, YLLs, YLDs, and DALYs in 1990, 2010, and 2019, for both sexes combined
Figure 1: Composition of DALYs by constituent Level 4 causes for both sexes combined, 2019
No Legend
Figure 2: Age-standardised DALY rates for each location by SDI, both sexes combined, 2019
Figure 3: Composition of DALYs by YLLs and YLDs, age group, and sex, 2019
No Legend
Figure 4: Age-standardised DALY rates (per 100 000) by location, both sexes combined, 2019