5 Assessing progress and looking to 2030 Today, about 3 in 4 children under age 5 are registered compared to 6 in 10 around 2000. This progress has been achieved mostly in the last 10 years. However, even with accelerated progress, the world is not on track to reach SDG target 16.9 by 2030. Additional investments will be required to ensure universal birth registration by 2030, particularly among the most vulnerable children. Without the progress of the last two decades, the number of unregistered children today would have reached 266 million An additional 100 million children would be unregistered today if no progress had been made To date, global progress in birth registration has benefited the poorest and richest children alike, with some exceptions. This is the case in sub-Saharan Africa, where levels of birth registration have increased only among children from the richest households. Equity gaps between the rich and poor have started to close in parts of South Asia. In India, for example, birth registration levels have risen for both the richest and poorest segments of the population, and the gap between the two has narrowed. On the other hand, Pakistan has recorded rising levels of birth registration since 2006-2007, but only among children from the richest households. 166 million children remain unregistered today Advances in birth registration have reached the poorest children in most regions FIGURE 19. Percentage of children under age 5 whose births are registered, by household wealth quintile and by region South Asia West and Central Africa 100 Eastern and Southern Africa Middle East and North Africa World 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Around 2000 Today Around 2000 Today Around 2000 Poorest Today Around 2000 Today Around 2000 Richest Note: Population coverage was insufficient to calculate regional aggregates for East Asia and the Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. 26 Birth Registration for Every Child by 2030: Are we on track? Today