An estimated 3,002 babies are to be born nationwide on New Year’s Day, according to data collected by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). 

Vietnamese babies will account for 0.8% of the overall figure of 371,504 babies which are anticipated to be born globally  on New Year’s Day.

Fiji in the Pacific will most likely deliver the first baby of the new year, and the United States will deliver the last.

Globally, over half of these births are expected to take place in ten countries. This includes India with 59,995, China with 35,615, Nigeria with 21,439, Pakistan with 14,161, Indonesia with 12,336, Ethiopia with 12,006, the US with 10,312, Egypt with 9,455, Bangladesh with 9,236, and the Democratic Republic of Congo with 8,640.

This comes as each January UNICEF celebrates babies born on New Year’s Day, an auspicious day for children to be born around the world.

“This has been a difficult year for all of us, and there is perhaps no better way to turn the page than to welcome new young lives into the world,” said Christine Jaulmes, a representative of UNICEF in Kyrgyzstan.

“With the challenges of 2020 behind us, and the opportunities of 2021 before us, now is the time to begin to build a better world. Children born today will inherit the world we begin to build for them - today,” she added.

Most notably, 2021 is set to mark the 75th anniversary of UNICEF. Over the course of the year, UNICEF and its partners are due to commemorate this anniversary with events and announcements which celebrate the charity. Indeed, since its initial establishment, it has been three-quarters of a century of protecting children from conflict, disease, and exclusion whilst championing their right to survive, as well as to have access to health and education.

Jaulmes also stressed that with world facing unprecedented challenges caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with an economic slowdown, rising poverty, and inequality “we are reminded that the need for UNICEF’s work is as great as ever.”

“There is no more appropriate year than this, the year of UNICEF’s 75th Anniversary, to renew our commitments to each other, and to the young lives who will inherit the world we leave,” added Jaulmes.

“2021 will be a critical year for children, but UNICEF’s three-quarters of a century of delivering results for children around the world are a testament to what we can accomplish together.”