Breastfeeding rates differ substantially by definition, child age, geography, and measurement period. Globally, 48% of infants were exclusively breastfed in 2023. In the United States, 86.1% of children born in 2023 were ever breastfed, while 29.8% were exclusively breastfed through 6 months.
Table of contents
- Global breastfeeding prevalence and progress
- Early initiation and continued breastfeeding
- U.S. national breastfeeding rates
- Differences by sex and race or ethnicity
- Education, age, income, and household context
- Breastfeeding rates by U.S. state
Global breastfeeding prevalence and progress
The Global breastfeeding scorecard 2023 reports that 48% of infants worldwide were exclusively breastfed in 2023. The global exclusive-breastfeeding rate rose by 10 percentage points over the decade ending in 2023. Since 2017, 22 countries recorded increases of more than 10 percentage points.
UNICEF’s standardized indicators define exclusive breastfeeding generally as breast milk only during the previous day for infants aged 0–5 months. That definition matters when comparing the global figures with national measures that use different survey questions or birth cohorts.
Early initiation also varies by region. The latest regional estimates reported by UNICEF DATA in 2023 were:
| Region | Early breastfeeding initiation |
|---|---|
| Eastern and Southern Africa | 69% |
| East Asia and the Pacific | 51% |
| West and Central Africa | 46% |
| South Asia | 38% |
The regional spread from 38% in South Asia to 69% in Eastern and Southern Africa is a 31-percentage-point difference in the reported estimates. This comparison describes regional prevalence; it does not explain why the rates differ.
UNICEF also reported that 61% of children aged 12–23 months worldwide received breast milk during the previous day. “Continued breastfeeding” therefore refers to a recent feeding measure, not necessarily breastfeeding at every feeding or throughout the entire day.
Early initiation and continued breastfeeding
The WHO fact sheet on infant and young child feeding reports that about 47% of infants aged 0–6 months worldwide were exclusively breastfed during 2018–2025. It presents this as a global estimate for that period, so it should not be treated as a single-year 2025 rate or directly substituted for UNICEF’s 2023 estimate.
The same WHO source estimates that nearly 400,000 deaths among children under 5 could be prevented each year under universal exclusive breastfeeding for six months followed by continued breastfeeding to age 2 or beyond. This is a modeled prevention estimate under the stated universal-practice scenario, not a count of deaths prevented in an observed year.
Breast milk can provide half or more of an infant’s energy needs between 6 and 12 months, according to WHO. Between 12 and 24 months, it can provide one-third of a child’s energy needs. These are age-range estimates about the contribution of breast milk, not claims that breast milk is the only source of energy during those periods.
WHO also estimates that underfunding breastfeeding programmes causes US$339 billion in global economic losses each year. The estimate equals 0.32% of global gross national income. Scaling evidence-based breastfeeding support is estimated to generate US$59 in returns for every US$1 invested. These figures are economic estimates associated with programme investment and underfunding, rather than household income figures.
U.S. national breastfeeding rates
The CDC’s rates for children born in 2023 show a clear decline as the breastfeeding milestone extends further from birth:
| Measure among U.S. children born in 2023 | Rate |
|---|---|
| Ever breastfed | 86.1% |
| Breastfed at 6 months | 62.8% |
| Breastfed at 12 months | 40.8% |
| Exclusively breastfed through 3 months | 48.5% |
| Exclusively breastfed through 6 months | 29.8% |
These measures are not interchangeable. “Ever breastfed” includes any breastfeeding, while breastfeeding at 6 or 12 months describes duration. Exclusive breastfeeding through a milestone is narrower because it tracks breast milk alone through that point.
An earlier CDC Breastfeeding Report Card reported the following measures for U.S. children born in 2019: 83.2% received some breast milk at birth, 69.1% received some breast milk at 3 months, 55.8% at 6 months, 42.5% at 9 months, and 35.9% at 12 months. The 2019 cohort and the 2023 cohort use different birth years and should not be read as a continuous year-by-year trend without additional analysis.
Differences by sex and race or ethnicity
CDC’s 2023 birth-cohort estimates include several demographic measures. Among males, 86.0% were ever breastfed. Among females, 31.1% were exclusively breastfed through 6 months.
For race and ethnicity, 85.6% of Hispanic children were ever breastfed, while 91.0% of non-Hispanic Asian children were ever breastfed. Among non-Hispanic White children, 66.2% were breastfed at 6 months. Among non-Hispanic Black children, 31.6% were breastfed at 12 months and 42.0% were exclusively breastfed through 3 months.
The CDC estimates also report 32.2% of non-Hispanic Asian children exclusively breastfed through 6 months. For non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native children, 79.1% were ever breastfed. Among non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander children, 44.9% were exclusively breastfed through 6 months. Children of two or more races had a 40.7% breastfeeding-at-12-months rate.
Because these examples use different outcomes, a higher percentage in one row does not automatically mean a higher rate across all breastfeeding milestones. The measure and period remain part of every comparison.
Education, age, income, and household context
The CDC’s 2023 estimates show how rates vary across social and household characteristics. Among children whose mothers had less than a high-school education, 74.2% were ever breastfed. Among children whose mothers were college graduates, 75.7% were breastfeeding at 6 months.
Age differences were also reported: 9.8% of children whose mothers were younger than 20 were exclusively breastfed through 6 months, while 44.5% of children whose mothers were 30 or older were breastfeeding at 12 months.
Income measures used the poverty-income ratio. Among children with a ratio below 100%, 81.9% were ever breastfed. Among children with a ratio of 600% or more, 77.8% were breastfeeding at 6 months. These are different breastfeeding outcomes, so they should not be interpreted as a direct income-only comparison.
Household context was also associated with different reported measures. Among children of married mothers, 48.3% were breastfeeding at 12 months. Among children of unmarried mothers, 24.0% were exclusively breastfed through 6 months.
Geography within the United States matters as well. In metropolitan areas, 63.8% of children were breastfeeding at 6 months. In non-metropolitan areas, 48.8% were exclusively breastfed through 3 months. Again, the milestones differ, so these figures describe separate CDC estimates rather than one direct metro-versus-nonmetro comparison.
Breastfeeding rates by U.S. state
CDC state estimates for children born in 2022 illustrate substantial variation. The reported percentages include both any breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding measures:
| State and measure | Rate |
|---|---|
| Vermont, ever breastfed | 95.4% |
| Utah, ever breastfed | 94.2% |
| Colorado, ever breastfed | 91.4% |
| California, ever breastfed | 90.1% |
| Mississippi, ever breastfed | 72.5% |
| West Virginia, ever breastfed | 71.7% |
| Utah, breastfeeding at 12 months | 56.8% |
| Colorado, breastfeeding at 12 months | 53.4% |
| Mississippi, breastfeeding at 6 months | 46.0% |
| Vermont, exclusively breastfed through 6 months | 35.7% |
| California, exclusively breastfed through 6 months | 28.6% |
| West Virginia, exclusively breastfed through 6 months | 19.6% |
The CDC state estimates show why state rankings need a defined outcome. Vermont has the highest ever-breastfed rate among the examples at 95.4%, but its reported exclusive-through-6-months rate is 35.7%. West Virginia’s ever-breastfed rate is 71.7%, while its exclusive-through-6-months rate is 19.6%.
Across the measures listed here, the state data cover children born in 2022, whereas the national and demographic CDC figures above cover children born in 2023. CDC national and state measures are National Immunization Survey–Child estimates, and the source tables include half-95% confidence intervals that are omitted here for concision. Cohorts and measurement periods are not interchangeable across sources.