Over 370,000 children to be born worldwide on New Year's Day: UNICEF

UNITED NATIONS - An estimated 371,504 babies will be born around the world on New Year's Day, the United Nations Children's Fund said on Friday.

As the calendar turns to 2021, UNICEF is again celebrating the new lives being brought into the world on Jan 1.

Fiji in the Pacific will welcome 2021's first baby. The United States will welcome its last. Globally, over half of these births are estimated to take place in 10 countries: India (59,995), China (35,615), Nigeria (21,439), Pakistan (14,161), Indonesia (12,336), Ethiopia (12,006), the United States (10,312), Egypt (9,455), Bangladesh (9,236) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (8,640).

In total, an estimated 140 million children will be born in 2021. Their average life expectancy is expected to be 84 years.

"The children born today enter a world far different than even a year ago, and a New Year brings a new opportunity to reimagine it," said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. "Children born today will inherit the world we begin to build for them today. Let us make 2021 the year we start to build a fairer, safer, healthier world for children."