• The representative population-based analysis employed repeated cross-sectional data from the five rounds of the National Family Health Survey, which were carried out in 1992–1993; 1998–1999; 2005–2006; 2015–2016; and 2019–2021.

• The four early life stages of early-neonatal (first seven days), late-neonatal (eight to twenty-eight days), post-neonatal (eight days to eleven months), and kid (12-59 months) mortality rates were calculated. 

• The reduction in mortality throughout the early-neonatal and post-neonatal phases of mortality was comparatively slower in this repeated cross-sectional research of five time periods, with considerable variability across states and UTs.

• The mortality rates were lowest for the late-neonatal and child periods; whereas early-neonatal was the highest in 2021.

• It was found that child mortality had a substantial decrease between 1993 and 2021, from 33.5 to 6.9 deaths per 1000.

• Currently, deaths are most commonly seen in the early-neonatal (48.3% of total deaths in children younger than 5 years) and postneonatal (25.6%) periods.

• The results indicate that prioritizing policies related to early and postnatal mortality and ensuring that policies and interventions are tailored to the specific setting is necessary.

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