Countries by Infant Mortality

What Infant Mortality Rate Measures

Infant deaths before age 1 per 1,000 live births, from World Bank Open Data.

Why This Ranking Matters

Tracking Infant Mortality Rate across countries reveals global population trends, from aging societies in Europe and East Asia to young, rapidly growing populations in Sub-Saharan Africa. These patterns shape labor markets, education systems, pension sustainability, and geopolitical influence for decades to come.

Global Range

Values range from 1.40 per 1k births (San Marino) to 72.6 per 1k births (South Sudan) — a 52-fold difference across 195 countries.

Regional Patterns

African countries dominate this ranking, holding 18 of the top 20 positions. This strong regional concentration suggests shared economic, geographic, or policy factors that drive higher values across the continent.

Values are broadly distributed across countries, with the middle 50% ranging from 5.00 per 1k births to 29.9 per 1k births. The overall spread from 1.40 per 1k births to 72.6 per 1k births reflects significant global variation.

Notable Outliers

The top of the ranking is competitive: South Sudan and Somalia are separated by only 7%, indicating that the leading positions could shift with updated data.

Continental Leaders

Africa

South Sudan

72.6 per 1k births

Asia

Afghanistan

50.4 per 1k births

North America

Haiti

40.3 per 1k births

Oceania

Kiribati

39.7 per 1k births

South America

Bolivia

20 per 1k births

Europe

Moldova

13.5 per 1k births