New U.S. infant mortality data released

Oct 15 2008

The United States ranked 29th in the world in infant mortality in 2004, compared to 27th in 2000, 23rd in 1990 and 12th in 1960, according to a new report from CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

The U.S. infant mortality rate was 6.78 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2004, the latest year that data are available for all countries. Infant mortality rates were generally lowest (below 3.5 per 1,000) in selected Scandinavian (Sweden, Norway, Finland) and East Asian (Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore) countries. Twenty-two countries had infant mortality rates below 5.0 in 2004.

The findings are published in a new Data Brief "Recent Trends in Infant Mortality in the United States." The data come from the Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set and Preliminary Mortality Data File, collected through the National Vital Statistics System.

The report shows the U.S. infant mortality rate did not decline from 2000 to 2005. However, preliminary data for 2006 show a significant 2 percent decline between 2005 and 2006. Other findings include:

• The current U.S. infant mortality rate is about 50 percent higher than the national goal of 4.5 infant deaths per 1,000 births.
• The infant mortality rate for non-Hispanic black women was 2.4 times the rate for non-Hispanic white women. In 2005, the infant mortality rate for non-Hispanic black women was 13.63 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to a rate of 5.76 for non-Hispanic white women. Rates were also higher for Puerto Rican and American Indian women, 8.30 and 8.06 respectively.
• Increases in preterm birth and preterm-related infant mortality account for much of the lack of decline in the United States' infant mortality rate from 2000 to 2005.

The full report is available at www.cdc.gov/nchs.