The child mortality rate in India, for children under the age of five, was 509 deaths per thousand births in 1880. This means that over half of all children born in 1880 did not survive past the age of five, and it remained this way until the twentieth century. From 1900 until today, the child mortality rate has fallen from over 53 percent in 1900, to under four percent in 2020. Since 1900, there were only two times where the child mortality rate increased in India, which were as a result of the Spanish Flu pandemic in the 1910s, and in the 1950s as India adjusted to its newfound independence.

UNICEF's country profile for India, including under-five mortality rates, child health, education and sanitation data.

In 2022, the infant mortality rate in India was at about 25.5 deaths per 1,000 live births, a significant decrease from previous years. Infant mortality as an indicatorThe infant mortality rate is the number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1,000 live births. This rate is an important key indicator for a country’s health and standard of living; a low infant mortality rate indicates a high standard of healthcare. Causes of infant mortality include premature birth, sepsis or meningitis, sudden infant death syndrome, and pneumonia. Globally, the infant mortality rate has shrunk from 63 infant deaths per 1,000 live births to 27 since 1990 and is forecast to drop to 8 infant deaths per 1,000 live births by the year 2100. India’s rural problemWith 32 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, India is neither among the countries with the highest nor among those with the lowest infant mortality rate. Its decrease indicates an increase in medical care and hygiene, as well as a decrease in female infanticide. Increasing life expectancy at birth is another indicator that shows that the living conditions of the Indian population are improving. Still, India’s inhabitants predominantly live in rural areas, where standards of living as well as access to medical care and hygiene are traditionally lower and more complicated than in cities. Public health programs are thus put in place by the government to ensure further improvement.

Child mortality rate of India slipped by 4.81% from 29.1 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022 to 27.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023. Since the 5.58% drop in 2013, child mortality rate sank by 43.58% in 2023. Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to current age-specific mortality rates.

India infant mortality rate for 2025 is 24.98, a 3.18% decline from 2024.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>India infant mortality rate for 2024 was <strong>25.80</strong>, a <strong>3.08% decline</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>India infant mortality rate for 2023 was <strong>26.62</strong>, a <strong>3.89% decline</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>India infant mortality rate for 2022 was <strong>27.70</strong>, a <strong>3.74% decline</strong> from 2021.</li>
</ul>Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 live births in a given year.

India: Deaths of children under five years of age per 1000 live births: The latest value from 2022 is 29 deaths per 1000 births, a decline from 31 deaths per 1000 births in 2021. In comparison, the world average is 25 deaths per 1000 births, based on data from 187 countries. Historically, the average for India from 1960 to 2022 is 130 deaths per 1000 births. The minimum value, 29 deaths per 1000 births, was reached in 2022 while the maximum of 242 deaths per 1000 births was recorded in 1960.

Forecast: Child Mortality Rate in India 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

In 2021, the under-five mortality rate among female children in India amounted to just under 31 deaths per thousand live births. This was slightly lower among male children under five years old for the same time period.

India: Deaths of children five to fourteen years of age per 1000 live births: The latest value from 2022 is 2 deaths per 1000 births, unchanged from 2 deaths per 1000 births in 2021. In comparison, the world average is 3 deaths per 1000 births, based on data from 187 countries. Historically, the average for India from 1990 to 2022 is 7 deaths per 1000 births. The minimum value, 2 deaths per 1000 births, was reached in 2018 while the maximum of 14 deaths per 1000 births was recorded in 1990.

India IN: Number of Deaths Ages 5-9 Years data was reported at 67,196.000 Person in 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 72,012.000 Person for 2018. India IN: Number of Deaths Ages 5-9 Years data is updated yearly, averaging 180,128.000 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2019, with 30 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 310,340.000 Person in 1990 and a record low of 67,196.000 Person in 2019. India IN: Number of Deaths Ages 5-9 Years data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s India – Table IN.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Number of deaths of children ages 5-9 years; ; Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Sum; Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

ObjectivesUnder the prevailing conditions of imbalanced life table and historic gender discrimination in India, our study examines crossover between life expectancies at ages zero, one and five years for India and quantifies the relative share of infant and under-five mortality towards this crossover.MethodsWe estimate threshold levels of infant and under-five mortality required for crossover using age specific death rates during 1981–2009 for 16 Indian states by sex (comprising of India’s 90% population in 2011). Kitagawa decomposition equations were used to analyse relative share of infant and under-five mortality towards crossover.FindingsIndia experienced crossover between life expectancies at ages zero and five in 2004 for menand in 2009 for women; eleven and nine Indian states have experienced this crossover for men and women, respectively. Men usually experienced crossover four years earlier than the women. Improvements in mortality below ages five have mostly contributed towards this crossover. Life expectancy at age one exceeds that at age zero for both men and women in India except for Kerala (the only state to experience this crossover in 2000 for men and 1999 for women).ConclusionsFor India, using life expectancy at age zero and under-five mortality rate together may be more meaningful to measure overall health of its people until the crossover. Delayed crossover for women, despite higher life expectancy at birth than for men reiterates that Indian women are still disadvantaged and hence use of life expectancies at ages zero, one and five become important for India. Greater programmatic efforts to control leading causes of death during the first month and 1–59 months in high child mortality areas can help India to attain this crossover early.

The infant mortality rate in India, for children under the age of one year old, was over 204 deaths per thousand births in 1915. This means that for all babies born in 1915,more than one fifth did not survive past their first birthday. This rate fluctuated over the next four decades, but since the mid-1900s, India's infant mortality rate has fallen from 181 to 32 deaths per thousand births in 2020, meaning that over three percent of all babies born today do not make it to their first birthday.

This statistic shows the 20 countries* with the highest infant mortality rate in 2024. An estimated 101.3 infants per 1,000 live births died in the first year of life in Afghanistan in 2024. Infant and child mortality Infant mortality usually refers to the death of children younger than one year. Child mortality, which is often used synonymously with infant mortality, is the death of children younger than five. Among the main causes are pneumonia, diarrhea – which causes dehydration – and infections in newborns, with malnutrition also posing a severe problem. As can be seen above, most countries with a high infant mortality rate are developing countries or emerging countries, most of which are located in Africa. Good health care and hygiene are crucial in reducing child mortality; among the countries with the lowest infant mortality rate are exclusively developed countries, whose inhabitants usually have access to clean water and comprehensive health care. Access to vaccinations, antibiotics and a balanced nutrition also help reducing child mortality in these regions. In some countries, infants are killed if they turn out to be of a certain gender. India, for example, is known as a country where a lot of girls are aborted or killed right after birth, as they are considered to be too expensive for poorer families, who traditionally have to pay a costly dowry on the girl’s wedding day. Interestingly, the global mortality rate among boys is higher than that for girls, which could be due to the fact that more male infants are actually born than female ones. Other theories include a stronger immune system in girls, or more premature births among boys.

Child mortality is often described as the best barometer of social and economic progress. Despite being one of the fastest growing economies, there has been no visible pattern between per capita income growth and the rate of reduction of child mortality rates. The Child Mortality (less than 5 years) in India constitutes about 18% to total deaths in the country. The decline in child mortality over the last nearly two decades masks a dangerous expansion of the child mortality gap between the richest and poorest families in India. Under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and within its umbrella the Reproductive and Child Health Programme Phase II, several interventions have been taken to accelerate the pace of reduction of child mortality. The Under five mortality Millennium Development Goal for 2015 for India is 38 (Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015) per 1000 live births which have reached to the level of 59 per 1000 live births in 2010. The under-five mortality is the probability (5q0) that a child born in a specific year or time period will die before reaching the age of five, subject to current age specific mortality rates. It is expressed as a rate per 1,000 live births. Office of Registrar General, India provides estimates of under five mortality India annually since 2008.

India IN: Probability of Dying at Age 15-19 Years: per 1000 data was reported at 4.000 Ratio in 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 4.100 Ratio for 2018. India IN: Probability of Dying at Age 15-19 Years: per 1000 data is updated yearly, averaging 7.800 Ratio from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2019, with 30 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 10.500 Ratio in 1990 and a record low of 4.000 Ratio in 2019. India IN: Probability of Dying at Age 15-19 Years: per 1000 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s India – Table IN.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Probability of dying between age 15-19 years of age expressed per 1,000 adolescents age 15, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified year.; ; Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Weighted average; Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

As of 2021, the child mortality rate of multidimensionally poor and deprived Indian population stood at over one percent. This reflected a lower rate among population living in multidimensional poverty and deprivation in India. According to the source, a multidimensional poor individual is deprived in one-third or more of ten indicators across three equally weighted dimensions: health, education, and standard of living. Child mortality and nutrition are the two indicators of the health dimension.

India IN: Number of Deaths Ages 10-14 Years data was reported at 68,681.000 Person in 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 71,179.000 Person for 2018. India IN: Number of Deaths Ages 10-14 Years data is updated yearly, averaging 119,467.500 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2019, with 30 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 140,520.000 Person in 1995 and a record low of 68,681.000 Person in 2019. India IN: Number of Deaths Ages 10-14 Years data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s India – Table IN.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Number of deaths of adolescents ages 10-14 years; ; Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Sum; Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

The goal of USAID’s Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program (MCHIP) is to assist in scaling up evidence-based, high-impact MNCH interventions to contribute to significant reductions in maternal and child mortality. MCHIP has worked in India since 2009, with national, state, and district-level health departments and national programs as well as development partners to strengthen reproductive, maternal, and child health. The program built on lessons learned from four earlier USAID global technical assistance programs. Data were collected from facilities involved in USAID supported activities to improve the quality of medical care pregnant women in two states in India. The data was aggregated at the facility level. No direct reference to individual participants was reported.

In 2020, the state of Madhya Pradesh, with 47 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, recorded the highest rural infant mortality rate in India. Other regions with high mortality rates included Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. On the contrary, Delhi recorded the lowest figures for the category during the same period.

India IN: Number of Deaths Ages 20-24 Years data was reported at 146,669.000 Person in 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 148,431.000 Person for 2018. India IN: Number of Deaths Ages 20-24 Years data is updated yearly, averaging 219,654.500 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2019, with 30 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 223,796.000 Person in 2003 and a record low of 146,669.000 Person in 2019. India IN: Number of Deaths Ages 20-24 Years data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s India – Table IN.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Number of deaths of youths ages 20-24 years; ; Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Sum; Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.