Historical chart and dataset showing China infant mortality rate by year from 1950 to 2025.

The infant mortality rate in China declined to 4.5 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023. As a result, the infant mortality rate in China saw its lowest number in 2023 with 4.5 deaths per 1,000 live births. The infant mortality rate refers to the number of newborns not expected to survive past the first year of life. This is generally expressed as a value per 1,000 live births, and infant mortality also includes neonatal mortality (deaths within the first 28 days of life).

The infant mortality rate in China, for children under the age of one year old, was approximately 195 deaths per thousand births in 1950. This means that for all babies born in 1950, almost one in five did not survive past their first birthday. This rate fell to just under 130 deaths in 1955, before increasing slightly in the next decade, as Chairman Mao Zedong's 'Great Leap Forward' failed to industrialize the country and created a famine that killed millions of people. Over the past half century, China's infant mortality rate has decreased gradually to just ten deaths per thousand births today.

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

The infant mortality rate in China decreased by 0.4 deaths per 1,000 live births (-6.78 percent) since the previous year. As a result, the infant mortality rate in China saw its lowest number in 2020 with 5.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.The infant mortality rate refers to the number of newborns not expected to survive past the first year of life. This is generally expressed as a value per 1,000 live births, and infant mortality also includes neonatal mortality (deaths within the first 28 days of life).Find more statistics on other topics about China with key insights such as death rate, crude birth rate, and total fertility rate.

Graph and download economic data for Infant Mortality Rate for China (SPDYNIMRTINCHN) from 1969 to 2023 about mortality, infant, China, and rate.

The child mortality rate in China, for children under the age of five, was 417 deaths per thousand births in 1850. This means that for all children born in 1850, almost 42 percent did not make it to their fifth birthday. Over the course of the next 170 years, this number has dropped drastically, and the rate has dropped to its lowest point ever in 2020 where it is just twelve deaths per thousand births. The sharpest decrease came between 1950 and 1955, as the Chinese Civil War ended, and the country began to recover from the Second World War. The decline then stopped between 1955 and 1965, due to famines caused by Chairman Mao Zedong's attempted Great Leap Forward, which was a failed attempt to industrialize China in the late twentieth century.

China: Infant deaths per 1000 live births: The latest value from 2022 is 5 deaths per 1000 live births, unchanged from 5 deaths per 1000 live births in 2021. In comparison, the world average is 19 deaths per 1000 live births, based on data from 187 countries. Historically, the average for China from 1969 to 2022 is 34 deaths per 1000 live births. The minimum value, 5 deaths per 1000 live births, was reached in 2021 while the maximum of 83 deaths per 1000 live births was recorded in 1969.

Forecast: Infant Mortality Rate in China 2022 - 2026 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

China birth rate for 2025 is 10.31, a 1.6% decline from 2024.

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

<li>China birth rate for 2024 was <strong>10.48</strong>, a <strong>63.97% increase</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>China birth rate for 2023 was <strong>6.39</strong>, a <strong>5.61% decline</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>China birth rate for 2022 was <strong>6.77</strong>, a <strong>9.97% decline</strong> from 2021.</li>
</ul>Crude birth rate indicates the number of live births occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.

Forecast: Female Infant Mortality Rate in China 2022 - 2026 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Mortality rate, infant, male (per 1,000 live births) in China was reported at 4.7 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. China - Mortality rate, infant, male (per 1,000 live births) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Forecast: Male Infant Mortality Rate in China 2022 - 2026 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

In 2024, the mortality rate in China ranged at approximately 7.76 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. The mortality rate in China displayed an uneven development over the last two decades. This is mainly related to the very uneven sizes of Chinese age groups, improvements in health care, and the occurrence of epidemics. However, an overall growing trend is undisputable and related to China's aging population. As the share of the population aged 60 and above will be growing significantly over the upcoming two decades, the mortality rate will further increase in the years ahead. Population in China China was the second most populous country in the world in 2024. However, due to several mechanisms put into place by the Chinese government as well as changing circumstances in the working and social environment of the Chinese people, population growth has subsided over the past decades and finally turned negative in 2022. The major factor for this development was a set of policies introduced by the Chinese government in 1979, including the so-called one-child policy, which was intended to improve people’s living standards by limiting the population growth. However, with the decreasing birth rate and slower population growth, China nowadays is facing the problems of a rapidly aging population. Birth control in China According to the one-child policy, a married couple was only allowed to have one child. Only under certain circumstances were parents allowed to have a second child. As the performance of family control had long been related to the assessment of local government’s achievements, violations of the rule were severely punished. The birth control in China led to a decreasing birth rate and a more skewed gender ratio of new births due to a widely preference for male children in the Chinese society. Nowadays, since China’s population is aging rapidly, the one-child policy has been re-considered as an obstacle for the country’s further economic development. Since 2014, the one-child policy has been gradually relaxed and fully eliminated at the end of 2015. In May 2021, a new three-child policy has been introduced. However, many young Chinese people today are not willing to have more children due to high costs of raising a child, especially in urban areas.

Forecast: Infant Mortality Rate in Urban Areas in China 2022 - 2026 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

In 2021, the mortality rate of congenital heart disease among infants in China dropped to 14.9 per 100,000 in urban areas and 23 per 100,000 in rural regions. Although the rate dropped substantially in the past decade, the disease, together with other types of congenital malformations, deformations, and chromosomal abnormalities remained a major killer of children in China.

UNICEF's country profile for China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, including under-five mortality rates, child health, education and sanitation data.

Malaysia Infant Mortality Rate: per 1000 Persons: Citizens: Chinese data was reported at 4.000 NA in 2014. This records a decrease from the previous number of 4.300 NA for 2013. Malaysia Infant Mortality Rate: per 1000 Persons: Citizens: Chinese data is updated yearly, averaging 4.100 NA from Dec 1993 (Median) to 2014, with 22 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.300 NA in 1993 and a record low of 3.600 NA in 2007. Malaysia Infant Mortality Rate: per 1000 Persons: Citizens: Chinese data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Department of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Malaysia – Table MY.G007: Vital Statistics: Infant Mortality & Mortality Rate.

China Number of Births data was reported at 10.588 Person th in 2021. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1,213.144 Person th for 2020. China Number of Births data is updated yearly, averaging 12.486 Person th from Dec 1999 (Median) to 2021, with 22 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,213.144 Person th in 2020 and a record low of 9.684 Person th in 2011. China Number of Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: No of Birth, Death, Natural Growth, Birth Rate, Death Rate and Natural Growth Rate, Life Expectancy, Dependency Ratio.

Graph and download economic data for Crude Birth Rate for China (SPDYNCBRTINCHN) from 1960 to 2023 about birth, crude, China, and rate.