The infant mortality rate in Afghanistan declined to 50.4 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023. Therefore, 2023 marks the lowest infant mortality rate during the observed period. The infant mortality rate refers to the number of infants who do not survive past the first year of life, expressed as a value per 1,000 births.Find more statistics on other topics about Afghanistan with key insights such as total life expectancy at birth, total fertility rate, and crude birth rate.

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

Between 1955 and 2020, Afghanistan's infant mortality rate (for children under the age of one year old) dropped consistently and almost linearly. In 1955 the infant mortality rate totaled 276 deaths per thousand live births, which meant that over one quarter of all babies born did not make it to their first birthday. Today, Afghanistan's infant mortality rate is 56 deaths per thousand births, which is roughly one fifth the total seventy years ago. Despite this significant progress, Afghanistan still has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world, and the highest of any non-African nation.

Graph and download economic data for Infant Mortality Rate for the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (SPDYNIMRTINAFG) from 1960 to 2023 about Afghanistan, mortality, infant, and rate.

The child mortality rate in Afghanistan (for children under the age of five) was around 475 deaths per 1000 births during the course of 19th century. Given as a percentage, this means that 47.5% of children born would not make it to their 5th birthday. After 1950, the child morality rate dropped significantly due to considerable medical advancements, falling to 68 deaths per thousand in 2020. Despite this considerable decline in recent decades, Afghanistan still has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world. Afghanistan's infant mortality rate (among those aged below one year) in 2020 is 52 deaths per thousand births, meaning that the majority of child deaths occur during infancy.

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.

Afghanistan Mortality Rate: Infant: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 50.400 Ratio in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 52.000 Ratio for 2022. Afghanistan Mortality Rate: Infant: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 138.000 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 251.200 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 50.400 Ratio in 2023. Afghanistan Mortality Rate: Infant: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 live births in a given 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;Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys. 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.

Historical dataset showing Afghanistan infant mortality rate by year from 1950 to 2025.

Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births) in Afghanistan was reported at 50.4 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Afghanistan - Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Afghanistan Mortality Rate: Under-5: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 55.500 Ratio in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 57.400 Ratio for 2022. Afghanistan Mortality Rate: Under-5: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 171.450 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 353.200 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 55.500 Ratio in 2023. Afghanistan Mortality Rate: Under-5: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, 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;Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys. 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. This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.2.1[https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

Afghanistan Mortality Rate: Under-5: Male: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 59.200 Ratio in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 61.100 Ratio for 2022. Afghanistan Mortality Rate: Under-5: Male: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 175.850 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 360.500 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 59.200 Ratio in 2023. Afghanistan Mortality Rate: Under-5: Male: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Under-five mortality rate, male is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn male baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to male 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;Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys. 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. This is a sex-disaggregated indicator for Sustainable Development Goal 3.2.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

Mortality rate, infant, male (per 1,000 live births) in Afghanistan was reported at 53.8 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Afghanistan - Mortality rate, infant, male (per 1,000 live births) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Mortality rate, infant, female (per 1,000 live births) in Afghanistan was reported at 46.7 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Afghanistan - Mortality rate, infant, female (per 1,000 live births) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Number of infant deaths in Afghanistan was reported at 73191 deaths in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Afghanistan - Number of infant deaths - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

In 2022, the state of Mississippi had the highest infant mortality rate in the United States, with around 9.11 deaths per 1,000 live births. Infant mortality is the death of an infant before the age of one. The countries with the lowest infant mortality rates worldwide are Slovenia, Singapore, and Iceland. The countries with the highest infant mortality rates include Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Central African Republic. Causes of infant mortality Rates and causes of infant mortality are different depending on the country and region. However, the leading causes of neonatal deaths include preterm birth complications, intrapartum-related events, and sepsis. The leading causes of death among children aged 1 to 59 months are pneumonia, diarrhea, and injury. In the United States The infant mortality rate in the United States has decreased over the past few decades, reaching a low of 5.4 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021. The most common causes of infant death in the United States are congenital malformations, low birth weight, and sudden infant death syndrome. In 2022, congenital malformations accounted for around 108 infant deaths per 100,000 live births.

58.0 (deaths per 1,000 live births) in 2020. 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.

Afghanistan Number of Death: Infant data was reported at 73,191.000 Person in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 75,133.000 Person for 2022. Afghanistan Number of Death: Infant data is updated yearly, averaging 106,789.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 131,491.000 Person in 1978 and a record low of 73,191.000 Person in 2023. Afghanistan Number of Death: Infant data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Number of infants dying before reaching one year of age.;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.

This statistic shows the 20 countries * with the lowest infant mortality rate in 2024. An estimated 1.5 out of 1,000 live births died in the first year of life in Slovenia and Singapore in 2024. Infant mortality Infant mortality rates are often used as an indicator of the health and well-being of a nation. Monaco, Iceland, and Japan are among the top three countries with the lowest infant mortality rates with around 2 infant deaths per 1,000 infants within their first year of life. Generally, the countries with the lowest infant mortality also have some of the highest average life expectancy figures. Additionally, the countries with the highest density of physicians and doctors also generally report low infant mortality. Yet, many different factors contribute to differing rates, including the overall income of a country, health spending per capita, a mother’s level of education, environmental conditions, and medical infrastructure, to name a few. This creates a lot of variation concerning the level of childbirth and infant care around the world. The countries with the highest rates of infant mortality include Afghanistan, Mali, and Somalia. These countries experience around 100 infant deaths per 1,000 infants in their first year of life. While the reasons for high rates of infant mortality are numerous, the leading causes of death for children under the year five around the world are Pneumonia, Diarrhea, and Prematurity.

55.5 (deaths per thousand live births) 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.

This dataset presents the number of neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births, using data from the UNICEF Data Warehouse. Neonatal mortality refers to the death of a baby within the first 28 days of life and is a critical indicator of newborn health and health system performance. Monitoring this rate supports efforts to improve the quality of care around birth and during the early postnatal period, and to reduce preventable newborn deaths through timely, skilled interventions.Data Source:UNICEF Data Warehouse: https://data.unicef.org/resources/data_explorer/unicef_f/?ag=UNICEF&df=GLOBAL_DATAFLOW&ver=1.0&dq=.CME_MRM0.&startPeriod=1990&endPeriod=2024Data Dictionary: The data is collated with the following columns:Column headingContent of this columnPossible valuesRefNumerical counter for each row of data, for ease of identification1+CountryShort name for the country195 countries in total – all 194 WHO member states plus PalestineISO3Three-digit alphabetical codes International Standard ISO 3166-1 assigned by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). e.g. AFG (Afghanistan)ISO22 letter identifier code for the countrye.g. AF (Afghanistan)ICM_regionICM Region for countryAFR (Africa), AMR (Americas), EMR (Eastern Mediterranean), EUR (Europe), SEAR (South east Asia) or WPR (Western Pacific)CodeUnique project code for each indicator:GGTXXnnnGG=data group e.g. OU for outcomeT = N for novice or E for ExpertXX = identifier number 00 to 30nnn = identifier name eg mmre.g. OUN01sbafor Outcome Novice Indicator 01 skilled birth attendance Short_nameIndicator namee.g. maternal mortality ratioDescriptionText description of the indicator to be used on websitee.g. Maternal mortality ratio (maternal deaths per 100,000 live births)Value_typeDescribes the indicator typeNumeric: decimal numberPercentage: value between 0 & 100Text: value from list of text optionsY/N: yes or noValue_categoryExpect this to be ‘total’ for all indicators for Phase 1, but this could allow future disaggregation, e.g. male/female; urban/ruraltotalYearThe year that the indicator value was reported. For most indicators, we will only report if 2014 or more recente.g. 2020Latest_Value‘LATEST’ if this is the most recent reported value for the indicator since 2014, otherwise ‘No’. Useful for indicators with time trend data.LATEST or NOValueIndicator valuee.g. 99.8. NB Some indicators are calculated to several decimal places. We present the value to the number of decimal places that should be displayed on the Hub.SourceFor Caesarean birth rate [OUN13cbr] ONLY, this column indicates the source of the data, either OECD when reported, or UNICEF otherwise.OECD or UNICEFTargetHow does the latest value compare with Global guidelines / targets?meets targetdoes not meet targetmeets global standarddoes not meet global standardRankGlobal rank for indicator, i.e. the country with the best global score for this indicator will have rank = 1, next = 2, etc. This ranking is only appropriate for a few indicators, others will show ‘na’1-195Rank out ofThe total number of countries who have reported a value for this indicator. Ranking scores will only go as high as this number.Up to 195TrendIf historic data is available, an indication of the change over time. If there is a global target, then the trend is either getting better, static or getting worse. For mmr [OUN04mmr] and nmr [OUN05nmr] the average annual rate of reduction (arr) between 2016 and latest value is used to determine the trend:arr <-1.0 = getting worsearr >=-1.0 AND <=1.0 = staticarr >1.0 = getting betterFor other indicators, the trend is estimated by comparing the average of the last three years with the average ten years ago:decreasing if now < 95% 10 yrs agoincreasing if now > 105% 10 yrs agostatic otherwiseincreasingdecreasing Or, if there is a global target: getting better,static,getting worseNotesClarification comments, when necessary LongitudeFor use with mapping LatitudeFor use with mapping DateDate data uploaded to the Hubthe following codes are also possible values:not reported does not apply don’t knowThis is one of many datasets featured on the Midwives’ Data Hub, a digital platform designed to strengthen midwifery and advocate for better maternal and newborn health services.