The infant mortality rate in Russia, for children under the age of one year old, was over 266 deaths per thousand births in 1870. This means that for all babies born in 1870, over one quarter did not survive past their first birthday. Unfortunately some information is missing in the early twentieth century, during Russia's revolutionary period and again during the Second World War, however it is noticeable that Russia's infant mortality rate fell to one death for every ten babies born in 1955, and from this point the rate has fallen to just six deaths per thousand births today.

In 2023, the infant mortality rate in deaths per 1,000 live births in Russia was 3.7. Between 1960 and 2023, the figure dropped by 32.6, though the decline followed an uneven course rather than a steady trajectory.

Graph and download economic data for Infant Mortality Rate for the Russian Federation (SPDYNIMRTINRUS) from 1960 to 2023 about mortality, infant, Russia, and rate.

The mortality rate of infants under one year old significantly decreased in Russia since 1950. In urban areas, there were 4.3 infant deaths recorded per thousand live births in 2022, compared to 100.9 deaths at the beginning of the period under consideration. The death rate of infants in rural areas was higher than in cities since 1960.

In 2022, the mortality rate of female infants in Russia was recorded at *** deaths per thousand live births, compared to nearly * deaths per thousand live births for infant boys under one year old. The death rate of male infants was greater than that of female infants in every period under consideration. In general, the figures have gradually decreased since 2012.

Mortality rate, infant, male (per 1,000 live births) in Russia was reported at 4 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Russia - 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 (per 1,000 live births) in Russia was reported at 3.7 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Russia - Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on August of 2025.

The child mortality rate in Russia, for children under the age of five, was 419 deaths per thousand births in 1855. This translated into roughly 42 percent of all children born in 1855 not surviving past the age of five, and it remained above forty percent until the early twentieth century. Since then it has fallen consistently and it is expected to fall to its lowest recorded figure, at just seven deaths per thousand people in the period between 2015 and 2020. The spike in child mortality seen in the period between 1950 and 1955 is likely due to conflicting sources.

Mortality rate, infant, female (per 1,000 live births) in Russia was reported at 3.3 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Russia - Mortality rate, infant, female (per 1,000 live births) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on August of 2025.

In 2022, the infant mortality rate in rural areas of Russia was higher than in cities for both genders. Five male infant deaths per thousand live births were recorded in rural regions, compared to *** in urban areas.

7.0 (Deaths per 1,000 live births) in 2015. The infant mortality rate is calculated as the sum of two components, the first of which - the ratio of the number of deaths before the age of one year from the generation born in the year for which the calculated ratio to the total number of births in the same year, and the second - the ratio of the number of deaths at age up to one year from the generation born in the previous year to the total number of births in the previous year

5,5 (Deaths per 1,000 live births) in 2015. The infant mortality rate is calculated as the sum of two components, the first of which - the ratio of the number of deaths before the age of one year from the generation born in the year for which the calculated ratio to the total number of births in the same year, and the second - the ratio of the number of deaths at age up to one year from the generation born in the previous year to the total number of births in the previous year

5.5 (Deaths per 1,000 live births) in 2015. The infant mortality rate is calculated as the sum of two components, the first of which - the ratio of the number of deaths before the age of one year from the generation born in the year for which the calculated ratio to the total number of births in the same year, and the second - the ratio of the number of deaths at age up to one year from the generation born in the previous year to the total number of births in the previous year

Number of infant deaths in Russia was reported at 4812 deaths in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Russia - Number of infant deaths - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

8,3 (Deaths per 1,000 live births) in 2015. The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths under one year of age occurring among the live births in a given geographical area during a given year, per 1,000 live births occurring among the population of the given geographical area during the same year.

8.0 (Deaths per 1,000 live births) in 2015. The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths under one year of age occurring among the live births in a given geographical area during a given year, per 1,000 live births occurring among the population of the given geographical area during the same year.

The spike in infant and child mortality rates due to Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, meant that almost half of all deaths in Soviet Russia in 1941 were among those below the age of five, and the majority of those were among infants below the age of one year. The consequences of this and the decrease in Soviet fertility can be observed in the unusually-low mortality rates among infants in 1942. Because of this spike, the share of deaths across other age groups was lower than what would have been typical of Russia in terms of its demographic development. The share of deaths among children then decreased as the war progressed and the conflict moved west, although it remained disproportionately high until the late 1940s.

The German invasion of the Soviet Union, in 1941, resulted in a dramatic rise in infant and child mortality rates. While the war was still ongoing in 1944, in Russia, the proportion of female deaths among children under five years was over 60 percent lower than it had been in the invasion's first year. In 1941, 51 percent of all female deaths were among those under five years old, and 29 percent of all female deaths were among infants below the age of one year. In comparison, the figures for male deaths were slightly lower among infants, as a higher share of the adult male population died as a direct result of the conflict, although the crude death rate (i.e. total number of deaths) was significantly higher in these years than at any other time in Soviet history.

3.6 (Deaths per 1,000 live births) in 2015. The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths under one year of age occurring among the live births in a given geographical area during a given year, per 1,000 live births occurring among the population of the given geographical area during the same year.

Abstract

The 1997 the Kyrgyz Republic Demographic and Health Survey (KRDHS) is a nationally representative survey of 3,848 women age 15-49. Fieldwork was conducted from August to November 1997. The KRDHS was sponsored by the Ministry of Health (MOH), and was funded by the United States Agency for International Development. The Research Institute of Obstetrics and Pediatrics implemented the survey with technical assistance from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program.

The purpose of the KRDHS was to provide data to the MOH on factors which determine the health status of women and children such as fertility, contraception, induced abortion, maternal care, infant mortality, nutritional status, and anemia.

Some statistics presented in this report are currently available to the MOH from other sources. For example, the MOH collects and regularly publishes information on fertility, contraception, induced abortion and infant mortality. However, the survey presents information on these indices in a manner which is not currently available, i.e., by population subgroups such as those defined by age, marital duration, education, and ethnicity. Additionally, the survey provides statistics on some issues not previously available in the Kyrgyz Republic: for example, breastfeeding practices and anemia status of women and children. When considered together, existing MOH data and the KRDHS data provide a more complete picture of the health conditions in the Kyrgyz Republic than was previously available.

A secondary objective of the survey was to enhance the capabilities of institutions in the Kyrgyz Republic to collect, process, and analyze population and health data.

MAIN FINDINGS

FERTILITY

Fertility Rates. Survey results indicate a total fertility rate (TFR) for all of the Kyrgyz Republic of 3.4 children per woman. Fertility levels differ for different population groups. The TFR for women living in urban areas (2.3 children per woman) is substantially lower than for women living in rural areas (3.9). The TFR for Kyrgyz women (3.6 children per woman) is higher than for women of Russian ethnicity (1.5) but lower than Uzbek women (4.2). Among the regions of the Kyrgyz Republic, the TFR is lowest in Bishkek City (1.7 children per woman), and the highest in the East Region (4.3), and intermediate in the North and South Regions (3.1 and3.9, respectively).

Time Trends. The KRDHS data show that fertility has declined in the Kyrgyz Republic in recent years. The decline in fertility from 5-9 to 0-4 years prior to the survey increases with age, from an 8 percent decline among 20-24 year olds to a 38 percent decline among 35-39 year olds. The declining trend in fertility can be seen by comparing the completed family size of women near the end of their childbearing years with the current TFR. Completed family size among women 40-49 is 4.6 children which is more than one child greater than the current TFR (3.4).

Birth Intervals. Overall, 30 percent of births in the Kyrgyz Republic take place within 24 months of the previous birth. The median birth interval is 31.9 months.

Age at Onset of Childbearing. The median age at which women in the Kyrgyz Republic begin childbearing has been holding steady over the past two decades at approximately 21.6 years. Most women have their first birth while in their early twenties, although about 20 percent of women give birth before age 20.

Nearly half of married women in the Kyrgyz Republic (45 percent) do not want to have more children. Additional one-quarter of women (26 percent) want to delay their next birth by at least two years. These are the women who are potentially in need of some method of family planning.

FAMILY PLANNING

Ever Use. Among currently married women, 83 percent report having used a method of contraception at some time. The women most likely to have ever used a method of contraception are those age 30-44 (among both currently married and all women).

Current Use. Overall, among currently married women, 60 percent report that they are currently using a contraceptive method. About half (49 percent) are using a modern method of contraception and another 11 percent are using a traditional method. The IUD is by far the most commonly used method; 38 percent of currently married women are using the IUD. Other modern methods of contraception account for only a small amount of use among currently married women: pills (2 percent), condoms (6 percent), and injectables and female sterilization (1 and 2 percent, respectively). Thus, the practice of family planning in the Kyrgyz Republic places high reliance on a single method, the IUD.

Source of Methods. The vast majority of women obtain their contraceptives through the public sector (97 percent): 35 percent from a government hospital, and 36 percent from a women counseling center. The source of supply of the method depends on the method being used. For example, most women using IUDs obtain them at women counseling centers (42 percent) or hospitals (39 percent). Government pharmacies supply 46 percent of pill users and 75 percent of condom users. Pill users also obtain supplies from women counseling centers or (33 percent).

Fertility Preferences. A majority of women in the Kyrgyz Republic (45 percent) indicated that they desire no more children. By age 25-29, 20 percent want no more children, and by age 30-34, nearly half (46 percent) want no more children. Thus, many women come to the preference to stop childbearing at relatively young ages-when they have 20 or more potential years of childbearing ahead of them. For some of these women, the most appropriate method of contraception may be a long-acting method such as female sterilization. However, there is a deficiency of use of this method in the Kyrgyz Republic. In the interests of providing a broad range of safe and effective methods, information about and access to sterilization should be increased so that individual women can make informed decisions about using this method.

INDUCED ABORTION

Abortion Rates. From the KRDHS data, the total abortion rate (TAR)-the number of abortions a woman will have in her lifetime based on the currently prevailing abortion rates-was calculated. For the Kyrgyz Republic, the TAR for the period from mid-1994 to mid-1997 is 1.6 abortions per woman. The TAR for the Kyrgyz Republic is lower than recent estimates of the TAR for other areas of the former Soviet Union such as Kazakhstan (1.8), and Yekaterinburg and Perm in Russia (2.3 and 2.8, respectively), but higher than for Uzbekistan (0.7).

The TAR is higher in urban areas (2.1 abortions per woman) than in rural areas (1.3). The TAR in Bishkek City is 2.0 which is two times higher than in other regions of the Kyrgyz Republic. Additionally the TAR is substantially lower among ethnic Kyrgyz women (1.3) than among women of Uzbek and Russian ethnicities (1.9 and 2.2 percent, respectively).

INFANT MORTALITY

In the KRDHS, infant mortality data were collected based on the international definition of a live birth which, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, is a birth that breathes or shows any sign of life (United Nations, 1992). Mortality Rates. For the five-year period before the survey (i.e., approximately mid-1992 to mid1997), infant mortality in the Kyrgyz Republic is estimated at 61 infant deaths per 1,000 births. The estimates of neonatal and postneonatal mortality are 32 and 30 per 1,000.

The MOH publishes infant mortality rates annually but the definition of a live birth used by the MOH differs from that used in the survey. As is the case in most of the republics of the former Soviet Union, a pregnancy that terminates at less than 28 weeks of gestation is considered premature and is classified as a late miscarriage even if signs of life are present at the time of delivery. Thus, some events classified as late miscarriages in the MOH system would be classified as live births and infant deaths according to the definitions used in the KRDHS.

Infant mortality rates based on the MOH data for the years 1983 through 1996 show a persistent declining trend throughout the period, starting at about 40 per 1,000 in the early 1980s and declining to 26 per 1,000 in 1996. This time trend is similar to that displayed by the rates estimated from the KRDHS. Thus, the estimates from both the KRDHS and the Ministry document a substantial decline in infant mortality; 25 percent over the period from 1982-87 to 1992-97 according to the KRDHS and 28 percent over the period from 1983-87 to 1993-96 according to the MOH estimates. This is strong evidence of improvements in infant survivorship in recent years in the Kyrgyz Republic.

It should be noted that the rates from the survey are much higher than the MOH rates. For example, the KRDHS estimate of 61 per 1,000 for the period 1992-97 is twice the MOH estimate of 29 per 1,000 for 1993-96. Certainly, one factor leading to this difference are the differences in the definitions of a live birth and infant death in the KRDHS survey and in the MOH protocols. A thorough assessment of the difference between the two estimates would need to take into consideration the sampling variability of the survey's estimate. However, given the magnitude of the difference, it is likely that it arises from a combination of definitional and methodological differences between the survey and MOH registration system.

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH

The Kyrgyz Republic has a well-developed health system with an extensive infrastructure of facilities that provide maternal care services. This system includes special delivery hospitals, the obstetrics and gynecology departments of general hospitals, women counseling centers, and doctor's assistant/midwife posts (FAPs). There is an extensive network of FAPs throughout the rural areas.

Delivery. Virtually all births in the