In 2023, the infant mortality rate in deaths per 1,000 live births in Australia was 3.1. Between 1960 and 2023, the figure dropped by 17.3, though the decline followed an uneven course rather than a steady trajectory.

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

In the 2022-2023 reporting period, 9.55 infants per 1,000 live births died before the age of one in the Northern Territory in Australia. In comparison, New South Wales recorded 2.81 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

The infant mortality rate in Australia, for children under the age of one year old, was 111 deaths per thousand births in 1870. This means that for all babies born in 1870, over eleven percent did not survive past their first birthday. Over the course of the next 150 years, this number has dropped significantly, reaching its lowest point ever in 2020 to three deaths per thousand births.

Graph and download economic data for Infant Mortality Rate for Australia (SPDYNIMRTINAUS) from 1960 to 2023 about mortality, infant, Australia, and rate.

In Australia during the 2022-2023 reporting period, about 3.32 infants out of 1,000 died before the age of one year. This figure represents a slight increase compared to the 2021-2022 period.

Australia Mortality Rate: Infant: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 3.100 Ratio in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 3.200 Ratio for 2022. Australia Mortality Rate: Infant: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 6.900 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 20.400 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 3.100 Ratio in 2023. Australia 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 Australia – Table AU.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.

Mortality rate, infant, male (per 1,000 live births) in Australia was reported at 3.4 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Australia - 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.

The child mortality rate in Australia, for children under the age of five, was 391 deaths per thousand births in 1860. This means that just under forty percent of all children born in 1860 did not make it to their fifth birthday. This number dropped drastically over the next ten years, then it remained between 150 and two hundred for the remainder of the 1800s, before dropping consistently from 1900 until today. By 2020, child mortality in Australia is expected to be approximately four deaths per thousand births.

The average for 2021 based on 12 countries was 19 deaths per 1000 live births. The highest value was in Kiribati: 45 deaths per 1000 live births and the lowest value was in Australia: 3 deaths per 1000 live births. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Australia Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 3.400 Ratio in 2023. This stayed constant from the previous number of 3.400 Ratio for 2022. Australia Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 7.350 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 22.000 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 3.400 Ratio in 2023. Australia Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Under-five mortality rate, female is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn female baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to female 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/].

Australia's Infant mortality rate is 3.1[Per 1,000 live births] which is the 165th highest in the world ranking. Transition graphs on Infant mortality rate in Australia and comparison bar charts (USA vs. China vs. Japan vs. Australia), (Korea, Democratic People's Republic of vs. Niger vs. Australia) are used for easy understanding. Various data can be downloaded and output in csv format for use in EXCEL free of charge.

Mortality rate, infant, female (per 1,000 live births) in Australia was reported at 2.9 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Australia - 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 2018, the male infant mortality rate for indigenous boys in the Australian state of South Australia amounted to 3.7 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to 3.3 infant deaths per 1,000 live births for non-indigenous boys in South Australia.

Australia Number of Death: Infant data was reported at 953.000 Person in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 963.000 Person for 2022. Australia Number of Death: Infant data is updated yearly, averaging 1,805.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4,682.000 Person in 1971 and a record low of 953.000 Person in 2023. Australia Number of Death: Infant data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.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.

In 2020 the child mortality rate of indigenous peoples in Australia under the age of five was 147.5 deaths per 100,000. By comparison, the non-Indigenous child mortality rate was less than half that of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the country. In 2008 the Australian government made a commitment to achieving equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through the Closing the Gap framework. One of the commitments made by this framework was to halve the Indigenous child mortality rate in the country over a decade from 2008. Although some progress was made, this target was not achieved.

Number of infant deaths in Australia was reported at 953 deaths in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Australia - Number of infant deaths - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on August of 2025.

This dataset presents the footprint of the percentage of deaths of infants and young children per 1,000 live births. The data spans every two years between 2010-2016 and is aggregated to Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3) geographic boundaries from the 2011 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). The Child and Maternal Health Indicators have been calculated from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) National Mortality Database and Register of Births and National Perinatal Data Collection. This measure has been calculated with the numerator as the number of deaths from birth to less than 5 years, and the denominator as the total number of live births. For further information about this dataset, visit the data source:Australian Institute of Health and Welfare - Child and Maternal Health Data Tables. Please note:

Deaths are attributed to the area in which the infant or child usually resided, irrespective of where they died.

Births are attributed to the area of usual residence of the mother, not location of birth.

Deaths are reported by year of registration of death.

Data for 2010 have been adjusted for the additional deaths arising from outstanding registrations of deaths in Queensland in 2010.

Mortality rates for an area are suppressed for publication and marked as 'NP' if the total number of live births for the area is less than 100.

Infant deaths (12 months old or younger) and youth deaths (between 1 and 4 years of age), 2010-14 (all entries that were classified as not shown, not published or not applicable were assigned a null value; no data was provided for Maralinga Tjarutja LGA, in South Australia). Data uses the LGA 2015 profile (based on the LGA 2011 geographic boundaries). For more information on statistics used please refer to the PHIDU website, available from: http://phidu.torrens.edu.au/. Source: Data compiled by PHIDU from deaths data based on the 2010 to 2014 Cause of Death Unit Record Files supplied by the Australian Coordinating Registry and the Victorian Department of Justice. The births data for 2010 to 2014 were compiled from the ABS National Regional Profile, 2010-14. The population is the ABS Estimated Resident Population (ERP), 30 June 2010 to 30 June 2014, the population standard is the ABS ERP for Australia, 30 June 2010 to 30 June 2014.

Australia Completeness of Infant Death Reporting data was reported at 92.246 % in 2009. This records an increase from the previous number of 90.748 % for 2008. Australia Completeness of Infant Death Reporting data is updated yearly, averaging 92.246 % from Dec 2006 (Median) to 2009, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 96.262 % in 2006 and a record low of 90.748 % in 2008. Australia Completeness of Infant Death Reporting data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Completeness of infant death reporting is the number of infant deaths reported by national statistics authorities to the United Nations Statistics Division's Demography Yearbook divided by the number of infant deaths estimated by the United Nations Population Division.; ; The United Nations Statistics Division's Population and Vital Statistics Report and the United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects.; ;