In 2022, the infant mortality rate in the United Kingdom did not change in comparison to the previous year. The infant mortality rate remained at 3.6 deaths per 1,000 live births. The infant mortality rate is the number of newborns who do not survive past the first 12 months of life. This is generally expressed as a value per 1,000 live births, and also includes neonatal mortality (deaths within the first 28 days of life).Find more statistics on other topics about the United Kingdom with key insights such as total fertility rate, total life expectancy at birth, and death rate.

In 2021, the infant mortality rate in the United Kingdom was four deaths one year per 1,000 live births, one of the lowest infant mortality rate in this period. Infant mortality has fallen considerably since 1900, when there were 150 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

Chart and table of the U.K. infant mortality rate from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

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

The infant mortality rate in the United Kingdom, for children under the age of one (twelve months), was 31.7 deaths per thousand births in 1950. Approximately 3.2 percent of children born in 1950 did not survive past their first birthday. Over the course of the next 70 years, this number has dropped significantly. It amounted to just four deaths per thousand births in the period between 2015 and 2020, the lowest figure recorded.

The child mortality rate in the United Kingdom, for children under the age of five, was 329 deaths per thousand births in 1800. This means that approximately one in every three children born in 1800 did not make it to their fifth birthday. Over the course of the next 220 years, this number has dropped drastically, particularly in the first half of the twentieth century, and the rate has dropped to its lowest point ever in 2020 where it is just four deaths per thousand births.

Annual statistics on births and infant deaths based on babies born in a calendar year that died before their first birthday linked to their corresponding birth notification and their corresponding death registration.

The United Kingdom: Infant deaths per 1000 live births: The latest value from 2022 is 4 deaths per 1000 live births, unchanged from 4 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 the United Kingdom from 1960 to 2022 is 10 deaths per 1000 live births. The minimum value, 4 deaths per 1000 live births, was reached in 2010 while the maximum of 23 deaths per 1000 live births was recorded in 1960.

United Kingdom UK: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 3.900 Ratio in 2016. This stayed constant from the previous number of 3.900 Ratio for 2015. United Kingdom UK: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 4.600 Ratio from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2016, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 8.100 Ratio in 1990 and a record low of 3.900 Ratio in 2016. United Kingdom UK: 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 UK – Table UK.World Bank: 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.

Live births and infant deaths by gestational age. Additionally by birthweight, multiplicity of births, mother's age, marital status (registration type), household occupation and ethnic group. Source agency: Office for National Statistics Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Gestation-specific infant mortality

Live births, stillbirths and linked infant deaths occurring annually in England and Wales, and associated risk factors.

There were 2,784 infant deaths in the United Kingdom in 2021, compared with 2,620 in the previous year. The number of infant deaths in 2020 was the fewest in the provided time period, especially compared with 1900 when there were 163,470 infant deaths.

Infant mortality is defined as the number of babies dying before the age of one for every 1,000 live births. Infant mortality is a measure of the longer term consequences of perinatal events and is particularly important for monitoring outcomes for high risk groups such as very preterm babies and growth restricted babies. Legacy unique identifier: P01743

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

This study aimed to provide a more individual, micro-level appreciation of infant mortality data. Previously, the focus of these data had been aggregative, at a fairly high level of aggregation - the country, county registration district. To that end, a team of research students at the Open University has examined vaccination registers at the sub-registration district level for 22 such districts.
In 1853 vaccination was made compulsory and in 1871 legislation was introduced requiring all poor law unions to appoint vaccination officers and to set up a system of registration; this system, with only minor alterations, lasted until 1948. Under the 1871 Act, vaccination officers took over all the functions of the local registrars except for giving parents the statutory notice of compulsory vaccination. The vaccination registrar recorded the following: (i) the registration number in the civil birth register; (ii) date of birth; (iii) place of birth; (iv) name of child; (v) sex; (vi) name of father, or if illegitimate, mother; (vii) occupation of father or if illegitimate, mother; (viii) date of notice to vaccinate given to parent; (ix) date of successful vaccination, postponement or insusceptibility to vaccination; (x) name of medical man who signed the certificate; (xi) date of death of any child who died before vaccination; (xii) reference number in vaccination officer's report book on problem cases. From the monthly information on infant deaths, the vaccination officer compiled an infant death register on children dying under the age of one year.
Medical historians have begun to recognise the historical importance of the compulsory provisions of Victorian vaccination legislation, which entailed the growth of a complex administrative structure necessary for its implementation. This can been seen as a forerunner of the Welfare State, particularly as regards the development of the public health movement.
It is generally agreed that civil registration had reached a high standard of reliability by 1872, and as the vaccination birth registers and infant death registers are copies of the civil registers for the period 1872-1948, they constitute an unrivalled source of information on infant mortality for the period.
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The data consist of transcriptions from a sample of English vaccination registers, at the sub-registration district level, for selected years within the period 1871-1913. The variables differ slightly due to local custom and the transcribing methods employed but broadly, for each district, they consist of number in birth register; date of birth; address; gender; legitimacy; parents' occupation; date of vaccination; date of exception; date of death.

Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research.

Chart and table of the GBR infant mortality rate from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

United Kingdom UK: Number of Death: Infant data was reported at 2,945.000 Person in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 3,011.000 Person for 2016. United Kingdom UK: Number of Death: Infant data is updated yearly, averaging 6,709.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 20,943.000 Person in 1962 and a record low of 2,945.000 Person in 2017. United Kingdom UK: Number of Death: Infant data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: 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;

Gestation-specific infant mortality by social and biological factors for all babies born in England and Wales. It includes gestation-specific infant mortality rates by ethnic group.

Live births, stillbirths and infant deaths by ethnicity of the baby, England and Wales, 2007 to 2019

Estimated timing (calendar year) of the two main infant mortality peaks.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Great Britain Historical Database has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on A Vision of Britain webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online.

These data were originally published in the reports of the Registrar-General for England and Wales. They were computerised by the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and its collaborators. They form part of the Great Britain Historical Database, which contains a wide range of geographically-located statistics, selected to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain, generally at sub-county scales.

This study mainly comprises data from the RG's Annual Reports, with some data from the Quarterly Returns. A very extensive transcription from the Decennial Supplements forms a separate study.

In this pre-1911 period, the main reporting units were approximately 630 Registration Districts, grouped into Registration Counties and subdivided into around 2,000 Registration sub-Districts.

Latest edition information

For the second edition (December 2022) the previous data and documentation files were replaced with new versions, and access conditions were changed from safeguarded to open access.

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Annual counts of births and deaths for all Registration Districts in all years 1850 to 1910, with marriages for some years.

Annual cause-of-death data for all Registration Districts in all years, 1856 to 1910. The causes of death focus on epidemic diseases.

Annual age-specific mortality data for all Registration Districts for 1840-42, 1850-52, 1860-1882, 1890-92, 1900-02, 1908-1910 (i.e. for most of the period, census years plus immediately adjacent years).

Quarterly counts of births, deaths and selected causes of death from the Registrar-General's Quarterly Returns, for Registration sub-Districts. This is limited to (1) a full transcription of all four quarters for each census year within the period covered by the Quarterly Returns: 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911; (2) numbers of births and infant deaths in all sub-districts in the County of London from the full run of reports from 1871 to 1911; and (3) a full transcription of all four quarters of 1876, but limited to the north-west of England, defined as Cheshire, Lancashire and Westmorland plus Chapel-en-le-Frith and Hayfield Registration Districts in Derbyshire and Saddleworth in the West Riding.

Individual cholera deaths in London in summer and autumn 1866 arranged by date and causes of death, plus a variant which is adjusted for deaths in hospitals (these data were created by Graham Mooney).

A separate UKDS study contains decennial age-specific cause of death data for all Registration Districts in all decades from 1851-60 to 1901-10.

Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research.