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.

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

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.

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.

Infant mortality rate of Russian Federation dropped by 5.13% from 3.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022 to 3.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023. Since the 3.80% decline in 2013, infant mortality rate plummeted by 51.32% in 2023. Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 live births in a given year.

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 September 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.

This package contains all the data sets and the codes that are necessary for replicating the results reported in the main text and the Online Appendix.

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 September 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.

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 September of 2025.

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

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

The infant mortality figures in Russia have generally followed a downward trend since 2012. The total count of infant deaths in the country neared *** thousand in 2022, with a higher number of mortalities recorded among boys under one year old.

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 September 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.

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

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.

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.