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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Forecast: Infant Mortality Rate in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

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

Forecast: Infant Mortality Rate in the UK 2022 - 2026 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

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.
Main Topics:

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.

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

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.

Legacy unique identifier: P00724

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

In 2022, the infant mortality rate in the Netherlands was 3.2. This means that out of every 1,000 newborns, just over three had died before their first birthday. Infant mortality was lowest in the most recent period. In total, nearly 179,000 babies were born in 2021.

 Steadily declining infant mortality  

Despite a slight increase in infant mortality in the last two years, medical developments have ensured a remarkable decrease in the number of children dying in their infancy. In 1950, out of every 1,000 live born babies nearly 27 would die in their first year. This was over seven times as high as today.

Infant mortality in Western Europe  

The infant mortality rate in the Netherlands is comparable to other Western European countries. In the United Kingdom for example, the infant mortality rate was four in 2019, whereas France had a mortality rate of 3.3 in 2020. A slightly lower infant mortality was observed in neighboring Belgium, where the mortality rate was 2.7 in 2019.

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.

Legacy unique identifier: P00725

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.

The Great Britain Historical GIS Project has also produced digitised boundary data, which can be obtained from the UK Data Service Census Support service. Further information is available at census.ukdataservice.ac.uk

Main Topics:

The Great Britain Historical Database is a large database of British nineteenth and twentieth-century statistics. Where practical the referencing of spatial units has been integrated, data for different dates have been assembled into single tables.

The Great Britain Historical Database currently contains :

• Statistics from the 1861 Census and the Registrar General's reports, 1851-1861
  
• Employment statistics from the census, 1841-1931
  
• Demographic statistics from the census, 1841-1931
  
• Mortality statistics from the Registrar General's reports, 1861-1920
  
• Marriage statistics from the Registrar General's reports, 1841-1870
  
• Trade union statistics for the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE), 1851-1918
  
• Trade union statistics for the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners (ASCJ), 1863-1912
  
• Official poor law statistics, 1859-1915 and 1919-1939
  
• Wage statistics, 1845-1906
  
• Hours of work statistics, 1900-1913
  
• Small debt statistics from county courts, 1847-1913 and 1938
  

There are four tables in this part of the Great Britain Historical Database :

Mort_age holds mortality data for males and females in age groups for all registration districts in England and Wales for each decade between 1851-60 and 1901-10, except 1871-80.

Mort_age_70 holds age-specific mortality data for the decade 1871-80 for all registration districts in England and Wales. The Registrar General's Decennial Supplement for 1871-80 did not break down by gender the statistics for individual Registration Districts.

Mort_ann holds annual data on mortality classified by cause for all registration districts in the county of London from 1860 to 1910, and for all London boroughs from 1911 to 1920.

Lon_subd holds quarterly data on infant mortality for registration sub-districts in the county of London from 1881 to 1884.

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