Latest trends in infant mortality available. U.S. ranked 29th in world, down from 23d in 1990

The U.S. infant mortality rate was 6.78 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2004, the latest year that data are available for all countries.  Infant mortality rates were generally lowest (below 3.5 per 1,000) in selected Scandinavian (Sweden, Norway, Finland) and East Asian (Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore) countries.  Twenty-two countries had infant mortality rates below 5.0 in 2004. 

The findings are published in a new Data Brief “Recent Trends in Infant Mortality in the United States.”  The data come from the Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set and Preliminary Mortality Data File, collected through the National Vital Statistics System. For more information, click here.