Infant mortality
Situation and trends
In 2017, 4.1 million (75% of all under-five deaths) occurred within the first year of life.
The risk of a child dying before completing the first year of age was highest in the WHO African Region (51 per 1000 live births), over six times higher than that in the WHO European Region (8 per 1000 live births).
Globally, the infant mortality rate has decreased from an estimated rate of 65 deaths per 1000 live births in 1990 to 29 deaths per 1000 live births in 2017. Annual infant deaths have declined from 8.8 million in 1990 to 4.1 million in 2017.