U.S. Infant Mortality Reaches All-Time Low in 2025
Preliminary government data indicates that the infant mortality rate in the United States fell to a new all-time low in 2025, with slightly fewer than 5.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. This decline is statistically significant, representing hundreds fewer infant deaths annually. The improvement follows recommendations for new preventative measures introduced in 2023, including antibody shots for infants and RSV vaccines for pregnant women. Despite this progress, the U.S. infant mortality rate remains higher than that of other high-income countries.
The infant mortality rate in the U.S. dropped to a new all-time low in 2025, according to preliminary government data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported slightly fewer than 5.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births last year. This marks a decline from approximately 5.5 in 2024 and 5.6 in the two preceding years, a reduction researchers consider statistically meaningful.
Overall infant deaths in the U.S. also decreased, with approximately 19,350 deaths recorded in 2025, based on provisional CDC data. This figure is expected to be lower than the estimated 20,050 in 2024 and 20,160 in 2023. Medical advancements and public health initiatives have contributed to a gradual decline in the rate over decades; it stood at 7.5 per 1,000 three decades ago.
Experts attribute recent improvements to public health efforts. In 2023, U.S. health officials began recommending two key preventative measures: a lab-made antibody shot for infants to combat RSV, and an RSV vaccine for women between 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy. Dr. Michael Warren, chief medical and health officer for the March of Dimes, also suggested a decline in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) could be linked to increased education on safe sleeping practices for infants.
Despite the recent progress, the U.S. infant mortality rate remains higher than that of other high-income countries. A study published last year found that the 2022 U.S. infant mortality rate, which saw a statistically significant rise, was nearly twice as high as rates in nations such as Italy, Japan, Spain, and Sweden. The 2022 increase was linked to a rebound in RSV and flu infections.
The CDC’s in-depth analysis of 2024 infant mortality data, released recently, highlighted several details. Death rates declined for both infants less than 28 days old and older infants, a trend that continued into 2025. Significant disparities persist across racial groups, with death rates for infants born to Black women more than double those for infants of Hispanic, white, and Asian American women. Mortality rates for full-term infants (39 to 40 weeks) declined, but other gestational age groups saw no significant change. State-level data for 2024 showed Mississippi with the highest infant mortality rate at 9.65 deaths per 1,000 births, while New Hampshire had the lowest, just under 3 per 1,000.
(Source: Fortune)
