NEW YORK — The U.S. infant mortality rate will hit a record low in 2025, according to preliminary government data.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were fewer than 5.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2025.
Although this number appears to be a slight decrease from about 5.5 deaths in 2024 and 5.6 deaths in the two years before that, researchers say it is statistically significant and would translate into hundreds of fewer infant deaths per year.
While it’s difficult to pinpoint the cause of recent developments, “this is an encouraging data point and we’re hopeful that this trend will continue,” said Dr. Michael Warren, March of Dimes’ chief medical and health officer.
Infant mortality rate measures the number of babies who die before their first birthday. Because the number of babies born in the United States changes from year to year, researchers calculate rates to compare infant mortality rates over time.
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The overall numbers are also falling. Preliminary data from the CDC shows U.S. infant deaths fell to about 19,350 last year, but could rise slightly as additional analysis is completed. According to the agency, the final tally is still expected to decline from about 20,050 in 2024 and 20,160 in 2023.
Thanks to medical advances and public health efforts, the infection rate in the United States has been slowly declining for decades, from 7.5 per 1,000 people 30 years ago.
But the situation remains worse than in other high-income countries, and experts blame problems such as poverty and inadequate prenatal care. A study published last year found that in 2022, the U.S. infant mortality rate (a period during which mortality rates rose) was nearly twice as high as in several other high-income democracies, including Italy, Japan, Spain, and Sweden.
This was the first year in nearly 20 years that U.S. interest rates rose statistically significantly. Experts believe this increase is due to a resurgence of RSV and influenza infections.
In 2023, U.S. health officials began recommending two new measures to prevent harm to infants. One was a lab-made antibody shot for infants to help their immune systems fight the virus, and the other was an RSV vaccine given to women between 32 and 36 weeks pregnant. March of Dimes experts said last year that the effort would likely contribute to improvements in 2024.
Meanwhile, the decline in sudden infant death syndrome may be related to increased education about safe infant sleep, Warren said in a statement.
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The CDC released preliminary data for 2025 in late May. On Tuesday, the agency released a more detailed analysis of infant mortality data for 2024 and provided details not yet available for 2025. Among the report’s highlights are:
- Mortality rates decreased in both the youngest and oldest children under 28 days of age. Preliminary data for 2025 shows that these declines continued last year.
- In 2024, infant mortality rates continued to vary by race, sometimes dramatically. The mortality rate for infants born to black women was more than twice as high as the mortality rate for infants born to Hispanic, white, and Asian American women.
- The researchers noted that infants born at term (39 to 40 weeks) had lower mortality rates. However, there were no significant changes in proportions in other gestational age groups.
- Mississippi had the highest infant mortality rate, at 9.65 deaths per 1,000 live births, and New Hampshire had the lowest, at just under 3 deaths per 1,000 live births.
“These differences reflect a variety of reasons related to access to care, community factors, and policies that improve health and outcomes,” Warren said.
— Mike Stobbe
