Countries by infant mortality rate

South Sudan had the highest infant mortality rate of 195 countries in 2017, at 181.5 per 1,000 live births. San Marino had the lowest, at 1.6 per 1,000 live births. The median was 14.5 per 1,000 live births and the figure for the World was 30 per 1,000 live births. Source: the World Bank.

Highest181.5South Sudan
Lowest1.6San Marino
Median14.5195 countries
World30History

Top 40 countries, 2017

South Sudan: 181.5 per 1,000 live birthsSouth Sudan181.5Somalia: 96.5 per 1,000 live birthsSomalia96.5Central African Republic: 88.4 per 1,000 live birthsCentral African Republic88.4Niger: 69.3 per 1,000 live birthsNiger69.3Guinea: 69 per 1,000 live birthsGuinea69Sierra Leone: 68.7 per 1,000 live birthsSierra Leone68.7Chad: 68.3 per 1,000 live birthsChad68.3Nigeria: 68.3 per 1,000 live birthsNigeria68.3Lesotho: 68 per 1,000 live birthsLesotho68Liberia: 63.7 per 1,000 live birthsLiberia63.7Mali: 61.9 per 1,000 live birthsMali61.9Afghanistan: 60.1 per 1,000 live birthsAfghanistan60.1Pakistan: 59.8 per 1,000 live birthsPakistan59.8Equatorial Guinea: 59.1 per 1,000 live birthsEquatorial Guinea59.1Democratic Republic of the Congo: 55.4 per 1,000 live birthsDemocratic Republic of the Congo55.4Côte d’Ivoire: 55.2 per 1,000 live birthsCôte d’Ivoire55.2Benin: 54.4 per 1,000 live birthsBenin54.4Zimbabwe: 54.2 per 1,000 live birthsZimbabwe54.2Djibouti: 53.3 per 1,000 live birthsDjibouti53.3Burkina Faso: 53.1 per 1,000 live birthsBurkina Faso53.1Guinea-Bissau: 51.7 per 1,000 live birthsGuinea-Bissau51.7Mozambique: 51.4 per 1,000 live birthsMozambique51.4Eswatini: 51.1 per 1,000 live birthsEswatini51.1Cameroon: 49.6 per 1,000 live birthsCameroon49.6Haiti: 47.2 per 1,000 live birthsHaiti47.2Sudan: 45.9 per 1,000 live birthsSudan45.9Namibia: 44.3 per 1,000 live birthsNamibia44.3Ethiopia: 44 per 1,000 live birthsEthiopia44Madagascar: 43.7 per 1,000 live birthsMadagascar43.7Kiribati: 43.2 per 1,000 live birthsKiribati43.2Togo: 42.6 per 1,000 live birthsTogo42.6Timor-Leste: 41.4 per 1,000 live birthsTimor-Leste41.4Comoros: 41.3 per 1,000 live birthsComoros41.3Myanmar: 41.1 per 1,000 live birthsMyanmar41.1Gambia: 40.7 per 1,000 live birthsGambia40.7Yemen: 40.1 per 1,000 live birthsYemen40.1Botswana: 40 per 1,000 live birthsBotswana40Zambia: 38.8 per 1,000 live birthsZambia38.8Malawi: 38.5 per 1,000 live birthsMalawi38.5Burundi: 38.4 per 1,000 live birthsBurundi38.4
per 1,000 live births. Source: World Bank (modelled estimate), Mortality rate, infant, per 1,000 live births (SP.DYN.IMRT.IN). Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Full ranking

RankCountries2017
per 1,000 live births
Change on 2016
1South Sudan181.5+11.7
2Somalia96.5+15
3Central African Republic88.4+11.3
4Niger69.3+0.1
5Guinea69-0.9
6Sierra Leone68.7-2.6
7Chad68.3-1.9
7Nigeria68.3+0.2
9Lesotho68-0.2
10Liberia63.7-0.5
11Mali61.9-2.1
12Afghanistan60.1-1.8
13Pakistan59.8-1.9
14Equatorial Guinea59.1-1.8
15Democratic Republic of the Congo55.4+0.3
16Côte d’Ivoire55.2-1.7
17Benin54.4-1.4
18Zimbabwe54.2-0.1
19Djibouti53.3-1.7
20Burkina Faso53.1-1.6
21Guinea-Bissau51.7-1.7
22Mozambique51.4-1.4
23Eswatini51.1-0.2
24Cameroon49.6-1.8
25Haiti47.2-1.3
26Sudan45.9-1.3
27Namibia44.3-1
28Ethiopia44-1.9
29Madagascar43.7+0.1
30Kiribati43.2+0.3
31Togo42.6-1.4
32Timor-Leste41.4-1.1
33Comoros41.3-0.7
34Myanmar41.1-1.5
35Gambia40.7-1.4
36Yemen40.1-0.6
37Botswana40-2.8
38Zambia38.8-1.8
39Malawi38.5-0.6
40Burundi38.4-1.6
41Papua New Guinea38.3-1.1
42Kenya38.2-0.2
43Uganda38.1-1
44Tanzania37.5-1.8
45Angola36.7-0.9
45Mauritania36.7-0.9
47Laos36.4-1.7
48Senegal36.3-0.5
49Ghana35.4-1.2
50Turkmenistan34.2+0.1
51Republic of the Congo33.2-1
52India32.9-1.7
53Rwanda32.7-0.5
54Gabon32-0.6
55Dominican Republic31.20
56Eritrea30.5-0.8
57Nepal29.6-1.4
58Guyana28.8-0.8
59Dominica28.7+0.9
60Marshall Islands27.8-0.8
61Bangladesh27.3-1.2
62South Africa26.8-1.2
63Tajikistan25.5-0.3
64Micronesia25.2-0.7
65Iraq25.1-0.8
66Syria24.2+0.5
67Egypt23.4-0.3
68Cambodia22.5-1.6
69Philippines22.3+0.1
70Guatemala21.6-0.7
71Algeria21.3-0.3
72Venezuela21.20
73Bolivia20.8-1.3
73Tuvalu20.8-0.7
75Bhutan20.3-1.3
76Indonesia20.1-0.9
77Trinidad and Tobago19.9-0.3
78Palau19.4+0.6
78Solomon Islands19.4-0.3
80Morocco19.3-1
81Azerbaijan18.6-1.2
82Paraguay18.1-0.6
83Suriname18-0.6
84Fiji17.7+0.9
85Kyrgyzstan17.4-1
86Jamaica17.2+0.1
87Saint Lucia16.80
88Saint Kitts and Nevis16.5-0.2
89Uzbekistan16.4-1
90Grenada16.3+0.2
91Honduras15.9-0.6
92Tunisia15.5-0.3
93North Korea15.4-1.1
94Vanuatu15.2-0.1
95Cape Verde15.1-1.1
96Vietnam14.9-0.3
97Palestine14.6-0.6
98Samoa14.5-0.1
99Mexico14.4-0.3
100Jordan14.3-0.4
101Mongolia14.2-0.8
102Saint Vincent and the Grenadines14.1-0.7
103Moldova14-0.1
104British Virgin Islands13.6-0.3
105Nauru13.4-1.3
105Nicaragua13.4-0.8
105Seychelles13.4+0.1
108Brazil13.3-1.3
108Mauritius13.3+0.3
108Panama13.3-0.2
111Colombia13.1-0.4
111Peru13.1-0.3
113Iran13-0.5
114São Tomé and Príncipe12.9-1.1
115Ecuador12.2-0.3
116Bahamas12.1-0.1
116Belize12.1-0.5
118Lebanon11.8+0.3
119Armenia11.7-0.5
120El Salvador11.5-0.5
121Barbados11.2-0.3
122Türkiye10.1-0.4
123Libya9.8-0.4
124Thailand9.5-0.3
125Argentina9.4-0.3
126Tonga9.2-0.2
127Brunei9.10
128Oman8.9-0.1
129Ukraine8.7-0.2
130Georgia8.5-0.2
130North Macedonia8.5-0.9
132Kazakhstan8.4-0.4
133Antigua and Barbuda8.3-0.1
134Albania7.7+0.1
134Costa Rica7.70
134Kuwait7.70
137Maldives7.4-0.6
138China7-0.6
139Uruguay6.8-0.3
140Malaysia6.70
140Sri Lanka6.7-0.3
142Romania6.6-0.5
143Chile6.5-0.2
144Saudi Arabia6.4-0.4
145Bahrain6.30
146Bulgaria6.1-0.3
147Bosnia and Herzegovina6+0.1
148Qatar5.9-0.3
149Malta5.6-0.1
149United Arab Emirates5.6-0.2
149United States5.6-0.1
152Russia5.5-0.5
153Cuba5.1+0.2
153Serbia5.1-0.1
155Slovakia5-0.1
156Canada4.5-0.1
156New Zealand4.5-0.1
158Croatia4.10
159Poland4-0.1
160Latvia3.8-0.2
160Turks and Caicos Islands3.8-0.1
160United Kingdom3.80
163Hungary3.7-0.3
163Lithuania3.7-0.3
165Greece3.60
165Switzerland3.6-0.1
167Netherlands3.50
168Denmark3.4-0.1
169Belgium3.3-0.1
169France3.3+0.1
171Australia3.20
171Germany3.2-0.1
173Andorra3.1-0.1
174Austria30
174Ireland3-0.1
174Israel3-0.1
174Montenegro3-0.2
178Portugal2.90
179Belarus2.8-0.1
179Italy2.8-0.1
181Monaco2.7-0.1
181South Korea2.7-0.1
181Spain2.70
184Czechia2.60
185Sweden2.30
186Cyprus2.2+0.1
186Estonia2.2-0.1
188Luxembourg2.10
188Norway2.10
188Singapore2.10
191Iceland20
191Slovenia2-0.1
193Finland1.9-0.1
193Japan1.9-0.1
195San Marino1.6-0.1

Other periods

About this ranking

Deaths of infants before their first birthday per 1,000 live births in the year.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

World Bank, World Development Indicators, modelled estimate. Mortality rate, infant, per 1,000 live births (SP.DYN.IMRT.IN). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

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Questions

Which country has the highest infant mortality rate?

South Sudan, with 181.5 per 1,000 live births in 2017, according to the World Bank.

Which country has the lowest infant mortality rate?

San Marino, with 1.6 per 1,000 live births in 2017.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: World Bank, Mortality rate, infant, per 1,000 live births (SP.DYN.IMRT.IN). Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Infant mortality rate: other rankings

Countries: more rankings