NEW YORK (AP) — The rate at which babies in the United States die before their first birthday has dropped to its lowest level ever recorded, according to early government figures released this year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in 2025, the infant mortality rate came in at just under 5.4 deaths for every 1,000 live births. That’s a step down from roughly 5.5 in 2024 and approximately 5.6 during each of the two years before that. Though the change may seem minor, health researchers say it carries real statistical weight — amounting to hundreds fewer infant deaths annually.
Pinpointing exactly what is behind the improvement is challenging, but Dr. Michael Warren, chief medical and health officer for the March of Dimes, called it a positive sign. “This is an encouraging data point, and we hope that this trend will continue,” he said.
Infant mortality tracks how many babies die before reaching their first birthday. Because the number of births changes from year to year, researchers use rates rather than raw numbers to make meaningful comparisons over time.
The total count of infant deaths is also trending downward. Provisional CDC figures show approximately 19,350 babies died in 2025 — down from around 20,050 in 2024 and about 20,160 in 2023. Those preliminary numbers may shift slightly as further analysis is completed, but the overall direction is expected to hold.
Over the past three decades, the U.S. rate has gradually improved, falling from 7.5 deaths per 1,000 births — a decline credited to advances in medicine and public health campaigns. Even so, the U.S. continues to perform worse than other high-income countries. A study published last year found that in 2022, the American infant mortality rate was nearly double that of several comparable wealthy democracies, including Italy, Japan, Spain, and Sweden. Experts point to poverty, limited access to prenatal care, and other systemic issues as contributing factors.
That 2022 figure was notable for another reason — it marked the first statistically significant increase in the U.S. infant mortality rate in roughly two decades. Health officials linked that spike to a resurgence of RSV and flu infections among infants.
In response, U.S. health authorities in 2023 began recommending two new protective measures: a lab-created antibody shot designed to help infants’ immune systems fight RSV, and an RSV vaccine for pregnant women between 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy. A March of Dimes expert stated last year that these interventions likely played a role in the improvement seen in 2024.
Warren also noted that a drop in sudden infant death syndrome cases may be connected to growing awareness and education around safe sleep practices for babies.
The CDC posted its 2025 preliminary data in late May. On Tuesday, the agency released a more detailed breakdown of 2024 infant mortality figures. Key findings from that report include:
— Death rates fell for both the youngest infants — those under 28 days old — and for slightly older babies. Preliminary 2025 data suggest those declines have continued.
— Racial disparities in infant mortality remained pronounced in 2024. Babies born to Black women died at more than twice the rate of infants born to Hispanic, white, and Asian American women.
— Researchers observed a drop in the mortality rate for full-term infants born at 39 to 40 weeks gestation, though rates for other gestational age groups did not change significantly.
— Among individual states, Mississippi recorded the highest infant mortality rate at 9.65 deaths per 1,000 births, while New Hampshire had the lowest at just under 3 per 1,000.
Warren addressed the wide variation between states, saying: “These differences are reflective of a variety of reasons related to access to care, community factors, and policies that improve health and outcomes.”
