Despite recent progress in preventing the deaths of its youngest citizens, the United States’ infant mortality rate is fourth highest among 29 of the world’s most developed nations, a new report says.
With 6.1 infant deaths per every 1,000 live births in 2010, the U.S. mortality rate was more than double those of Finland (2.3), Japan (2.3), Portugal (2.5) and Sweden (2.5), according to a study published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to trailing most European countries, the U.S. also lagged behind South Korea, Israel, Australia and New Zealand in 2010, the most recent year for which international statistics were available.
The infant mortality rate measures deaths of babies before their first birthday. The United States recorded 23,985 such deaths in 2011, according to the CDC.
