Infant mortality is the growing problem of today’s world, engulfing the large number of children at early stage of their life. Demise before hitting the age of one, termed as Infant mortality, mostly caused by weakness at birth and diarrhea, is increasing in most least developed countries. A latest statistics shows that 4.6 million (74% of all under-five deaths) occurred within the first year of life in 2013. Globally, the infant mortality rate has declined from a 63 to 34 deaths per 1000 live births from 1990 to 2013. Annual infant’s deaths have decreased from 8.9 million in 1990 to 4.6 million in 2013. Several developed countries have lowest infant’s mortality rate where few number of deaths occurs annually. The infant death rate in the WHO European region is 5 times lower than that in the WHO African countries. The economically poorest nations with marginalized populations are bearing the heaviest burden of highest infant’s deaths rates. Great decline in infant mortality rate is seen in countries which already have lowest rates. It is clearly evident that death risk is higher if birth weights is lower, and most common factors involved in low birth weight are socio-economic, psychological and environmental. The lowest mortality rates occur among babies weighing 3 kg to 3.5 kg. The longer the birth space, the lower the risk for mortality. Births space of 3 years is the best approach to have healthy baby to lower the mortality risk. Females, biologically, have lower risk of death than males. Paying attention on controlling preterm and low birth weight can be helpful in attaining lowest infant death in the country. A latest research by The Economist reveals that economic slowdowns lessen the level of air pollution, which leads to a lower child mortality rate. To further shed some light on this prominent issue, the following list ranks the countries with the lowest infant’s mortality rates in the world.
Top Ten Countries with Lowest Infant Mortality Rate
| Rank | Country | (Infant’s deaths/1,000 live births) 2014 estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Monaco | 1.81 |
| 2. | Japan | 2.13 |
| 3. | Norway | 2.48 |
| 4. | Singapore | 2.53 |
| 5. | Sweden | 2.60 |
| 6. | Czech Republic | 2.63 |
| 7. | Iceland | 3.15 |
| 8. | France | 3.31 |
| 9. | Italy | 3.31 |
| 10. | Spain | 3.33 |
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