per 1,000 live births in 2022, up from 3.7 in 2021
Neonatal mortality rate
1.5 deaths
per 1,000 live births, up from 1.4 in 2021
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Overview
Child and infant mortality rates in England and Wales have fallen steeply since records began in the 1980s, but progress has slowed considerably in recent years. In 2022, mortality rates for all age groups were higher than in 2021.
In England and Wales in 2022, the mortality rate for:
children (aged 1 to 15 years) was 10 per 100,000 people (1,019 deaths).
infants (aged under 1 year) was 3.9 per 1,000 live births (2,349 deaths).
neonates (born at 24 weeks or later, and aged under 28 days) was 2.9 per 1,000 live births
There were 3.9 stillbirths per 1,000 births in England and Wales in 2022.
In Wales, there were:
3.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022 (102 deaths). This is the same infant mortality rate as in 2021
1.6 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births
4.4 stillbirths per 1,000 births
Long-term trends in infant mortality
The infant mortality rate in England and Wales has fallen steeply in recent decades, with current rates a third what they were when records began in 1980. This is likely because of general improvements in antenatal and neonatal care.
However, this decline has slowed. The infant mortality rate in England and Wales has remained fairly stable over the past 10 years, with small rises recorded in both 2021 and 2022.
The decline in infant mortality rate has slowed in recent years
Figure 1: Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births, England and Wales, 1980 – 2022
Source - Child and infant mortality in England and Wales: 2022, from the Office for National StatisticsDownload Figure 1 data:
We look specifically at those aged under 28 days (neonates) because they are some of the most vulnerable infants. Since 2010, the neonatal mortality rate and still birth rate in England have both declined, although both rates have risen slightly since 2020.
Neonatal deaths and stillbirths have risen slightly since 2020
Figure 2: Neonatal mortality rate and stillbirth rate, England and Wales, 2010 to 2022
Source - Child and infant mortality in England and Wales: 2022, from the Office for National StatisticsDownload Figure 2 data:
Stillbirth data in this chart refer to stillborn babies born at 24 weeks and over.
Neonatal death data in this chart refer to babies who were born alive at 24 weeks and over, and died within 28 days of birth.
Child and infant deaths: causes
In 2022, the leading cause of death for children aged 28 days to 15 years was congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities, accounting for 17.7% of deaths. This was followed by neoplasms (tumors), at 14.7%.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) appeared 2.7% of death certificates of children aged 28 days to 15 years in 2022 (a slight decrease from 2.9% in 2021). Of these deaths, COVID-19 was listed as an underlying cause of death in just over half.
Infant deaths: risk factors
Mortality rates can differ based on certain traits of babies and their parents. We call these characteristics that are associated with differences in mortality rates risk factors.
Risk factors for infant deaths include birthweight, ethnicity, deprivation and maternal age.
There are many other risk factors that we cannot explore with the data we have, such as whether the mother smokes or is obese, and alcohol consumption levels. For more information, see the Child Health in 2030 in England (PDF, 1078KB) report from the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child health.
Birthweight
Birthweight is a trait closely associated with infant mortality. The mortality rate for infants with low birthweight (weighing under 2.5 kilograms) was 29.9 per 1,000 live births in 2022. Babies weighing 2,500 grams or more had a much lower mortality rate, at 0.8 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Deprivation
Babies from the most deprived areas have consistently seen higher mortality rates than those from least deprived areas.
In 2022, babies from the 10% of areas (lower layer super output areas) with the highest deprivation levels in England had a mortality rate of 6.1 deaths per 1,000 live births. This was three times the mortality rate of babies from the 10% of areas with the lowest deprivation levels (2.2 deaths per 1,000 live births).
Infants from the most deprived areas have the highest mortality rate
Figure 3: Infant mortality rate, by deprivation, England, 2010 to 2022
Source - Child and infant mortality in England and Wales: 2022, from the Office for National StatisticsDownload Figure 3 data:
We also compare mortality rates by the occupation group of the babies' parents (using a socio-economic classification called NS-SEC). These statistics are available in the Data on child and infant mortality section.
Ethnicity
Infants from Black and Asian ethnic groups have consistently had higher mortality rates than babies of other ethnicities. For both groups, the mortality rate has risen since 2020.
Meanwhile infants from White ethnic groups have consistently seen the lowest mortality rates.
Infants from from Black and Asian ethnic groups have the highest mortality rates
Figure 4: Infant mortality rate by ethnicity, England and Wales, 2007 to 2022
Source - Child and infant mortality in England and Wales: 2022, from the Office for National StatisticsDownload Figure 4 data:
Infants born to mothers aged under 20 years, or mothers aged 40 years and over, have had higher mortality rates over the past decade than infants born to mothers in their twenties or thirties.
Infants born to mothers aged under 20 years had the highest mortality rate in 2022, at 5.5 deaths per 1,000 live births. Meanwhile, babies born to mothers aged 30 to 39 years had the lowest mortality rate, at 3.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Neonatal deaths: causes and risk factors
For neonates (babies under 28 days old), immaturity-related conditions (problems associated with premature birth) accounted for 51.2% of deaths. Congenital abnormalities and antepartum infections combined accounted for another 41.6%
An important risk factor for neonatal deaths is gestational age. The neonatal mortality rate in England and Wales was 2.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022. For babies born at 37 to 41 weeks’ gestation (over 90% of all live births) the rate was even lower, at 0.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.
However, for babies born before 24 weeks' gestation, the neonatal mortality rate was much higher, at 778.6 deaths per 1,000 live births. Although only representing about 0.1% of all live births, these babies accounted for 29.5% of all neonatal deaths in 2022. This is because premature birth increases the risk of serious health complications.
Improvements in the neonatal mortality rate since 2010 have been more significant for babies of higher gestational ages. The mortality rate for babies born between 27 and 41 weeks has fallen by a third, while for babies born before 24 weeks' gestation, it has fallen by just 5.4%.
Definitions
Child
Aged 1 to 15 years.
Child mortality rate
The number of child deaths, per 100,000 live births.
Infant death
The death of those aged under 1 year.
Infant mortality rate
The number of infant deaths, per 1,000 live births.
Neonatal death
The death of an infant aged under 28 days.
Stillbirth
A baby born after 24 or more weeks' completed gestation and which did not, at any time, breathe or show signs of life.
Annual statistics on births and infant deaths based on babies born in a calendar
year that died before their first birthday linked to their corresponding birth
notification and their corresponding death registration.
What these statistics cover, how we produce them, their strengths and limitations, and definitions. Includes latest changes to qaulity and methods.
Accredited official statistics
These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in February 2012.
They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be
labelled "accredited official statistics".
Annual live births, stillbirths, maternities, and fertility rates in England and Wales by factors including parent age, ethnicity, deprivation, gestational age, and birthweight.
Registered deaths by age, sex, selected underlying causes of death and the leading causes of death. Contains death rates and death registrations by area of residence and single year of age.
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