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.
Children (aged 1 to 5 years)
In 2022 there were 1,019 child deaths in England and Wales, or 10 deaths per 100,000 people. This is up from 852 deaths in 2021, 0r 8 per 100,000 people.
Infants (aged under 1 year)
In 2022 there were 2,349 infant deaths, equal to 3.9 per 1,000 live births. This is up slightly from 2,323 deaths in 2021, equal to 3.7 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Neonates (born at 24 weeks or late, and aged 28 days)
In 2022, 75% of infant deaths (1,764) were deaths of neonates aged under 28 days. The neonatal mortality rate was 2.9 deaths per 1,000 live births, up slightly from 2.7 per 1,000 live births in 2021.
Stillbirths
There were 4.0 stillbirths per 1,000 live births in England and Wales in 2022.
Child and infant mortality rates are generally higher for boys than for girls
Figure 1: Stillbirth rates and child and infant mortality rates, by sex, England and Wales,2022
Source - Child and infant mortality in England and Wales: 2022, from the Office for National StatisticsDownload Figure 1 data:
The infant mortality rate in England and Wales has fallen steeply in recent decades, with current rate almost 70% lower than it was when when records began in 1980. This is likely because of general improvements in antenatal and neonatal care.
However, this progress has slowed. The infant mortality rate 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 2: 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 2 data:
We look at those aged under 28 days (neonates) because they are some of the most vulnerable infants.
In England, the government has set an ambition to halve the 2010 neonatal mortality rate (for babies born at 24 weeks or later) and stillbirth rate by 2025. This means a target of 1.0 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births, and a target of 2.6 stillbirths per 1,000 births in 2025.
The neonatal mortality rate and stillbirth rate in England are both lower than they were in 2010, although there has been little progress since 2020.
Neonatal deaths and stillbirths have remained stable since 2020
Figure 3: Neonatal mortality rate and stillbirth rate, England, 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.
Causes of child and infant deaths
In 2022, the leading cause of death for children aged 28 days to 15 years was congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (birth defects), accounting for 17.7% of deaths. This was followed by neoplasms (tumors), at 14.7%.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) appeared on 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.
Risk factors for infant deaths
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 that we can examine include bithweight, ethnicity, deprivation and maternal age.
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. Infants weighing 2.5 kilograms or more had a much lower mortality rate, at 0.8 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Deprivation
Infants from the most deprived areas have consistently seen higher mortality rates than those from least deprived areas.
In 2022, infants from the most deprived 10% of areas in England had a mortality rate of 6.1 deaths per 1,000 live births. This was almost three times the mortality rate of infants 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 4: 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 4 data:
Infants with a parent with a job classed as 'routine' had higher mortality rates than infants with a parent working in a 'higher managerial, adminisstrative or professional' job. We carried out these comparisons using the National Statistics Socio-economic classification system. The figures 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 5: 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 5 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 20s or 30s.
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, infants born to mothers aged 30 to 39 years had the lowest mortality rate, at 3.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Causes and risk factors for neonatal deaths
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%
Gestational age
An important risk factor for neonatal deaths is gestational age, with premature birth increasing the risk of serious health complications.
The mortality rate for neonates born before 24 weeks' gestation was 778.6 deaths per 1,000 live births. Although only representing about 0.1% of all live births, these babies accounted for 37.1% of all neonatal deaths in 2022.
In comparison, the neonatal mortality rate for babies born at 37 to 41 weeks’ gestation (over 90% of all live births) was 0.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Improvements in neonatal mortality rate
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 35.6%, while for babies born before 24 weeks' gestation, it has fallen by just 5.4%.
Definitions
Antenatal
Describes anything during pregnancy, before the birth of a baby.
Antepartum infection
An infection that occurs during pregnancy.
Child
Aged 1 to 15 years.
Child mortality rate
The number of child deaths, per 100,000 live births.
Congenital abnormalities
Physical or developmental anomalies that occur in the womb, that can cause physical disabilities, developmental disorders or other health problems. Previously referred to as “birth defects”.
Early neonatal
Describes an infant aged under 7 days.
Infant
A child aged under 1 year.
Infant mortality rate
The number of infant deaths, per 1,000 live births.
Neonatal
Describes an infant aged under 28 days. Also referred to as “neonates”.
Postnatal
Describes anything in the period after a birth.
Postneonatal
Describes an infant aged 28 days to 1 year.
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.
Data from other statistics producers
Other statistics producers also publish data on child and infant mortality. We have labelled them as highly, broadly and not comparable with ONS data.
This is to understand if you can compare or combine them with ONS data.
Broadly
You can compare or combine these data with ONS data. However, there are a few
differences in the data sources or definitions or both that the statistics producer
used. This could affect how you use or interpret any compared or combined statistics.
Broadly
You can compare or combine these data with ONS data. However, there are a few
differences in the data sources or definitions or both that the statistics producer
used. This could affect how you use or interpret any compared or combined statistics.
Quality and methodology information for child and infant mortality statistics, detailing the strengths and limitations of the data, methods used and data uses and users.
Supporting information for Child and infant mortality statistics, which presents final statistics on stillbirths, infant deaths and childhood deaths that occurred in England and Wales in a calendar year.
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.
Support for issues related to this article
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