The data displays the 20 countries* with the highest infant mortality rate in 2017. An estimated 110.6 infants per 1,000 live births died in the first year of life in Afghanistan in 2017.
Infant and child mortality
Infant mortality usually refers to the death of children younger than one year. Child mortality, which is often used synonymously with infant mortality, is the death of children younger than five. Among the main causes are pneumonia, diarrhea – which causes dehydration – and infections in newborns, with malnutrition also posing a severe problem.
