In the EU-28 in 2017, around 18 200 children died before reaching one year of age; this was equivalent to an infant mortality rate of 3.6 deaths per 1 000 live births.
During the 10 years from 2007 to 2017, the infant mortality rate in the EU fell from 4.4 deaths per 1 000 live births to 3.6 deaths per 1 000 live births; extending the analysis to the last 20 years, the infant mortality rate was almost halved (6.8 deaths per 1 000 in 1997).
In 2017, the highest infant mortality rates in the EU were registered in Malta and Romania (both 6.7 deaths per 1 000 live births) and Bulgaria (6.4 deaths), and the lowest in Cyprus (1.3 deaths) and Finland (2.0 deaths).
For more information, see the Statistics Explained article: Mortality and life expectancy statistics.
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