I. Maternal & Infant Mortality
OECD Infant Mortality Data (2024)
US ranks 33rd of 38 rich countries for baby survival
Infant mortality rates across 38 OECD countries. The US ranks 33rd at 5.1 per 1,000. Sweden: 2.1. Norway: 1.6. Japan: 1.8. An infant is 3x more likely to die in the US than in Scandinavia.
The OECD publishes annual infant mortality rankings across its 38 member countries. The most recent release puts the United States 33rd out of 38, at 5.1 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.
Sweden sits at 2.1, Norway at 1.6, Japan at 1.8, Iceland and Estonia below 2 as well. The US rate is roughly three times higher than the Scandinavian average. About two-thirds of US infant deaths happen in the first month of life, often from prematurity-related complications.
The US does have a higher preterm birth rate than its peers, which explains part of the gap. But Scandinavian countries with similar preterm rates still produce better outcomes on infant survival, which means the gap is not just about who is being born early. It is about what happens to those babies and their mothers in the months around birth.
33rd / 38
US rank among OECD countries
5.1
US infant deaths per 1,000
1.6
Norway, same metric
~67%
US infant deaths in first month
Why it matters
A baby born in the United States is roughly three times more likely to die in their first year than a baby born in Norway. The numbers hold even after accounting for the most common explanations.
This is one finding from the research library behind How to Birth a Mother. Everything here traces back to a study, a dataset, or a systematic review.