Infant Mortality in Developing Countries

While infectious diseases continue to be major contributors to infant mortality in developing countries, birth defects account for a significant percentage of infant deaths when the infant mortality rate falls below 50/1000 live births. The table below lists developing countries in which the infant mortality rate had dropped below 50/1000 live births by 1999. It also includes data from the United States and United Kingdom for comparative purposes.

Country	Infant Mortality		Under 5 Mortality
	1960	1999	1960	1999
Algeria	152	36	255	41
Antigua/Barbuda	--	17	--	20
Argentina	60	19	72	22
Armenia	38	25	48	30
Azerbaijan	55	35	74	45
Bahamas	51	18	68	21
Bahrain	110	13	160	16
Barbados	74	14	90	16
Belize	74	35	104	43
Botswana*	118	46(39)	173	59(49)
Brazil	115	34	177	40
Brunei	63	8	87	9
Chile	107	11	138	12
China	150	33	225	41
Columbia	82	26	122	31
Cook Is.	--	26	--	30
Costa Rica	80	13	112	14
Cuba	39	6	54	8
Cyprus	30	7	36	8
Dominica	--	16	--	18
Dominican Rep.	102	43	149	49
Ecuador	107	27	178	35
Egypt	189	41	282	52
El Salvador	130	35	191	42
Fiji	71	18	97	22
Georgia	52	19	70	23
Grenada	--	22	--	27
Guatemala	136	45	202	60
Honduras	137	33	204	42
Indonesia	128	38	216	52
Iran	164	37	281	46
Jamaica	58	10	76	11
Jordan	97	29	139	35
Kazakhstan	55	35	74	42
Korea DPR	85	23	120	30
Korea Rep.	90	5	127	5
Kuwait	89	11	128	12
Lebanon	65	28	85	32
Libya	159	19	270	22
Malaysia	73	8	105	9
Mauritius	67	19	92	23
Mexico	94	27	134	33
Micronesia	--	20	--	24
Morocco	132	45	211	53
Nauru	--	25	--	30
Nicaragua	130	38	193	47
Oman	164	14	280	16
Palau	--	28	--	34
Panama	58	21	88	27
Paraguay	66	27	90	32
Peru	142	42	234	52
Philippines	80	31	110	42
Qatar	94	12	140	16
St. Kitts/Nevis	--	24	--	29
St. Lucia	--	17	--	19
St. Vincent/Grenadines	--	21	--	25
Samoa	134	21	210	26
Saudi Arabia	170	20	250	25
Seychelles	--	13	--	17
Singapore	31	4	40	4
Solomon Is.	120	22	185	26
South Africa*	89	54(49)	130	69(65)
Sri Lanka	83	17	133	19
Suriname	70	27	98	34
Syria	136	25	201	30
Thailand	103	26	148	30
Tonga	--	18	--	22
Trinidad/Tobago	61	17	73	20
Tunisia	170	24	254	30
Turkey	163	40	219	48
Tuvalu	--	40	--	56
United Arab Emirates	149	8	223	9
Uruguay	48	15	56	17
Uzbekistan	84	45	120	58
Vanuatu	141	37	225	46
Venezuela	56	20	75	23
Vietnam	147	31	219	40
United Kingdom**	23	6	27	6
United States**	26	7	30	8

Source: UNICEF State of the World's Children, 2001 and 1999 editions.

* Country in which the HIV/AIDS pandemic has reversed the positive trend. Data in parentheses from 1997.

** Industrialized countries listed for comparative purposes.