Countries by Mortality rate, infant, female (per 1,000 live births)
South Sudan ranks first with a female infant mortality rate of 66.8 per 1,000 live births in 2023, the highest among 196 countries measured. At the other end, San Marino records 1.3, producing a gap of 65.5 units between the extremes. The spread across this ranking reflects the wide variation in survival conditions for female infants in the first year of life.
Ranking 2023
Analysis
This metric tracks the number of female infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 female live births in a given year. It counts only female infant deaths in the first 12 months of life and does not capture deaths beyond that window or male infant mortality. Data come from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SP.DYN.IMRT.FE.IN, for the reference year 2023. The dataset covers 196 countries, all with data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. Sixteen extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold. The range runs from 1.3 to 66.8, a spread of over 5,000%, and average year-over-year change is 3.3%, indicating gradual rather than volatile movement across the dataset.
The top of the ranking is concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. South Sudan leads at 66.8 (rank 1), followed by Somalia at 62.3 (rank 2) and Niger at 62.2 (rank 3). Nigeria (rank 4, 54.8), Guinea (rank 5, 54.6), Central African Republic (rank 6, 53.6), Chad (rank 7, 52.5), and Mali (rank 8, 52.4) all exceed 50. Sierra Leone (rank 9, 50.9) and Lesotho (rank 10, 49.7) round out the top ten. Pakistan (rank 13, 45.1) is the highest-ranked country outside Africa in the top 15, illustrating that high female infant mortality is not confined to one region.
The middle of the ranking shows considerable diversity. India sits at rank 55 with a value of 24.2, while Brazil is at rank 103 with 11.0. Lesotho (rank 10, 49.7) is a notable outlier relative to neighboring southern African countries: Namibia ranks 28th at 34.6 and Botswana 30th at 34.1, both considerably lower. Dominica appears at rank 36 with a value of 31.0, placing it alongside Lao PDR (rank 36, 31.0) and above several larger nations. The United States ranks 141st at 5.0, higher than many European peers such as Germany (rank 166, 2.9) and the United Kingdom (rank 157, 3.6). The bottom of the ranking is dominated by European nations and high-income East Asian countries, with Singapore (rank 194, 1.6), Estonia (rank 195, 1.4), and San Marino (rank 196, 1.3) recording the lowest values.
Several data limitations apply to this metric. Estimates for countries with weak civil registration systems rely on modeling rather than direct vital statistics, which can affect precision. The metric measures only female infant deaths and does not allow direct comparison with overall infant mortality unless paired with the male equivalent. Cross-country comparisons can be affected by differences in how births and infant deaths are registered, particularly in countries with low institutional delivery rates. The World Bank indicator aggregates multiple underlying data sources, and the reliability of estimates varies by country. Values shown reflect modeled estimates for 2023 and may be revised as new survey or registration data become available.
Methodology
Rankings are based on the World Bank World Development Indicators indicator SP.DYN.IMRT.FE.IN for the reference year 2023. The source defines the metric as follows: infant mortality rate, female is the number of female infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 female live births in a given year. Values are expressed as absolute rates per 1,000 female live births. The dataset covers 196 countries, all of which have data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. Sixteen extreme outliers were detected at the 3-standard-deviation threshold. The full range runs from 1.3 (San Marino) to 66.8 (South Sudan), a spread of 5,038.5%. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 3.3%, indicating stable trends. Because higher values indicate worse outcomes for female infant survival, a higher rank in this list corresponds to a worse performance. Data limitations include reliance on modeled estimates for countries with incomplete civil registration, variation in reporting quality, and the exclusion of male infant deaths from this specific indicator.