Insee Première · April 2025 · n° 2048

One child out of 250 dies before the age of one in France

In 2024, 2,700 children under the age of one died in France, which is equivalent to 4.1 deaths for every 1,000 live births. Since 2011, the infant mortality rate has increased slightly, from 3.5 ‰ to 4.1 ‰ in 2024. This increase was uniquely due to the mortality rate of 1 to 27 days of life, going from 1.5 ‰ to 2.0 ‰. Since 2015, the infant mortality rate in France has been higher than the EU average.

Boys were 1.2 times more likely than girls to die before the age of one, and children from multiple births (such as twins or triplets) were 5 times more at risk than any other children. Mothers living in the French overseas departments and those born in Africa (excluding North Africa) were twice as likely to lose their baby than other mothers. The risk was also higher for mothers who were very young or very old, employees, blue-collar workers, and the economically inactive. On the other hand, the infant mortality rate was lower for mothers aged between 26 and 37.

Between 2010-2014 and 2015-2022, the infant mortality rate remained stable or increased slightly, regardless of the characteristics of the children, except for those born from multiple births, for whom it increased significantly.