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6. Infant mortality in 1936 to 2010

Finland's infant mortality is nowadays one of the lowest in the whole world. Figure 13 shows infant mortality, that is, mortality among children aged under one. Towards the end of the 1930s, nearly every tenth child born died under the age of one. In 1936, 40 per cent of children dying under the age of one died from birth injuries, developmental defects or innate weakness. Many children also died from pneumonia, diseases and violence. Nowadays only a few per mille die at the age of under one, and the most common cause of death for children aged under one is inborn malformation. Infectious diseases are very rare causes of death among under one-year-olds.

Figure 13. Infant mortality in 1936 to 2010 per 1,000 births

In 2010, 138 children (infants) died under the age of one. Fifty per cent of children dying under the age of one died during their first week of life and two thirds during the first four weeks of life. Perinatal mortality (deaths during the first week and stillborn) was 4.1 per thousand births. The figure has been falling from the beginning of the 1980s to nearly one half. In 2010 there were 17 cot deaths.

Mortality of children aged 1 to 14 has more than halved in the last twenty years: in 1989 the number of deaths among children aged 1 to 14 was 197 and in 2010 just 92. This corresponds to around 11 deaths per 100,000 population. The lower number of deaths among children aged 1 to 14 is primarily caused by the decrease in accident mortality.

Maternal mortality started to fall already in the 1970s, after which around one to seven mothers have died per year. There were three maternal deaths in 2010.

Source: Causes of death, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Marja-Liisa Helminen (09) 1734 3273, Helena Korpi (09) 1734 3605, Irmeli Penttilä (09) 1734 3253, kuolemansyyt@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Updated 16.12.2011