Asian Americans generally have lower infant mortality rates than the overall population.
- Non-Hispanic Asian American infants were 1.4 times more likely to die from impacts from maternal complications of pregnancy than non-Hispanic white infants in 2022.1
- In 2022, non-Hispanic Asian American mothers had the lowest percentage of having smoked during pregnancy of all racial and ethnic groups.2
Infant Mortality Rate
| Infant mortality, rate per 1,000 live births, 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Non-Hispanic Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
| 3.5 | 4.5 | 0.8 |
| Infant mortality by age of mother, rate per 1,000 live births, 2022 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Age of Mother | Non-Hispanic Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
| Under 20 years | -- | 10.5 | -- |
| 20–24 years | 4.4 | 6.5 | 0.7 |
| 25–29 years | 4.0 | 4.3 | 0.9 |
| 30–34 years | 3.3 | 3.7 | 0.9 |
| 35–39 years | 3.1 | 3.7 | 0.8 |
| 40–54 years | 3.9 | 5.4 | 0.7 |
Leading Causes of Infant Mortality
| Infant mortality rate for the top 5 leading causes of death for Asian Americans, rate per 100,000 live births, 2022 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cause of Death | Non-Hispanic Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
| (1) Congenital Malformations | 70.3 | 99.6 | 0.7 |
| (2) Low Birthweight | 56.6 | 51.9 | 1.1 |
| (3) Maternal complications of pregnancy | 31.1 | 21.7 | 1.4 |
| (5) Accidents (unintentional injuries) | 14.2 | 33.7 | 0.4 |
| (7) Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) | 12.8 | 32.8 | 0.4 |
Medical and Health Characteristics of Births
| Mother received late or no prenatal care, percentage, 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Non-Hispanic Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
| 4.5 | 4.7 | 1.0 |
| Mother smoked during pregnancy, percentage, 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Non-Hispanic Asian | Non-Hispanic White | Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
| 0.3 | 5.4 | 0.1 |
1 CDC, 2024. Infant Mortality in the United States, 2022: Data from the Period Linked Birth/Infant Death File. National Vital Statistics Reports, vol. 73, no. 5. Table 4. (Back to top)
2 CDC, 2024. Births: Final Data for 2022. National Vital Statistics Reports, vol. 73, no. 2. Tables 13 and 14. (Back to top)