Estonia had an average of 1.6 infant deaths per 1,000 births in 2018, making it the safest country to give birth and survive, Eurostat said, and far below the EU average of 3.4 per 1,000. Data from 2018 is the most recent available for comparison across all countries.

Slovenia had the next lowest infant mortality rate at 1.7, followed by Sweden, on 2.0.  The respective figures for Latvia and Lithuania were 3.2 and 3.4. In Finland, it was 2.1.

Romania, at six deaths in every 1,000, was the worst-performing country in the EU.

In 2018, approximately 14,600 babies died in the EU before reaching the age of one. 

Ten years ago the average infant mortality rate across the European Union was 6.6 deaths for every 1,000 births. Developments in both medicine and social assistance are likely to have been behind the drop.

Data on Estonia have been used by Eurostat from the Population Register and the Causes of Death.

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