The European Union has the lowest infant mortality rates worldwide.

Error detected

The EU average infant mortality rate of 3.3–3.5 per 1,000 live births is not 'the lowest worldwide.' Individual countries—including several EU member states such as Sweden, Finland, and Slovenia—have rates below 2.0 per 1,000, as do non-EU countries like Japan, Singapore, Iceland, and Norway.

Our World in Data identifies Japan, Sweden, and Finland as being 'at the very bottom' of global infant mortality rankings, well below the EU average.

Omissions

• The claim fails to specify a time period or data source, making the assertion appear as a timeless fact rather than a time-bound statistic.
• The EU average masks wide internal variation: some member states (e.g., Sweden, Finland) have among the world's lowest rates, while others (e.g., Romania, France in 2024) exceed the EU average considerably.
• The Our World in Data source was published in 2022 and may not reflect the most recent data available as of the session date, though the relative ranking of countries has remained stable.

Sources

• PrimaryEurostat – Mortality and life expectancy statisticsBetween 2014 and 2024, the infant mortality rate in the EU fell from 3.6 deaths per 1 000 live births to 3.5 deaths per 1 000 live births.
• PrimaryOECD – Health at a Glance 2025: Maternal and infant mortalityIn the 3-year period 2021-2023, infant mortality averaged 4.0 deaths per 1 000 live births across OECD countries, down from 4.1 deaths per 1 000.
• SecondaryEuronews – EU's infant mortality rates paint an unexpectedly bleak pictureEU average of 3.3 deaths per 1,000 live births from 2023. In 2024, both France and Romania reported infant mortality rates surpassing the EU average of 3.3 deaths per 1,000 live births from 2023.
• SecondaryOur World in Data – Where in the world are babies at the lowest risk of dying?Japan, Sweden, and Finland are at the very bottom. They're consistently among the best, even when we adjust for reporting inconsistencies.