16 Countries with the Highest Infant Mortality Rates in the World in 2017

Your hearts should go out to the 16 countries with the highest infant mortality rates in the world in 2017.

The parents in these countries not only have to deal with abject poverty but also the possibility that their babies might not live past their first year. It’s easy to forget how privileged we are to live in a first-world country with only first-world problems like obesity and materialism, in one of the top 5 countries with the lowest infant mortality rates. The US infant mortality rate compared to other countries like these is incredibly low. To learn more about that check out 10 States with Highest Infant Mortality Rates. But what about the people who are lucky to eat once in a day and have never known the luxuries of modern medicine?

These are the countries that face high risks of infant death, because of a number of reasons from diseases to lack of fresh water to simply a lack of midwives or doctors. Many of these countries reside in Africa, but some are spread throughout the middle east as well. It’s no wonder that some of them ended up on the list of unhappiest, most depressing and saddest countries in the world, we compiled a while ago. So as Christmas approaches and we’re given a bounty of blessings like overflowing plates of cookies and the latest electronic devices, let’s say a prayer for the countries on this list whose families may be minus a member or two this year.

To discover the highest infant mortality rates in certain countries for 2017, we simply pulled from five different reputable and current lists of countries with high infant mortality rates. The lists included Statista’s Countries With the Highest Infant Mortality Rate, Photius’s Infant Mortality Rate Total 2017, Geoba’s Infant Mortality Rate 2017,  CIA’s (The World Factbook) Infant Mortality Rate, and World Population Review’s Infant Mortality Rate By Country. Though many of the same countries were mentioned on these lists in the same order, there were a few differences because of their different methodologies (see the sites to know what those methodologies were). So, we devised a points system that could truly show the worst of the worst. Each time a country was between first and fifth on a list, we gave it three points. Each time a country was between sixth and tenth, we gave it two points, and each time a country was between eleventh and sixteenth, we gave it one point. This makes for a points possible amount of 15, in which points count against each country. This way, we could truly determine a good ranking system. And get ready, because number one on our list of highest infant mortality rates 2017 did reach that high score of 15.

But remember, there are only 16 countries on this list, so just because a country is low on this list doesn’t mean its infant mortality rate is also low. Out of the hundreds of countries in the world, even number 16 is one of the worst countries to be if you’re an infant in 2017.

So without further ado, here it is 16 countries with the highest infant mortality rates in the world in 2017.

16. Malawi

2 points

Blame pneumonia, underweight infants, diarrheal diseases and malaria for the infant deaths in Malawi.

15. Equatorial Guinea

3 points

Lack of potable water may be the sole cause of infant deaths here.

14. Mozambique

4 points

The natural disasters that often occur in this country contribute to its poverty, and ultimately to its infant mortality rate.

13. South Sudan

5 points

This country’s rate has actually reduced since the sixties.

12.  Democratic Republic of Congo

6 points

This country ranks 12th on our list of countries with the highest infant mortality rates in the world in 2017. It is responsible for over 6% of the national under-five mortality.

11. Nigeria

7 points

UNICEF says that nearly ten percent of the newborn deaths in the world occurred in this wonderful country.

10. Burkina Faso

8 points

The lifetime risk for pregnant women here is one in twenty-eight. Also, the number of midwives per one thousand births is only five.

8. Angola

9 points

Malaria, domestic violence, and deficient niacin are much to blame for the high infant mortality rate here.

8. Sierra Leone

9 points

This country has a life expectancy of a whopping 47 years. Seniors stay away.

7. Niger

11 points

We’re halfway through our list of countries with the highest infant mortality rates in the world in 2017, and in the 7th place we have Niger, with 82.8 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. These numbers are truly devastating.

6. Mali

12 points

The child mortality rate here has grown by 50% within the last 20 years.

4. Afghanistan

13 points

This country on our list of 16 countries with the highest infant mortality rates for 2017 topped many of the lists we reviewed, and it’s also the country with one of the lowest life expectancies — 50 years.

4. Chad

13 points

One in five children will die before reaching age 5 here.

2. Somalia

14 points

The maternal mortality rate in this country is also 600 out of 100,000, so stay away from this country if you’re anywhere close to 9 months along.

2. Guinea Bissau

14 points

Here, more than 23.8% of children die before the age of one year. Wouldn’t want to be an infant in this country.

1. Central African Republic

15 points

With 88.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, this country ‘wins’ as the top 16 countries with the highest infant mortality rates in the world in 2017! Or, loses in this case.

Thanks for reading!