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Infant mortality in some of England's most disadvantaged areas fell by 16% from April 2025 to March 2026 compared with the previous year, according to the latest national data published by the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) at the University of Bristol.
The findings are published in the NCMD's annual Child Death Review Data Release for the year ending March 31, 2026. The NCMD collects and analyzes information from Child Death Overview Panels on all child deaths under the age of 18 in England to identify where action could prevent future deaths.
In the 12 months to March 31, 2026, 3,223 children aged 0–17 died in England, equivalent to an estimated rate of 27.0 deaths per 100,000 children. The total number of child deaths fell by 8% compared with the previous year, reaching its lowest level since 2020–21.
Neonatal deaths (babies under 28 days of age) accounted for 44% of all child deaths, while deaths of infants (babies under 1 year of age) accounted for 61% of all child deaths. For children aged between 1 and 17 years, the highest death rate continued to be for children aged between 15 and 17 years (17.1 per 100,000), followed by 1–4-year-olds (14.0 per 100,000).
Deaths among infants under 1 year of age fell by 7%, while deaths among children aged 1–17 fell by 8%. 9 deaths per 100,000 children in that age group.
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