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Infant Mortality Rate

The infant mortality ratio is of the number of infant deaths per 1000 live births in a population per year. It is a standard indicator of population health because it reflects the health status of women and infants as well as access to medical care, socioeconomic conditions and public health practices. Infant mortality is often used as an indicator of overall human development of a nation. In Canada, the infant mortality ratio has decreased from 27 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1960 to five per 1,000 live births in 2004 (1).  

Figure 1 below shows the infant mortality ratio in Simcoe Muskoka and Ontario from 1986-2005. Similar to the national trend, the Simcoe Muskoka and Ontario ratios have both decreased in this time period: from 7.1 to 5.5 deaths per 1,000 live births in Ontario and from 9.3 to 4.2 deaths per 1,000 live births in Simcoe Muskoka. These data are from the Vital Statistics and Population Estimates databases.

Figure 1: