The infant mortality rate in Iceland was the lowest in the world in 2011, 1.1 per 1,000 live births, according to new data published on the website of Statistics Iceland.

Photo: Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir/Iceland Review.

Singapore* is second, with 1.9 per 1,000 live births, followed by Japan and Sweden. Angola has the highest infant mortality 104.3 per 1,000 live births.

Around 60 years ago, the infant mortality in Iceland was 21.28 per 1,000 live births.

The mean life expectancy for Icelandic men was highest in Europe in 2011, along with Switzerland, with an average expected life span of 79.8 years.

Men in Russia have the shortest life span of men in Europe, or 62.4 years—close to 20 years less than the average Icelandic male. 

The mean life expectancy for Icelandic women was only the sixth highest in Europe, 83.2 years, three years longer than the Icelandic male. French women top the list with 85.0 years, followed by Spain with 84.6 and Switzerland with 84.3 years.

*The numbers from Singapore are older, from 2005 to 2010.

PS