1992.00.00 :  Infant Mortality Data

Contact:  Sandra Smith (301) 436-7551
1992 Press Release (No Date)

        HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., today released the
latest U.S. provisional infant mortality rate, an estimated 8.9
deaths per 1,000 live births for  
1991.  The 1991 provisional
infant mortality rate is down 2 percent from the provisional rate
of 9.1 for 1990, and continues the long downward trend in infant
mortality.     
        The 1989 final infant mortality rate was 9.8.  The drop
in infant mortality between 1989 and 1990 was the largest in over
a decade and was attributed in part to the development and use of
new drugs to treat respiratory distress syndrome.   
        "Each year we expect to see a lower infant mortality rate
for the nation, and I am gratified that 1991 is no exception,"
Secretary Sullivan said.  "However, over 36,000 infants died in
1991, and there is still much to be done to prevent infant
mortality."      
        Births, Marriages, Divorces and Deaths, 1991, from the
National Center for Health Statistics also provides summary
information on other nationwide statistics.  There were an
estimated 4,111,000 births in 1991, down 2 percent from the
previous year and reversing a five-year trend.  The number of
births had risen steadily from 1986 to 1990 by 11 percent
overall.  The birth rate of 16.2 per 1,000 population was 3
percent lower than the rate of 16.7 in 1990. 
        Marriages also declined in *This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated. 
1991.  There were an estimated
2,371,000 marriages performed in 1991, a 3-percent decline from
the number in 1990.   The 1,187,000 divorces granted in 1991 was
one percent higher than in 1990, but the divorce rate remained
the same at 4.7 per 1,000 population.
        Overall, deaths in 1991 totaled an estimated 2,165,000,
about 3,000 more than in the previous year, but the death rate of
8.5 per 1,000 population was 1 percent lower than in 1990. 
Provisional vital statistics are published monthly and are based
on counts of vital events received from state vital statistics
offices and reported to NCHS through the Vital Statistics
Cooperative Program.  NCHS is part of the Centers for Disease
Control, one of the eight Public Health Service agencies within
the Department of Health and Human Services.
        Copies of the report are available from NCHS, Room 1064,
6525 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, Md. 20782.


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