Description:  Negative trend. During the 2012-2021 10-year period, infant mortality rate in Arkansas has increased from 7.1 to 8.6 deaths per 1,000 live births. Arkansas has had a higher infant mortality rate than the United States during the entire period. The national rate has gradually declined increasing the gap between Arkansas and the United States, especially since 2012.    

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Wide-ranging ONline Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER)

Notes: The infant mortality rate is usually defined as the number of babies who die out of every 1,000 babies who are born alive. High infant mortality also means that there are public health problems in the community that need to be addressed.