Infant mortality has dropped to the lowest level ever recorded in the United States, according to new preliminary data from the CDC - though it's still higher than in some other countries. According to the data, 5.36 infants per 1,000 live births died, down from 5.54 in 2024 and 5.63 in 2023. The results are based on death and birth certificates.
A baby in a hospital in a file photograph. Fred Dufour/AFP via Getty ImagesInfants is defined as children who have not yet reached their first birthday.
According to researchers, the decline is statistically meaningful and translates into hundreds of fewer infant deaths per year.
"This is an encouraging data point, and we hope that this trend will continue," said Dr. Michael Warren, chief medical and health officer for the March of Dimes.
Warren said it was difficult to pinpoint what was driving the decline.
As the Epoch Times notes further, the overall numbers have been going down. U.S. infant deaths fell to about 19,350 last year, according to provisional CDC data that may rise a little as additional analysis is completed. The final tally is still expected to be down from about 20,050 in 2024 and about 20,160 in 2023, according to the agency.
Leading causes of infant mortality are birth defects, preterm birth and low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome, unintentional injuries such as car accidents, and pregnancy complications, the CDC says.
The new data is not yet available by state. In 2024, infant mortality rates varied widely across states.
The CDC said this week in a report analyzing infant mortality data from 2024 that Mississippi had the highest infant mortality rate at 9.65 deaths per 1,000 births, and New Hampshire had the lowest, at just under 3 per 1,000.
"These differences are reflective of a variety of reasons related to access to care, community factors, and policies that improve health and outcomes," Warren said.
Not The LowestWorldwide, the infant mortality rate is 28 per 1,000 live births, according to the World Bank. The new U.S. rate is well below the average across countries.
A number of developed countries, though, boast lower rates, including Australia, Belgium, and Hungary.
From 2007 to 2022, infants were 78 percent more likely to die in the United States than in other high-income countries, researchers said in a 2025 paper.
Older children in the United States also faced higher odds of dying than kids in the other countries with high incomes.
In 2023, U.S. health officials began recommending two new measures aimed at protecting infants: a lab-made antibody shot for infants that helps the immune system fight off the respiratory syncytial virus, and an RSV vaccine for women between 32 weeks and 36 weeks of pregnancy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tyler Durden Thu, 06/18/2026 - 20:30Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times,
Firearms manufacturers Ruger and Rideout Arsenal are heading south, continuing a trend of firearms companies leaving Democrat-run states.
On June 10, Virginia-based Rideout Arsenal, a firearms designer and manufacturer, announced that it would invest $22 million to build a new manufacturing facility in Thomasville, Georgia. The investment would create 120 new jobs over the next several years, the company said.
"This relocation was not something we originally planned to pursue," Rideout founders Travis and Kelsey Rideout said in a statement.
"The reality is that recent anti-gun legislation in Virginia created a significant uncertainty for our company and ultimately forced us to look for a state where we could continue operating, investing, and growing with confidence."
These moves follow a trend in which firearms manufacturers such as Remington, Winchester, Stag Arms, Magpul, Troy Industries, Smith & Wesson, Dark Storm, and others have relocated over the past decade from left-leaning states such as New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Colorado to conservative states such as Florida, Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee.
"Firearm businesses are migrating to other states primarily because states like Virginia, Connecticut, Colorado, Massachusetts, and others are becoming increasingly hostile to Second Amendment rights and the ability for these companies to produce firearms in their states," Mark Oliva, public affairs director for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, told The Epoch Times.
"While Virginia was the latest example with Rideout Arsenal moving to Georgia, the move of Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc., to move their headquarters and expand production to Tennessee underscores the importance of firearm businesses finding greener pastures."
With Democrats in control of the legislature and the governorship, Virginia recently passed an array of new gun control laws, effective on July 1, including among other things a ban on the sale of various semi-automatic firearms, and certain large-capacity magazines, unserialized firearms, as well as new restrictions on carrying firearms in public places. Virginia also enacted laws to expand civil liability for gun manufacturers and dealers.
In welcoming Rideout to his state, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp stated that his state's "pro-business approach, skilled workforce, and enduring support for constitutional freedoms make us an ideal home for manufacturers like Rideout Arsenal."
In May, it became public that Ruger had relocated its head office from Fairfield, Connecticut, to Mayodan, North Carolina, at the start of the year. Although the company has not issued a public statement, it listed Mayodan as its location in its quarterly earnings report and has since confirmed the move.
Connecticut, once known as the "arsenal of democracy," had been home to several of America's largest firearms manufacturers, including Smith & Wesson, Winchester, and now Sturm, Ruger & Co. Since the 2012 massacre of 26 first-grade children and teachers at Sandy Hook School in Newtown, the state has passed a series of laws to limit access to guns. In addition, the state has been the site of a number of lawsuits against gun makers, such as the $73 million settlement of a lawsuit brought by the parents of Sandy Hook children against Remington and threats of civil litigation against Ruger in November 2025.
Moving out of left-leaning states may lead to a more business-friendly environment, but it will do little to protect firearms manufacturers from lawsuits, Oliva said.
"The threat of litigation is still alive, since states like New Jersey and New York have pursued laws that allow for loosely designed 'public nuisance' lawsuits to skirt the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act," Oliva said. "The move to these states is more about the ability to produce the firearms today's gun owners want and the legislative threats to that business."
The 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act prohibits lawsuits against manufacturers or dealers of firearms and ammunition for harm solely caused by criminal misuse of their products.
Tyler Durden Thu, 06/18/2026 - 20:05