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Ministry of Health
TABLE 4
TRENDS OF INFANT MORTALITY
BRITISH COLUMBIA AND CANADA, 1965-1998

  British Columbia Canada
  Age at Death (in Days)  
  0-6 Days 0-27 Days 28-364 Days   Total  
Year Number Rate Number Rate Number Rate N.S. Number Rate Rate
1965 415 12.3 453 13.5 227 6.7 3 683 20.3 24.0
1966 435 13.4 494 15.2 263 8.1 4 761 23.4 23.1
1967 429 13.0 470 14.3 218 6.6 1 689 20.9 22.0
1968 375 11.1 438 13.0 214 6.4 4 656 19.5 21.0
1969 329 9.3 374 10.6 199 5.6 - 573 16.2 19.0
1970 369 10.0 416 11.3 193 5.2 2 611 16.6 19.0
1971 409 11.7 450 12.9 185 5.3 - 635 18.2 17.5
1972 322 9.3 373 10.8 195 5.6 1 569 16.5 17.0
1973 317 9.2 363 10.6 185 5.4 3 551 16.0 16.0
1974 310 8.7 348 9.8 196 5.5 2 546 15.4 15.0
1975 278 7.7 321 8.8 169 4.7 1 491 13.5 14.3
1976 292 8.1 324 9.0 152 4.2 2 478 13.3 13.5
1977 246 6.7 276 7.5 200 5.5 - 476 13.0 12.4
1978 245 6.6 286 7.7 178 4.8 - 464 12.5 12.0
1979 196 5.1 239 6.2 167 4.3 - 406 10.6 10.9
1980 188 4.7 235 5.9 186 4.6 - 421 10.5 10.4
1981 232 5.6 259 6.2 140 3.4 3 402 9.6 9.6
1982 217 5.1 251 5.8 150 3.5 - 401 9.3 9.1
1983 193 4.5 212 4.9 145 3.4 2 359 8.3 8.5
1984 184 4.2 205 4.6 150 3.4 1 356 8.1 8.1
1985 180 4.2 198 4.6 133 3.1 - 331 7.7 8.0
1986 166 4.0 196 4.7 147 3.5 - 343 8.2 7.9
1987 162 3.9 197 4.7 156 3.7 - 353 8.5 7.3
1988 190 4.4 219 5.1 137 3.2 - 356 8.3 7.2
1989 186 4.3 215 4.9 138 3.2 - 353 8.1 7.3
1990 187 4.1 225 5.0 106 2.3 - 331 7.3 6.8
1991 137 3.0 161 3.6 126 2.8 - 287 6.3 6.4
1992 152 3.3 174 3.8 101 2.2 - 275 6.0 6.1
1993 122 2.7 139 3.0 111 2.4 - 250 5.4 6.3
1994 176 3.8 198 4.2 90 1.9 - 288 6.1 6.3
1995 157 3.4 181 3.9 95 2.0 - 276 5.9 6.3
1996 132 2.9 160 3.5 68 1.5 - 228 5.0 5.6
1997 125 2.8 145 3.3 57 1.3 - 202 4.6 5.5
1998 92 2.1 115 2.7 58 1.4 - 173 4.0 *

Note: Rates per 1,000 live births in the specified year.
N.S. - Not Stated.
Above information includes late registrations and amendments.
Canadian rates from Statistics Canada.
*1998 rate for Canada was not available.
Non-residents are excluded.

FIGURE 6
TRENDS OF INFANT MORTALITY
BRITISH COLUMBIA AND CANADA, 1965 - 1998 CHART, TRENDS OF NATURAL POPULATION INCREASES

HIGHLIGHTS TO TABLE 4/FIGURE 6

  • In 1998, there were 173 infant deaths (age at death less than one year) in the province, for an infant mortality rate of 4.0 per 1,000 live births, a record low rate for British Columbia. This is a decrease from 202 infant deaths and an infant mortality rate of 4.6 per 1,000 live births in 1997. Since 1991, the B.C. infant mortality rate has been consistently below the Canadian rate.

  • Out of the 173 infant deaths by age at death:
    - one half (53.2%) were in the early neonatal period, age at death less than 7 days (92 deaths)
    - one eighth (13.3%) died between 7 and 27 days after birth (23 deaths)
    - one third (33.5%) were in the post-neonatal period, age at death 28-364 days (58 deaths).

  • Infant mortality rates in B.C. have fallen dramatically to approximately one fifth of the rates seen thirty years ago. Decreases in early neonatal and neonatal mortality have been major contributors to the overall decline in infant mortality rates over this time period. In Canada infant mortality rates have fallen to approximately one quarter of the rates seen thirty years ago.

  • In the last five years, post neonatal deaths decreased 47.7% from 111 in 1993 to 58 in 1998, and the post neonatal mortality rate declined from 2.4 to 1.4 deaths per 1,000 live births. These 1998 post neonatal statistics were the second lowest ever recorded in British Columbia, marginally higher than the 1997 post neonatal death rate of 1.3 per 1,000 live births.