Infant mortality in Bulgaria 1895-2020

Bulgaria's infant mortality rate was over 140 deaths per thousand live births at the turn of the twentieth century; this meant that more than 14 percent of all babies born in these years were not expected to make it to their first birthday. The rate rose above 160 deaths per thousand births in 1910 and 1925, but dropped to 134 in the years in between; this decrease is possibly linked to the Spanish Flu Pandemic of the 1910s (where life expectancy dropped by over ten years in Bulgaria), however Bulgaria's decrease is somewhat unexpected as infant mortality increased significantly across the globe during this time.

From 1930 onwards, Bulgaria's infant mortality rate has decreased rapidly, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. Apart from a brief increase in the 1990s (as Bulgaria dealt with the transition to democracy), Bulgaria's infant mortality rate has continued to fall, and in 2020 it is just six deaths per thousand births.