Historically Low Infant Mortality Rate and Fewer Births in New York City in 2018

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene released vital statistics for 2018, which showed a gain in life expectancy, a lower infant mortality rate and fewer births citywide, yet certain neighborhoods showed dramatic increases in their birth rates.

The life expectancy citywide was 81.3 years, which represents a 0.1-year increase since 2017, when it was 81.2 years, and a 0.7-year increase since 2009, when it was 80.6 years.

The 2018 citywide crude birth rate was 13.6 births per 1,000 population, unchanged since 2017.

Infant mortality rate reached a historic low of 3.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2018, a 9.3% decrease from 2017, yet the rate for non-Hispanic Black New Yorkers was 3.4 times the rate for non-Hispanic Whites.

Boro Park led all New York neighborhoods in the birth rate, with 24.9 births per 1,000 population, followed by 18.4 in Williamsburg/Greenpoint, although the breakdown of neighborhoods in the report is not necessarily along cohesive cultural and religious groups.