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Infant mortality closed 2025 at 9.9 per 1,000 live births

The Ministry of Public Health reported a rate of 9.9 deaths of children under one year of age per 1,000 live births at the end of 2025, compared with 3.9 in 2018, according to the EFE news agency. Infobae gathers complaints from families about delayed cesareans, shortages of medicines and sewage leaks in hospitals.

Cuba closed 2025 with an infant mortality rate of 9.9 deaths of children under one year of age per 1,000 live births, according to preliminary figures from the Ministry of Public Health. The same official report counted 68,051 births, 3,108 fewer than in 2024.

Applied to that birth total, the rate works out to about 674 deaths of babies under one year old. Infobae cautions that this is an estimate derived from the two indicators and not a death toll released separately by the authorities.

The indicator is highly uneven across the country. Havana recorded 14.2 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2025 and Camagüey 12.4, according to the demographic indicators of the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI). Pinar del Río reported 4.7.

In regional terms, Cuba's preliminary rate came in above those of Chile (5.9 per 1,000), Argentina (8.5 in 2024) and Costa Rica (8.56 between November 2024 and October 2025). The Pan American Health Organization acknowledged in April 2026 that Cuba's indicators had deteriorated, while maintaining that the country still posted results better than the regional averages.

Infobae carries the accounts of two mothers whose identities were changed at their request. Dania, from Nuevitas, gave birth at the Camagüey maternity hospital after more than 24 hours of labor and attributed her daughter's complications to a late cesarean. Alina's son died before the operation: she was admitted on a Saturday afternoon with low amniotic fluid and, by her account, was attended to on Monday. The outlet itself notes that family complaints do not on their own establish that there was medical negligence.

Independent journalist José Luis Tan Estrada reported more than 15 newborn deaths between January and May 2026 at the Camagüey maternity hospital, as well as sewage leaking from an upstairs bathroom into areas close to the babies, the presence of insects and a lack of medicines to fight infections.

The official report also put maternal mortality in 2025 at 44.1 per 100,000 live births, up from 40.6 in 2024. Prime Minister Manuel Marrero had disclosed the infant mortality figure in December and acknowledged that the indicator had worsened, according to the EFE news agency.

Sources: Infobae · EFE (vía Swissinfo) · Serie Yamacoa: Mortalidad infantil (ONEI / MINSAP)

Data updated: 2026-10-25T04:15:00.000Z

Infant mortality closed 2025 at 9.9 per 1,000 live births | Yamacoa Observatory