US has the highest rate of child deaths among 16 of the richest countries, according to major global study

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The rate of child deaths in the United States is climbing and America has the highest rate of youth mortality in the world.

Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University examined CDC mortality data for the US and data from the Human Mortality Database (HMD) of 16 'comparison countries' between 1999 to 2019 - and 2020 to 2022 where available.

They included deaths of children from younger than one years old to 19 years old.

The study found between 1999 and 2019 there was an excess of 413,950 deaths in the US of kids aged zero to 19 years old - an average of 19,710 deaths per year and the highest among the countries included.

And deaths among 15- to 19-year-olds rose nearly 10 percent from 2009 to 2019.

Researchers attributed America's higher death rates to easier access to guns and the rise in the use of illicit drugs like opioids.

The above shows the youth mortality rate for 10- to 14-year-olds in the US (orange line) compared to 16 countries (gray lines) and the average of those countries (dark blue line)

The above shows the youth mortality rate for 15- to 19-year-olds in the US (orange line) compared to 16 countries (gray lines) and the average of those countries (dark blue line)

The researchers also concluded that each year during the study period, nearly 20,000 excess youth deaths would not have occurred if the US experienced the average death rate of the 16 comparison countries.

More than half of these excess deaths involved infants, reflecting the disproportionately high US infant mortality rates.

Excess deaths were calculated by multiplying the difference between US mortality rates and the average mortality rate of the comparison countries by US population.

The comparison countries included: Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The majority of the excess deaths were among infants - 57 percent.

Separate figures from the National Center for Health Statistics showed America's infant mortality rose in 2022 for the first time in more than two decades. In 2021, there were 19,930 infant deaths and in 2022 there were 20,540.

Overall, the all-cause infant mortality rate rose from 5.44 infant deaths per 1,000 births to 5.6 infant deaths per 1,000 births — the first year-over-year increase in the rate since 2001 to 2002.

Following infants, the 2024 study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, found 15- to 19-year-olds accounted for 26 percent of excess deaths.

Those in the age groups one to four, five to nine and 10 to 14 made up smaller percentages - ranging from four percent to 7.5 percent.

The age group that saw the largest increase from 2009 to 2019 was kids between 10 years old and 19 years old - rising from 27.5 percent to 36 percent.

And males accounted for the majority of excess deaths at 61 percent.

Boys experienced higher rates of deadly injuries. Suicides, homicides and fatal drug overdoses were also top contributors to overall excess deaths. Researchers attributed this to easier access to guns and opioids.

While the researchers did not specify death rates for each country, the overall trend among the comparable nations has been on the decline since 1999. While it was also on the decline in the US, around 2009 the death rate for 10-to 14-year-olds began increasing.

And the rate for kids aged 15 to 19 began increasing around 2013.

The graph shows how each country of the G7, an informal grouping of seven of the world's advanced economies, fared in international life expectancy rankings each year from 1950 to 2020. The US plummeted from 13th place to 53rd place

Another 2023 study found 1million US deaths could be averted each year if mortality rates in America were on par with those in other rich countries.

Researchers looked at the rate of all-cause mortality per population size since the 1930s in nearly two dozen peer nations, including the UK, Canada, Japan, Australia and 17 European countries.

They found that despite the US being the richest, it has suffered more deaths per capita than any of the 21 other nations since around 1980, which have reached 'unprecedented levels' in recent years.

The study noted the opioid and fentanyl epidemic, gun violence, and obesity-related deaths, which have all been exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, are the reason America is an outlier.