Muslims have lower infant mortality than Hindus, and have done so in every national survey since the 1990s, despite being poorer on most other measures. In the latest survey, 2019-21, about 33 Muslim infants died before their first birthday for every 1,000 born, against 35 among Hindus. This Muslim survival advantage is real but shrinking, as mortality has fallen faster among other communities.
How to read the chart
The main chart tracks infant deaths per 1,000 live births for each community across four National Family Health Surveys from 1998 to 2019-21; here a falling line is good news, since lower is better. Every community's line drops steeply, so the chart shows both the broad decline and the narrowing distance between communities. The Urban vs rural tab splits each rate into town and village, where most infant deaths still happen, and shows the Muslim advantage is largely a rural one.
Why it matters
Infant mortality is one of the most sensitive measures of a population's living conditions, capturing the combined effect of nutrition, sanitation, maternal health and access to care in the first, most fragile year of life. That Muslims do better here than richer communities is one of the most studied puzzles in Indian demography, and a reminder that income alone does not determine survival.
Status
Aheadgap narrowing
Muslim 33.0 vs Hindu 35.4 in 2020, 2.4 ahead. Muslims have recorded lower infant mortality than Hindus in every survey since 1998, but the advantage has shrunk from roughly 18 points then to about 2 today as mortality fell faster among other communities.
Deeper analysis
Potential drivers
Sanitation · Muslim neighbourhoods practise less open defecation, and this local difference alone accounts for a large share of the survival gap, an effect that protects Hindu neighbours too ↗ Geruso and Spears, 2018.
Maternal health · The part researchers can explain comes mainly from mothers' height and diet, not the breastfeeding or birth-spacing stories often repeated in the press ↗ Bhalotra, Valente and van Soest, 2010.
Still a puzzle · After income, education and the usual risk factors are accounted for, those predict Muslims should fare worse, not better, so most of the advantage stays unexplained ↗ Bhalotra, Valente and van Soest, 2010.
Key levers
Sanitation for all · The gain tied most directly to infant survival; it saves lives everywhere and erodes the Muslim edge as open defecation falls ↗ Geruso and Spears, 2018.
Maternal and newborn care · The National Health Mission's immunisation, institutional delivery and newborn care is the main public instrument.
Stick to the basics · Because the advantage itself is mostly unexplained, the surest gains come from what helps every infant, not from trying to bottle what Muslim households are doing right ↗ Bhalotra, Valente and van Soest, 2010.
Key stakeholders
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare: The Union ministry responsible for India's health policy and its family-planning, maternal-health and child-health programmes.
National Health Mission: The Government of India's flagship health programme, working toward affordable, quality care including maternal, newborn and child health services across rural and urban India.
Aga Khan Health Services, India: The Aga Khan network's Indian health arm, running maternal and child health services including a maternal and child care centre in Hyderabad and rural reproductive, child-health and nutrition work. Founded by the Ismaili community, it serves all communities.
SEWA RuralCredibility Alliance accredited ↗: A voluntary organisation in tribal south Gujarat whose Kasturba Hospital and community programmes deliver maternal and newborn care, with large reported falls in maternal and neonatal deaths in its area. Donate ↗
Doctors For YouGiveIndia vetted ↗: A humanitarian health NGO providing rural maternal and child health, treatment of severe acute malnutrition and disaster medical care across several states. Donate ↗
Jhpiego India: A Johns Hopkins-affiliated non-profit that strengthens maternal and newborn care in India by training frontline health workers and supporting government programmes. Donate ↗
UNICEF India: The UN Children's Fund's India office, working with states on child survival, immunisation and maternal and newborn health.
International Institute for Population Sciences: The Mumbai institute that conducts the National Family Health Survey, the source of India's infant-mortality and maternal and child health figures by population group.
Badges link to an independent or registered credential where the organisation publishes one (Credibility Alliance, GiveIndia, 80G, FCRA). Many smaller NGOs do not take part in these registries, so a missing badge is not a mark against an organisation.
About this measurement
Definition. Probability of dying before the first birthday, expressed per 1000 live births, for the period preceding each survey round.
Methodology. Time series across four NFHS rounds: NFHS-2 (1998-99), NFHS-3 (2005-06), NFHS-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-21); years 1998/2005/2015/2020 are the round labels. For NFHS-5, Table 7.2 publishes URBAN and RURAL IMR by religion separately with no total-residence-by-religion column, so the national total is a population-weighted average using Census 2011 urban/rural population by religion as weights (<1% drift; urban/rural shares by religion are stable). Earlier rounds come from each report's religion table; every canonical row's methodology_note records its exact source.