The World - News from Oct. 26, 1986

The Soviet Union published infant mortality rates for the first time in 12 years in another sign of growing willingness to release data that does not necessarily reflect positive trends. The figures, compiled by the Central Statistics Board and published in the economic journal Economicheskaya Gazeta, showed a rise in infant mortality over the past 15 years, although the rate has declined since the mid-1970s. The data showed that for every 1,000 live births, 26 infants died before the age of 1 year in 1985, compared to 27.3 in 1980 and 24.7 in 1970.