Fast and robust small target detection is one of the key technologies in the infrared (IR) search and tracking systems. With the development of deep learning, there are many data-driven IR small target segmentation algorithms, but they have not been extensively surveyed; we believe our proposed survey is the first to systematically survey them. Focusing on IR small target segmentation tasks, we summarized 7 characteristics of IR small targets, 3 feature extraction methods, 8 design strategies, 30 segmentation networks, 8 loss functions, and 13 evaluation indexes. Then, the accuracy, robustness, and computational complexities of 18 segmentation networks on 5 public datasets were compared and analyzed. Finally, we have discussed the existing problems and future trends in the field of IR small target detection. The proposed survey is a valuable reference for both beginners adapting to current trends in IR small target detection and researchers already experienced in this field.& COPY; 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.