Loading…
MMEIG · Maternal Mortality Ratio
Maternal mortality ratio by country
How many women die from pregnancy or childbirth for every 100,000 live births?
Of the 195 countries compared in 2023, Cook Islands had the lowest reading, 0.11, and Nigeria had the highest reading, 992.83. In the middle country the figure was 46.65. Among the 195 countries measured in every edition since 2000, the middle one moved from 70.99 to 46.65.
Part ofHealth & WellbeingDevelopment & Human CapitalGender & Equality
Maternal mortality ratio · 2023
Key statistic · Development & Human Capital
Lowest of 195Cook Islands
0.11012023 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 195 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Benedict Adam · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
2Photo: zedlik , cropped by Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
3Photo: Ximonic , Simo Räsänen · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
Highest in 2023
Nigeria992.83
Chad747.54
South Sudan691.82
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
02Every measured country
Maternal mortality ratio on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 192.36–992.83
- 73.52–188.65
- 30.24–69.77
- 7.67–26.46
- 0.11–7.66
- No reading in 2023
- Europe
5.70
the middle country, of 42 measured · 49 members
Belarus1.10
Latvia18.72Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Asia
23.38
the middle country, of 48 measured · 52 members
Israel2.49
Afghanistan520.50Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Americas
52.77
the middle country, of 36 measured · 48 members
Chile9.88
Haiti327.56Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Oceania
100.05
the middle country, of 15 measured · 21 members
Cook Islands0.11
Nauru273.38Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Africa
241.44
the middle country, of 54 measured · 55 members
Egypt16.95Nigeria992.83Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Northern Europe
4.50
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Norway1.31Latvia18.72Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Europe
5.34
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Germany3.62
Luxembourg11.69Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- Southern Europe
6.33
the middle country, of 14 measured · 17 members
Spain2.72
Portugal14.95Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Eastern Europe
7.48
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
Belarus1.10
Moldova18.68Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Central Asia
13.86
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Turkmenistan4.52
Kyrgyzstan41.90Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Western Asia
15.55
the middle country, of 18 measured · 19 members
Israel2.49
Yemen118.40Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- Eastern Asia
16.25
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
Japan3.08
North Korea66.90Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Central America
44.43
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica24.12
Guatemala93.72Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Caribbean
51.17
the middle country, of 14 measured · 24 members
Puerto Rico11.03Haiti327.56Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- South America
58.83
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Chile9.88
Venezuela226.69Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Northern Africa
61.00
the middle country, of 6 measured · 6 members
Egypt16.95
Sudan255.71Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Southern Asia
80.48
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Iran15.84Afghanistan520.50Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- South-eastern Asia
83.75
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
Singapore6.12
Timor-Leste192.36Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Micronesia
128.75
the middle country, of 5 measured · 7 members
Kiribati79.76Nauru273.38Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.
- Southern Africa
138.86
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
South Africa117.57
Lesotho478.02Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
- Eastern Africa
227.21
the middle country, of 18 measured · 19 members
Seychelles41.89South Sudan691.82Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Middle Africa
241.09
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
São Tomé and Príncipe75.36Chad747.54Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Western Africa
356.65
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Cabo Verde40.04Nigeria992.83Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia2.33
New Zealand7.03Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Melanesia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
Fiji30.24
Papua New Guinea188.65Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada11.78
United States16.63Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
4 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.
Cook Islands0.11
Tuvalu169.71Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
195 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 46.65; a quarter are above 154.91, and a quarter below 10.89. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
Log scale: each gridline is ten times the one before, so countries of very different sizes can be seen on one line.
04All 195 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way MMEIG’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. A low ratio means birth is survivable almost everywhere in the country, not that few women die in absolute terms. Countries with the smallest populations can show the extremes at both ends for exactly that reason.
Showing 25 of 195 countries
_banner_Panorama.jpg){kind=link}
Values for 2023. The change column compares 2023 with 2022 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052000–2023 · 24 reference years
Over time
Each point is one reference year from 2000, all of them re-estimated together in the MMEIG’s 2025 round. Read the shape of the line rather than a single year: these are modelled estimates, and a one-year wobble is usually the model, not the country.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 195 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 195 | 46.65 | 10.89 – 154.91 | 46.65 |
| 2022 | 195 | 53.00 | 14.52 – 159.33 | 53.00 |
| 2021 | 195 | 76.62 | 20.10 – 203.64 | 76.62 |
| 2020 | 195 | 56.01 | 17.28 – 177.77 | 56.01 |
| 2019 | 195 | 48.40 | 12.18 – 169.00 | 48.40 |
| 2018 | 195 | 49.33 | 12.16 – 171.95 | 49.33 |
| 2017 | 195 | 47.23 | 12.25 – 181.50 | 47.23 |
| 2016 | 195 | 50.62 | 12.68 – 192.04 | 50.62 |
| 2015 | 195 | 51.87 | 12.90 – 202.93 | 51.87 |
| 2014 | 195 | 52.84 | 13.07 – 211.51 | 52.84 |
| 2013 | 195 | 53.25 | 13.02 – 220.38 | 53.25 |
| 2012 | 195 | 54.56 | 12.96 – 241.83 | 54.56 |
| 2011 | 195 | 54.98 | 13.07 – 251.18 | 54.98 |
| 2010 | 195 | 56.14 | 12.73 – 259.23 | 56.14 |
| 2009 | 195 | 56.26 | 12.88 – 267.67 | 56.26 |
| 2008 | 195 | 55.75 | 12.88 – 280.78 | 55.75 |
| 2007 | 195 | 56.81 | 13.46 – 290.25 | 56.81 |
| 2006 | 195 | 58.14 | 13.83 – 291.88 | 58.14 |
| 2005 | 195 | 60.07 | 14.71 – 311.85 | 60.07 |
| 2004 | 195 | 63.04 | 15.50 – 313.24 | 63.04 |
| 2003 | 195 | 66.77 | 15.69 – 331.69 | 66.77 |
| 2002 | 195 | 65.97 | 17.35 – 330.70 | 65.97 |
| 2001 | 195 | 68.09 | 18.52 – 355.31 | 68.09 |
| 2000 | 195 | 70.99 | 19.48 – 368.62 | 70.99 |
062022 → 2023
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after
Central African Republic840.82 → 691.74 · 2nd → 4th−149.08
Thailand112.48 → 34.45 · 65th → 113th−78.03
Burkina Faso316.27 → 241.79 · 26th → 30th−74.48
Somalia622.02 → 562.58 · 6th → 6th−59.44
Brunei88.15 → 36.35 · 78th → 107th−51.80
Worsened most
before → after
Tanzania151.65 → 275.84 · 51st → 26th+124.19
Botswana120.42 → 155.10 · 63rd → 48th+34.68
Trinidad and Tobago30.42 → 54.08 · 122nd → 93rd+23.66
Gabon215.84 → 232.66 · 38th → 34th+16.82
Namibia126.86 → 138.86 · 58th → 54th+12.00
195 countries were measured in both 2022 and 2023.
07Across every edition
Maternal mortality ratio in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
1,661.52
Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births
Lowest reading on record
0.11
Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births
Biggest improvement between editions
−748.68
1,661.52 → 912.84
Biggest decline between editions
+768.84
881.35 → 1,650.19
Most improved since first measured
−1,249.58
1,603.14 → 353.56
At the top most often
24 of 24
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About maternal mortality ratio
The maternal mortality ratio is the number of women who die from causes related to pregnancy or childbirth for every 100,000 live births. It is the clearest single measure of whether a health system reaches women when they need it most.
What the number is: Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
What it does not measure
It counts deaths, not the illness and injury many more women suffer in pregnancy and childbirth, and most figures are modelled estimates with wide uncertainty.
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
A key statistic for Development & Human Capital
“Whether a woman survives giving birth — the reach of a health system at the moment it is hardest to fake.”
- Edition used
- 2023 (data 2023)
- Countries
- 195
- Licence
- CC BY 3.0 IGO
Moves with
Where maternal mortality ratio is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Gender Inequality IndexKeyUNDP Human Development Report Office · 172 countries in commonρ 0.93
- Under-Five Mortality RateKeyUN IGME · 194 countries in commonρ 0.89
- Coefficient of Human InequalityUNDP Human Development Report Office · 168 countries in commonρ 0.88
Moves against
Where maternal mortality ratio is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 168 countries in commonρ −0.92
- Human Development IndexKeyUNDP Human Development Report Office · 191 countries in commonρ −0.90
- Human Capital IndexWorld Bank Group · 170 countries in commonρ −0.89
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 126 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The countries at either end
11Questions
Maternal mortality ratio: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest maternal mortality ratio?
Cook Islands, at 0.11, among the 195 countries compared in 2023.
Which country has the highest maternal mortality ratio?
Nigeria, at 992.83, among the 195 countries compared in 2023.
How many countries does the Maternal Mortality Ratio cover?
195 in 2023.
What is the world average maternal mortality ratio?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 195 compared in 2023, the figure was 46.65.
Is this UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG)’s own ranking?
No. UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Maternal Mortality Ratio published?
This site holds 24 reference years, 2000–2023, all recalculated in UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG)’s 2025 report on one method — not 24 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG), under CC BY 3.0 IGO. From UNICEF’s SDMX data warehouse, which serves the MMEIG estimate unrounded under CC BY 3.0 IGO — rather than from WHO, whose terms are non-commercial, or the World Bank, which rounds. Every edition is available on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Maternal Mortality Ratio — UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG)
From UNICEF’s SDMX data warehouse, which serves the MMEIG estimate unrounded under CC BY 3.0 IGO — rather than from WHO, whose terms are non-commercial, or the World Bank, which rounds.
Newest edition
Report year 2023Data year 2023
Cite the source as: UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and UNDESA). Trends in maternal mortality, 2025 round. Read from UNICEF’s data warehouse.
Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO, checked 2026-09-12.
How this page reads the numbers
- UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The full note on this data
24 reference years (2000–2023), covering 195 economies in every one of them. It counts women who die while pregnant or within 42 days of a pregnancy ending, from any cause related to it, per 100,000 live births — the measure that says whether a health system reaches women at the moment it matters most. ⚠ IT IS A RATIO PER BIRTH, NOT A COUNT OF WOMEN: it says how dangerous each birth is, not how many mothers a country loses, so a small country with a weak health system reads high, correctly. ⚠ MODELLED, NOT COUNTED: the MMEIG fits a model to whatever civil registration, censuses and surveys each country has, which is why every country has a figure for every year and why the estimates for countries with weak registration carry wide uncertainty. ⚠ READ FROM UNICEF, NOT FROM WHO OR THE WORLD BANK: all three serve the same MMEIG estimate, but WHO’s data policy permits non-commercial use only and the World Bank’s indicator API rounds it; UNICEF’s warehouse licenses its datasets CC BY 3.0 IGO and serves the full two decimals. ⚠ The MMEIG publishes no rank, so none is stored; the POSITION on the statistics page is derived here by ordering the ratio, and labelled as ours. ⚠ One release restates the whole series, so these are 24 reference years from the 2025 round, not 24 separate reports.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Cook Islands — Benedict Adam, CC BY 2.0
- Belarus — zedlik , cropped by Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Norway — Ximonic , Simo Räsänen, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Maternal mortality ratio by country: Maternal Mortality Ratio, data from UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/maternal-mortality