Health & Population
Lifetime risk of maternal death (%)
Life time risk of maternal death is the probability that a 15-year-old female will die eventually from a maternal cause assuming that current levels of fertility and mortality (including maternal mortality) do not change in the future, taking into account competing causes of death.
World Bank code: SH.MMR.RISK.ZS • Data available for 194 countries • Latest year: 2023
In , Central African Republic led Lifetime risk of maternal death (%) at 4.24.
The world median across 194 reporting countries was 0.08.
How "Health & Population" indicators are measured
Health and population indicators come from national vital-registration systems, demographic and health surveys, and modeling by the UN Population Division and WHO. Mortality and morbidity estimates are often modeled rather than directly observed in lower-capacity statistical systems, which means some figures are interpolations between survey years. Life expectancy is a "period" measure based on current age-specific mortality, not a forecast of how long someone born today will actually live.
Distribution — 2023
- Reporting
- 194 countries
- Median
- 0.08
- Mean
- 0.43
- 25th percentile
- 0.01
- 75th percentile
- 0.43
- Range
- 0.00 – 4.24
World at a Glance — 2023
Every reporting country, grouped by region, shaded by value (quintile).
Lighter = lower value · Darker = higher value. Hover a cell to see the country and value.
Highest Values — 2023
| # | Country | Lifetime risk of maternal death (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central African Republic Sub-Saharan Africa | 4.24 |
| 2 | Chad Sub-Saharan Africa | 4.23 |
| 3 | Nigeria Sub-Saharan Africa | 4.06 |
| 4 | Somalia, Fed. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa | 3.36 |
| 5 | Liberia Sub-Saharan Africa | 2.47 |
| 6 | Afghanistan Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan | 2.47 |
| 7 | Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa | 2.46 |
| 8 | South Sudan Sub-Saharan Africa | 2.41 |
| 9 | Benin Sub-Saharan Africa | 2.27 |
| 10 | Niger Sub-Saharan Africa | 2.13 |
Looking for a specific country? Only the top and bottom 10 appear here. See where every country ranks for Lifetime risk of maternal death (%).
View complete rankings →Biggest Movers — Year over Year
Largest increases
- Bahrain +219.3%
- Luxembourg +90.3%
- Tanzania +79.2%
- Trinidad and Tobago +74.0%
- Switzerland +44.7%
Largest decreases
- Singapore -81.3%
- Puerto Rico (US) -79.7%
- Slovenia -78.2%
- Cyprus -74.7%
- Thailand -69.5%
By Income Group — Average
| Income group | Countries | Mean |
|---|---|---|
| High income | 64 | 0.04 |
| Upper middle income | 53 | 0.14 |
| Lower middle income | 50 | 0.61 |
| Low income | 25 | 1.69 |
| Not classified | 2 | 0.61 |
By Region — Average
| Region | Countries | Mean |
|---|---|---|
| East Asia & Pacific | 30 | 0.23 |
| Europe & Central Asia | 51 | 0.01 |
| Latin America & Caribbean | 34 | 0.13 |
| Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan | 23 | 0.22 |
| North America | 2 | 0.02 |
| South Asia | 6 | 0.15 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 48 | 1.35 |
Lowest Values — 2023
| # | Country | Lifetime risk of maternal death (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belarus | 0.00 |
| 2 | Norway | 0.00 |
| 3 | Poland | 0.00 |
| 4 | Korea, Rep. | 0.00 |
| 5 | Spain | 0.00 |
| 6 | Japan | 0.00 |
| 7 | Czechia | 0.00 |
| 8 | North Macedonia | 0.00 |
| 9 | United Arab Emirates | 0.00 |
| 10 | Australia | 0.00 |
Source: World Bank Open Data (SH.MMR.RISK.ZS), CC BY 4.0. Rankings show countries with available data for 2023.