Lifetime risk of maternal death in World
World: Lifetime risk of maternal death was 0.4% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Lifetime risk of maternal death in World, 1985–2023
Source: Trends in Maternal Mortality, World Health Organization (WHO). Measured in %.
Analysis
World recorded 0.4% for lifetime risk of maternal death in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 39 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.9% on the previous year and down 28.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, lifetime risk of maternal death in World peaked at 1.4% in 1985 and was at its lowest, 0.4%, in 2023.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 39 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.4% | 5 |
| 1990s | 1.0% | 0.8% | 1.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 4 |
More health data for World
- Population ages 15-64, male 2.72 billion (2025)
- Population, female 4.09 billion (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, total 2.01 billion (2025)
- Age dependency ratio, old 16.0% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64, total 5.36 billion (2025)
- Population ages 15-64, male 65.8% (2025)
- Population ages 65 and above, total 854.60 million (2025)
- Population ages 65 and above, male 380.05 million (2025)
- Population ages 15-64, female 2.64 billion (2025)
- Population ages 65 and above, female 11.6% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is lifetime risk of maternal death in World?
- Lifetime risk of maternal death in World was 0.4% in 2023, according to Trends in Maternal Mortality, World Health Organization (WHO).
- What is the highest lifetime risk of maternal death recorded in World?
- The highest recorded value was 1.4% in 1985.
- What is the lowest lifetime risk of maternal death recorded in World?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4% in 2023.
- Is lifetime risk of maternal death rising or falling in World?
- Over the last ten years it is down 28.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this World data come from?
- The figures come from Trends in Maternal Mortality, World Health Organization (WHO), published as part of Lifetime risk of maternal death (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 39 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
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.