Maternal mortality statistics show both progress and deep inequality. In 2023, about 260,000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth worldwide. The global maternal mortality ratio was 197 deaths per 100,000 live births, while the United States recorded 649 maternal deaths and a rate of 17.9 per 100,000 live births in 2024.
Contents
- Global totals and long-term change
- Regional maternal mortality burden
- Income, conflict, and lifetime risk
- Maternal causes among reproductive-age deaths
- Recent U.S. maternal mortality statistics
- U.S. differences by race, ethnicity, and age
Global totals and long-term change
The latest global estimates cover 2023. The World Health Organization reports about 260,000 maternal deaths worldwide that year. More than 700 women died each day from preventable pregnancy- and childbirth-related causes, and a maternal death occurred approximately every two minutes. These daily and per-minute descriptions communicate the scale of the annual estimate; they are not separate counts.
The global maternal mortality ratio, or MMR, was 197 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023. For comparison, the ratio was 328 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000. The estimated number of deaths fell from 444,000 in 2000 to 260,000 in 2023, and the global ratio declined by 40% over the same period.
The long-term trend was not a straight line. The estimated number of global maternal deaths rose from 282,000 in 2020 to 322,000 in 2021 before the later 2023 estimate of 260,000. The Sustainable Development Goal target is a global MMR below 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.
These figures come from the 2025 UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group estimates presented by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, the World Bank Group, and the UNDESA Population Division. They are internationally comparable modeled estimates. The sources define MMR as maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
Regional maternal mortality burden
Global averages conceal large regional differences. In 2023, sub-Saharan Africa had an MMR of 454 deaths per 100,000 live births and an estimated 182,000 maternal deaths. Within the region, Eastern Africa had an MMR of 263 and an estimated 42,000 deaths, while Western Africa had an MMR of 691 and an estimated 102,000 deaths.
Southern Asia had an MMR of 117 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023, and Central and Southern Asia recorded an estimated 44,000 maternal deaths. At the lower end of the reported regional ratios, Europe and Northern America had an MMR of 11, while Australia and New Zealand had an MMR of 3 and an estimated 11 maternal deaths.
| Region | 2023 maternal mortality ratio | Estimated maternal deaths, 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 454 per 100,000 live births | 182,000 |
| Eastern Africa | 263 per 100,000 live births | 42,000 |
| Western Africa | 691 per 100,000 live births | 102,000 |
| Central and Southern Asia | Not reported here | 44,000 |
| Europe and Northern America | 11 per 100,000 live births | Not reported here |
| Australia and New Zealand | 3 per 100,000 live births | 11 |
The Central and Southern Asia death total is presented alongside a separate Southern Asia ratio, so the two figures should not be treated as if they describe the same geographic grouping. Likewise, the absence of a death total in the table does not mean that no deaths occurred; only the supplied regional figures are shown.
Income, conflict, and lifetime risk
Economic conditions are strongly reflected in maternal mortality statistics. Approximately 92% of global maternal deaths occurred in low- and lower-middle-income countries in 2023. The MMR was 346 deaths per 100,000 live births in low-income countries, compared with 10 per 100,000 in high-income countries.
The lifetime-risk figures describe the probability for a 15-year-old woman of eventually dying from a maternal cause. In 2023, that lifetime risk was 1 in 66 for women in low-income countries and 1 in 7,933 for women in high-income countries.
Conflict and fragility add another major divide. The 37 countries classified as being in conflict or institutional or social fragility accounted for 61% of global maternal deaths in 2023, although they represented 25% of global live births. Their reported MMR was 504 deaths per 100,000 live births in conflict-affected settings and 368 per 100,000 in fragile settings. In settings that were neither conflict-affected nor fragile, the ratio was 99 per 100,000.
| 2023 setting | Maternal mortality ratio | Additional reported measure |
|---|---|---|
| Low-income countries | 346 per 100,000 live births | Lifetime risk: 1 in 66 |
| High-income countries | 10 per 100,000 live births | Lifetime risk: 1 in 7,933 |
| Conflict-affected settings | 504 per 100,000 live births | 37 conflict or fragile countries: 61% of global deaths |
| Fragile settings | 368 per 100,000 live births | Same countries: 25% of global live births |
| Neither conflict-affected nor fragile | 99 per 100,000 live births | Comparison setting |
The contrast between the shares of deaths and live births is a distributional measure, not a risk ratio. It shows that the identified conflict- or fragility-affected countries accounted for a much larger share of maternal deaths than of global live births.
Maternal causes among reproductive-age deaths
Another way to understand maternal mortality is to measure maternal causes as a share of all deaths among women of reproductive age. Worldwide, maternal causes accounted for 8.9% of these deaths in 2023.
The share was 16.9% in sub-Saharan Africa. It was 14.1% in Eastern Africa, 20.5% in Middle Africa, and 18.6% in Western Africa. In Southern Asia, maternal causes accounted for 6.2% of deaths among women of reproductive age. The share was 1.7% in Central Asia, 3.5% in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 0.5% in Europe and Northern America.
These percentages measure the contribution of maternal causes to deaths among women of reproductive age. They are not maternal mortality ratios and should not be substituted for deaths per 100,000 live births.
Recent U.S. maternal mortality statistics
U.S. statistics from the National Vital Statistics System provide annual counts and rates. The United States recorded 861 maternal deaths in 2020, 1,205 in 2021, 817 in 2022, 669 in 2023, and 649 in 2024.
The corresponding U.S. maternal mortality rates were 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021, 22.3 in 2022, 18.6 in 2023, and 17.9 in 2024. The supplied U.S. series does not include a 2020 rate in this set of figures.
| Year | U.S. maternal deaths | Maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 861 | Not reported here |
| 2021 | 1,205 | 32.9 |
| 2022 | 817 | 22.3 |
| 2023 | 669 | 18.6 |
| 2024 | 649 | 17.9 |
The U.S. definition counts deaths assigned to ICD-10 codes A34, O00–O95, and O98–O99 and excludes accidental or incidental causes. The 2024 source is Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2024, published by the National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. counts and rates are National Vital Statistics System data, not the global modeled estimates.
U.S. differences by race, ethnicity, and age
The 2024 U.S. rate differed substantially by race and ethnicity. The rate was 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births for Black non-Hispanic women, 14.2 for White non-Hispanic women, 12.1 for Hispanic women, and 18.1 for Asian non-Hispanic women.
Age differences were also pronounced. In 2024, the maternal mortality rate was 13.7 deaths per 100,000 live births for women younger than age 25, 16.5 for women ages 25–39, and 62.3 for women age 40 and older.
| U.S. group | 2024 maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births |
|---|---|
| Black non-Hispanic women | 44.8 |
| White non-Hispanic women | 14.2 |
| Hispanic women | 12.1 |
| Asian non-Hispanic women | 18.1 |
| Younger than age 25 | 13.7 |
| Ages 25–39 | 16.5 |
| Age 40 and older | 62.3 |
For additional context, the 2023 rate was 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births for Black non-Hispanic women and 12.4 for Hispanic women. Those are 2023 measurements and should not be read as 2024 values.
Across these U.S. categories, the rates describe population groups and age bands; they do not identify the cause of an individual death or explain why group differences occur. The 2024 CDC/NCHS source supplies the measurements, while the global estimates provide a separate internationally comparable view of maternal mortality in 2023.