Data / Rankings / Maternal mortality ratio / Countries

Countries by maternal mortality ratio

South Sudan had the highest maternal mortality ratio of 195 countries in 2016, at 1,629 per 100,000 live births. Cook Islands had the lowest, at 0 per 100,000 live births. The median was 51 per 100,000 live births. Source: World Health Organization.

Highest1,629South Sudan
Lowest0Cook Islands
Median51195 countries

Top 40 countries, 2016

South Sudan: 1,629 per 100,000 live birthsSouth Sudan1,629Nigeria: 1,155 per 100,000 live birthsNigeria1,155Chad: 1,133 per 100,000 live birthsChad1,133Central African Republic: 962 per 100,000 live birthsCentral African Republic962Somalia: 754 per 100,000 live birthsSomalia754Afghanistan: 702 per 100,000 live birthsAfghanistan702Liberia: 690 per 100,000 live birthsLiberia690Sierra Leone: 633 per 100,000 live birthsSierra Leone633Guinea-Bissau: 617 per 100,000 live birthsGuinea-Bissau617Guinea: 606 per 100,000 live birthsGuinea606Benin: 604 per 100,000 live birthsBenin604Democratic Republic of the Congo: 526 per 100,000 live birthsDemocratic Republic of the Congo526Lesotho: 518 per 100,000 live birthsLesotho518Burundi: 501 per 100,000 live birthsBurundi501Gambia: 490 per 100,000 live birthsGambia490Côte d’Ivoire: 488 per 100,000 live birthsCôte d’Ivoire488Mali: 472 per 100,000 live birthsMali472Madagascar: 470 per 100,000 live birthsMadagascar470Togo: 460 per 100,000 live birthsTogo460Mauritania: 456 per 100,000 live birthsMauritania456Niger: 450 per 100,000 live birthsNiger450Kenya: 441 per 100,000 live birthsKenya441Zimbabwe: 411 per 100,000 live birthsZimbabwe411Tanzania: 396 per 100,000 live birthsTanzania396Eritrea: 395 per 100,000 live birthsEritrea395Cameroon: 393 per 100,000 live birthsCameroon393Ethiopia: 364 per 100,000 live birthsEthiopia364Haiti: 356 per 100,000 live birthsHaiti356Senegal: 345 per 100,000 live birthsSenegal345Burkina Faso: 313 per 100,000 live birthsBurkina Faso313Malawi: 312 per 100,000 live birthsMalawi312Ghana: 296 per 100,000 live birthsGhana296Sudan: 288 per 100,000 live birthsSudan288Timor-Leste: 287 per 100,000 live birthsTimor-Leste287Rwanda: 278 per 100,000 live birthsRwanda278Uganda: 272 per 100,000 live birthsUganda272Republic of the Congo: 263 per 100,000 live birthsRepublic of the Congo263Namibia: 250 per 100,000 live birthsNamibia250Nauru: 248 per 100,000 live birthsNauru248Angola: 236 per 100,000 live birthsAngola236
per 100,000 live births. Source: World Health Organization, Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births) (MDG_0000000026). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCountries2016
per 100,000 live births		Change on 2015
1South Sudan1,629+193.8
2Nigeria1,155-12.5
3Chad1,133-42.8
4Central African Republic962-18.1
5Somalia754-30.1
6Afghanistan702-39
7Liberia690-94.2
8Sierra Leone633-97.2
9Guinea-Bissau617-14.2
10Guinea606-35.7
11Benin604-2.2
12Democratic Republic of the Congo526-18.9
13Lesotho518-76.3
14Burundi501-24.7
15Gambia490-37.2
16Côte d’Ivoire488-17.4
17Mali472-18
18Madagascar470-4
19Togo460-10.2
20Mauritania456-13.2
21Niger450-22.7
22Kenya441-12.5
23Zimbabwe411-16.6
24Tanzania396-37.6
25Eritrea395-18.3
26Cameroon393-23.9
27Ethiopia364-36.7
28Haiti356-7.6
29Senegal345-11.6
30Burkina Faso313-14.8
31Malawi312-42
32Ghana296-14.2
33Sudan288-9.7
34Timor-Leste287-18.3
35Rwanda278-13.4
36Uganda272-26.7
37Republic of the Congo263-21.3
38Namibia250-56.9
39Nauru248-4.5
40Angola236-13.7
41Comoros225-11.1
42Equatorial Guinea216-5.9
43Myanmar215-6.3
44Gabon215-24.3
45Papua New Guinea214-6.9
46Nepal214-22.1
47Eswatini213-70.1
48Djibouti204-5.6
49Pakistan193-9.3
50Bangladesh191-12.5
51Marshall Islands183-0.3
52Indonesia182-8.4
53Micronesia173-9.3
54Tuvalu170+1.4
55Mozambique170-12.6
56Laos165-14.8
57Venezuela162+25.9
58Bolivia162-4
59Cambodia159-6.6
60Zambia158+3.7
61Solomon Islands143-3.3
62South Africa141-9.2
63Yemen134-0.9
64India121-7.8
65São Tomé and Príncipe119-8.4
66Guyana114-3
67Guatemala110-1.9
68Suriname109-6.6
69Samoa1080
70Vanuatu107-2
71Dominican Republic106+3.5
72Jamaica102+1.9
73Philippines98-5.6
74Morocco94-5.4
75Kiribati88-2.3
76Iraq87+1.2
77Palau80+1.1
78Algeria79-0.8
79Tonga78-0.9
80Bahamas77-5.6
81Nicaragua77-3.9
82Saint Kitts and Nevis75-1.8
83Libya74-2.1
84Botswana72-68.3
85North Korea71-0.5
86Colombia69-1.4
87Peru69-2.7
88Ecuador65+0.5
89Brazil64+0.7
90Bhutan63-5
91Mauritius62+0.9
92Paraguay60-4.1
93Vietnam56-1.6
94Honduras55-2.5
95Kyrgyzstan53-4.6
96Saint Vincent and the Grenadines52-7.1
97Belize51+4.2
98Trinidad and Tobago51+0.2
99Mongolia48-3.7
100Dominica48-15
101Seychelles47+0.5
102Panama47-1.5
103Saint Lucia460
104Cape Verde44-2.1
105Grenada44-2.2
106El Salvador43+0.5
107Mexico43-0
108Maldives41+0.1
109Cuba40-1
110Jordan40-0.8
111Argentina40+0.9
112Brunei39-0.1
113Tunisia39-1.4
114Fiji38+0.5
115Barbados36-0.8
116Thailand34+0.4
117Uzbekistan31-0.6
118Malaysia30-0.2
119Georgia28-1.7
120Antigua and Barbuda28-1.7
121Costa Rica27+1.5
122China25-1.4
123Armenia25-0.5
124Latvia23+1.2
125Palestine23-2.8
126Syria23-1.7
127Egypt23-1.7
128Azerbaijan22+0.9
129Sri Lanka22-0.4
130Iran21-0.9
131Moldova21+0.2
132Tajikistan20-0.2
133Türkiye19-0.1
134United States18+0.8
135Romania17-0.5
136Bahrain17+0.1
137Ukraine17-0.8
138Uruguay16+0.2
139Puerto Rico15+0.2
140Lebanon15-0.1
141Oman14-0.1
142Russia14-1
143Luxembourg13+0.4
144Hungary13-0.2
145Serbia13-0.1
146Chile13-1.3
147Kazakhstan12-0.6
148Portugal12+1.1
149Canada12+0.7
150Cyprus12+0.3
151Andorra10-0.1
152Malta10+2.5
153United Kingdom9+0.3
154Lithuania9-0.6
155France9-0
156Albania8-0.7
157Singapore8-0.1
158Saudi Arabia8-0.1
159Kuwait8-0.1
160Italy8-0.2
161New Zealand8-0.4
162Finland7+0.3
163San Marino7-0.1
164Estonia7+0.8
165Bulgaria7-0.3
166Switzerland7+0.3
167Bosnia and Herzegovina7-0.1
168Austria6-0.1
169South Korea6-0.4
170Montenegro6-0.9
171Australia60
172Turkmenistan6-0.3
173Monaco6+0.1
174Qatar5-0.3
175Netherlands5+0.1
176Denmark5+0.2
177Slovakia5+0.4
178Slovenia5-0.2
179Japan5-0.1
180Greece5+0.2
181Belgium5-0.2
182Sweden50
183Germany4-0.1
184Ireland4-0.4
185North Macedonia40
186Croatia4-0.2
187Spain3-0.1
188Iceland3-0.6
189Czechia3+0.1
190Israel3+0.2
191United Arab Emirates3-0.1
192Norway2-0.2
193Poland2-0
194Belarus1-0.2
195Cook Islands00

Other periods

About this ranking

Deaths of women from causes related to pregnancy or its management, during pregnancy or within 42 days of its end, per 100,000 live births in the year (SDG indicator 3.1.1). Accidental and incidental causes are excluded. Estimates of the UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and UN DESA), published by WHO.

Modelled estimates that adjust registered deaths for misclassification and under-reporting, so they differ from national vital statistics, often by a wide margin. Values are served with every decimal WHO publishes. WHO revises these series, past years included, when new national reports or estimates come in, so values can change between retrievals.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

World Health Organization, data.who.int. Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births) (MDG_0000000026) [Indicator]. https://data.who.int/indicators/i/C071DCB/AC597B1 (Accessed on 2026-10-12). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. No changes made to source values. WHO does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

World Health Organization. (2026). Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births) (MDG_0000000026) (Countries by maternal mortality ratio, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.who.int/indicators/i/C071DCB/AC597B1

MLA 9

Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births) (MDG_0000000026), Countries by maternal mortality ratio, 2016. World Health Organization, 18 May 2026, https://data.who.int/indicators/i/C071DCB/AC597B1. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/maternal-mortality-ratio/countries?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

World Health Organization. 2026. Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births) (MDG_0000000026). Countries by maternal mortality ratio, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.who.int/indicators/i/C071DCB/AC597B1. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/maternal-mortality-ratio/countries?period=2016.

Harvard

World Health Organization (2026) Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births) (MDG_0000000026), Countries by maternal mortality ratio, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.who.int/indicators/i/C071DCB/AC597B1, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/maternal-mortality-ratio/countries?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{world_countries_by_maternal_mortality_2016,
  author = {{World Health Organization}},
  title = {{Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births) (MDG\_0000000026): Countries by maternal mortality ratio, 2016}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.who.int/indicators/i/C071DCB/AC597B1},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/maternal-mortality-ratio/countries?period=2016. Publisher attribution: World Health Organization, data.who.int. Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births) (MDG\_0000000026) [Indicator]. https://data.who.int/indicators/i/C071DCB/AC597B1 (Accessed on 2026-10-12). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. No changes made to source values. WHO does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - World Health Organization
TI  - Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births) (MDG_0000000026): Countries by maternal mortality ratio, 2016
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/18
PB  - World Health Organization
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.who.int/indicators/i/C071DCB/AC597B1
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/maternal-mortality-ratio/countries?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/maternal-mortality-ratio/countries?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: World Health Organization, data.who.int. Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births) (MDG_0000000026) [Indicator]. https://data.who.int/indicators/i/C071DCB/AC597B1 (Accessed on 2026-10-12). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. No changes made to source values. WHO does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Countries by maternal mortality ratio using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"maternal_mortality_ratio","level":"country","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=maternal_mortality_ratio&level=country&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which country has the highest maternal mortality ratio?

South Sudan, with 1,629 per 100,000 live births in 2016, according to World Health Organization.

Which country has the lowest maternal mortality ratio?

Cook Islands, with 0 per 100,000 live births in 2016.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: World Health Organization, Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births) (MDG_0000000026). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Maternal mortality ratio: other rankings

Countries: more rankings