Data / Rankings / Maternal mortality ratio / Countries

Countries by maternal mortality ratio

Nigeria had the highest maternal mortality ratio of 195 countries in 2018, at 1,118 per 100,000 live births. Cook Islands had the lowest, at 0 per 100,000 live births. The median was 49 per 100,000 live births. Source: World Health Organization.

Highest1,118Nigeria
Lowest0Cook Islands
Median49195 countries

Top 40 countries, 2018

Nigeria: 1,118 per 100,000 live birthsNigeria1,118Chad: 1,020 per 100,000 live birthsChad1,020South Sudan: 913 per 100,000 live birthsSouth Sudan913Central African Republic: 881 per 100,000 live birthsCentral African Republic881Somalia: 727 per 100,000 live birthsSomalia727Liberia: 707 per 100,000 live birthsLiberia707Afghanistan: 629 per 100,000 live birthsAfghanistan629Benin: 585 per 100,000 live birthsBenin585Guinea-Bissau: 585 per 100,000 live birthsGuinea-Bissau585Guinea: 560 per 100,000 live birthsGuinea560Democratic Republic of the Congo: 508 per 100,000 live birthsDemocratic Republic of the Congo508Sierra Leone: 491 per 100,000 live birthsSierra Leone491Lesotho: 491 per 100,000 live birthsLesotho491Madagascar: 466 per 100,000 live birthsMadagascar466Burundi: 464 per 100,000 live birthsBurundi464Gambia: 450 per 100,000 live birthsGambia450Côte d’Ivoire: 449 per 100,000 live birthsCôte d’Ivoire449Mauritania: 437 per 100,000 live birthsMauritania437Togo: 435 per 100,000 live birthsTogo435Mali: 434 per 100,000 live birthsMali434Kenya: 428 per 100,000 live birthsKenya428Niger: 420 per 100,000 live birthsNiger420Zimbabwe: 386 per 100,000 live birthsZimbabwe386Eritrea: 363 per 100,000 live birthsEritrea363Haiti: 358 per 100,000 live birthsHaiti358Cameroon: 354 per 100,000 live birthsCameroon354Tanzania: 319 per 100,000 live birthsTanzania319Senegal: 305 per 100,000 live birthsSenegal305Ethiopia: 297 per 100,000 live birthsEthiopia297Burkina Faso: 286 per 100,000 live birthsBurkina Faso286Ghana: 276 per 100,000 live birthsGhana276Nauru: 269 per 100,000 live birthsNauru269Rwanda: 269 per 100,000 live birthsRwanda269Sudan: 268 per 100,000 live birthsSudan268Malawi: 267 per 100,000 live birthsMalawi267Republic of the Congo: 259 per 100,000 live birthsRepublic of the Congo259Timor-Leste: 251 per 100,000 live birthsTimor-Leste251Uganda: 232 per 100,000 live birthsUganda232Comoros: 209 per 100,000 live birthsComoros209Angola: 208 per 100,000 live birthsAngola208
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

RankCountries2018
per 100,000 live births		Change on 2017
1Nigeria1,118-23.4
2Chad1,020-64.7
3South Sudan913-748.7
4Central African Republic881-212.1
5Somalia727+11
6Liberia707+3.8
7Afghanistan629-29.3
8Benin585-6.2
9Guinea-Bissau585-12.2
10Guinea560-21.7
11Democratic Republic of the Congo508-11
12Sierra Leone491-86.9
13Lesotho491+22.9
14Madagascar466-3
15Burundi464-18.2
16Gambia450-18.2
17Côte d’Ivoire449-16.2
18Mauritania437-12.7
19Togo435-8
20Mali434-18.8
21Kenya428+0.4
22Niger420-13.2
23Zimbabwe386-3.8
24Eritrea363-15.8
25Haiti358+7.8
26Cameroon354-17.8
27Tanzania319-26.4
28Senegal305-19.9
29Ethiopia297-30.5
30Burkina Faso286-12.3
31Ghana276-11.4
32Nauru269+9.4
33Rwanda269-6.3
34Sudan268-8.1
35Malawi267-16.4
36Republic of the Congo259-3
37Timor-Leste251-18.3
38Uganda232-14.3
39Comoros209-9.2
40Angola208-11.9
41Papua New Guinea205-2.2
42Venezuela205+9.7
43Equatorial Guinea204-7.6
44Myanmar201-8.1
45Djibouti199-2
46Namibia198-15.2
47Nepal183-14.2
48Pakistan178-5.4
49Gabon176-8.3
50Indonesia168-5
51Bangladesh168-11.1
52Marshall Islands167-11.9
53Micronesia163-7.1
54Bolivia157-2.5
55Tuvalu153-18.5
56Cambodia151-3.5
57Laos145-8.9
58Solomon Islands136-3.7
59Yemen134-7.7
60Eswatini133-18.8
61Mozambique132-23.3
62South Africa128-6.2
63Zambia117-24.2
64Jamaica112+6.7
65Samoa110-0.5
66Vanuatu108+0.1
67Guatemala107+0.2
68India107-6
69Dominican Republic107+3
70Guyana105-4.7
71Suriname101-3.7
72São Tomé and Príncipe100-9.9
73Botswana99+52.9
74Philippines92+6.6
75Kiribati87-2.8
76Morocco83-5
77Bahamas82+3.2
78Palau82+1
79Saint Kitts and Nevis78+3.8
80Iraq76-5.8
81Algeria75-1.9
82Tonga74-2.9
83North Korea69-1.1
84Colombia67-0.7
85Nicaragua67-5.6
86Mauritius67+0.6
87Libya66-2.8
88Peru66-0.5
89Brazil62+1.3
90Ecuador61-0.6
91Belize60+4.1
92Paraguay58-0.7
93Saint Vincent and the Grenadines56-1.9
94Bhutan55-3.2
95Vietnam53-1.5
96Trinidad and Tobago53+1.4
97Honduras52-1.2
98Kyrgyzstan49+0.7
99Seychelles49+1.4
100Grenada46+1.5
101Mongolia45-0.8
102Mexico44+0.1
103Panama43-3.2
104El Salvador43-1.1
105Cape Verde43-0.1
106Dominica43-1
107Saint Lucia41-1.6
108Maldives40-1.6
109Brunei39-0.1
110Cuba39-0.1
111Argentina38+0.1
112Tunisia38-0.3
113Barbados37+0.1
114Jordan36-2
115Fiji35+0.3
116Thailand34-0.2
117Antigua and Barbuda31-0.5
118Uzbekistan29-0.9
119Malaysia29-0.4
120Costa Rica28+1.4
121Georgia24-2.5
122Armenia24-0.4
123Latvia230
124China22-1.7
125Syria21-1.5
126Azerbaijan21-1.2
127Sri Lanka21-0.9
128Moldova200
129Egypt20-1.3
130Iran19-1
131Palestine19-1.4
132United States18-0.3
133Türkiye17-0.8
134Tajikistan16-0.6
135Bahrain16-0.2
136Ukraine16+0.1
137Uruguay16-0.4
138Romania15-1.2
139Lebanon15-0.2
140Oman14-0.2
141Puerto Rico14-2.5
142Portugal14+0.5
143Hungary14-0
144Canada13+0.3
145Cyprus13+0.5
146Serbia12-0.5
147Russia12-0.2
148Chile11-0.7
149Kazakhstan11-0.3
150Andorra11-0.3
151Luxembourg10-5.8
152United Kingdom9+0.2
153Lithuania9-0.7
154Malta9+1.6
155France9+0.1
156Saudi Arabia8+0.1
157Finland8+0.1
158Singapore8-0.3
159Kuwait8-0.2
160New Zealand7-0.1
161Italy7-0.3
162Albania7-0.5
163San Marino7+0.1
164Austria7+0.6
165Bosnia and Herzegovina7+0.2
166Montenegro7-0.6
167Bulgaria7-0
168Switzerland6+0.1
169Monaco6+0.1
170Australia5-0.3
171Estonia50
172South Korea5-0.3
173Turkmenistan5-0.2
174Greece5-0.2
175Qatar5-0.3
176Netherlands5-0.2
177Japan5-0
178Ireland5+0.5
179Denmark50
180Belgium5-0.1
181Slovakia5-0.1
182Sweden5-0
183Germany40
184Slovenia4-0.6
185Iceland4+0.9
186North Macedonia3-0.2
187Croatia3-0.3
188Spain3-0.2
189Czechia3+0.1
190United Arab Emirates3-0.2
191Israel3-0.2
192Poland2-0
193Norway2-0.2
194Belarus1-0
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, 2018) [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, 2018. World Health Organization, 18 May 2026, https://data.who.int/indicators/i/C071DCB/AC597B1. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/maternal-mortality-ratio/countries?period=2018. 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, 2018. 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=2018.

Harvard

World Health Organization (2026) Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births) (MDG_0000000026), Countries by maternal mortality ratio, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.who.int/indicators/i/C071DCB/AC597B1, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/maternal-mortality-ratio/countries?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{world_countries_by_maternal_mortality_2018,
  author = {{World Health Organization}},
  title = {{Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births) (MDG\_0000000026): Countries by maternal mortality ratio, 2018}},
  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=2018. 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, 2018
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=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/maternal-mortality-ratio/countries?period=2018.
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  -
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Questions

Which country has the highest maternal mortality ratio?

Nigeria, with 1,118 per 100,000 live births in 2018, according to World Health Organization.

Which country has the lowest maternal mortality ratio?

Cook Islands, with 0 per 100,000 live births in 2018.

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