IDA blend: Lifetime risk of maternal death (1 in: rate varies by country)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, IDA blend's lifetime risk of maternal death (1 in: rate varies by country) rose 4.1% on 2022 (from 49 to 51).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +2.6% and a typical year strayed about 2.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 8.9% in 2022. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 the straight-line trend is upward, about 1.79 a year. A straight line explains 98% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

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.

Limitations: The methodology differs from that used for previous estimates, so data should not be compared historically. Maternal mortality ratios are generally of unknown reliability, as are many other cause-specific mortality indicators. The probability cannot be assumed to provide an exact estimate of risk of maternal death.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 39 values

Lifetime risk of maternal death (1 in: rate varies by country) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 40 (2023)
• Algeria — 633 (2023)
• Bahrain — 3,315 (2023)
• Djibouti — 265 (2023)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 2,223 (2023)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 4,179 (2023)
• Iraq — 465 (2023)
• Israel — 15,889 (2023)
• Jordan — 1,263 (2023)

More health data for IDA blend

• Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 13.28% (2025)
• Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 13.48% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female — 128.45 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 37.58% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male — 132.88 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 38.18% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, total — 261.33 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 37.89% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 12.41% (2025)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is IDA blend's lifetime risk of maternal death (1 in: rate varies by country)?

51 in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1985?

It is up 183.33% from 18 in 1985 (2.78% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 51 in 2023 and the lowest 18 in 1985.

Is the latest change in lifetime risk of maternal death (1 in: rate varies by country) unusual for IDA blend?

In 2023, IDA blend's lifetime risk of maternal death (1 in: rate varies by country) rose 4.1% on 2022 (from 49 to 51). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +2.6% and a typical year strayed about 2.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SH.MMR.RISK, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Trends in Maternal Mortality, World Health Organization (WHO); UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), note: Trends in Maternal Mortality; UN Population Fund (UNFPA), note: Trends in Maternal Mortality; World Bank Group (WBG), note: Trends in Maternal Mortality Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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