Kenya's number of maternal deaths was 2,200 in 2023, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 26.67% from 3,000 in 2013 (3.05% a year on average, compounded).
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 2,200 | 2023 |
| Five years earlier | 2,700 | 2018 |
| Ten years earlier | 3,000 | 2013 |
| Highest | 12,000 | 1985 |
| Lowest | 2,200 | 2023 |
| Average since 2014 | 2,650 | 2014–2023 |
| First recorded | 12,000 | 1985 |
What the numbers say
In 2023, Kenya's number of maternal deaths fell 4.3% on 2022 (from 2,300 to 2,200).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was −1.9% and a typical year strayed about 5.9% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below 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% in 2006 and the biggest yearly fall was 19.6% in 1988. 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 downward, about 72.12 a year. A straight line explains 76% 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.
A straight-line projection, tested first
Extending that straight line gives about 2,098 for 2026. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2021 to 2023 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 170, against 300 for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.
See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.
How it compares
In 2023, Kenya had the 23rd highest value of the 194 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Kenya | 2,200 | 2023 |
| World | 260,000 | 2023 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 187,000 | 2023 |
| Lower middle income | 151,000 | 2023 |
Closest to Kenya in the 2023 ranking
- Cameroon — 20th of 194: 2,500
- Guinea — 21st of 194: 2,400
- South Sudan — 22nd of 194: 2,300
- Ghana — 24th of 194: 2,100
- Burkina Faso — 25th of 194: 1,800
- Burundi — 26th of 194: 1,800
What this measures
A maternal death refers to the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes.
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 figures cannot be assumed to provide exact estimates.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.
All 39 values
| Year | Number of maternal deaths |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 2,200 |
| 2022 | 2,300 |
| 2021 | 2,700 |
| 2020 | 2,700 |
| 2019 | 2,500 |
| 2018 | 2,700 |
| 2017 | 2,700 |
| 2016 | 2,800 |
| 2015 | 3,000 |
| 2014 | 2,900 |
| 2013 |
Number of maternal deaths in nearby economies
- Angola — 2,500 (2023)
- Benin — 2,500 (2023)
- Botswana — 95 (2023)
- Burkina Faso — 1,800 (2023)
- Burundi — 1,800 (2023)
- Cabo Verde — 3 (2023)
- Cameroon — 2,500 (2023)
- Central African Republic — 1,700 (2023)
- Chad — 6,100 (2023)
- Comoros — 44 (2023)
- Congo, Dem. Rep. — 19,000 (2023)
- Congo, Rep.
More health data for Kenya
- Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 12.35% (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 12.68% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female — 10.36 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 35.79% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male — 10.5 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 36.73% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, total — 20.86 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 36.26% (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 11.74% (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, male (% of male population)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Kenya's number of maternal deaths?
- 2,200 in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1985?
- It is down 81.67% from 12,000 in 1985 (4.37% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 12,000 in 1985 and the lowest 2,200 in 2023.
- How does Kenya rank?
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SH.MMR.DTHS, 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.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
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