Paraguay: Births attended by skilled health staff (% of total)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2019, Paraguay's births attended by skilled health staff (% of total) fell 5.5 percentage points on 2018 (from 97.7% to 92.2%).

Across the 20 yearly changes before that (1999 to 2018), the average change was +1.85 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.5 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 24.8 percentage points in 1999 and the biggest yearly fall was 8.7 percentage points in 2004. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2010 to 2019 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 3% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

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

How it compares

In 2019, Paraguay had the 24th highest value of the 29 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.

Closest to Paraguay in the 2019 ranking

• Saudi Arabia — 21st of 29: 94.8%
• Indonesia — 22nd of 29: 94.7%
• Honduras — 23rd of 29: 94.1%
• Kiribati — 25th of 29: 91.9%
• Bolivia — 26th of 29: 81.1%
• Nepal — 27th of 29: 77.2%

What this measures

Births attended by skilled health staff are the percentage of deliveries attended by personnel trained to give the necessary supervision, care, and advice to women during pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period; to conduct deliveries on their own; and to care for newborns.

Limitations: For the indicators that are from household surveys, the year refers to the survey year. For more information, consult the original sources.

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

All 24 values

Births attended by skilled health staff (% of total) in nearby economies

• Antigua and Barbuda — 99% (2020)
• Argentina — 98.8% (2020)
• Bahamas, The — 99% (2019)
• Barbados — 98.4% (2020)
• Belize — 94.6% (2020)
• Bolivia — 81.1% (2019)
• Brazil — 98.4% (2020)
• Chile — 99.8% (2019)
• Colombia — 98.8% (2019)
• Costa Rica

More health data for Paraguay

• Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 9.39% (2025)
• Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 9.79% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female — 972,297 (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 27.8% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male — 1.02 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 28.94% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, total — 1.99 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 28.37% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 9.48% (2025)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Paraguay's births attended by skilled health staff (% of total)?

92.2% in 2019, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1990?

It is up 26.2 percentage points from 66% in 1990. The highest value was 97.7% in 2018 and the lowest 60.8% in 1996.

How does Paraguay rank?

24th highest of 29 economies with data for 2019.

Is the latest change in births attended by skilled health staff (% of total) unusual for Paraguay?

In 2019, Paraguay's births attended by skilled health staff (% of total) fell 5.5 percentage points on 2018 (from 97.7% to 92.2%). Across the 20 yearly changes before that (1999 to 2018), the average change was +1.85 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.5 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SH.STA.BRTC.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: State of the World's Children, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF); Childinfo, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF); Demographic and Health Surveys, Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program 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.