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

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2021, Peru's births attended by skilled health staff (% of total) fell 0.8 percentage points on 2020 (from 95.7% to 94.9%).

Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2009 to 2020), the average change was +1.36 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.79 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.7 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 3.1 percentage points in 2009 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.8 percentage points in 2021. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2012 to 2021 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.91 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 92% 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

In 2021, Peru had the 18th highest value of the 20 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 Peru in the 2021 ranking

• Bhutan — 15th of 20: 98.9%
• Slovak Republic — 16th of 20: 98%
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 17th of 20: 97.1%
• Bulgaria — 19th of 20: 94.5%
• Burundi — 20th of 20: 76.5%

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 20 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 Peru

• Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 7.56% (2025)
• Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 7.93% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female — 4.01 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 23.06% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male — 4.16 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 24.17% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, total — 8.16 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 23.61% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 7.64% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, male (% of male population)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

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

94.9% in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1986?

It is up 45.9 percentage points from 49% in 1986. The highest value was 95.7% in 2020 and the lowest 49% in 1986.

How does Peru rank?

18th highest of 20 economies with data for 2021.

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

In 2021, Peru's births attended by skilled health staff (% of total) fell 0.8 percentage points on 2020 (from 95.7% to 94.9%). Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2009 to 2020), the average change was +1.36 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.79 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.7 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

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.

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