New Figures for 2005
On October 12, 2007, an unprecedented joint UN agency working group released new estimates, the first in five years, on maternal mortality worldwide.
The World Health Organization; UNFPA,the United Nations Population Fund; UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund); the UN Population Division; and The World Bank together developed a new approach to estimating maternal mortality that seeks both to generate estimates for countries with no data and to correct available data for under-reporting and for misclassification.
Inconsistency in data on deaths and on classification of those deaths creates broad uncertainties in many places, even in developed countries. But all estimates almost certainly understate the problem. The 2005 approach differs from those used in 1990, 1995, and 2000, so the new figures cannot be reliably compared to previous estimates.
However, the task force conducted two kinds of trend analysis to supply information on progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goal 5 target of reducing maternal mortality by 75 percent by 2015. Both these analyses showed declines in maternal mortality ratios since 2000 that are insufficient to achieve the MDG goal.
The assessment of risk given below takes into account both the probability of becoming pregnant and the probability of dying as a result of that pregnancy in 171 countries with populations of more than 250,000, cumulated across a woman’s reproductive years. This is the lifetime risk of maternal death.
The New Country Rankings
Among the ten top-ranked European and other industrialized countries, where women are guaranteed good-quality health and family planning services that minimize their lifetime risk, fewer than one in 16,400 will die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. At the other end of the scale are ten countries where high fertility and shattered health care systems raise women’s lifetime risk so that more than one in every 15 women will die of pregnancy-related causes.
Rank by lifetime risk of death from pregnancy-related causes
1. Ireland |
1 in 47,600 will die and in… |
2. Bosnia and Herzegovina |
1 in 29,000 |
3. Italy |
1 in 26,600 |
4. Greece |
1 in 25,900 |
5. Austria |
1 in 21,500 |
6. Germany |
1 in 19,200 |
7. Czech Republic |
1 in 18,100 |
8. Denmark |
1 in 17,800 |
9. Sweden |
1 in 17,400 |
10. Spain |
1 in 16,400 |
11. Slovenia |
1 in 14,200 |
12. Slovakia |
1 in 13,800 |
12. Switzerland |
1 in 13,800 |
14. Australia |
1 in 13,300 |
14. Hungary |
1 in 13,300 |
16. Iceland |
1 in 12,700 |
17. Japan |
1 in 11,600 |
18. Canada |
1 in 11,000 |
19. Poland |
1 in 10,600 |
20. Croatia |
1 in 10,500 |
21. Netherlands |
1 in 10,200 |
22. Kuwait |
1 in 9,600 |
23. Finland |
1 in 8,500 |
23. Latvia |
1 in 8,500 |
25. Malta |
1 in 8,300 |
26. United Kingdom |
1 in 8,200 |
27. Belgium |
1 in 7,800 |
27. Israel |
1 in 7,800 |
27. Lithuania |
1 in 7,800 |
30. Norway |
1 in 7,700 |
31. Bulgaria |
1 in 7,400 |
32. France |
1 in 6,900 |
33. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia |
1 in 6,500 |
34. Cyprus |
1 in 6,400 |
34. Portugal |
1 in 6,400 |
36. Singapore |
1 in 6,200 |
37. Republic of Korea |
1 in 6,100 |
38. New Zealand |
1 in 5,900 |
39. Ukraine |
1 in 5,200 |
40. Luxembourg |
1 in 5,000 |
41. Belarus |
1 in 4,800 |
41. United States of America |
1 in 4,800 |
43. Serbia and Montenegro* |
1 in 4,500 |
44. Barbados |
1 in 4,400 |
45. Republic of Moldova |
1 in 3,700 |
46. Mauritius |
1 in 3,300 |
47. Chile |
1 in 3,200 |
47. Romania |
1 in 3,200 |
49. Brunei Darussalam |
1 in 2,900 |
49. Puerto Rico |
1 in 2,900 |
49. Estonia |
1 in 2,900 |
52. Qatar |
1 in 2,700 |
52. Russian Federation |
1 in 2,700 |
52. Bahamas |
1 in 2,700 |
55. Uruguay |
1 in 2,100 |
56. Costa Rica |
1 in 1,400 |
56. Cuba |
1 in 1,400 |
56. Uzbekistan |
1 in 1,400 |
56. Saudi Arabia |
1 in 1,400 |
56. Trinidad and Tobago |
1 in 1,400 |
61. China |
1 in 1,300 |
61. Bahrain |
1 in 1,300 |
63. Georgia |
1 in 1,100 |
64. United Arab Emirates |
1 in 1,000 |
65. Armenia |
1 in 980 |
66. Turkey |
1 in 880 |
67. Sri Lanka |
1 in 850 |
68. Mongolia |
1 in 840 |
69. Azerbaijan |
1 in 670 |
69. Mexico |
1 in 670 |
71. Venezuela |
1 in 610 |
72. Belize |
1 in 560 |
72. Malaysia |
1 in 560 |
74. Argentina |
1 in 530 |
74. Suriname |
1 in 530 |
76. Tunisia |
1 in 500 |
76. Thailand |
1 in 500 |
78. Albania |
1 in 490 |
79. Jordan |
1 in 450 |
80. Oman |
1 in 420 |
81. Brazil |
1 in 370 |
82. Kazakhstan |
1 in 360 |
83. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya |
1 in 350 |
84. Iran |
1 in 300 |
85. Colombia |
1 in 290 |
85. Lebanon |
1 in 290 |
85. Turkmenistan |
1 in 290 |
88. Viet Nam |
1 in 280 |
89. Panama |
1 in 270 |
90. Jamaica |
1 in 240 |
90. Kyrgyzstan |
1 in 240 |
92. Dominican Republic |
1 in 230 |
92. Egypt |
1 in 230 |
94. Algeria |
1 in 220 |
95. Syrian Arab Republic |
1 in 210 |
96. Maldives |
1 in 200 |
97. El Salvador |
1 in 190 |
98. Ecuador |
1 in 170 |
98. Namibia |
1 in 170 |
98. Paraguay |
1 in 170 |
101. Fiji |
1 in 160 |
101. Tajikistan |
1 in 160 |
103. Morocco |
1 in 150 |
103. Nicaragua |
1 in 150 |
105. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea |
1 in 140 |
105. Peru |
1 in 140 |
105. Philippines |
1 in 140 |
108. Botswana |
1 in 130 |
109. Cape Verde |
1 in 120 |
109. Swaziland |
1 in 120 |
111. Myanmar |
1 in 110 |
111. South Africa |
1 in 110 |
113. Solomon Islands |
1 in 100 |
114. Indonesia |
1 in 97 |
115. Honduras |
1 in 93 |
116. Guyana |
1 in 90 |
117. Bolivia |
1 in 89 |
118. Pakistan |
1 in 74 |
119. Iraq |
1 in 72 |
120. Guatemala |
1 in 71 |
121. India |
1 in 70 |
122. Bhutan |
1 in 55 |
122. Papua New Guinea |
1 in 55 |
124. Gabon |
1 in 53 |
124. Sudan |
1 in 53 |
126. Comoros |
1 in 52 |
127. Bangladesh |
1 in 51 |
128. Cambodia |
1 in 48 |
129. Ghana |
1 in 45 |
129. Lesotho |
1 in 45 |
129. Mozambique |
1 in 45 |
132. Haiti |
1 in 44 |
132. Eritrea |
1 in 44 |
134. Zimbabwe |
1 in 43 |
135. Kenya |
1 in 39 |
135. Yemen |
1 in 39 |
137. Madagascar |
1 in 38 |
137. Togo |
1 in 38 |
139. Djibouti |
1 in 35 |
139. Timor-Leste |
1 in 35 |
141. Lao People’s Democratic Republic |
1 in 33 |
142. Gambia |
1 in 32 |
143. Nepal |
1 in 31 |
144. Equatorial Guinea |
1 in 28 |
145. Côte d’Ivoire |
1 in 27 |
145. Ethiopia |
1 in 27 |
145. Zambia |
1 in 27 |
148. Central African Republic |
1 in 25 |
148. Uganda |
1 in 25 |
150. Cameroon |
1 in 24 |
150. United Republic of Tanzania |
1 in 24 |
152. Burkina Faso |
1 in 22 |
152. Congo |
1 in 22 |
152. Mauritania |
1 in 22 |
155. Senegal |
1 in 21 |
156. Benin |
1 in 20 |
157. Guinea |
1 in 19 |
158. Malawi |
1 in 18 |
158. Nigeria |
1 in 18 |
160. Burundi |
1 in 16 |
160. Rwanda |
1 in 16 |
162. Mali |
1 in 15 |
163. Democratic Republic of the Congo |
1 in 13 |
163. Guinea Bissau |
1 in 13 |
165. Angola |
1 in 12 |
165. Liberia |
1 in 12 |
165. Somalia |
1 in 12 |
168. Chad |
1 in 11 |
169. Afghanistan |
1 in 8 |
169. Sierra Leone |
1 in 8 |
171. Niger |
1 in 7 |
* Serbia and Montenegro became separate entities in 2006.
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