International comparison
When compared internationally, Australia has a consistently low rate of maternal death. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report an MMR for Australia. To enable consistent international comparisons between countries with variable data maturity, WHO and the OECD calculate the MMR as maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, whereas AIHW calculates maternal deaths per 100,000 women giving birth – see Technical notes for further detail on differences in AIHW and WHO data sources and definitions. As a result of these differences, MMRs reported by these organisations differ to those produced by AIHW, but importantly enable comparison of Australia’s MMR to other countries.
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that, worldwide, 260,000 women died in 2023 from complications of pregnancy and childbirth (WHO 2025).
Australia is a signatory to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; UN 2015). One of these goals is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. This includes reducing the global maternal mortality ratio (MMR) (as defined by WHO) to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030 (SDG target 3.1) (UN 2025). International reporting against the SDGs includes statistical modelling, used to ensure MMR estimation is consistent across countries. The MMRs are reported with 80% uncertainty intervals (UIs), meaning there is an 80% chance that the true value lies within the UI (WHO 2025).
The global MMR dropped by 40% between 2000 and 2023, from 328 (UI 308 to 352) to 197 (UI 174 to 234) maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (WHO 2025).
In 2023, Australia and New Zealand had the lowest MMR across the SDG regions at 3 (UI 2 to 4) per 100,000 live births. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 70% of global maternal deaths followed by Central and Southern Asia (17%) (see supplementary table 4 – Data tables: Maternal deaths in Australia 2021–2023).
In individual countries, the MMR per 100,000 live births for 2023 was reported as:
- 2 (UI 2–3) in Australia
- 7 (UI 4–9) in New Zealand
- 8 (UI 6–12) in the United Kingdom
- 17 (UI 13–21) in the United States of America
- 123 (UI 65–231) in the Solomon Islands
- 189 (UI 119–307) in Papua New Guinea
- 192 (UI 125–288) in Timor Leste
- 454 (UI 387–572) in sub-Saharan Africa (WHO 2025).
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
The OECD also reports on maternal mortality for its 38 member countries. When compared with other OECD member countries, Australia has a low MMR at 5.4, compared with the OECD average of 10.3 per 100,000 live births in 2021–2023 (OECD 2025).
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) (2025) Health at a Glance 2025, OECD Publishing, Paris, accessed 24 March 2026.
UN (United Nations) (2015) Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,. UN, accessed 24 March 2026.
UN (United Nations) (2025) Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages - Targets and Indicators, UN, accessed 24 March 2026.
WHO (World Health Organization) (2025) Trends in Maternal Mortality 2000 to 2023: Estimates by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and UNDESA/Population Division, WHO, Geneva, accessed 24 March 2026.