Maternal, stillbirth and newborn deaths · 151 countries · 1990 to 2023

Transition Atlas

Every country colored by its phase in the mortality transition, from phase I, where mothers and babies die most often, to phase V. Press play to watch the map change, or switch to Progress to see who moved fastest since 2000.

2023

The world moving through the transition

Share of the population of the 151 countries living in each phase. Tap or drag across it to jump to a year.

How phases are set

A country's phase is the lower of two phases: one from maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (700, 300, 100 and 20) and one from stillbirths plus newborn deaths per 1,000 births (80, 55, 30 and 15), following the transition model [1].
Progress since 2000 counts how many phases a country has moved since 2000.
Study countries: the 151 with at least 1 million people in 2000, as in the original model [1]. World and Africa show only these unless you tick the box for small countries.
Small countries not in the study. The original transition model [1] included only the 151 countries with at least 1 million people in 2000. Smaller countries were left out for three reasons: they record few births each year, so a few maternal deaths more or less change their rates a great deal; their phase can therefore move up and down from year to year for statistical rather than real reasons; and their UN estimates often rest on limited national data. The "Include small countries not in the study" box adds the other UN member states that have UN estimates, from 2000 onward, when UN stillbirth estimates begin. They are shown with fine white stripes over their phase color and a dashed outline, marked "added", and never used in the averages. Use them with caution, and quote the 151 study countries when comparing with the published model.
The share bars follow the countries shown. The chart of the world moving through the transition always uses the 151 study countries, so it stays comparable with the published model.
Countries with fewer than 10,000 births a year have uncertain estimates and can move between phases from year to year for statistical reasons. Their tooltips say so. Very small countries are drawn as dots.
Small countries are read directly from the World Bank's open data service, the same UN series used for the study countries, and saved in your browser for up to 7 days. If the World Bank cannot be reached, the saved copy is used.
Live data: the atlas loads the newest published UN estimates every time it opens, kept current by a daily check against the UN series published by the World Bank.
Sources: UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-agency Group; UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation; UN World Population Prospects. Same data as the Mortality Transition Explorer.
[1] Boerma T, et al. Maternal mortality, stillbirths, and neonatal mortality: a transition model. Lancet Glob Health 2023;11:e1024–31. Ethiopia application: Melesse DY, et al. BMJ Glob Health 2024;9(Suppl 2):e011911.
Borders are simplified from Natural Earth and do not imply any position on territorial status.