Maternal and Child Mortality: A Journey of Progress and Challenges

Since the turn of the century, the world has made substantial global progress improving the health of mothers and children.

Maternal deaths dropped from 447,000 in 2000 to 287,000 in 2020, with the maternal mortality ratio falling from 339 to 223 per 100,000 live births—a decline of over a third. Child mortality has seen even greater advances, with the under-five mortality rate halved from 76 to 38 per 1,000 live births between 2000 and 2021.

This progress led to a reduction in under-five deaths from 9.9 million in 2000 to 5 million in 2021, nearly half occurring in the first month of life.

However, progress slowed after 2015, marking a shift from the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) era. From 2000 to 2015, the maternal mortality rate's annual reduction was 2.7%, dropping sharply to -0.04% between 2016 and 2020. Under-five and neonatal mortality rates saw similar slowdowns, with annual reductions declining since 2010 and further stagnating post-2015.