What is the difference in maternal mortality ratio between United States and Uruguay?

2.44 deaths per 100,000 live births, with United States ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for United States and Uruguay?

36 years are reported by both, from 1985 to 2020.

Where does this data come from?

UN MMEIG (2023) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Maternal mortality ratio. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

United States vs Uruguay: Maternal mortality ratio (UN MMEIG)

United States

21.08 deaths per 100,000 live births

in 2020

Uruguay

18.64 deaths per 100,000 live births

in 2020

United States rank

123rd

Uruguay rank

126th

Maternal mortality ratio (UN MMEIG) over time

United States
Uruguay

How they compare

United States currently reports 21.08 deaths per 100,000 live births against 18.64 deaths per 100,000 live births in Uruguay, a difference of 2.44 deaths per 100,000 live births.

That makes United States's figure about 1.1 times Uruguay's.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 36 shared years of data; in 1985 it was Uruguay ahead.

United States ranks 123rd and Uruguay ranks 126th of 185 countries.

Across the 5 decades both report, United States averaged higher in 1 and Uruguay in 4.

Head to head by decade

Decade	United States	Uruguay	Difference	Ahead
1980s	10.81 deaths per 100,000 live births	44.97 deaths per 100,000 live births	34.16 deaths per 100,000 live births	Uruguay
1990s	10.82 deaths per 100,000 live births	31.05 deaths per 100,000 live births	20.23 deaths per 100,000 live births	Uruguay
2000s	13.26 deaths per 100,000 live births	21.31 deaths per 100,000 live births	8.05 deaths per 100,000 live births	Uruguay
2010s	17.26 deaths per 100,000 live births	17.44 deaths per 100,000 live births	0.1757 deaths per 100,000 live births	Uruguay
2020s	21.08 deaths per 100,000 live births	18.64 deaths per 100,000 live births	2.45 deaths per 100,000 live births	United States

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher maternal mortality ratio, United States or Uruguay?: United States, at 21.08 deaths per 100,000 live births against 18.64 deaths per 100,000 live births in Uruguay as of 2020.
What is the difference in maternal mortality ratio between United States and Uruguay?: 2.44 deaths per 100,000 live births, with United States ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for United States and Uruguay?: 36 years are reported by both, from 1985 to 2020.
How do United States and Uruguay rank globally for maternal mortality ratio?: United States ranks 123rd and Uruguay ranks 126th of 185 countries.
Where does this data come from?: UN MMEIG (2023) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Maternal mortality ratio. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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United States vs Uruguay: Maternal mortality ratio. Statizoid, drawing on UN MMEIG (2023) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 11 November 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/compare/maternal-mortality-ratio-vs-gdp-per-capita/united-states/uruguay/

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About this data

Indicator: Maternal mortality ratio
Unit: deaths per 100,000 live births
Source: UN MMEIG (2023) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 185 places, 6,660 data points, 1985–2020
Last refreshed: 30 October 2026

The estimated maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.