World Health Systems Facts currently covers the US and sixteen other OECD nations. Links below lead directly to national subsections on Health System Outcomes:

“Switzerland, Japan, Spain and Israel lead a large group of 27 OECD countries in which life expectancy at birth exceeded 80 years in 2023. Mexico and Latvia had the lowest life expectancy, at less than 76 years. While life expectancy often fell during the pandemic, the latest data show signs of a subsequent recovery. However, life expectancy in 2023 was still below pre-pandemic levels in 13 OECD countries.

“Avoidable mortality rates (from preventable and treatable causes) were lowest in Switzerland and Luxembourg, where fewer than 130 per 100 000 people died prematurely. Colombia, Mexico and Latvia had the highest avoidable mortality rates, at over 400 premature deaths per 100 000 people. The avoidable mortality rate for men (303 deaths per 100 000) was double that of women (149 per 100 000), on average across OECD counties.”

Source: OECD (2025), Health at a Glance 2025: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/8f9e3f98-en.

“Almost 8% of adults considered themselves to be in poor health in 2024, on average across OECD countries. This ranged from over 13% in Japan and Latvia, to under 3% in New Zealand and Colombia. However, socio-cultural differences, the share of older people and differences in survey design affect cross-country comparability. People with lower incomes are generally less positive about their health than people on higher incomes in all OECD countries.”

Source: OECD (2025), Health at a Glance 2025: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/8f9e3f98-en.

“Between 2013 and 2023, the average OECD gap in life expectancy between men and women declined slightly from 5.6 to 5.2 years (Figure 2.3). While the average gender difference remained stable, most countries saw gradual progress in narrowing the gap, mainly due to rising male life expectancy driven by reductions in cardiovascular mortality (OECD/The King’s Fund, 2020[4]; Raleigh, 2019[5]). For example, Lithuania reduced its gap by 2.1 years (from 11.1 to 9.0 years), and in Colombia, Belgium, France, Italy and Norway, the gap was reduced by about one year over the same period.

“However, eight OECD countries saw widening gaps, including Mexico (from 5.6 to 6.5 years), the United States (from 4.8 to 5.3 years), Latvia (from 9.6 to 10.1), Israel (from 3.6 to 4.0) and Iceland (from 3.2 to 3.6). Other countries showing a widening gap were Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom. Some of these countries have experienced decelerating improvements in CVD outcomes, combined with life expectancy losses from infectious diseases, as well as from mental and nervous system disorders – including (in North America) the opioid crisis.”

Source: OECD (2025), Health at a Glance 2025: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/8f9e3f98-en.

Maternal mortality – the death of a woman during pregnancy or childbirth, or within 42 days of the termination of pregnancy – is an important indicator of a woman’s health status and to assess health system performance. The Sustainable Development Goals set a target of reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 deaths per 100 000 live births by 2030. All OECD countries had mortality ratios below this target, with an average maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 10.3 deaths per 100 000 live births in 2023. Countries including Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Denmark, Switzerland and Italy had 3-year average MMRs of lower than 3 deaths per 100 000 live births. However, Colombia had a 3-year average MMR of 59.5 deaths per 100 000 live births – the highest among OECD countries. Mexico also had a significantly high 3-year average MMR of 44.0 deaths per 100 000 live births. Some OECD accession countries also had high MMRs – notably Peru and Argentina (Figure 3.11).

“Between the 3-year periods 2011-2013 and 2021-2023, MMRs increased in 18 OECD countries, with particularly large increases in Latvia (Figure 3.11). The main causes of maternal deaths in many high-income countries include cardiovascular conditions and suicides, and there are a higher number of maternal deaths among women aged younger than 20 or older than 40, and women with a migrant background (Diguisto et al., 2022[1]).

“Infant mortality – deaths in children aged less than 1 year – reflects the impact of economic, social, and environmental conditions on the health of mothers and infants, as well as the effectiveness of health systems. Factors such as the education of the mother, quality of antenatal and childbirth care, pre-term birth and birth weight, immediate newborn care, and infant feeding practices are important determinants of infant mortality.

“In the 3-year period 2021-2023, infant mortality averaged 4.0 deaths per 1 000 live births across OECD countries, down from 4.1 deaths per 1 000 live births in 2011-2013. Japan and Finland had average infant mortality rates of fewer than 2 deaths per 1 000 live births in 2021-2023. However, average infant mortality rates are still relatively high in Colombia (16.8 deaths per 1 000 live births) and Mexico (11.9 deaths per 1 000 live births), signalling the correlation that exists between maternal and infant mortality. Among OECD accession/partner countries, average infant mortality rates are around 12 deaths or higher per 1 000 live births in Brazil, Peru, Indonesia, South Africa, and India – although these countries have reduced average infant mortality rates considerably since 2011-2013, except for Peru with an 0.8 increase (Figure 3.12). While 35 OECD countries have seen a reduction in average infant mortality rates since 2011-2013, Iceland, France, and Luxembourg have seen slight increases, ranging from 0.1 (in the Luxembourg) to 1.1 (Iceland). In France, higher infant mortality was observed among mothers with multiple pregnancies, those residing in French overseas departments, and mothers aged 21 or younger, as well as those aged 44 or older (Insee, 2025[2]).

Source: OECD (2025), Health at a Glance 2025: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/8f9e3f98-en.

“Globally, an estimated 260 000 (uncertainty interval [UI]: 230 000–309 000) women died in 2023 due to maternal conditions, equivalent to an overall maternal mortality ratio (MMR; SDG indicator 3.1.1) of 197 (UI: 174–234) maternal deaths per 100 000 live births. This represents a decline in the global MMR by 40% since 2000, when the rate was 328 (UI: 308–352) per 100 000 live births. Between 2000 and 2023, the average ARR in global MMR was 2.2% (UI: 1.4–2.8%). This led to a significant fall in the number of maternal deaths globally, from 444 000 in 2000 to 260 000 in 2023. A closer examination of the first eight years of the SDG era, between the beginning of 2016 and the end of 2023, reveals that the global MMR declined by 10%, from an estimated 220 (UI: 203–242) maternal deaths per 100 000 live births, at a global average ARR of 1.6% (UI: 0.04–2.7%) (1). If this ARR were to continue until 2030, the global MMR would be 177 in 2030 – two and a half times the SDG target (below 70) (1,2). Achieving the SDG target will require an average ARR of 14.8% over the remaining seven years (2024–2030). This represents an unprecedented challenge and would be equivalent to almost 700 000 deaths averted between 2024 and 2030, compared with a scenario where the 2016–2023 global ARR continues.

“MMR declined in all WHO regions between 2000 and 2023. The greatest decline was achieved in the South-East Asia Region, where MMR declined by 73.6%, from 365 (UI: 336–407) in 2000 to 96 (UI: 86–112) maternal deaths per 100 000 live births in 2023 (Fig. 2.1). This equates to an average ARR of 5.8% (UI: 5.1–6.5%). MMR also declined by 56.0% in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 55.2% in the European Region, 51.2% in the Western Pacific Region, and 39.6% in the African Region between 2000 and 2023. The smallest percentage reduction in MMR was in the Region of the Americas at 16.9%, equivalent to an ARR of 0.8% (UI: 0.2–1.3%).”

Source: World health statistics 2025: monitoring health for the SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

“Globally, the 5.4-year increase in HALE [Health Life Expectancy] at birth between 2000 (58.1 years) and 2019 (63.5 years) was a result of declining mortality and morbidity over time, contributing 5.2 years (96.0%) and 0.2 years (4%), respectively. Reduction in mortality from communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions (referred to as communicable diseases) represents the greatest source of gain, contributing a total of 3.4 years to the HALE gain, while mortality reduction from NCDs contributed 1.4 years, and injuries 0.4 years (Fig. 1.2).

“By individual cause and broad age groups, the largest gains were made by mortality reduction in preterm birth complications (0.26 years) and birth asphyxia and birth trauma (0.21 years) among infants aged 0–1 years, lower respiratory infections (0.40 years), diarrhoeal diseases (0.35 years) and measles (0.24 years) among children aged 0–4 years, and tuberculosis (0.27 years) and HIV/AIDS (0.22 years) among adults aged 30–69 years. The gain attributed to NCD mortality reduction was concentrated in the adult age groups, with stroke contributing 0.37 years, ischaemic heart disease 0.28 years and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 0.19 years among adults 30 years and older. While the majority of causes contributed to the HALE gain positively, increasing mortality linked to Alzheimer disease and other dementias among adults aged 70 years and older resulted in a slight two-week (0.04-year) HALE loss in 2000–2019 (Fig. 1.2).

“While the overall contribution to the HALE gain from changing morbidity in 2000–2019 was relatively minor and, for the majority of causes, the contribution was positive, it is worth noting that morbidity from diabetes among adults 30 years and older increased and was responsible for a 0.14-year HALE loss in 2000–2019 (Fig. 1.2).”

Source: World health statistics 2025: monitoring health for the SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

“Child survival has improved remarkably since 2000, with the global under-five mortality rate (U5MR; SDG indicator 3.2.1) declining by more than half (52%) in the last two decades, from 77 (UI: 76–78) deaths per 1000 live births in 2000 to 37 (UI: 35–41) deaths per 1000 live births in 2023 (Fig. 2.2). Accordingly, the number of global under-five deaths fell to 4.8 million (UI: 4.5–5.3 million) in 2023, a number that is still unacceptably high, despite accounting for less than half of the under-five deaths in 2000 (10.1 million [UI: 9.9–10.2 million]) and almost two thirds less than the estimated 13 million (UI: 12.8– 13.2 million) in 1990 (3).

“Although the progress is noteworthy at global level, stark inequalities persist across regions and income levels. The WHO African Region remains the region with the highest U5MR, estimated at 67 (UI: 60–80) deaths per 1000 live births in 2023 (Fig. 2.2). The African Region alone accounted for 55% (2.6 million [UI: 2.4–3.1 million]) of the global deaths of children under age 5 in 2023. In 2023, the U5MR in low-income countries (LICs) (62 [UI: 56–75] deaths per 1000 live births) and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) (43 [UI: 39–50] deaths per 1000 live births) was, respectively, 13 and 9 times the rate in high-income countries (HICs) (5 [UI: 5–5] deaths per 1000 live births) (3).

“Globally, infectious diseases, including acute respiratory infections, malaria and diarrhoea, along with pre-term birth complications, birth asphyxia and trauma, and congenital anomalies remain the leading causes of death for children aged under 5. Access to basic lifesaving interventions such as skilled delivery at birth, quality postnatal care, early and continued breastfeeding and adequate nutrition, immunization and treatment for common childhood diseases can save many young lives (3).”

Source: World health statistics 2025: monitoring health for the SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

“Globally, an estimated 287,000 (UI 273,000 to 343,000) maternal deaths occurred in 2020, yielding an overall MMR [Maternal Mortality Ratio] of 223 (UI 202 to 255) maternal deaths per 100,000 live births for the 185 countries and territories covered in this analysis (Table 4.1). This corresponds to almost 800 maternal deaths every day, and approximately one maternal death every two minutes globally.

“For 2020, the global lifetime risk of maternal mortality was estimated at 1 in 210; this means for a girl aged 15 years in 2020, there is, on average, a 1 in 210 risk that she will die from a maternal cause. The overall PM was estimated at 9.8%.

“An estimated 1878 HIV-related indirect maternal deaths occurred in 2020, accounting for less than 1% of all maternal deaths. This corresponds to an MMR for HIV-related indirect maternal deaths of approximately 1 death per 100,000 live births, globally.”

Source: Trends in maternal mortality 2000 to 2020: estimates by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and UNDESA/Population Division. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

“The 10 countries with the largest percentage reduction in the MMR [Maternal Mortality Ratio] between 2000 and 2020, in order of greatest to least reduction, were: Belarus, Seychelles, Turkmenistan, Romania, Bhutan, Egypt, Estonia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Kazakhstan and Mozambique, ranging from a 95.5% (UI 92.6% to 97.3%) reduction in Belarus to a 76.1% (UI 69.7% to 81.4%) reduction in Mozambique. These countries had average ARRs [Annual Rates of Reduction] ranging between 15.5% (Belarus; UI 13.0% to 18.1%) and 7.2% (Mozambique; UI 6.0% to 8.4%). In total, 69 countries reduced their MMRs by at least half between 2000 and 2020; in 34 countries, the MMRs declined by two thirds.

“The following eight countries and territories had significant percentage increases in the MMR between 2000 and 2020, in order from greatest to least increase (deterioration): the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Cyprus, Greece, the United States of America (USA), Mauritius, Puerto Rico, Belize and the Dominican Republic, with increases ranging from 182.8% (a change of -182.8%; UI -334.3% to -96.1%) in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to 36.0% (a change of -36.0%; UI -70.0% to -9.3%)1 in the Dominican Republic. With their MMRs increasing, all eight countries remain at great risk. The impact of interruptions or loss of quality health services must be considered in crisis and other unstable situations. For the countries on this list that have low MMR, attention to potential disparities between subpopulations and efforts to reduce overall PM will be important to shift back to the path of reducing MMR.

“The MMR stagnated (with UIs for the percentage change crossing zero) in 52 countries for the period 2000 to 2020. Of those countries, 16 were in sub-Saharan Africa, 11 in Europe and Northern America, 10 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 6 in Northern Africa and Western Asia, 7 in Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) and 2 in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia.”

Source: Trends in maternal mortality 2000 to 2020: estimates by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and UNDESA/Population Division. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

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• Massive Savings Possible In US Health System October 21, 2021
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World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and sixteen other nations.

Page last updated January 14, 2026 by Doug McVay, Editor.