Maternal mortality ratio (MMR)
MMR = Maternal Mortality Ratio- How often
- Each new editionSRS special bulletin
- Last released
- 20 May 20262022–24
2022–24, down from 88 in 2021–23.
Events on this chart
Source: RGI (SRS), released 20 May 2026 · Chart: Clarity UPSC
- Previous
- 882021–23
- Highest
- 1302014–16
- Lowest
- 872022–24
9 readings since 2014–16.
Story
Mothers who die from pregnancy-related causes for every 1,00,000 live births.
What is happening now As of 2022–24
The Sample Registration System (SRS) special bulletin of May 2026 puts India's Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) at 87 per 1,00,000 live births for 2022-24, down from 88 in 2021-23. The bulletin calls the decline heartening. Since 2014-16, when it was 130, the ratio has fallen in every period except 2021-23, when it held at 88. Because the MMR is a sample estimate, the bulletin gives a range of 78 to 95 for it (the 95% confidence interval).
The gap between regions is still wide. The MMR is 116 in the Empowered Action Group (EAG) states and Assam, 41 in the five southern states and 75 in the other states. Uttar Pradesh (154) and Madhya Pradesh (135) have the highest ratios; Kerala (24) and Tamil Nadu (25) have the lowest. At 87, India remains above the global target of below 70 in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.1.
Why it matters
Maternal mortality shows how safe pregnancy and childbirth are for women. The Office of the Registrar General of India describes it as a measure of the reproductive health of women in an area. Many women die from complications during and after pregnancy, childbirth or abortion, so the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) shows whether good care before, during and after birth reaches them.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.1 aims to bring the global MMR below 70 per 1,00,000 live births by 2030. The Registrar General also reports the MMR for three groups of states: the Empowered Action Group (EAG) states and Assam, the southern states, and the rest. The gap between these groups shows where mothers face the greatest risk and where health services most need to improve.
What it is
A maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of the end of a pregnancy, from any cause related to or made worse by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes. The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is the number of such deaths for every 1,00,000 live births.
The Office of the Registrar General of India estimates it through the Sample Registration System (SRS) and publishes it in a special bulletin. Verbal autopsy forms record the cause of each death in the sample. Maternal deaths are rare, so each estimate pools three years of data. The count of maternal deaths is multiplied by a correction factor for deaths the verbal autopsies missed, mainly because of out-migration.
A lower MMR is better. Each figure is a sample estimate, so the true value very probably lies within a range, called the 95% confidence interval. For 2021-23 the all-India range ran about 8 to 9 points either side of the estimate, and state ranges are far wider. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.1 aims to bring the global MMR below 70 by 2030.
Read this number
- The publisher
- The Office of the Registrar General of India runs the Census and the Sample Registration System, which measures births and deaths.
Terms on this page (4)
- EAG
- Empowered Action Group
- IMR
- Infant Mortality Rate
- SDG
- Sustainable Development Goal
- SRS
- Sample Registration System
History
- 2014-16The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is 130 per 1,00,000 live births.
- 2017-19MMR falls to 103.
- 2018-20MMR falls below 100, to 97.
- 2025The September 2025 bulletin, for 2021-23, shows no change from 2020-22.
Readings
| Period | Value | Status | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022–24 | 87 | Final | 20 May 2026 |
| 2021–23 | 88 | Final | 3 Sep 2025 |
| 2020–22 | 88 | Final | 3 Sep 2025 |
| 2019–21 | 93 | Final | 3 Sep 2025 |
| 2018–20 | 97 | Final | 3 Sep 2025 |
| 2017–19 | 103 | Final | 3 Sep 2025 |
| 2016–18 | 113 | Final | 3 Sep 2025 |
| 2015–17 | 122 | Final | 3 Sep 2025 |
| 2014–16 | 130 | Final | 3 Sep 2025 |
For UPSC
The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is per 1,00,000 live births; the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) is per 1,000. Both come from the Sample Registration System (SRS) of the Registrar General of India. Know the definition (death during pregnancy or within 42 days, excluding accidental causes) and the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.1 target of below 70.