# Mozambique maternal mortality: all data sources show long-term decline, but 2023 estimates range from 82 to 233

- Published: 2026-11-13 21:19 UTC
- Section: Life & Health › Medicine
- Tags: maternal mortality Mozambique, maternal mortality ratio, COMSA surveillance, Demographic and Health Survey, MMEIG estimates, GBD 2023, pregnancy-related mortality, verbal autopsy, SDG 3.1
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-70e152711ae6faae52087e43_mozambique_maternal_mortality/

**A review in Discover Public Health compared censuses, surveys, surveillance and models. All show decline, yet recent absolute levels of maternal mortality differ several-fold.**

![Mozambique maternal mortality: all data sources show long-term decline, but 2023 estimates range from 82 to 233](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/d7008032624519d3.jpg)
*Sylvaline39, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0*

A narrative review in Discover Public Health compared national estimates of maternal mortality in Mozambique from censuses, household surveys, sample surveillance, facility reporting and international models. The authors, Qingfeng Li, Kavita Singh and William Weiss, report that all major sources support a substantial long-term decline, while recent absolute levels remain discordant [1].

The authors did not pool the figures, because the underlying methods differ. Each estimate was kept with its source definition and reference period. They triangulated census estimates for 1997, 2007 and 2017, Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) estimates for 1997, 2003, 2011 and 2022-23, Countrywide Mortality Surveillance for Action (COMSA) estimates for 2019-20, and modeled series for 2000-23 from the Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) and Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2023 [1].

## Divergent estimates of the maternal mortality ratio

The 2017 census reported a maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 427 per 100,000 live births. COMSA estimated 391 (95% confidence interval: 355–427) for 2019-20. The 2022-23 DHS estimated 233 (95% CI: 131–335) for the seven years preceding the survey [1].

For 2023, MMEIG estimated 82 (80% uncertainty interval: 60–113), and GBD 2023 estimated 158 (95% UI: 88–250) [1].

COMSA was established in 2018 in 700 randomly selected clusters covering about 828,663 people. It reported an MMR of 391 and a pregnancy-related mortality ratio of 398. For deaths at home the MMR was 555, and for deaths in health facilities 301. The routine facility-based figure for 2019 in the DHIS2 system was 77, about four times lower than the COMSA estimate; the review attributes this to differing indicators rather than simple undercounting.

## Why the numbers differ

According to the authors, the differences reflect non-equivalent definitions, retrospective reference periods, completeness of case ascertainment, construction of denominators and modeling. The pregnancy-related mortality ratio is broader than the MMR, and population-based measures differ from institutional ones [1].

The 2017 census also showed regional spread: from 245.7 per 100,000 live births in Gaza to 519.4 in Tete and 519.5 in Cabo Delgado. Adjusting the 1997 and 2007 censuses for under-reported vital events raised the estimated 2005 pregnancy-related mortality ratio from 703 to 950.

The authors conclude that the direction of improvement is more certain than the current absolute level. They recommend that monitoring specify the source, the mortality definition and the reference period, and that non-comparable estimates be triangulated rather than pooled [1].

## Sources

1. [Discover Public Health](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-026-03306-x)
2. [bioengineer.org](https://bioengineer.org/mozambique-maternal-mortality-shows-long-term-decline-despite-conflicting-data-estimates)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-70e152711ae6faae52087e43_mozambique_maternal_mortality/