Table 2. Change in caesarean section rates in 121 countries categorised according to the United Nations geographical grouping from 1990 to 2014a.
| Region/subregionb (coverage, %) | Change in rate (earliest and latest rates, %) | Absolute increase (%) | AARIc (% per year) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Africa (81.8) | 2.9–7.4 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Eastern Africa (96.3) | 2.3–3.9 | 1.6 | 2.2 |
| Middle Africad | - | - | - |
| Northern Africa (97.3) | 4.5–27.8 | 23.3 | 7.9 |
| Southern Africad | - | - | - |
| Western Africa | 2.6–3.1 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| Asia (93.1) | 4.4–19.5 | 15.1 | 6.4 |
| Eastern Asia (97.8) | 4.9–35.2 | 30.3 | 8.5 |
| South-central Asia (96.4) | 4–11.4 | 7.4 | 4.4 |
| South-eastern Asia (84.0) | 4.1–15 | 10.9 | 5.5 |
| Western Asia (68.9) | 6.3–28.1 | 21.8 | 6.4 |
| Europe (98.1) | 11.2–25.0 | 13.8 | 3.4 |
| Eastern Europe (100) | 7.8–23.7 | 15.9 | 4.7 |
| Northern Europe (100) | 11.1–22.4 | 11.3 | 3 |
| Southern Europe (90.3) | 16.3–31.1 | 14.8 | 2.7 |
| Western Europe (100) | 14.8–24.5 | 9.7 | 2.1 |
| Latin America and the Caribbean (84.3) | 22.8–42.2 | 19.4 | 2.6 |
| Caribbean (67.5) | 9.9–28.5 | 18.6 | 4.5 |
| Central America (97.9) | 14.8–38.4 | 23.6 | 4.1 |
| Southern America (79.4) | 28.4–45.8 | 17.4 | 2 |
| Northern America (100) | 22.3–32.3 | 10 | 1.6 |
| Oceania (56.6) | 18.5–32.6 | 14.1 | 2.4 |
| Australia/New Zealand (100) | 18.5–32.6 | 14.1 | 2.4 |
| World totalb (90) | 6.7–19.1 | 12.4 | 4.4 |
| Least developed regions (74.5) | 1.9–6.1 | 4.2 | 5 |
| Less developed regions (93) | 6.3–20.9 | 14.6 | 5.1 |
| More developed regions (98.9) | 14.5–27.2 | 12.7 | 2.6 |
Change is presented as absolute increase (in percent points; latest CS rate minus earliest CS rate) and relative increase as average annual rate of increase (AARI).
a If the data in 2014 is not available, the latest data (available from 2005 or later) is used instead of 2014. If the data in 1990 is not available, the earliest available data from 1985–1995 is used.
b Countries categorized according to the UN geographical grouping. Number of live birth in 2000 was used as a weight to calculate the regional coverage.
c AARI: average annual rate of increase = (am/an)^[1/(n-m)]-1. am: the first observation of caesarean section rate, an: the latest observation of caesarean section rate, m: the first observed year, n: the latest observed year.
d Estimates for subregions with a coverage less than 60% are not calculated. Coverage for Middle Africa is 29% and for Southern Africa 4.6%.