Table 1.
Caesarean section (CS) rates in countries categorised according to United Nations geographical grouping in 2018*
| Region/subregion | Estimated CS rate (%, 95% CI) | Range (min-max, %) | Coverage of estimates (%) |
| Africa (n=44) | 9.2 (5.2 to 13.2) | 1.4–51.8 | 89.9 |
| Northern Africa (n=5) | 32.0 (5.9 to 58.2) | 9.1–51.8 | 97.8 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa (n=39) | 5.0 (3.5 to 6.6) | 1.4–50.7 | 88.6 |
| Asia (n=40) | 23.1 (19.9 to 26.3) | 3.5–55.3 | 96.7 |
| Central Asia (n=5) | 12.5 (6.5 to 18.4) | 5.3–18 | 100 |
| Eastern Asia (n=5) | 33.7 (27.3 to 40.1) | 12.9–39.1 | 100 |
| South-eastern Asia (n=8) | 15.9 (9.6 to 22.3) | 3.5–32.7 | 95.1 |
| Southern Asia (n=7) | 19.0 (13.7 to 24.3) | 6.6–40 | 96.3 |
| Western Asia (n=15) | 31.7 (22.7 to 40.6) | 4.8–55.3 | 91.0 |
| Europe (n=38) | 25.7 (23.4 to 28.0) | 14.9–46.9 | 98.8 |
| Eastern Europe (n=10) | 25.0 (18.7 to 31.3) | 17.9–46.9 | 100 |
| Northern Europe (n=10) | 25.3 (21.5 to 29.1) | 15.9–32.6 | 100 |
| Southern Europe (n=11) | 30.1 (27.5 to 32.7) | 21.2–34.1 | 93.0 |
| Western Europe (n=7) | 24.2 (18.3 to 30.2) | 14.9–32.7 | 100 |
| Americas (n=25) | 39.3 (34.6 to 44.0) | 5.4–58.1 | 93.7 |
| Latin America and the Caribbean (n=23) | 42.8 (37.6 to 48.0) | 5.4–58.1 | 91.2 |
| Northern America (n=2) | 31.6 (20.5 to 42.8) | 28.8–31.9 | 100 |
| Oceania (n=7) | 21.4 (6.6 to 36.2) | 3.0–34.6 | 96.4 |
| Australia and New Zealand (n=2) | 33.5 (1.9 to 65.1) | 27.9–34.6 | 100 |
| Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia (n=5) | 3.6 (0.7 to 6.6) | 3.0–17.4 | 91.6 |
| World total (n=154) | 21.1 (18.8 to 23.3) | 1.4–58.1 | 94.5 |
| More developed countries (n=45) | 27.2 (25.2 to 29.2) | 14.9–55.3 | 99.3 |
| Less developed countries (n=70) | 24.2 (20.9 to 27.5) | 2.4–58.1 | 94.6 |
| Least developed countries (n=39) | 8.2 (5.2 to 11.2) | 1.4–32.7 | 92.0 |
*Countries with the latest CS rate record available in 2010 or late were included.