Too Many Cesareans or Too Few? Rates of cesarean deliveries vary widely from nation to nation. Latin America has the highest rates in the world (note that 40 percent of all births in Chile are by cesarean), and sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest (the rate in Chad is less than half of 1 percent). The underlying issue is whether some women who should have cesareans do not get them, while other women have unnecessary cesareans.

SOURCES: VARIOUS SOURCES FROM 2000 TO 2012. SINCE DATA CHANGE BY YEAR AND SOURCES PROVIDE DIFFERENT RATES, THIS CHART IS APPROXIMATE.