India’s sex ratio at birth (SRB) has come down to an all-time low of 896 female babies born as opposed to 1,000 male babies in 2015-17, from 909 female babies born for 1,000 male babies in 2011-13, states the report by Sample Registration Survey (SRS).

The numbers are drastically low when compared to the sex ratio of India, which is described as the number of female per 1,000 males. As the population ratio was 940 females per 1,000 males, according to the Population Census of 2011.

Missing Girls

During the span of three years, the population growth of female babies was approximately 117 lakh lesser than the male babies. Of which Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, has about 34.5 lakh girls missing, followed by Rajasthan with 14 lakh girls missing, Bihar with about 11.6 lakh girls missing and Maharashtra and Gujarat, each, with about 10 lakh girls missing. 

Between 2014-16 and 2015-17, Kerala witnessed the biggest dip, from 959 to 948, in sex ratio at birth. The SRB in Kerala, which is second only to Chhattisgarh, saw a steep decline of 26 points from 974 in 2012-14. Earlier, the SRB in Odisha fell 27 points from 956 in 2011-13 to 929 by 2015-2017.

The states that saw the biggest improvement were Assam and Jammu Kashmir. 

Other Takeaways From The Survey

At the same time, the fertility rate in India, which is the number of kids likely to be born to a woman, has come down from 2.3 in 2013 to 2.2 in 2017. 

In terms of the Crude Birth Rate (CBR), Bihar with 26.4 is highest whereas Kerala is lowest with 14.2 live births per 1,000. CBR is defined as the total number of live births per 1,000 over a time period. According to the survey, the birth rate in both rural and urban area has come down by 1.3 points and 0.6 points, respectively. 

On the other hand, the Crude Death Rate (CDR) in India was at 6.3 in 2017, and it has declined by 0.7 points in the last five years. Whereas, the female death rate at the national level has declined by 0.5 points and the male death rate by 1.0 points, according to the report. 

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), children dying within the age of 0-4 years, has come down from 42 in 2012 to 33 in 2017. Madhya Pradesh with 47 has recorded maximum IMR while Kerala with 10 has recorded the minimum IMR.

Also Read: Andhra Pradesh And Tamil Nadu Worse Than Haryana In Sex Ratio At Birth: Report