• Recently, the Office of the Registrar General of India (RGI) has released the Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report 2023,
• Which presents a detailed description of important demographic indicators of the country like birth rate (CBR), total fertility rate (TFR), mortality rate, infant mortality rate (IMR) and sex ratio at birth (SRB).
• Crude Birth Rate (CBR): CBR was 19.1 in the year 2022, which decreased to 18.4 in the year 2023. This shows a decline of 0.7 points.
- State-wise position: Highest: Bihar (25.8). Lowest: Tamil Nadu (12).
• Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
- Nationally: After remaining stable at 2.0 in 2021 and 2022, it declines to 1.9 in 2023.
- Below Replacement Level: 18 states and union territories recorded TFR less than 2.1.
- States with high TFR (all in North India): Bihar (2.8), Uttar Pradesh (2.6), Madhya Pradesh (2.4), Rajasthan (2.3), Chhattisgarh (2.2)
- States/UTs with lowest TFR: Delhi (1.2), West Bengal (1.3), Tamil Nadu (1.3), Maharashtra (1.4), and Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab (1.5)
- Rural-Urban Gap: In 2022, rural TFR was 2.2 and urban TFR was 1.6. In 2023, it was recorded at 2.1 at the rural level and 1.5 at the urban level.
• Crude mortality rate (CDR): CDR decreased by 0.4 points to 6.4 in 2023 as compared to 2022.
• Infant mortality rate (IMR): At the national level, IMR in 2023 was 25 per 1,000 live births. This shows a decrease of 7 points from 32 in 2018.
- Rural-urban gap:
- Decrease in rural areas from 36 in 2018 to 28 in 2023
- Decrease in urban areas from 23 in 2018 to 18 in 2023
State-wise situation:
- Highest IMR: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (37 each)
- Lowest IMR: Kerala (5) and Manipur (3)
- Nationally, one in every 40 infants still dies in the first year of life. The ratio is one in every 36 in rural areas and one in every 56 in urban areas.
• Sex ratio at birth (SRB): Nationally, SRB is 917 in 2023 (917 girls per 1,000 boys).
- Highest SRB: Chhattisgarh (974), Kerala (971)
- Lowest SRB: Uttarakhand (868)
- Bihar has a worrying decline, falling from 2020 (964) to 2022 (891), and improving slightly to 897 in 2023.
- Delhi, Maharashtra and Haryana also recorded SRBs below 900.
• Gross Fertility Rate (GRR)
- Nationally: GRR was 0.9 in 2023, which means that on an average one daughter of every woman will survive to reproductive age and have further children.
- Rural-Urban Scenario: GRR in rural areas was 1.0, which is higher than urban areas (0.7).
- State-wise Scenario: GRR is as low as 0.6 in Delhi, Bengal and Tamil Nadu, while it is highest in Bihar at 1.3.
• Aging population: The proportion of people above 60 years of age increased to 9.7% in 2023 (an increase of 0.7% in one year).
- Highest: Kerala (15%)
- Lowest: Assam (7.6%), Delhi (7.7%), Jharkhand (7.6%)
Focus on Uttar Pradesh (2023)
• Birth rate: The birth rate in Uttar Pradesh is 23.6 per thousand, which is much higher than the national average of 18.4. In rural areas, this rate was 24.7, while in urban areas it was 20.5.
• Mortality rate: The total mortality rate of the state was recorded at 6.5 per thousand, which is slightly higher than the national average of 6.4.
- Rural: 6.7 (Men: 7.4, Women: 6.0)
- Urban: 5.9 (Men: 6.4, Women: 5.4)
• Natural growth rate: Uttar Pradesh’s natural growth rate was 17.1. It was 17.9 in rural areas, while it was 14.6 in urban areas.
• Infant mortality rate (IMR): The infant mortality rate in the state was 37 per thousand live births, which is much higher than the national average of 25.
- Rural: 39 (Men: 41, Women: 38) o Urban: 27 (Men: 28, Women: 27)