New Delhi, Sep 4 (PTI) Infant mortality rate (IMR) in the country has touched a record low of 25, a sharp dip of 37.5 percent from 40 in 2013, according to the Sample Registration System report for 2023 issued by the Registrar General of India.
IMR is a key public health indicator defined as the number of deaths of children under one year per 1,000 live births—the lower the number, the better the health accessibility.
According to the SRS 2023 report, which took into account the data for 2023, IMR has registered a dramatic 80 percent decline from 129 in 1971. It shows that Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Uttar Pradesh reported the highest levels of IMR in the country at 37. The lowest was Manipur at 3.
Kerala was the only one of the 21 large states that reported a single-digit IMR of 5. It is second in the country after Manipur.
The report shows a countrywide decline of IMR from 44 to 28 in rural areas. In urban areas of the country, the numbers dipped from 27 to 18. This marks decadal drops of about 36 percent and 33 percent, respectively.
The report also highlights the decline in birth rates and death rates in the country.
Birth rate is a crude measure of the fertility of a population and is a crucial determinant of population growth. It gives the number of live births per thousand population in a given region and year.
“The birth rate at the all-India level has declined drastically over the last five decades from 36.9 in 1971 to 18.4 in 2023. The rural-urban differential has also narrowed over these years. However, the birth rate has continued to be higher in rural areas compared to urban areas in the last five decades,” it said.
The report said the birth rate has declined by about 14 percent in the last decade, from 21.4 in 2013 to 18.4 in 2023, with rural areas reporting a dip from 22.9 to 20.3 (about an 11 percent decline). For urban areas, it is from 17.3 to 14.9 (about a 14 percent decline).
Bihar reported the highest birth rate of 25.8, while the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was at the lowest with 10.1 in 2023.
The death rate has gradually declined over the last five decades from 14.9 in 1971 to 6.4 in 2023.
In rural areas, it decreased from 7.2 in 2022 to 6.8 in 2023. In urban areas, it went down from 6.0 in 2022 to 5.7 in 2023.
Chandigarh reported the lowest death rate of 4 and Chhattisgarh the highest of 8.3, the report said.
“Mortality is one of the basic components of population change, and the related data is essential for demographic studies and public health administration. The death rate is one of the simplest measures of mortality and is defined as the number of deaths per thousand population in a given region and time period,” the report said. PTI ABS MIN MIN
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