India’s National Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has fallen below 2.0 for the first time, according to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS). The results affected 11 states and three union territories, which were not included in the first data set, which was published in December 2020.
The latest set of NFHS Survey Results 2019-21 The Union’s Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that the average number of children a woman has given birth in the course of her life has fallen below the replacement level for the first time.
The national total fertility rate was found to be 2.2 in the 2015-16 NFHS survey, compared to 2.7 in the 2005-06 NFHS survey. The same number has dropped to 2.1 in rural areas and 1.6 in urban areas, according to the latest NFHS survey.
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What is the total fertility rate (TFR)?
The World Health Organization (WHO) describes the total fertility rate (TFR) as the average number of children born to a woman “at the end of her reproductive period”.
According to the latest NFHS survey, five states in India with a TFR above 2, namely Bihar (3), Meghalaya (2.9), Uttar Pradesh (2.4), Jharkhand (2.3), and Manipur (2.2 ).
The TFR in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan is the national average of 2.
Results of phase 2 of the NFHS 2019-21 survey
Haryana, Assam, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, and Mizoram had a TFR of 1.9.
A TFR of 1.8 was found in six states, namely Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha. At the same time, a TFR of 1.7 was found in six other states – Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Tripura.
Meanwhile, the overall fertility rate has been found to be lowest in West Bengal and Maharashtra at 1.6.
What is “substitute level”
The replacement level is the fertility level at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next.
According to the United Nations (UN), in countries with an overall fertility rate of less than 2.1, a generation does not produce enough children to replace itself. Such a situation leads to a real decline in the population of this country.
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Key takeaways from the latest NFHS survey
- The results of the latest NFHS poll not only dispel the myth of the population explosion, but also show that India “needs to refrain from coercive population control,” said Poonam Muttreja, executive director of the Population Foundation of India.
- In addition, the survey also found that condom use in India rose from 5.6 percent to 9.5 percent.
- The incidence of anemia in women and children remains a concern, as more than half of children and women, including pregnant women, in the states and UTs were identified as anemic in the NFHS 2019-20 Phase 2 study .
- The results of the latest NFHS survey also showed that institutional births at the all-Indian level rose significantly, from 79 percent to 89 percent.
- With the exception of Punjab, the overall contraceptive (CPR) prevalence rate has increased significantly from 54 to 67 percent.
(with entries from PTI)
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