India’s infant mortality rate (IMR) — indicating the number of infant deaths before the age of one year — has fallen considerably in the last decade, according to a Census report for 2020. The gap between male and female IMR has also reduced to become negligible, the report showed. The sample registration system (SRS) statistical report 2020, released by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, found that the IMR in India has fallen by 40.2% over a decade. The report also shows that female and male IMR has nearly evened out during the survey period. For 2020, an IMR of 28 was recorded for both male and female infants, unlike ten years ago, when the male IMR was 43 and female IMR was considerably higher at 46, according to the SRS report from 2011.
IMR is measured as the number of infant (children aged below one year) deaths per 1000 live births. It is a key indicator in gauging the maternal and infant health conditions in a country, and a society’s overall health. In 2020, infant deaths made up 9.1% of all deaths in India, according to the SRS report. The report found that India’s total IMR fell from 50.3 in 2008-10 to 30.1 in 2018-20. However, the fifth National Family Health Survey (NFHS), conducted during the period 2019-21, had recorded an overall IMR of 35.2.
Between 2008 and 2020, the decline in IMR in India’s bigger states and union territories varied from 63.2% in Delhi to 26.5% in Chhattisgarh. A fall in a country’s IMR is indicative of positive changes in its social, economic and healthcare conditions. The highest IMR in India was reported in Madhya Pradesh during both the survey periods. Its IMR marked a decline of 31% over a decade, from 66.5 in 2008-10 to 45.9 in 2018-20. Uttar Pradesh followed with the second highest IMR of 40.6 in 2018-20. The lowest IMR was recorded in Kerala during both terms — 12.2 in 2008-10 and 6.5 in 2018-20 — with a decline of 46.7%.
Data from Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report 2020
The SRS report, released in September 2022, also classifies infant deaths based on residence in rural and urban areas. The decline in IMR in rural areas in the past decade ranged from 76% in Delhi to 25.4% in Chhattisgarh. Delhi recorded the highest decline in urban areas too, at 61.8%. Uttarakhand, on the other hand, recorded an increase of 3.5% in IMR in urban areas between 2008-10 and 2018-20.
The SRS report also shows that female and male infant mortality rates across the country have evened out between 2008 and 2020 — a desirable progress given India’s record of female infanticide and female infant deaths. In fact, female IMR was lower than male IMR in some states during the three-year period between 2018 and 2020. In seven states/UTs, female and male IMR were exactly the same while in another eight states/UTs, overall female IMR was lower than overall male IMR. The latter include Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Goa and Lakshadweep. In 11 of India’s bigger states, either the urban or the rural areas showed lower female IMR compared to male IMR.
