Infant mortality rate falls to 25 per 1,000 live births; Kerala, Tamil Nadu achieve SDG goals

New Delhi: India’s infant mortality rate (IMR) has further dropped to 25 per 1,000 live births with Kerala and Tamil Nadu being the only two big states that have achieved the UN Sustainable Development Goal targets, set nearly a decade ago.

With an IMR of 14, four other big states including Karnataka are close to the UN target of 12 per 1,000 births, according to the latest Sample Registration Survey data that captured the scenario in 2023.

Out of 21 bigger states, Kerala is the best performer with an IMR of 5 followed by Tamil Nadu (12). Other three states with an IMR of 14 are Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra.

Among nine smaller states, four – Goa, Manipur, Nagaland and Sikkim – have achieved the SDG target while three others – Mizoram (13), Himachal Pradesh and Tripura (15) – are nearing it. All the six Union territories have crossed the milestone.

India’s IMR is on a steady decline since the last five decades. It has now touched a record low of 25, but the decline has been steady and consistent: from 39 in 2014 to 33 in 2017 and further to 28 in 2020. In the last ten years, IMR has witnessed a decline of about 37.5 per cent.

Despite the decline in IMR over the last decades, one in every 40 infants die within the first year of their life at the national level, irrespective of rural-urban divide, says the report.

Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are three states with the highest IMR of 37 each followed by Assam and Odisha (both at 30) and Jharkhand and Rajasthan (both having an IMR of 29).

Over the years Bihar has improved its public healthcare resulting in an IMR of 23 – better than the national figure.

The report also highlights decline in birth rates (live birth per thousand population) and death rates in the country. The birth rate at all India levels 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.

In a ten year period between 2013 and 2023, the birth rate has declined by 11 per cent in rural areas as against 14 per cent in urban pockets. In 2023, the highest birth rate was observed at 25.8 in Bihar.

Other states with high birth rate are Chhattisgarh (22.3), Jharkhand (20.6), Madhya Pradesh (22.5) and Rajasthan (22.9).