Infant Mortality & Replacement Rate in Fertility Rate

Infant Mortality Rate or IMR is the number of deaths of children under 1 year of age per one thousand live births while replacement Rate is the total fertility rate at which women give birth to enough infants in order to maintain the population levels.

Read relevant facts about IMR and replacement fertility for the IAS Exam and other competitive examinations in this article.

Infant Mortality Rate

According to data presented by the Census of India – “The infant mortality rate, which plays an important role in health planning, has shown a considerable decline from 129 per 1000 live births in 1971 to 110 in 1981 and from 80 in 1991 to 33 in 2017.”

• This rate for a region is calculated by dividing the number of deaths of children less than 1 year old by the number of live births in a year times 1000.
• The major causes of congenital infant mortality are sudden infant death syndrome, malformations, accidents, maternal complications during the pregnancy and unintentional injuries.
• Contributing causes are social and environmental obstacles that prevent the availability of basic medical resources. 99% of the deaths of infants take place in developing nations. Among these, 86% are caused due to premature births, infections, delivery complications, birth injuries and perinatal asphyxia.

Check the following links to prepare comprehensively for the upcoming UPSC Civil Services Exam –

Infant Mortality Rate in India

1. AS per Census 2011, The infant mortality rate, which plays an important role in health planning, has shown a considerable decline from 129 per 1000 live births in 1971 to 110 in 1981 and from 80 in 1991 to 44 in 2011. The child mortality rate has depicted a perceptible decline from 51.9 in 1971 to 41.2 in 1981 and from 26.5 in 1991 to 12.2 in 2011.
2. Also, World Bank has indicated 28.3 as Infant Mortality Rate of India for 2019.
3. According to the latest sample registration system Bulletin, Infant Mortality Rate in Kerala – 7 (updated)
4. Infant Mortality Rate in Madhya Pradesh – 48 (updated)
5. In India, Nagaland has the best Infant Mortality Rate which is at 4.
6. As per RBI, the Infant Mortality Rate of the National Capital Delhi is 13.
7. The infant mortality rate among females is higher than among males in all Indian states except:
   • Chhattisgarh
   • Delhi
   • Madhya Pradesh
   • Tamil Nadu
   • Uttarakhand

Note: The 32 is the IMR at the national level. The rate varies between 6.9 and 5.0 in urban areas and rural areas respectively.

Also, read about the sex ratio for UPSC in the linked article.

Replacement Rate

• In the case of no female mortality until the culmination of childbearing age (44/45/49), the replacement level of the TFR would be quite near 2.
• The current India Total Fertility Rate is 2.2 (2020).
• The lowest TFR 2019-2020 as per National Family Health Survey 5 is recorded in Sikkim (1.1). Bihar has the highest TFR – 3 (in 2005-06 the TFR was 4).
• According to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the TFR across most Indian states declined in the past half a decade, more so among urban women.
• The fertility rate of women in rural areas sharply dropped in Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Bihar, while the fertility rate of women in urban areas went below-replacement fertility across all 21 states except Bihar, where it has remained unchanged at 2.4 since 2015-16.

For more information about upcoming Government Exams, visit the linked article. More exam-related preparation materials will be found through the links given below: