In 2020, the state of Madhya Pradesh, with 47 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, recorded the highest rural infant mortality rate in India. Other regions with high mortality rates included Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. On the contrary, Delhi recorded the lowest figures for the category during the same period.

In 2020, the state of Chhattisgarh, with 31 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, recorded the highest urban infant mortality rate in India. Other regions with high mortality rates included Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. On the contrary, Kerala recorded the lowest figures for the category during the same period.

UNICEF's country profile for India, including under-five mortality rates, child health, education and sanitation data.

In 2023, the infant mortality rate in India was at about 24.5 deaths per 1,000 live births, a significant decrease from previous years. Infant mortality as an indicatorThe infant mortality rate is the number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1,000 live births. This rate is an important key indicator for a country’s health and standard of living; a low infant mortality rate indicates a high standard of healthcare. Causes of infant mortality include premature birth, sepsis or meningitis, sudden infant death syndrome, and pneumonia. Globally, the infant mortality rate has shrunk from 63 infant deaths per 1,000 live births to 27 since 1990 and is forecast to drop to 8 infant deaths per 1,000 live births by the year 2100. India’s rural problemWith 32 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, India is neither among the countries with the highest nor among those with the lowest infant mortality rate. Its decrease indicates an increase in medical care and hygiene, as well as a decrease in female infanticide. Increasing life expectancy at birth is another indicator that shows that the living conditions of the Indian population are improving. Still, India’s inhabitants predominantly live in rural areas, where standards of living as well as access to medical care and hygiene are traditionally lower and more complicated than in cities. Public health programs are thus put in place by the government to ensure further improvement.

Vital Statistics: Infant Mortality Rate: per 1000 Live Births: West Bengal data was reported at 19.000 NA in 2020. This records a decrease from the previous number of 20.000 NA for 2019. Vital Statistics: Infant Mortality Rate: per 1000 Live Births: West Bengal data is updated yearly, averaging 33.000 NA from Dec 1997 (Median) to 2020, with 23 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 53.000 NA in 1998 and a record low of 19.000 NA in 2020. Vital Statistics: Infant Mortality Rate: per 1000 Live Births: West Bengal data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAH005: Vital Statistics: Infant Mortality Rate: by States.

In 2020, the infant mortality rate in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India was about ** deaths per 1,000 live births. This value represented a significant decrease in infant mortality in Andhra Pradesh from previous years.

State-wise comparative analysis of under-five mortality rate, India, 2005–2006 and 2015–2016 with reference to SDG3 target on preventable deaths among children aged under five.

The child mortality rate in India, for children under the age of five, was 509 deaths per thousand births in 1880. This means that over half of all children born in 1880 did not survive past the age of five, and it remained this way until the twentieth century. From 1900 until today, the child mortality rate has fallen from over 53 percent in 1900, to under four percent in 2020. Since 1900, there were only two times where the child mortality rate increased in India, which were as a result of the Spanish Flu pandemic in the 1910s, and in the 1950s as India adjusted to its newfound independence.

The dataset contains state-wise National Family Health Survey (NFHS) compiled data on various family planning, childbirth, population, medical, health and other parameters which provide statistical indicators data on family profile and health status in India. There are 100+ indicators covered in the survey which broadly fall in the following categories: Health and Wellness, Maternal and Child Health, Family Planning and Reproductive Health, Disease Screening and Prevention, Social and Economic Factors, General Healthcare and Treatment

The different types of health data contained in the dataset include Anaemia among women and children, blood sugar levels and hypertension among men and women, tobacco and alcohol consumption among adults, delivery care and child feeding practices of women, quality of family planning services, screening of cancer among women, marriage and family, maternity care, nutritional status of women, child vaccinations and vitamin A supplementation, treatment of childhood diseases, etc.

Within these categories of health data, the dataset contains indicators data such as births attended by skilled health care professionals and caesarean section, number of children with under and heavy weight, stunted growth, their different vaccations status, male and female sterilization, consumption of iron folic acid among mothers, mother who had antenatal, postnatal, neonatal services, women who are obese and at the risk of weight to hip ratio, educational status among women and children, sanitation, birth and sex ratio, etc.

All of the data is compiled from the NFHS 4th and 5th survey reports. The The NFHS is a collaborative project of the International Institute for Population Sciences(IIPS), aimed at providing health data to strengthen India's health policies and programmes.

There are 100+ indicators covered in the survey which broadly fall in the following categories: Health and Wellness, Maternal and Child Health, Family Planning and Reproductive Health, Disease Screening and Prevention, Social and Economic Factors, General Healthcare and Treatment

BackgroundThis paper examines if, when controlling for biophysical and geographical variables (including rainfall, productivity of agricultural lands, topography/temperature, and market access through road networks), socioeconomic and health care indicators help to explain variations in the under-five mortality rate across districts from nine high focus states in India. The literature on this subject is inconclusive because the survey data, upon which most studies of child mortality rely, rarely include variables that measure these factors. This paper introduces these variables into an analysis of 284 districts from nine high focus states in India. Methodology/Principal FindingsInformation on the mortality indicator was accessed from the recently conducted Annual Health Survey of 2011 and other socioeconomic and geographic variables from Census 2011, District Level Household and Facility Survey (2007–08), Department of Economics and Statistics Divisions of the concerned states. Displaying high spatial dependence (spatial autocorrelation) in the mortality indicator (outcome variable) and its possible predictors used in the analysis, the paper uses the Spatial-Error Model in an effort to negate or reduce the spatial dependence in model parameters. The results evince that the coverage gap index (a mixed indicator of district wise coverage of reproductive and child health services), female literacy, urbanization, economic status, the number of newborn care provided in Primary Health Centers in the district transpired as significant correlates of under-five mortality in the nine high focus states in India. The study identifies three clusters with high under-five mortality rate including 30 districts, and advocates urgent attention. ConclusionEven after controlling the possible biophysical and geographical variables, the study reveals that the health program initiatives have a major role to play in reducing under-five mortality rate in the high focus states in India.

In 2020, the infant mortality rate in the state of West Bengal in India was ** deaths per 1,000 live births. Infant mortality is measured by the number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1,000 live births.

This statistic shows the 20 countries* with the highest infant mortality rate in 2024. An estimated 101.3 infants per 1,000 live births died in the first year of life in Afghanistan in 2024. Infant and child mortality Infant mortality usually refers to the death of children younger than one year. Child mortality, which is often used synonymously with infant mortality, is the death of children younger than five. Among the main causes are pneumonia, diarrhea – which causes dehydration – and infections in newborns, with malnutrition also posing a severe problem. As can be seen above, most countries with a high infant mortality rate are developing countries or emerging countries, most of which are located in Africa. Good health care and hygiene are crucial in reducing child mortality; among the countries with the lowest infant mortality rate are exclusively developed countries, whose inhabitants usually have access to clean water and comprehensive health care. Access to vaccinations, antibiotics and a balanced nutrition also help reducing child mortality in these regions. In some countries, infants are killed if they turn out to be of a certain gender. India, for example, is known as a country where a lot of girls are aborted or killed right after birth, as they are considered to be too expensive for poorer families, who traditionally have to pay a costly dowry on the girl’s wedding day. Interestingly, the global mortality rate among boys is higher than that for girls, which could be due to the fact that more male infants are actually born than female ones. Other theories include a stronger immune system in girls, or more premature births among boys.

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is a comprehensive measure that assesses poverty beyond income, capturing individuals’ various deprivations in areas critical to human well-being. Unlike traditional poverty metrics, which primarily focus on monetary aspects, the MPI incorporates multiple dimensions, including health, education, and living standards. Each dimension is further broken down into indicators, such as child mortality, years of schooling, access to clean water, sanitation, and adequate housing.

The infant mortality rate in India, for children under the age of one year old, was over 204 deaths per thousand births in 1915. This means that for all babies born in 1915,more than one fifth did not survive past their first birthday. This rate fluctuated over the next four decades, but since the mid-1900s, India's infant mortality rate has fallen from 181 to 32 deaths per thousand births in 2020, meaning that over three percent of all babies born today do not make it to their first birthday.

Abstract

The National Family Health Survey 2019-21 (NFHS-5), the fifth in the NFHS series, provides information on population, health, and nutrition for India, each state/union territory (UT), and for 707 districts.

The primary objective of the 2019-21 round of National Family Health Surveys is to provide essential data on health and family welfare, as well as data on emerging issues in these areas, such as levels of fertility, infant and child mortality, maternal and child health, and other health and family welfare indicators by background characteristics at the national and state levels. Similar to NFHS-4, NFHS-5 also provides information on several emerging issues including perinatal mortality, high-risk sexual behaviour, safe injections, tuberculosis, noncommunicable diseases, and the use of emergency contraception.

The information collected through NFHS-5 is intended to assist policymakers and programme managers in setting benchmarks and examining progress over time in India’s health sector. Besides providing evidence on the effectiveness of ongoing programmes, NFHS-5 data will help to identify the need for new programmes in specific health areas.

The clinical, anthropometric, and biochemical (CAB) component of NFHS-5 is designed to provide vital estimates of the prevalence of malnutrition, anaemia, hypertension, high blood glucose levels, and waist and hip circumference, Vitamin D3, HbA1c, and malaria parasites through a series of biomarker tests and measurements.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

• Household
• Individual
• Children age 0-5
• Woman age 15-49
• Man age 15 to 54

Universe

The survey covered all de jure household members (usual residents), all women aged 15-49, all men age 15-54, and all children aged 0-5 resident in the household.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

A uniform sample design, which is representative at the national, state/union territory, and district level, was adopted in each round of the survey. Each district is stratified into urban and rural areas. Each rural stratum is sub-stratified into smaller substrata which are created considering the village population and the percentage of the population belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (SC/ST). Within each explicit rural sampling stratum, a sample of villages was selected as Primary Sampling Units (PSUs); before the PSU selection, PSUs were sorted according to the literacy rate of women age 6+ years. Within each urban sampling stratum, a sample of Census Enumeration Blocks (CEBs) was selected as PSUs. Before the PSU selection, PSUs were sorted according to the percentage of SC/ST population. In the second stage of selection, a fixed number of 22 households per cluster was selected with an equal probability systematic selection from a newly created list of households in the selected PSUs. The list of households was created as a result of the mapping and household listing operation conducted in each selected PSU before the household selection in the second stage. In all, 30,456 Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) were selected across the country in NFHS-5 drawn from 707 districts as on March 31st 2017, of which fieldwork was completed in 30,198 PSUs.

For further details on sample design, see Section 1.2 of the final report.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

Four survey schedules/questionnaires: Household, Woman, Man, and Biomarker were canvassed in 18 local languages using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI).

Cleaning operations

Electronic data collected in the 2019-21 National Family Health Survey were received on a daily basis via the SyncCloud system at the International Institute for Population Sciences, where the data were stored on a password-protected computer. Secondary editing of the data, which required resolution of computer-identified inconsistencies and coding of open-ended questions, was conducted in the field by the Field Agencies and at the Field Agencies central office, and IIPS checked the secondary edits before the dataset was finalized.

Field-check tables were produced by IIPS and the Field Agencies on a regular basis to identify certain types of errors that might have occurred in eliciting information and recording question responses. Information from the field-check tables on the performance of each fieldwork team and individual investigator was promptly shared with the Field Agencies during the fieldwork so that the performance of the teams could be improved, if required.

Response rate

A total of 664,972 households were selected for the sample, of which 653,144 were occupied. Among the occupied households, 636,699 were successfully interviewed, for a response rate of 98 percent.

In the interviewed households, 747,176 eligible women age 15-49 were identified for individual women’s interviews. Interviews were completed with 724,115 women, for a response rate of 97 percent. In all, there were 111,179 eligible men age 15-54 in households selected for the state module. Interviews were completed with 101,839 men, for a response rate of 92 percent.

In 2020, the infant mortality rate in the state of Bihar in India was about ** deaths per 1,000 live births. This value represented a significant decrease in infant mortality in Bihar from previous years.

In 2020, the infant mortality rate in the state of Odisha in India was ** deaths per 1,000 live births. Infant mortality is measured by the number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1,000 live births.

In 2025, there are six countries, all in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the average woman of childbearing age can expect to have between 5-6 children throughout their lifetime. In fact, of the 20 countries in the world with the highest fertility rates, Afghanistan and Yemen are the only countries not found in Sub-Saharan Africa. High fertility rates in Africa With a fertility rate of almost six children per woman, Chad is the country with the highest fertility rate in the world. Population growth in Chad is among the highest in the world. Lack of healthcare access, as well as food instability, political instability, and climate change, are all exacerbating conditions that keep Chad's infant mortality rates high, which is generally the driver behind high fertility rates. This situation is common across much of the continent, and, although there has been considerable progress in recent decades, development in Sub-Saharan Africa is not moving as quickly as it did in other regions. Demographic transition While these countries have the highest fertility rates in the world, their rates are all on a generally downward trajectory due to a phenomenon known as the demographic transition. The third stage (of five) of this transition sees birth rates drop in response to decreased infant and child mortality, as families no longer feel the need to compensate for lost children. Eventually, fertility rates fall below replacement level (approximately 2.1 children per woman), which eventually leads to natural population decline once life expectancy plateaus. In some of the most developed countries today, low fertility rates are creating severe econoic and societal challenges as workforces are shrinking while aging populations are placin a greater burden on both public and personal resources.

According to the Global Hunger Index, India had an index value of **** in 2023. The composition of the index was a combination of different indicators such as undernourishment, child underweight, and child mortality. India's score indicates a serious level of hunger crisis, placing the country at a position of ***** out of 121 countries that year. However, the country had improved the situation from ** index points falling in the category of alarming level in 2000.