Assam’s total fertility rate drops to 2; rural areas at 2.1, urban regions as low as 1.3

Guwahati, Sept 23: The State has witnessed good progress in bringing down the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in the period between 2018 and 2023. As per latest government data, Assam’s TFR stood at 2 in 2023, as against 2.2 in 2018.

The TFR in the rural areas of the State was 2.1 in 2023, while it was as low as 1.3 in the urban areas.

Assam had registered an overall TFR of 2.2 in 2018 and 2019, which came down to 2.1 in 2020 and remained at that level for the next two years, before falling further to 2 in 2023, the latest year for which data was released recently.

In rural Assam, the TFR has declined from 2.4 in 2018 to 2.1 in 2023. Likewise, the urban TFR has also decreased from 1.6 in 2018 to 1.3 in 2023.

The TFR for the country as a whole stood at 1.9 in 2023, with a higher TFR in rural areas (2.1) than in urban areas (1.5).

During the same year, Bihar reported the highest TFR at 2.8, while Delhi recorded the lowest at 1.2.

It is noteworthy that the replacement level TFR, viz. 2.1, has been attained at the national level, along with Delhi (1.2), Tamil Nadu (1.3), West Bengal (1.3), Kerala (1.5), Punjab (1.5), Himachal Pradesh (1.6), Maharashtra (1.4), Andhra Pradesh (1.5), Jammu & Kashmir (1.5), Karnataka (1.5), Telangana (1.5), Odisha (1.7), Uttarakhand (1.7), Gujarat (1.8), Haryana (1.9), Assam (2) and Jharkhand (2.1).

The cumulative value of the Age-Specific Fertility Rates at the end of the child-bearing age gives a measure of fertility known as the TFR. It indicates the average number of children expected to be born per woman during her entire span of reproductive period, assuming that the Age-Specific Fertility Rates to which she is exposed, continue to be the same and that there is no mortality.

In 2011-13 (three-year average), Assam’s average TFR was 2.3, which fell to 2.1 in 2021-23. The decline was 12.5 per cent overall – 12 per cent in rural areas and 6.7 per cent in urban areas.

The TFR also shows variation by the level of education of women.

In Assam, the TFR for illiterate women was 2.7 in 2023, 2.3 for those with below primary education, 2.2 among those with primary education, 2.1 for middle level schooling, 1.6 for women with education till Class 10, and 1.7 for women who have studied till Class-12 and for those who are graduates and above.

The State’s Gross Reproduction Rate (GRR) was 0.9 in 2023. GRR measures the average number of female children a woman is expected to give birth to during her entire reproductive span, conforming to the Age-Specific Fertility Rates for a given year, if there is no mortality.

The GRR for India for 2023 has been also estimated at 0.9, which means that on average, each woman in India is having one daughter who survives to reproductive age and has children of her own. Most of the deliveries in Assam are institutional, which includes government as well as private hospitals.

In 2023, 85.6 per cent of the total deliveries in the State were in government hospitals. The quantum in rural areas was 87.1 per cent and in urban areas it was 73 per cent.

Another 8.3 per cent of the total deliveries were in private hospitals, with the share in rural areas being 6.2 per cent and 25.5 per cent in urban areas.

The mean age of fertility in Assam is 28.8 years.

The General Fertility Rate (GFR) stood at 66.6 overall, with figures of 70.6 in rural parts of the State and 44.3 in urban areas.

The Crude Birth Rate in Assam was recorded at 19.8 during the year under review, compared to the national average of 18.4.

As per the latest data, the sex ratio (females per 1,000 males) at birth in Assam was 938 in 2021-23 (three-year average). It was 936 in rural areas of the State and 961 in urban areas.

The State’s sex ratio was better than the national average of 917 (914 in rural and 925 in urban areas) at birth during the period 2021-23.

Chhattisgarh and Kerala had the highest sex ratio at birth with 974 and 971 females per 1,000 males, respectively, while Uttarakhand reported the lowest sex ratio at birth with 868 females per 1,000 males.