India’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR), the average number of children a woman would have in her lifetime assuming she lives through her reproductive years (15-49 years), has fallen below the replacement level of 2.1, according to the Sample Registration System Statistical Report 2024 published by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
The TFR for India is estimated at 1.9 in 2024. In the same year, Bihar recorded the highest TFR at 2.9, while Delhi had the lowest at 1.2.
“The TFR for India in 2024 was 1.9, with a higher TFR in rural areas (2.1) than in urban areas (1.5). Bihar had the highest TFR among the bigger States/UTs with 2.9, followed by Uttar Pradesh (2.6) and Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan at 2.4 and 2.3 respectively. Delhi records the lowest TFR at 1.2, followed by Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal at 1.3 each. Andhra Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, and Punjab stands at 1.4, while Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana each have a TFR of 1.5. The TFR in urban areas was generally lower than in rural areas across all major States/UTs in India, except for Kerala which shows higher in urban, and Tamil Nadu which remained constant for both the areas,” the report noted.
The TFR has declined from 5.2 to 4.5 during 1971 to 1981 and from 3.6 to 1.9 during 1991 to 2024. The TFR in rural areas has declined from 5.4 to 2.1 from 1971 to 2024 whereas the corresponding decline in urban areas has been from 4.1 to 1.5 during the same period.
Among the bigger States/UTs, Delhi had the highest percentage decrease in average TFR between 2012-14 and 2022-24 (29.4 per cent), followed by Gujarat (25.0 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (23.5 per cent) respectively and lowest percentage decrease is observed in Bihar at 9.4 per cent followed by Chhattisgarh (11.5 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (11.8 per cent), and Punjab (11.8 per cent).
“In 2024, around 95.4 percent of the deliveries were institutional which includes Government as well as private hospitals. The percentage of institutional deliveries in urban areas was 97.9 as against about 94.6 percent recorded in rural areas,” it stated.