Latest CRS data shows improving civil registration of births and deaths and better sex ratio at birth

India’s latest civil registration data, CRS 2024, released on Wednesday, suggests that registration is improving across the country, and that sex ratio at birth is improving in some places, but predictably, progress remains uneven across States and Union Territories. India’s sex ratio at birth is 917 females per 1,000 males, meaning that 917 girls are born for every 1,000 boys. 

While there is no surprise in the strong performance of Kerala (970 females per 1000 males) when it comes to sex ratio at birth, other States such as Arunachal Pradesh (1,050), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (984), Meghalaya (974), and Mizoram (972), are also top performers. The weakest figures are from Nagaland (865), Lakshadweep (865), and Jharkhand (890).

A sex ratio at birth that is close to the biological norm, or slightly above it, is an indicator that birth rates are not heavily distorted by sex selective abortions/terminations. India, with its legacy issue of a son preference has struggled towards achieving a balance in sex ratio at birth historically. A masculine skew at birth has long dominated headlines in several parts of the country. Haryana and Punjab have recorded the lowest child sex ratios at birth. In the 2011 Census, Haryana recorded 834 girls per 1,000 boys, followed closely by Punjab at 846. The battle to correct the skew has been long and hard fought from a policy level.  

The number of still births in 2024 was recorded as 81,117 with a heavy urban tilt, with 69% of still births happening in urban centres. 

The civil registration system has continued to expand its coverage, and improving registration will offer a clearer picture of the country’s demographic transition. Registered births rose from 252.1 lakh in 2023 to 254.7 lakh in 2024, while registered deaths increased from 86.6 lakhs to 89.4 lakhs. 13 States recorded above 90% of births and 15 States recorded above 90% of deaths. The CRS report shows that the level of birth registration reached 99.1% in 2024 and the level of death registration reached 99.4%, both extremely close to full coverage. 

The rise in registrations does not necessarily mean that either fertility or mortality is rising sharply; it means the system has begun to capture births, deaths, still births and sex ratio at birth more comprehensively, approaching a situation where more reliable data will be available to guide policy and implmentation.  

While in India, the registration of births and deaths is mandatory under the provisions of the Registration of Births and Deaths (RBD) Act, 1969, it has been an uphill task to exact compliance in many States. The reporting and application forms were comprehensively amended and simplified in December 2006, in order to make the forms more user-friendly and to eliminate redundant data.