Over the previous ten years, India′s General Fertility Rate (GFR) has decreased by 20%. GFR is the ratio of births per 1,000 women in the reproductive age range of 15 to 49 years.

According to the Sample Registration System (SRS) data 2020, which was just released, the average GFR in India decreased from 86.1 between 2008 and 2010 (three years) to 68.7 between 2018 and 2020 (an average of three years). According to SRS statistics, the reduction has been more severe in rural areas, where it is 20.2%, as opposed to 15.6% in urban areas.

Dr. Suneeta Mittal, the former AIIMS head of obstetrics and gynecology, stated that a fall in GFR suggested a slowing of population increase, which is encouraging. The main driving forces behind this transition are the increased marriage age, increased female literacy rates, and the accessibility of contemporary contraceptive options.

The recently released SRS 2020 study also emphasizes the importance of literacy among women in the reproductive age group for reducing GFR. Jammu & Kashmir witnessed a maximum decline in GFR of 29.2, followed by Delhi (28.5) and then other states.

As per the most recent SRS statistics, India has a total fertility rate of 2 births per woman of reproductive age. Bihar had the highest TFR (3.0), whereas Delhi, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal reported the lowest TFR (1.4).

The SRS data indicate that at the national level, the replacement level TFR (TFR at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next, without migration), at 2.1, has been obtained. The TFR of a rural woman at the national level is currently 2.2, which is greater than the TFR of an urban woman (1.6).

(Source: https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/fertility-rate-declined-by-20-in-india-in-10-years-srs-data/94465832)