Gujarat’s sex ratio has improved to 965 women per 1000 men, the National Family Health Survey 2019-20 (NFHS – 5) shows, which also records improvement in various other key indicators related to health.
The number of women per 1000 men was 950 in the fourth survey in NFHS survey in 2015-16, which has gone up to 965 in the latest survey. The sex ratio was 929 in urban areas and 991 in rural areas. The sex ratio at birth has improved from 906 in NFHS – 4 to 955 in NFHS – 5. The sex ratio at birth was 931 in urban areas and 969 in rural areas, the survey findings show.
Twenty-four per cent of the state’s population is below 15 years, compared with 26% in the previous survey.
The percentage of women in the age group of 20-24 who were married before turning 18 has fallen from 24.9% to 21.8%. The ratio is 14.2% and 26.9% in urban and rural areas respectively. The percentage of men in the age group of 25-29, who were married before turning 21, fell from 28.4% to 27.7% as per the latest survey.
The fertility rate or child per woman has come down from 2 in NFHS – 4 to 1.9 in NFHS – 5. The fertility rate is 1.7 in urban areas and 2 in rural areas. This trend is largely due to an increasing number of women using family planning methods, the survey shows.
The neonatal mortality rate in Gujarat, or deaths per 1000 live births, has come down from 26.8 in 2015-26 to 21.8 in 2019-20. The infant mortality rate has fallen from 34.2 to 31.2, while the under-five mortality rate is down from 43.5 to 37.6.