SRS 2024 Report: India’s Infant Mortality Falls to 24, Birth Rate to 18.3 per 1,000

The Office of the Registrar General of India has released the Sample Registration System (SRS) report for 2024. The data point to a continuing demographic transformation in the country: the crude birth rate has declined to 18.3 per 1,000 population in 2024, down from 21 per 1,000 a decade earlier in 2014. The infant mortality rate (IMR) has fallen to 24 per 1,000 live births in 2024, compared with 39 per 1,000 in the 2014–19 period.

These national figures, however, conceal large state and rural–urban disparities. Chhattisgarh records the highest state IMR at 36, with Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh at 35 each. At the other end, Kerala stands at 8 and Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh at 11. Rural IMR for India is 27 per 1,000 live births, against 17 per 1,000 in urban areas, a gap that reflects unequal access to healthcare, institutional deliveries, immunisation and maternal nutrition.

The gains owe much to sustained investment under the National Health Mission, expanded immunisation coverage, and a higher share of institutional deliveries. The fertility decline indicates that India is moving deeper into a phase below the replacement-level Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 2.1 in several states, raising long-term policy questions about ageing, the demographic dividend window and inter-state migration. At the same time, the persistence of high IMR in some states points to the need for stronger primary healthcare in poorer districts.

For exam aspirants, the SRS is a key source for demographic indicators alongside the Census, NFHS and HMIS. The report connects to schemes such as Janani Suraksha Yojana, POSHAN Abhiyaan, Mission Indradhanush and the broader Sustainable Development Goal 3 — Good Health and Well-being.