An unfavourable sex ratio has always been an issue in India, the second most populous country. However, a recent study by the Pew Research Institute says that it has begun to improve in the country since 2015-16. According to the survey, while India’s sex ratio was as bad as 111.2 (number of boys born per 100 girls) in 2011, in 2019-21, it had improved to 108.1. This means that in India, 925 girls are born per 1000 boys.
The report has analysed the findings of the National Family Health Surveys and Census documents. The natural sex ratio at birth is about 105 boys per 100 girls, according to the United Nations Population Fund.
“Naturally, boys modestly outnumber girls at birth, at a ratio of approximately 105 male babies for every 100 female babies. That was the ratio in India in the 1950s and 1960s, before prenatal sex tests became available across the country,” notes the Pew report.
However, it went up to 106.7 in 1981, 109.2 in 1991, 110.1 in 2001 and eventually peaked at 111.2 in 2011. What is it that went wrong since the 1970s? The report says that the reason could be the introduction of prenatal tests and legalising abortion in the 1970s.
Looking at aspects that could have helped normalise the sex ratio in the country, the report says, “The new data suggest that Indian families are becoming less likely to use abortions to ensure the birth of sons rather than daughters. This follows years of government efforts to curb sex selection, including a ban on prenatal sex tests and a massive advertising campaign urging parents to “save the girl child”, and coincides with broader social changes such as rising education and wealth.”
The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (or Save the girl child) campaign was launched on October 11, 2014, to address the issue of the unfavorable sex ratio in India. The NFHS notes that the proportion of women who preferred sons over daughters has declined from 33 per cent in 1998-99 to 15 per cent in 2019-21. “Meanwhile, the share of Indian women wanting more daughters than sons has remained steady over the same period, at around 3 per cent,” it notes.
Where we stand globally
The Pew report has taken global averages of sex ratios between 2000 and 2020. The analysis says that Azerbaijan, China, Armenia, Vietnam, Albania and India had the world’s most male-biased sex ratios at birth. In Azerbaijan and China, it was as high as 115 and it was 114 in Armenia. While Vietnam, Albania and India had a sex ratio at birth of 111, it was 105 in the US and 103 in South Africa.
The latest Sample Registration Systems Data (SRS) also validates that the sex ratio at birth has started to normalise in India. According to that, it has improved from 111 in 2017-19 to 110 in 2018-20. This data is based on the registration of births in the country. While states like Kerala (103), Chhattisgarh (104) and Himachal Pradesh (105) had the most favourable sex ratios, Uttarakhand (118), Delhi (116) and Haryana (115) had the most biased sex ratios.