After 75 years of Independence, there is a stark difference among the States on key health metrics. In general, many northeastern, western and southern States, especially Kerala, perform better than the rest. Union Territories perform better than the big States in many parameters. The eastern, central and some northern States, especially Madhya Pradesh, lag behind the others. Regions: North (light blue), South (lavender), East (lilac), Northeast (green), West (yellow), Central India(grey) and Union Territory (orange)
Life expectancy at birth: 1991-95 vs 2013-17
With an average life expectancy of 72.9 and 75.2 during the early 1990s and 2013-17 respectively, Kerala remained the State with the highest life expectancy at birth. Madhya Pradesh had the lowest life expectancy (54.7) in the 1991-95 period, whereas Uttar Pradesh took its place with a life expectancy of 65 in the 2013-17 period. Life expectancy is the average number of years that an individual is likely to live if exposed to the same mortality conditions until death
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Infant Mortality Rate: 2004 vs 2018
In 2004, Kerala had the lowest infant mortality rate (IMR) of 12. By 2018, with an IMR of 4, Nagaland had surpassed it. Madhya Pradesh had an IMR of 79 in 2004 and remained at the bottom of the list in 2018, with an IMR of 48. The graph depicts the IMR, which is the number of infants dying before their first birthday per 1,000 live births
Vaccination: 1992-93 vs 2019-21
Compared to the 35.4% of children aged 12-23 months who were fully vaccinated* in India in 1992- 93, more than 75% of children in this age group were fully vaccinated in 2019-21. In 1992-93, Goa had the highest vaccination coverage (74.9%), while in 2019-21, coverage was highest in Odisha (90.5%). With a vaccination coverage of 3.8%, Nagaland had the lowest share in 1992- 93 and continued to have the lowest share in 2019-21 too, with a coverage of 57.9%
Children *aged 12-23 months are considered fully vaccinated based on information from either the vaccination card or their mother’s recall
Underweight children: 1992-93 vs 2019-21
Compared to the 53.4% in 1992-93, more than 30% of children under the age of five were underweight (weight-for-age) in India in 2019-21. Bihar had the highest share of underweight children in 1992-93 (62.6%) as well as in 2019-21 (41%). Mizoram’s share of underweight children was 28.1% in 1992-93 and 12.7% in 2019-21, the lowest share among the States/U.T.s
Source: RBI Handbook of Statistics of Indian States, NFHS
