he birth rate and the infant mortality rate in the Capital have witnessed a marginal dip in comparison to last year even as a marginal improvement was noticed in the sex ratio, according to statistics released by the Delhi government on Thursday.
Released by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the annual report on Registration of Births and Deaths in Delhi 2014, which was prepared by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, found that the birth rate worked out to 20.88 per thousand population in 2014 as against 21.07 in 2013.
The number of births registered in Delhi in 2014 was 3.74 lakh compared to 3.7 lakh in 2013 and 3.6 lakh in 2012. Of the 3.74 lakh births, about 1.97 lakh (52.74 per cent) were males and 1.77 lakh (47.26 per cent) females.
Institutional births have increased from 3.02 lakh (81.75 per cent) in 2013 to 3.1 lakh (82.83 per cent) in 2014. Moreover, about 66 per cent of institutional births took place in government hospitals and 34 per cent in private hospitals.
“The average number of births per day in Delhi worked out to 1,024 in 2014 as compared to 1,014 in 2013,” Mr. Sisodia said, adding that the infant mortality rate per thousand live births was found to have reduced from 22.37 in 2013 to 21.66 in 2014.
Meanwhile, the death rate saw an upward trend – from 0.97 lakh in 2013 to 1.21 lakh in 2014. Of the total number in 2014, about 62.17 per cent were males and 37.83 per cent females.
“About 61.5 per cent (74,592) were institutional deaths, while 38.5 per cent (46,694) were domiciliary deaths. The average number of deaths per day worked out to 332 in 2014. The death rate per thousand population worked out to 6.77 in 2014,” the report stated.
However, the data related to the sex ratio revealed that Delhi continues to be among the worst cities in the country with 896 females to 1,000 males, which is a negligible improvement from last year’s figure of 895.
According to both the 2011 census, which pointed out that the Capital had 866 females per 1,000 males, and the countrywide data of the Civil Registration System, Delhi was found among the worst performing States and Union Territories in terms of the sex ratio.
Mr. Sisodia pointed out that the number of female births had ‘increased’ and was ‘improving every year’. The sex ratio figures for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 are 915, 901, 893 and 886. In 2013, the figure had slightly improved to 895.
In 2008, the figure had risen to a high of 1,004, on the back of probable high rate of girl child birth registration, including that of old births. But, the sex ratio average for the whole country, according to the 2011 census, was registered at 940 per 1,000, which is significantly higher than that of Delhi.
the number of female births
had ‘increased’ and was ‘improving every year’
