Overview

• The Sample Registration System 2023 report records a national infant mortality rate of 25, down 37.5% from 40 in 2013 and about 80% from 129 in 1971.
• Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Uttar Pradesh posted the highest IMR at 37, while Manipur reported the lowest at 3 and Kerala was the only large state in single digits at 5.
• Over the past decade, IMR fell from 44 to 28 in rural areas and from 27 to 18 in urban areas, indicating substantial declines and a reduced gap.
• India’s birth rate dropped to 18.4 in 2023 from 21.4 in 2013, with Bihar highest at 25.8 and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands lowest at 10.1.
• The crude death rate declined to 6.4 in 2023 from 14.9 in 1971, with Chandigarh lowest at 4 and Chhattisgarh highest at 8.3, as rural and urban rates edged down from 2022.