The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) — average number of children a woman would have in the course of her life — in Karnataka has fallen faster than the trend observed nationally.
When the country’s TFR was 3.4 in 1992-93, Karnataka’s was 2.65. Thirteen years later in 2005-06, the State’s TFR had dipped below replacement (the rate at which the population replaces itself) at 2.1. It further dipped to 1.8 in 2015-16 and 1.7 in 2019-21 signifying that the fertility drop has not levelled off yet, according to observations made in the Karnataka Economic Survey 2021-22, which was released recently.
With the percentage of registration for both births and deaths increasing across India, the steep fertility decline is consistent. Data from the survey revealed that the estimated births and gross of infant mortality deaths is stagnating for the last five years, and possibly declining. The total number of deaths in the country is also increasing.
