THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a significant development, Kerala registered a rise in the number of newborn girls in 2020. As per the Annual Vital Statistics 2020 (AVS) released by the economics and statistics department recently, the state’s sex ratio at birth (SRB) in 2020 was 968, meaning 968 females per 1,000 males. This is the state’s highest SRB in a decade. It was 960, 963 and 939 in 2019, 2018 and 2011, respectively.
Of the total 4,46,891 babies born in 2020, 2,19,809 (49.18%) were girls and 2,27,053 (50.81%) were boys. Gender was not reported in 29 birth registrations.Meanwhile, the sex ratio of the state’s population was 1,084 as per the 2011 Census.
“The sex ratio of an entire population will be different from SRB as women have a higher life expectancy than men,” said S Irudaya Rajan, demography expert and chairman of International Institute of Migration and Development.
Teenage pregnancies saw decline in 2020
S Irudaya Rajan said a micro-level analysis of SRB was required for making logical interpretations that would help the government formulate policy.The AVS said 1,38,910 births (31.08%) were reported from rural areas while 3,07,981 (68.92%) were reported from urban areas in 2020. At 40,945, November saw the most births (9.16%), followed by June (9.08 pc) that year.
An increasing trend in SRB will help the state improve its national ranking in Child Sex Ratio (CSR) too. As per the 2011 Census, Kerala was seventh in the country with a CSR of 964. Arunachal Pradesh was at the top with a CSR of 972. Other states/union territories above Kerala were Mizoram and Meghalaya (both 970), Chhattisgarh (969), Puducherry (967) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (968).
The AVS revealed that deliveries in government hospitals saw a slight decline in 2020. While 30.34% of the births took place in government hospitals, 68.90% took place in private hospitals. This was 31.13% and 67.83%, respectively, in 2019.
Of the total live births in government hospitals, 57.69% were normal deliveries while 40.76% were caesarians, said the AVS data. In private hospitals, 53.37% were normal deliveries while 42.93% were caesarians. The number of young mothers aged 19 or below also saw a decline, from 20,998 in 2019 to 17,202 in 2020.