Infant Mortality Rate in Telangana drops by nearly half since 2014

In less than a decade, Telangana has nearly halved its Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), bringing it down from 35 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2014 to 18 in 2023, according to the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin released by the Registrar General of India. The 2023 figure is lower than the national average of 25. Kerala has the lowest IMR in the country at 5. Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh reported the highest infant mortality rate at 37.

The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), which is widely accepted as a crude indicator of the overall health scenario of a Country or a region, is defined as the infant deaths (less than one year) per thousand live births in a given time period and for a given region. The data is based on the SRS survey conducted across 224 sample units in Telangana, covering a population of about 23.4 lakh people, of which 16.4 lakh were in rural areas and 6.9 lakh in urban areas.

The report shows that the birth rate in Telangana was 15.8 per 1,000 population in 2023, slightly below the national average of 18.4. The rural birth rate was marginally higher at 16.2 compared to 15.2 in urban areas. The State’s death rate was 6.3 per 1,000 population, against the national figure of 6.4. In rural Telangana, the death rate was 7.1, while urban areas recorded 5.3.

The natural growth rate, which is the difference between the birth rate and death rate, stood at 9.5 for Telangana, compared to the national average of 12.0. Rural areas in the State recorded a growth rate of 9.2, while urban areas were slightly higher at 9.9.

The SRS bulletin highlights rural-urban variations in Telangana. While rural areas showed a higher birth and death rate, urban regions performed better in terms of infant survival.