State’s birth rate lowest in country at 10.7

Panaji: Yet another govt data report has pointed to a rapidly declining fertility rate in Goa. At 10.7, the state had the lowest birth rate for any state or Union Territory in India, as per the sample registration system (SRS) data released by the office of the Registrar General of India.Birth rate is a crude measure of the fertility of a population and is a crucial determinant of population growth. It indicates the number of live births per thousand population in a given region and in a particular year.The birth rate at the all-India level has declined drastically over the last five decades from 36.9 in 1971 to 18.3 in 2024. But, as against the national average, Goa’s birth rate was almost half at 10.7.Nationally, the birth rate has continued to be higher in rural areas compared to urban areas in the last five decades. However, Goa is an anomaly to this.In the state, the rural birth rate is 10.2 as against the urban birth rate of 11.1, possibly indicative of higher fertility among the urban population — where migrants from other states make up a significant component — as against largely native population of villages.As per this latest SRS data released covering the year 2024, the highest birth rate was observed at 26.8 in Bihar.Goa’s birth rate has declined further since the last count. Previously, it was recorded at 10.8 per thousand population in 2022.