Delhi has recorded a fall in the sex ratio at birth for the fourth consecutive year. The figure now stands at 920 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2024, compared to 933 in 2020, according to the Delhi government’s latest Annual Report on Registration of Births and Deaths.
According to Indian Express report, the sex ratio at birth is an important marker of gender equality. A balanced ratio is considered to be around 952 girls per 1,000 boys. Any number below 1,000 signals fewer girls being born.
From 2012 to 2020, Delhi showed steady improvement in this area. The ratio rose from 886 girls to 933 over those eight years. The decline began in 2020, the year the Covid-19 pandemic reached the capital, and has continued since.
Experts point to two main factors: a sharp fall in fertility rates and violations of abortion laws. Delhi’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR), the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, was 1.2 in 2023, the lowest in the country. India’s national average was 2.0 in 2021, slightly below the replacement rate of 2.1.
“A lower fertility rate, combined with a persistent preference for a son, has led to a skewed sex ratio,” said Srinivas Goli, Associate Professor of Demography at the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai. “If a family is choosing to have fewer children, they still prefer sons over daughters.”
Goli said that while surveys show declining son preference, the birth data tells a different story. “Relatively higher wealth and education, along with an urban location, can result in a greater ability to use technology that allows prenatal sex determination,” he added.
Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director of the Population Foundation of India, said the data reflects both social and economic pressures. “Couples may be delaying fertility due to increased costs of childcare, schooling and housing,” she said. “Even a fall of a few points in the sex ratio, if sustained, adds up to thousands of missing girls. This will echo through education, labor markets and marriage patterns a generation from now.”
Delhi’s location may also play a role. The city is surrounded by states such as Punjab and Haryana, which have some of the lowest sex ratios in the country, as well as Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, which also report imbalances.
The latest figures underline a complex challenge for policymakers. Falling fertility and a continued preference for sons are shaping the future population of the capital in ways that experts warn could have long-term consequences.
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