Fertility rate drops to 2 children; now below replacement level: NFHS

The TFR ranges from 1.1 children per woman in Sikkim to 3 children per woman in Bihar

India’s total fertility rate (TFR) has declined from 2.2 children in 2015-16 to 2 children per woman now, the latest edition of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) showed. The TFR is currently below the replacement level of fertility of 2.1 children per woman.

According to the report, the median age at first birth among women aged 25-49 is 21.2 years, and around seven per cent of women aged 15-19 have begun childbearing, which is just a one per cent decline from 2015-16. About one-fourths (23 per cent) of currently married women aged 15-49 want to have another child, the