Total fertility rate declines to 2.7

Patna: The Union ministry of health and family welfare’s newly released NFHS-6 report reveals a critical demographic milestone for Bihar. The state’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) — the average number of children born to a woman — has declined to 2.7, down from the 3 recorded during NFHS-5. This continuous drop points to the growing success of local health interventions and expanded female literacy.

Despite this notable progress, Bihar remains a distinct outlier on the national stage. India’s national TFR remains stable at 2, which is comfortably below the critical population replacement level of 2.1. While the rest of the country moves toward population stabilisation, Bihar’s rate of 2.7 means it still holds one of the highest fertility markers in India, indicating a longer transition period ahead.

State healthcare administrators have welcomed the decline while remaining realistic about the steep road ahead. “The decline from 3 to 2.7 proves that our grassroots awareness campaigns and targeted family welfare schemes are yielding results,” stated a senior official from the State Health Society. “However, rural pockets still experience a high unmet need for modern spacing methods, which we are working to bridge immediately,” he said.

Public health specialists emphasise that socio-economic factors play a profound role in these figures. “Bihar’s downward trend is encouraging, but the gap with the national average highlights structural challenges,” said a Bihar-based demographer associated with the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS).

“To accelerate this transition toward the 2.1 replacement level, Bihar must continue to invest heavily in girls’ high school education, delay early marriages, healthcare access and diversify modern contraceptive options beyond female sterilisation,” said social scientist Uday Shankar Choudhary.

In 2022, the state’s then health minister Mangal Pandey, while speaking at a workshop on family planning, spoke about taking measures to reduce the state’s TFR to 2. But Bihar could not achieve this target.