Kerala registered a sharp decline in births in the Covid-era

According to data from Kerala’s Chief Registrar of Birth and Deaths, Kerala witnessed a sharp decline in live births in the first 9 months of 2021 as the state battled against a raging pandemic amid the work from home norms & where thousands of expatriates returned home.

The state has been witnessing a steady decline in birth rates. Kerala recorded 4.80 lakh births during the pre-pandemic year. The number fell to 4.53 lakh in 2020, before plunging to 2.17 lakh as on September 30 this year.

Kerala registered live births ranging from 27,534 in February to a high of 32,969 in June in the first 6 months of 2021. However, since then, the births averaged around 10,000, with 12,227 births registered in September.

2021 will witness the biggest on-year decline in Kerala’s birth figures in the last decade & is likely to have a far-reaching impact on the state’s demography in the coming years.

The state has been registering 100% birth registration in rural and urban areas — 98.96% of these were institutional deliveries. In 2019, Kerala registered 87.03% births within 21 days of birth.

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