SRS Data: India’s Life Expectancy at Birth Increases to 69.7; Still Below Global Average of 72.6

According to the data from Sample Registration System (SRS)-Abridged Life Tables 2015-2019, released by the Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India, India’s life expectancy at birth has increased up to 69.7 from 2015-2019 period and is still lower than the global average of 72.6.

• In 2015-19, the highest life expectancy at birth has been estimated for NCT of Delhi with 75.9 years followed by, while Chhattisgarh with 65.3 years, has the lowest life expectancy at birth.

• India has increased its life expectancy at birth by 20 years, from 49.7 in 1970-75 to 69.7 in 2015-2019.
• The life expectancy has increased by 0.3 years and 0.4 years respectively for rural and urban areas as compared to 2014-18.
• The top 5 performer in state wise for the period 2015-19 are

1. Delhi
2. Kerala,
3. Jammu & Kashmir
4. Himachal Pradesh and
5. Punjab

Salient Features of the Report:

i.At the national level, the life expectancy at birth for males has been estimated at 68.4 years and that for females, at 71.1 years.

• Expectation of life at birth is highest in Delhi (74.3 years) for males and in Kerala (78.0 years) for females, whereas it is lowest in Chhattisgarh (63.7 years) for males and Uttar Pradesh (66.2 years) for females.

ii.Odisha has had the highest increase, of over 24 years, from 45.7 to 69.8 years followed by Tamil Nadu.Uttar Pradesh, with lowest life expectancy at birth of just 43 years in 1970-75 has increased to 65.6 in 2015-2019.

iii.In case of birth (age-0), life expectancy is higher in urban areas than in rural areas for most of the States/UTs; except for Kerala which has reported higher rural life expectancy at birth.

Data related to urban, rural divide:

i.Urban women in Himachal Pradesh had the highest life expectancy at birth of 82.3 years while the rural men in Chhattisgarh had the lowest, 62.8 years which shows a gap of 15.8 years.

ii.In Assam, the gap in life expectancy between rural and urban areas is nearly 8 years, followed by Himachal Pradesh with a gap of 5-years.

iii.Kerala is the only state where the rural life expectancy at birth was higher than urban for both women and men.

iv.In Bihar and Jharkhand, the male life expectancy stood higher compared to women in both urban and rural areas.

Gist About Life Table

• A life table summarizes the mortality experience of a population during
  the period of study. The life table is a mathematical table which gives the life history of a hypothetical group or cohort as it is gradually diminished by deaths. It gives the probabilities of death and survival at various age groups.
• It presents the scenario of life expectancy at birth and at various quinquennial age groups.
• The life expectancy at birth usually denoted by (e₀⁰), measures the average number of years a person is expected to live under prevailing mortality conditions.
• The present report contains the abridged life tables for the period 2015-19 by sex
  and residence for India and bigger States/UTs (with population 10 million and
  above viz. Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana,
  Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,
  Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand
  and West Bengal) along with Himachal Pradesh.

Key Highlights:

i.The reason for the below global average level is mainly due to high infant mortality and under-five mortality.

ii.The gap between life expectancy at birth and life expectancy at age one or age five is biggest in states with the highest infant mortality rate (IMR) such as Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh including other states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Assam and Odisha.

• In Madhya Pradesh, which has the highest IMR of 43, the life expectancy on completion of 1 year reaches upto 2.7 years.
• In Uttar Pradesh, with an IMR of 38, life expectancy is about 3.4 years, on completion of 1st year.

About Sample Registration System (SRS):

i.The Sample Registration System (SRS) provides reliable annual estimates of Infant mortality rate, birth rate, death rate and other fertility & mortality indicators at the national and subnational levels.

ii.This was initiated on a pilot basis by the Registrar General of India in a few states in 1964-65 and became fully operational during 1969-70.

About Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA):

Union Minister – Amit Shah (Constituency- Gandhinagar, Gujarat)
Minister of state – Nityanand Rai, Ajay Kumar Mishra, Nisith Pramanik