Bihar has recorded the lowest sex ratio at birth for 2022 among all States and Union Territories, reporting just 891 girls born for every 1,000 boys, according to the Civil Registration System’s vital statistics report, released this week by the Office of the Registrar General of India.
Bihar is also the only State that has seen its sex ratio at birth declining consistently since 2020, the year from which this data is available for the State. In 2020, the State reported a sex ratio at birth of 964, which fell to 908 in 2021, before further dipping to 891 in 2022.
This comes ahead of the Bihar Assembly election, at a time when political parties have been actively targeting women voters, including with promises of cash transfers in polls in Haryana, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand. In 2024, 47.6% of Bihar’s 7.64 crore electors were women, though voter turnout in the State during the 2024 general election showed that 50.4% of votes polled came from women.
Other States with low sex ratios at birth in 2022 were Maharashtra (906), Telangana (907), and Gujarat (908). On the other hand, Nagaland had the highest figure of 1,068, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (1,036), Ladakh (1,027), Meghalaya (972), and Kerala (971). Assam, which had reported 863 girl babies born in 2021 for every 1,000 boys, the lowest ratio for that year, showed an improvement to 933 in 2022.
