Kerala 2005 - of Planning Commission

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Table 2.3: Overall Sex Ratio and Child Sex Ratio by Districts
District/State Sex Ratio (F/M) Child Sex Ratio (F/M)
1991 2001 1991 2001
Thiruvananthapuram 103.6 105.8 96.2 96.2
Kollam 103.5 107.0 93.5 96.2
Pathanamthitta 106.2 109.4 95.2 97.1
Alappuzha 105.1 107.9 94.3 96.2
Kottayam 100.3 102.5 90.1 97.1
Idukki 97.50 99.90 94.3 97.1
Ernakulam 100.0 101.7 95.2 95.2
Thrissur 108.5 109.2 94.3 96.2
Palakkad 106.1 106.8 98.0 97.1
Malappuram 105.3 106.3 95.2 96.2
Kozhikode 102.7 105.8 97.1 96.2
Wayanad 96.60 100.0 95.2 96.2
Kannur 104.9 109.0 97.1 96.2
Kasaragod 102.6 104.7 91.7 96.2
Kerala 103.6 105.8 95.2 96.2
Source: Census Reports, 1991 and 2001.
2.3 Demographic Transition
Kerala made a remarkable achievement in the
demographic transition within a short period of time.
The crude birth rate (CBR) was 44 per 1,000 population
in 1951-61 and declined to 18 per 1,000 population in
1995-2000, a decline of around 60 per cent. Similarly, the
crude death rate (CDR) was 20 per 1,000 population in
1951-61, which declined to around 6 per 1,000
population in 1995-2000. India’s crude birth rate
(47) was just 3 points above Kerala’s CBR in 1951-61
and declined to only 27 in 1995-2000. The crude death
rate declined from 28 to 9 between these two periods. In
both Kerala and India, the birth rate and the death rate
declined rapidly until 1971-75. However, for Kerala,
as the death rate remained stable during the 1980s and
1990s and the birth rate continued to decline, the rate
of natural increase of the population also declined.
The contrasting nature of demographic transition
between Kerala and India can be seen from Figures 2.1a
and 2.1b.
With regard to total fertility rate in Kerala, we find that
it started declining from the 1960s. The total fertility
rate (TFR), 2 which was 5.6 per woman in the1950s,
declined to 3.7 in the 1970s, and reached 1.8, which is
2 TFR is defined as the number of children born to a woman if she follows the current fertility pattern in her reproductive life, and
is a useful standardised indicator for assessing fertility trends.