Abstract
Despite the significant reduction in mortality over the past four decades, India contributes the biggest share of global premature deaths. This article reviews the trends in mortality differentials by age, sex, and region of residence in India during 1970–2010. For this purpose, trends in conventional mortality indicators such as life expectancy at birth (e 00 ), infant mortality rate ( 1 q 0 ), and adult mortality (45 q 15 ) obtained from the Sample Registration System are analyzed. Inequality indicators viz. ranges, dispersion measures of mortality, and population attributable fractions are calculated to quantify the mortality differentials across the states and districts of India. In general, life expectancy at birth in India substantially increased for both men and women in the past four decades, with significant variations observed from one decade to another. Compared to males, Indian females experienced faster reductions in mortality, with a converging pattern across Indian states. The gender gap in mortality has reversed and is more favorable to females. A north-south gradient in mortality is still observed. The rural–urban gap in infant mortality has reduced over time, with a clear stagnation in the urban infant mortality rate in recent years. The age pattern of mortality clearly varies from state to state. While a state such as Assam faces a higher burden of adult mortality, while states such as Madhya Pradesh and Orissa face a higher burden of infant mortality. Inequality analysis clearly showed that, in spite of a clear mortality convergence pattern over several decades, India still faces unacceptably high levels of mortality disparities at the state and district level.
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Notes
- 1.
In India, the eight socioeconomically backward states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, and Uttar Pradesh are referred to as the Empowered Action Group (EAG) states.
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Acknowledgement
Author is grateful to Prof P M Kulkarni, JNU, New Delhi for his useful comments and suggestions. Author completed this study when she was a Max Planck India Fellow at Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), Germany. Author is indebted to Dr Vladimir Shkolnikov and Dr Domantas Jasilionis at MPIDR for their advice on the methods used in this paper. Author is also grateful to Dr Nadia Diamond-Smith, University of California, San Francisco, for editorial assistance.
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Saikia, N. (2016). Trends in Mortality Differentials in India. In: Guilmoto, C., Jones, G. (eds) Contemporary Demographic Transformations in China, India and Indonesia. Demographic Transformation and Socio-Economic Development, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24783-0_3
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