First-time ever! India Fertility Rate Below Replacement Level

Article by Kumar Published on: 3:34 pm, 15 September 2026

India is the most populous country in the world with a population exceeding 1.4 billion. So there is no short for human population here in this country, and if anything, excessive population had been a problem, all the while.

But something extremely detrimental is happening with regard to the positive population ratio as India has fallen behind the replacement level in terms of fertility for the first time in history.

For decades Indians were projected to have too many babies. But now, India’s fertility rate has fallen below the replacement rate of 2.1, which is the average number of babies needed per woman to keep the population stable.

While the average replacement rate is 2.1, India is currently at 1.9, which might be a matter of concern in terms of maintaining positive population index. However, this number is not entirely definitive of the situation as there are multiple contexts here.

India is still young today, so this isn’t an immediate population crisis. In fact, our working-age population is expected to remain a major advantage for some time.

Considering the social infrastructure and the prevailing conditions in the country, reasonable reduction in the population might not be a bad thing to happen. But the maintenance of the ratio is going to be the crucial point here and it has to be seen how this would be tackled.

In the meanwhile, regional leaders like Chandrababu Naidu had been pushing for positive population index as he has been repeatedly instructing the public to be more proactive in child birth. Perhaps the strategy might become mainstream very soon.