Web Edition:

PROVISIONAL POPULATION TOTALS

Chapter 6

Sex Composition
of the Population

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Sex composition of the human population is one of the basic demographic characteristics, which is
extremely vital for any meaningful demographic analysis. Indian Census has the tradition of
bringing out disaggregated information by sex on various aspects of population. The first and
foremost is the simple count of males and females. Changes in sex composition largely reflects the
underlying socio-economic and cultural patterns of a society in different ways. Sex ratio defined
here as the number of females per 1000 males in the population, is an important social indicator to
measure the extent of prevailing equity between males and females in a society at a given point of
time. It is mainly the outcome of the interplay of sex differentials in mortality, sex selective
migration, sex ratio at birth and at times the sex differential in population enumeration.

Statement 17
Sex ratio of selected countries
Sl. No

Country

Sex ratio
(females per 1,000 males)

World

986

China

944

India

933

U.S.A.

1,029

Indonesia

1,004

Brazil

1,025

Pakistan

Russian Fed.

1,140

Bangladesh

953

Japan

1,041

10

Nigeria

1,016

Source:

938

World Population Prospects (mid year estimates) 1998

It is natural for an ordinary person to believe that males and females in the population exactly
balance each other. Little do they know, how imbalanced the sexes are in different populations
across the world. It has been estimated that around the year 2000, the world had 986 females
against 1000 males. Statement 17 and Figure 10 present the global sex ratio and that of the ten
most populous countries in the world as estimated for the year 2000. It is evident from this
statement that except Indonesia and Japan, the other Asian countries show low sex ratios. The
sheer weight of the population of these four Asian countries with low sex ratio appears to be largely
responsible for the overall preponderance of males over females in the world.
The trends in sex ratio of a few selected countries for the period 1950-2000 are shown in Figure
11. It is interesting to note that the sex ratio in U.S.A., Indonesia, Russian Federation and Japan
has always remained above unity for the last half a century. The most dramatic decline of about
200 points in the sex ratio is seen in the Russian Federation. In U.S.A., it has shown as
improvement from 1002 to 1029 in the last fifty years. Bangladesh has shown a continuous
improvement in its sex ratio to reach from 880 in 1950 to 953 in 2000. Pakistan and China have
also shown an improvement. Thus among the major nations of the world, India is the only
exception.
According to the Census of India, 2001, the sex ratio stands at 933 for the country as a whole. This
is a welcome improvement from the 1991 Census, which had recorded 927 females for every 1000
males. Statement 18 and Figure 12 present the trend in sex ratio in India since 1901. The sex ratio
in the country had always remained unfavourable to females. Moreover, barring some hiccups, it
has shown a long term declining trend. The sex ratio at the beginning of the twentieth century was
972 and thereafter showed continuous decline until 1941. In 1951 there was a marginal increase of
one point, but thereafter it again dropped for two consecutive decades to reach 930 in 1971. In
fact, between 1961-71, the country saw the sharpest decline of 11 points in the sex ratio.
Thereafter, it has fluctuated marginally around 930 in successive censuses.
Statement 18
Sex ratio, India : 1901 2001

Census year

Sex ratio
(females per 1,000 males)

1901

972

1911

964

1921

955

1931

950

1941

945

1951

946

1961

941

1971

930

1981

934

1991

927

2001

933

Note:
1. For 1991, the interpolated figures for Jammu and Kashmir have
been used.
2. While working out the sex ratio for India for the year 2001, the
estimated population of entire Kachchh district, Morvi, MaliyaMiyana and Wankaner talukas of Rajkot district, Jodiya taluka of
Jamnagar district of Gujarat State and entire Kinnaur district of
Himachal Pradesh have been used as the population enumeration
of Census of India, 2001 could not be conducted in these areas
due to natural calamities.

Table 10 gives the trends in sex ratio for past hundred years in respect of all the States and Union
territories, except Arunachal Pradesh, for which data is not available from 1901 to 1951. The
trends in sex ratio for some of the major States are also depicted in Figure 13 as line graphs. In
1901, there were as many as eleven States and Union territories that had sex ratio of more than
unity. Among these, except Kerala all other States and Union territories have shown a downward
slide. The major States that are largely responsible for the decline in the overall sex ratio in India
are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra
and Tamil Nadu. Although the sex ratio in Punjab has been consistently low, it has shown a longterm upward trend and has not contributed to the overall deterioration in sex ratio of the country.
In Rajasthan, the sex ratio kept fluctuating in a narrow band and always remained at a low level.
Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are the States where the sex ratio has remained more or
less stagnant. In West Bengal the sex ratio declined sharply from 1901 to 1941 and then made a
gradual turnaround on an upward path to reach 934 in 2001.
The sex ratio of Indian population has always been of topical interest for the demographers, social
scientists, womens groups, research scholars and various planners and policy makers. Why is it
that India has such uneven composition of population as compared to most of the developed
countries in the world? Several reasons are adduced to explain the consistently low levels of sex
ratio and their further decline in the country. Some of the important reasons commonly put forward
are listed below:

Neglect of the girl child resulting in their higher mortality at younger ages

High maternal mortality

Sex selective female abortions

Female infanticide

Change in sex ratio at birth

The imbalance in the number of males and females begins in the beginning. It is now a wellestablished law of nature that the males exceed females at the time of birth. It is believed that
generally 943-952 female births take place for every 1000 male births, which in effect would mean
that there is a deficiency of about 50 females per 1000 males in every birth cohort. Many
demographers believe that left on its own, this is an unalterable constant.
Some likelihood of differential under registration of female births over time notwithstanding, the
data on sex ratio at birth for the past many years as obtained from the SRS is indicative of a larger
than usual shortfall in female births as compared to male births. The three years moving average
sex ratio at birth worked out for India as a whole for the period 1982-98 leaves around 900 (Figure
13a). During the decade 1981-90 the SRS sex ratio at birth were above 900 whereas in the
succeeding decade it has shown definite sign of a decline below 900. Thus for recent period there is
some primary evidence that sex ratio at birth in the country as a whole is possibly lower than the
generally accepted range of 943-952 but it needs to be corroborated by some more data.
The overall sex ratio of India is dependent on the sex ratios obtained in different States and Union
territories and their relative weights in terms of size of population. Statement 19 gives the sex
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ratio of the total population, sex ratio in the age group 0-6 and sex ratio of population aged 7 and
above for 1991 and 2001 for all the States and Union territories. The diversity in sex ratio among
the States and Union territories is phenomenal. This is also evident from Figure 14. At the Census
of India, 2001, the sex ratio among the major States ranged from 861 in Haryana to 1058 in
Kerala. In 1991 also, Haryana with a sex ratio of 865 was at the bottom with Kerala (1036) at the
top. The changes in sex ratio over time, therefore, are dependent on the changes in the ratios of
the individual States and Union territories and their relative share in population.
Statement 19
Sex ratio of total population and child population in the
age group 0-6 : 1991 and 2001
Sex ratio (females per 1,000 males)

State/
UT
Code

India/States/
Union territories *

Total population

Child population in the Population aged 7

1991

2001

1991

2001

1991

2001

INDIA

927

933

945

927

923

935

Jammu & Kashmir

N.A

900

N.A.

937

N.A

894

Himachal Pradesh

976

970

951

897

980

981

Punjab

882

874

875

793

883

886

Chandigarh *

790

773

899

845

772

763

Uttaranchal

936

964

948

906

933

976

Haryana

865

861

879

820

862

869

Delhi*

827

821

915

865

810

813

Rajasthan

910

922

916

909

908

925

Uttar Pradesh

876

898

927

916

863

895

10

Bihar

907

921

953

938

895

916

11

Sikkim

878

875

965

986

860

858

12

Arunachal Pradesh

859

901

982

961

829

888

13

Nagaland

886

909

993

975

865

899

14

Manipur

958

978

974

961

955

981

15

Mizoram

921

938

969

971

911

932

16

Tripura

945

950

967

975

940

947

17

Meghalaya

955

975

986

975

947

974

18

Assam

923

932

975

964

910

926

19

West Bengal

917

934

967

963

907

929

20

Jharkhand

922

941

979

966

908

936

21

Orissa

971

972

967

950

972

976

22

Chhatisgarh

985

990

984

975

986

992

23

Madhya Pradesh

912

920

941

929

905

918

24

Gujarat

934

921

928

878

936

927

25

Daman & Diu *

969

709

958

925

971

682

26

Dadra & Nagar Haveli *

952

811

1,013

973

937

779

27

Maharashtra

934

922

946

917

931

923

28

Andhra Pradesh

972

978

975

964

972

980

29

Karnataka

960

964

960

949

960

966

30

Goa

967

960

964

933

967

964

31

Lakshadweep *

943

947

941

974

943

943

32

Kerala

1,036

1,058

958

963

1,049

1,071

33

Tamil Nadu

974

986

948

939

978

992

34

Pondicherry *

979

1,001

963

958

982

1,007

35

Andaman & Nicobar Islands *

818

846

973

965

790

830

Notes:
1.

2.

3.

While working out sex ratio of child population for 1991 Census in the age group 0 -6 and population aged 7
and above for India, the population in the age group 0-6 and population aged 7 and above of areas of
Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh affected by natural calamities have been excluded. The details of affected
areas are given in Note numbers 2 and 3 below.
To make the data comparable with Census of India, 2001, the proportion of child population for 1991 Census
in the age group 0-6 and population aged 7 and above shown against Himachal Pradesh for 1991 excludes
population in the age group 0-6 and population aged 7 and above of Kinnaur district where population
enumeration of Census of India, 2001, could not be conducted due to natural calamity.
To make the data comparable with Census of India, 2001, the proportion of child population for 1991 Census
in the age group 0-6 and population aged 7 and above shown against Gujarat excludes the population data
of entire Kachchh district, Morvi, Maliya-Miyana and Wankaner talukas of Rajkot district and Jodiya taluka of
Jamnagar district of Gujarat state where population enumeration of Census of India, 2001, could not be
conducted due to natural calamity.

Statement 20 gives the distribution of States and Union territories by the different ranges of sex
ratio and their share in the total population of the country in these ranges. It can be seen that the
distributions of the number of States at 1991 and 2001 Census have remained more or less similar.
Statement 20
Distribution of States/Union territories by range
of sex ratio of India : 1991 and 2001

Sex ratio

Percentage of population to
total population, 1991

2001

Percentage of population
to total population, 2001

880 & below

18.92

5.97

881-915

22.02

17.45

916-950

28.73

11

47.23

951-985

12

26.89

18.08

3.44

11.27

986 & above

1991

Note : . For working out the sex ratio of 1991, interpolated population of Jammu and Kashmir has been
used. For 2001 the estimated population of the areas affected due to natural calamities in Gujarat and
Himachal Pradesh have been used.

It would be interesting to note that although the number of States and Union territories with the
sex ratio less than 916 remains almost the same, the percentage share of this population has
declined form about forty one percent to about twenty three percent. Similarly the number of
States and Union territories falling within the range of 916-950 marginally alters but the share of
this population increased from around twenty nine percent to forty seven percent. The contribution
of these two groups of States/Union territories appears to be the plausible reason for the increase
in overall sex ratio of India.
Statement 21 classifies the States and Union territories in two classes, namely below and above
national sex ratio. It may be noted that the number of States and Union territories with sex ratio
of below national average has increased from seventeen in 1991 to eighteen in 2001. In fact the
proportion of population in the first category has increased from fifty four percent to about sixty
percent. In spite of the increase in the number and relative weight in the first category, the overall
sex ratio of the country has improved. What could be the possible reason for this? It can be
observed that the highly populated States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh
which together constituted about 34 percent of Indias population in 1991 and increased to 36
percent in 2001, lie in the category of below national average. Therefore, the increase in the
overall sex ratio is possibly due to the relative larger increase in the sex ratio of these four
populous States.
Statement 21
Distribution of States/Union territories by sex ratio below national level
and above national level : 1991 and 2001

Number of
States/UTs
1991

Percentage of
population to
total population
1991

Number of
States/UTs
2001

Percentage of
population to
total population
2001

Below national
average

17

54.29

18

59.81

Above national
average

18

45.71

17

40.19

Sex ratio

Note:
See note below Statement 20.

It may be seen from Statement 19 that the sex ratio of the total population have shown
improvements in as many as twenty three States and Union territories. However, during the
corresponding period the sex ratio of the child population in the age group 0-6 has increased in
only four States and one Union territory.
Given in Stateme nt 22 are the sex ratio of the total population and the child population in the age
group 0-6 from 1961 to 2001.
7

Statement 22
Sex ratio of total population and child population in the
age group 0-6: 1961-2001

Year

Sex ratio in age Group

Over all sex ratio

1961

976

941

1971

964

930

1981

962

934

1991

945

927

2001

927

933

Note:
See note below Statement 20.

It is clear that the sex ratio in the age group 0-6 has decreased at a much faster pace than the
overall sex ratio of the country after 1981. The decreasing sex ratio in this child population perhaps
has a cascading effect on population over a period of time leading to diminishing sex ratio in the
country. One thing is clear- the imbalance that has set in at this early age-group is difficult to be
removed and would remain to haunt the population for a long time to come. To say the least,
demographically the sex ratio of 927 of the population in the age group 0-6 does not appear to
augur well for the future of the country.
Statement 23
Distribution of States/Union territories by range of
Sex ratio of child population in the age- group 0-6: 1991 and 2001

Sex ratio

Percentage of
Number of
Number of
Percentage of
population to
States/ Union
States/ Union
total
population to total
territories
territories
population 2001
population
1991
2001
1991

880 and below

4.35

10.78

881-915

1.19

6.91

916-950

48.20

54.45

951-985

19

45.00

16

26.84

0.37

0.05

986 and above

Jammu and Kashmir and the affected areas of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are
excluded from 1991 and 2001 for the sake of comparability.

Statement 23 gives the distribution of States and Union territories by ranges of sex ratio of child
population in the age group 0-6 and their relative share in these ranges in terms of percentage of
population to total population of the country for 1991 and 2001. It may be observed from the
Statement 23 that the relative share of the States and Union territories with sex ratio of child
population in the age group 0-6, 951 and above has sharply declined from forty five percent to
twenty seven percent. The number of States and Union territories with sex ratio of child population
below 915 has increased from four in 1991 to eight in 2001. Their share in this category has also
increased from about four percent to about seventeen percent. Sharp declines have been reported
in child sex ratios during 1991-2001 (Statement 19), in Himachal Pradesh (951 to 897), Punjab
(875 to 793), Chandigarh (869 to 845), Uttaranchal (948 to 906), Haryana (879 to 820), Gujarat
(928 to 878) and Maharashtra (946 to 917). Are the sharp declines in the child sex ratios indicative
of an underlying trend of sex selective abortions in these areas? We may really have to wait for
some more data before coming to any definite conclusions in this regard.
Statement 24
Distribution of States/Union territories by range of sex ratio of
population aged 7+ : 1991 and 2001

Sex ratio

Number of
States/ Union
territories 1991

Percentage of
population to total
population 1991

Number of
States/Union
territories 2001

Percentage of
population to total
population 2001

880 and below

19.02

3.61

881-915

34.32

18.84

916-950

15.62

11

47.22

951-985

24.59

18.09

986 and above

5.52

11.27

Note :
Jammu and Kashmir and the affected areas of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are excluded from 1991
and 2001 for the sake of comparability.

Statement 24 provides the distribution of States and Union territories by the ranges of sex ratio of
population in the age group of seven and above for the years 1991 and 2001. It also gives the
percentage of population to the total population of the States and Union territories in each of these
categories. It may be seen from the Statement that although the number of States and Union
territories having sex ratio of seven plus population and their share of population have remained
more or less same in 1991 and 2001, the number as well as share of the State and Union
territories in the range 916 950 has increased substantially. The number and share of States and
Union territories having sex ratio 915 and below has shown a significant decline. Among the
possible reasons for increase in sex ratio for the population in the age group seven plus, some
contribution due to the increase in the life expectancy of females at a faster pace than males as
evidenced from the SRS data can not be ruled out.

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