Claim Verified: Several Indian States Record Sex Ratios Below the National Average

The claim is that several Indian states continue to record sex ratios below the national average. This is true, and it is supported by at least four independent official data sources spanning more than a decade.

The evidence is consistent and specific. NFHS-5 (National Family Health Survey 2019-21), published by India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, recorded a national sex ratio at birth of 929 girls per 1,000 boys. Against that benchmark, Haryana came in at 836, Punjab at 854, Rajasthan at 899, and Uttar Pradesh at 908 — every one of them below the national figure. The Sample Registration System 2020, published by the Office of the Registrar General of India, tells the same story with a national figure of 903: Haryana at 898, Punjab at 896, Uttar Pradesh at 876, and Rajasthan at 888 all fell short. The Census of India 2011 child sex ratio data (ages 0–6) showed the same four states — Haryana at 834, Punjab at 846, Rajasthan at 888, Uttar Pradesh at 902 — all trailing the national average of 919. Three separate measurement systems, three separate time points, the same result.

The strongest version of a counterargument would note that national averages themselves shift between surveys and that some states have shown improvement over time. That is worth acknowledging: Haryana's child sex ratio did improve from 834 in Census 2011 to 836 in NFHS-5, and NITI Aayog's Beti Bachao Beti Padhao progress report credits targeted district-level interventions in 112 identified districts. But improvement and falling below the national average are not mutually exclusive — Haryana remains 93 points behind the national figure even after that progress.

One additional context point matters here. According to the NFHS-5 data and the explanation provided by the Office of the Registrar General, the biologically expected sex ratio at birth is approximately 950 girls per 1,000 boys. India's national average of 929 is already below that natural baseline. States like Haryana at 836 and Punjab at 854 therefore represent a compounded deficit — not just below the national average, but dramatically below what biology would predict in the absence of sex-selective practices.

The manipulation pattern to watch for runs in the opposite direction from most misinformation: because this claim is true, the risk is not that it gets fabricated but that it gets stripped of its denominators and baselines. Citing a state's raw sex ratio without naming the national average, or citing improvement in absolute numbers without noting the persistent gap, can make a serious ongoing problem appear resolved. When you see sex ratio figures quoted, always ask: compared to what national figure, in which year, and from which measurement system — Census, SRS, NFHS, or CRS — because each uses a slightly different methodology and time window.