Context: The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has released its State of the World Population Report 2025, titled "The Real fertility crises: The pursuit of reproductive agency in a changing world”.
Relevance of the topic:
Prelims: Key facts about UNFPA State of World Population Report 2025.
Mains: The Real Fertility Crisis in India.
Global Demographics: Key Facts
- The global fertility rate has decreased from around 5 in 1960 to 3.3 in 1990 and 2.2 in 2024, though significant regional variations exist.
- More than half of the world’ s countries, accounting for over two-thirds of the global population, have a fertility rate below 2.1 births per woman.
India’s Demographics: Key Facts
- India remains the world's most populous country in 2025 with 1.46 billion people.
- India's total fertility rate (TFR) has dropped to 1.9, below the replacement level of 2.1. The UN report is in line with the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) results stating that India’s fertility rate stood at 2.0 in 2022.
- Two-thirds (68%) of India’s population are aged between 15-64 years which is the working age, thereby highlighting its high potential demographic dividend. People above the age of 65 are only 7%.
- India is placed in a group of middle-income countries undergoing rapid demographic change, with population doubling time now estimated at 79 years.
The UN report says that millions of people are not able to realise their real fertility goals. Calling this the “real” crisis, and not overpopulation or underpopulation, it calls for the pursuit of reproductive agency, a person’s ability to make free and informed choices about sex, contraception and starting a family.
The Real Fertility Crisis in India
- Unmet reproductive aspirations: Over 36% of respondents (one in three adult Indians) reported an unintended pregnancy. Nearly a third (30%) have struggled with an unfulfilled desire for children. The report states 23% of Indians surveyed have experienced both.
- Negative reasons to lower fertility: The most commonly cited reasons for having fewer children were economic, ranging from financial insecurity and unemployment, inadequate housing and limited access to quality childcare.
- Lack of agency & unequal relationship dynamics: Family influence continues to play a key role in women’s decision of bearing children (reproductive agency). Women report partners wanting fewer children, and partners not providing assistance in household or childcare work.
- Lack of workplace policies: For many women in the informal sector and certain private sectors, lack of supportive workplace policies such as paid parental leave, flexible hours, and childcare facilities discourages women from balancing careers with family life. There is also the fear of career setbacks or discrimination due to pregnancy.
- Gaps in healthcare: Infertility is still stigmatised in India. Despite advances in healthcare, many women still face barriers in accessing maternal care and reproductive health information. For couples struggling with infertility, the options are often limited, expensive, or poorly regulated. Treatments are dominated by private players, and high costs, combined with lack of insurance coverage, make the experience prohibitively expensive for most.
Reproductive agency is further constrained by widespread reliance on sterilisation. India needs a rights-based approach to encourage access to reversible, modern contraception methods, expanded access to sexual and reproductive health services, including infertility care, and social change to challenge stigma.
This is required to move towards a model of demographic resilience and a future rooted in dignity, equity, and reproductive autonomy.