Mortality transition in India: 1970-2005

Aalok Ranjan, 'SHYAM' Institute

Using SRS-based life tables, this paper analyses the mortality transition in India between 1970 and 2005. The analysis reveals that the rise in life expectancy in India has at best been slow by global standards despite the fact the mortality levels in India are still high. Improvement in the expectation of life at birth has been particularly slow in the urban areas. Moreover, the rate of improvement in survival probability in the first five years has decelerated over time and, for females, it has decreased in recent years. There has also been a considerable slow down in the decline in the entropy of life table, especially female life table, in recent years which indicates that the shift in the concentration of deaths towards older ages has slowed down. Hastening the pace of mortality transition in India requires a pragmatic, multi-dimensional approach which is missing at present.