In an alarming trend, Delhi continues to see a drop in the sex ratio at birth for the fourth consecutive year — a trend that has persisted ever since the pandemic hit the Capital.From 933 females per 1,000 males in 2020 to 920 in 2024, the latest data was revealed last week in the Annual Report on Registration of Births and Deaths in Delhi, released by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics and the Office of Chief Registrar (Births & Deaths) of the Delhi government.According to experts, some of the factors behind the trend are violation of sex abortion laws and low fertility rate. Data also reveals the trend has been witnessed in other parts of the country too and not just in Delhi.What is sex ratio?Sex ratio serves as a social indicator of gender equality within a society with a ratio of 1,000 denoting an equal number of male and female births. Ratios above 1,000 indicate more females than males, while ratios below 1,000 signify a deficit. Various studies have shown that the “natural” or expected sex ratio at birth is around 952 females per 1,000 males.In the Capital, sex ratio at birth rose continuously for eight years from 2012 to 2020 — from 886 to 933. However, after Covid hit in 2020, the city has been seeing a persistent decline. This has come across as an unexpected phenomenon in the densely urban and prosperous national capital.Indicating prevalence of sex-selective abortions, experts say the data points to deeper faultlines in our society.Why the decline?According to Srinivas Goli, Associate Professor, Demography at the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, the sudden drop in fertility rate in Delhi can be linked to the skewed sex ratio.Story continues below this adA Total Fertility Rate (TFR) — the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime — of 2.1 children per woman, which ensures a broadly stable population, is called a replacement rate.A TFR below 2.1 means a population cohort is not producing enough children to replace itself, suggesting future population decline.India’s TFR fell below the replacement rate to 2.0 by 2021, government data showed. Delhi’s TFR fell to 1.2 by 2023, the lowest in the country, according to the Sample Registration System (SRS) report.“A lower fertility rate, combined with a persistent preference for a son, has led to a skewed sex ratio. If a family is choosing to have fewer children, they still prefer sons over daughters,” Goli said, adding that while surveys show a massive decline in such preferences, these numbers tell a different story.Story continues below this ad“Relatively higher wealth and education, along with an urban location, can result in a greater ability to use technology that allows prenatal sex determination,” says Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director, Population Foundation of India.At such low levels of fertility, there are two reasons for a further decline — a delay in the age of marriage and postponement of fertility, according to Goli. Couples may be delaying fertility due to increased costs of childcare, schooling and housing.Isn’t sex selective abortion banned?Delhi also lies in a region notorious for skewed sex ratios, surrounded by states such as Punjab and Haryana (said to be among the worst offenders in the country), as well as Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.Sex detection and sex-selective abortion has been banned in the country for more than three decades. The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) (PC&PNDT) Act, 1994, prohibits sex selection, before and after conception and regulates prenatal diagnostic techniques.Story continues below this adMuttreja points to a “misuse of prenatal diagnostic technology despite the PC&PNDT law”.Having worked in this field for more than a decade, Goli believes that without sex-selective abortions, the sex ratio at birth cannot be altered. While there is a sense that the law is strictly implemented in formal settings, he says we need to examine whether it is being flouted in informal contexts.“Technological advancements have created new challenges. Based on further studies, there is also a need to confirm anecdotal evidence from the field regarding the use of small, mobile-connected devices for sex determination. Furthermore, affluent individuals travel to other countries, such as Thailand and the UAE, to have the procedure done,” Goli said.What are the implications?“Even a fall of a few points, sustained over several years, adds up to thousands of ‘missing’ girls and will echo through education, labour markets and marriage patterns a generation from now,” Muttreja says.Story continues below this adDelhi is not the only one seeing this phenomenon. A 2021 research paper from Goli and Aradhana Kumari notes that sex ratio at birth has worsened across the country and more significantly, across all social groups. “Masculinisation continues across the population in all religious, educational, and wealth groups,” they note.