Karnataka’s infant, under-five mortality rates rise marginally by one point in 2024: SRS data

Key points

• Karnataka recorded a marginal one-point rise in its Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Under-Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) in 2024, according to the Sample Registration Survey (SRS) data 2024, released on Thursday, (May 21), by the Office of the Registrar-General of India.
• The IMR is defined as infant (less than one year) deaths per thousand live births in a given time period and for a given region.
• The latest SRS estimates showed that Karnataka’s IMR increased by one point from 14 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023 to 15 in 2024. The U5MR also increased from 17 to 18 during the same period.
• However, the State’s Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) remained unchanged at 11 deaths per 1,000 live births.
• Karnataka’s IMR has seen a reduction of 20 points since 2011. From 35 in 2011, the State successfully reduced the IMR to 24 in 2016. Although this vital parameter again went...