Haryana's sex ratio rises to 923 in 2025, highest in five years

Haryana has seen a marked improvement in its sex ratio, which reached 923 in 2025, clocking a 13-point jump from 2024, with officials attributing the gain to several steps taken to check the practice of prenatal sex determination and illegal abortions.

Haryana recorded Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) at 923 in 2025, the highest in the past five years, as against 910 in 2024, officials said on Friday (January 2, 2026).

The data showed that in 2025, the State registered 5,19,691 births – 2,70,281 males and 2,49,410 females – as against 5,16,402 in 2024, including 2,46,048 females.

The officials attributed the improvement in SRB to various measures taken by the State government, including a crackdown against sex-selective abortions and illegal sale of Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) kits in Haryana.

According to the data, the SRB in 2025 was the highest in the last five years. Haryana's sex ratio was 923 in 2019, which marginally dropped to 922 in 2020 before declining further to 914 in 2021. It was 917 in 2022 and 916 in 2023.

The state’s sex ratio improved from 871 in 2014 to 876 in 2015. It jumped by 24 points to 900 in 2016, which was the highest gain. The SRB rose further to 914 in 2017, the second-highest jump, and remained unchanged in 2018.

According to the data for 2025, Panchkula recorded the state’s highest SRB at 971 females per 1,000 males, marking a 56-point gain from the 915 reported in 2024.

Among the districts that clocked over 950 SRB were Fatehabad (961) and Panipat (951).

The districts where the SRB was above the state's average included Ambala (926), Bhiwani (926), Hisar (926), Kaithal (924), Karnal (944), Kurukshetra (927), Mewat (935), Sirsa (937) and Yamunanagar (943).

However, Gurugram registered only a two-point increase in SRB to 901, while in Sonipat it declined by seven points to 894, and in Jind by one point to 918, the data showed.

The sex ratio in Charkhi Dadri, Faridabad, Kaithal and Panipat also showed improvements in 2025.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Thursday (January 1) said when the BJP formed the government in 2014, Haryana’s sex ratio was 871, one of the lowest in the country at that time.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign from Panipat in 2015, the State government took concrete steps in this direction, Mr. Saini said.

According to officials, after a dip in SRB in 2024, a task force was formed under Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Sudhir Rajpal, which held review meetings every week with officials from the departments of health, AYUSH, women and child development, and the National Health Mission.

Action was taken in matters related to sex-selective abortions and the sale of MTP kits, they said.

A total of 114 FIRs were registered under the MTP Act, with 83 chargesheets filed in the courts, the officials said.

In 2025, 154 raids were conducted for violation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act, 41 chemist shops were sealed, while 395 MTP centres were shut for violations, they said.

G.L. Singal, who is involved with the 'save girl child' programme in Haryana, said that reverse tracking of abortions – 12-week pregnant woman with a previous girl child – was one of the major steps taken to prevent illegal abortions.

“We got very good results with such actions in 2025, as the SRB rose by 13 points,” Mr. Singhal said.