Home / India in Numbers / A life in India / Growing up A life in India · 18 evidence records
Growing up How many children receive vaccines, adequate food and family care?
Explore the ten life stages Born in India Growing up School years College and qualifications Connected life Relationships and marriage Habits and wellbeing Work, earnings and migration Identity and travel Later life and the end of life How to read these figures The basic vaccination definition includes BCG, measles-containing vaccine and3doses each of polio(excluding birth dose) and DPT/pentavalent. It is not a claim that every vaccine in today’s schedule was completed. Household-survey orphanhood measures parental survival. Care-home admissions and adoptions cannot replace an orphanhood estimate. Show counts in Crore / lakh Crore (Cr) Full numbers
1 Cr = 1,00,00,000 · 1 lakh = 1,00,000. Percentages, years, daily flows and rupees keep their own units. Showing full digits does not increase the source’s precision.
2019–21
Children fully vaccinated with specified basic vaccines 76.4%
Children aged 12–23 months; card information or mother’s recall
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 75.5%
Rural 76.8%
What this measures: Children aged 12–23 months; card information or mother’s recall
Factsheet definition: BCG, measles-containing vaccine and three doses each of polio (excluding birth dose) and DPT/pentavalent. This is not every vaccine in today’s schedule. Do not mix with card-shown-only denominator or different final report estimates.
Official source ↗ · India factsheet indicator 57, PDF page 8
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Children received BCG 95.2%
Children aged 12–23 months
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 94.7%
Rural 95.4%
What this measures: Children aged 12–23 months
Survey estimate from the NFHS-5 factsheet, 2019–21; not a count of today’s annual births or a longitudinal cohort.
Official source ↗ · India factsheet indicator 59, PDF page 8
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Children received three polio doses excluding birth dose 80.5%
Children aged 12–23 months
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 79.2%
Rural 80.9%
What this measures: Children aged 12–23 months
Survey estimate from the NFHS-5 factsheet, 2019–21; not a count of today’s annual births or a longitudinal cohort.
Official source ↗ · India factsheet indicator 60, PDF page 8
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Children received three DPT or pentavalent doses 86.7%
Children aged 12–23 months
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 86%
Rural 87%
What this measures: Children aged 12–23 months
Survey estimate from the NFHS-5 factsheet, 2019–21; not a count of today’s annual births or a longitudinal cohort.
Official source ↗ · India factsheet indicator 61, PDF page 8
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Children received first measles-containing vaccine dose 87.9%
Children aged 12–23 months
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 87.1%
Rural 88.1%
What this measures: Children aged 12–23 months
Survey estimate from the NFHS-5 factsheet, 2019–21; not a count of today’s annual births or a longitudinal cohort.
Official source ↗ · India factsheet indicator 62, PDF page 8
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Children received second measles-containing vaccine dose 31.9%
Children aged 24–35 months
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 30.4%
Rural 32.4%
What this measures: Children aged 24–35 months
Survey estimate from the NFHS-5 factsheet, 2019–21; not a count of today’s annual births or a longitudinal cohort.
Official source ↗ · India factsheet indicator 63, PDF page 8
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Children under five with birth registered 89.1%
Children under five years
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 93.3%
Rural 87.5%
What this measures: Children under five years
Household survey of surviving children under five; different reference universe from annual CRS registration completeness.
Official source ↗ · India factsheet indicator 5, PDF page 7
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Breastfed within one hour of birth 41.8%
Last child born in the three years preceding survey, under three years
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 44.7%
Rural 40.7%
What this measures: Last child born in the three years preceding survey, under three years
Factsheet footnote 15 restricts to last child born in preceding three years.
Official source ↗ · India factsheet indicator 75, PDF page 9
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Exclusively breastfed under six months 63.7%
Youngest child under six months living with mother
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 59.6%
Rural 65.1%
What this measures: Youngest child under six months living with mother
Factsheet footnote 16: youngest child living with mother.
Official source ↗ · India factsheet indicator 76, PDF page 9
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Children receiving an adequate diet 11.3%
Youngest child aged 6–23 months living with mother
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 12.3%
Rural 11%
What this measures: Youngest child aged 6–23 months living with mother
NFHS survey minimum diet definition in footnote 17; breastfeeding status changes the required feeding components.
Official source ↗ · India factsheet indicator 80, PDF page 9
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Children under five who are stunted 35.5%
Children under five with valid anthropometric measurements
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 30.1%
Rural 37.3%
What this measures: Children under five with valid anthropometric measurements
Height-for-age below −2 standard deviations against WHO standard; overlaps with other nutrition measures and cannot be added.
Official source ↗ · India factsheet indicator 81, PDF page 9
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Children under five who are wasted 19.3%
Children under five with valid anthropometric measurements
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 18.5%
Rural 19.5%
What this measures: Children under five with valid anthropometric measurements
Weight-for-height below −2 standard deviations against WHO standard; categories overlap.
Official source ↗ · India factsheet indicator 82, PDF page 9
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Children under five who are underweight 32.1%
Children under five with valid anthropometric measurements
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 27.3%
Rural 33.8%
What this measures: Children under five with valid anthropometric measurements
Weight-for-age below −2 standard deviations against WHO standard; categories overlap.
Official source ↗ · India factsheet indicator 84, PDF page 9
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Children aged 6–59 months who are anaemic 67.1%
Children aged 6–59 months with valid haemoglobin measurements
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 64.2%
Rural 68.3%
What this measures: Children aged 6–59 months with valid haemoglobin measurements
Haemoglobin below 11 g/dl, altitude adjusted, capillary blood. Not directly comparable to surveys using venous blood.
Official source ↗ · India factsheet indicator 92, PDF page 9
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Children with one or both parents dead 4.6%
De jure children under age 18 represented by household survey
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 4.4%
Rural 4.6%
Male 4.6%
Female 4.5%
What this measures: De jure children under age 18 represented by household survey
Includes one parent dead with missing information about survival of the other. Household survey coverage does not enumerate every child in institutional care. No current national headcount inferred.
Official source ↗ · Table 2.20, printed pp56–57; PDF pp92–93
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Children with both parents dead 0.4%
De jure children under age 18 represented by household survey
Breakdowns, source and meaning What this measures: De jure children under age 18 represented by household survey
Both parents deceased is distinct from loss of one parent, living apart from parents or children in care. Rounded survey estimate.
Official source ↗ · Table 2.20, printed pp56–57; PDF pp92–93
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Children living with both parents 82%
De jure children under age 18 represented by household survey
Breakdowns, source and meaning Within the same source and measure Group Value Urban 86.8%
Rural 80.1%
What this measures: De jure children under age 18 represented by household survey
Official source ↗ · Table 2.20, printed pp56–57; PDF pp92–93
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Children not living with a biological parent 3%
De jure children under age 18 represented by household survey
Breakdowns, source and meaning What this measures: De jure children under age 18 represented by household survey
Living arrangement does not establish orphanhood; parents may be alive.
Official source ↗ · Table 2.20, printed pp56–57; PDF pp92–93
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
Reference this page Cite the original data source when using a figure. This reference identifies PopulationIndia’s explanation.
Copy page reference