NEW Prelims Cracker 2027 ⚡️ Starts July 1st 📞 Call Now: 9211591415 ★                      ★ NEW GS Foundation 2027 ⚡️ Just Started ⬇️ Download Brochure 📞 Call Now: 9211591415 ★                      ★ PMF IAS Impact 🎯 53 Direct Hits in Prelims 2025 and 🎯 46 Direct Hits in Prelims 2026 ★

The total fertility rate in an economy is defined as:

  1. the number of children born per 1000 people in the population in a year.
  2. the number of children born to a couple in their lifetime in a given population.
  3. the birth rate minus death rate.
  4. the average number of live births a woman would have by the end of her childbearing age.

Explanation

Option (d) is correct
  • The total fertility rate (TFR) is the average number of children a woman would have at the end of her reproductive years, expressed as births per woman.
  • How is the Total Fertility Rate calculated?
    • TFR is directly calculated as the sum of age-specific fertility rates (usually referring to women aged 15 to 49), or five times the sum if data are given in five-year age groups.
    • An age- or age-group-specific fertility rate is calculated as the ratio of annual births to women at a given age or age group to the population of women at the same age or age group in the same year for a given country, territory, or geographic area.

Additional Information: What does a Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 2.0 mean?

  • A total fertility rate (TFR) of 2.0 is the replacement rate, which means that a population can replace itself from one generation to the next without external migration.

What is the Replacement Fertility Rate?

  • Replacement level fertility is the total fertility rate—the average number of children born per woman—at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next, without migration.
  • This rate is roughly 2.1 children per woman for most countries, although it may modestly vary with mortality rates.
Answer: (d) the average number of live births a woman would have by the end of her childbearing age: Difficulty Level: Easy
,