India’s newly released NFHS-6 (2023–24) Fact Sheets highlight important shifts in the country’s family planning landscape. One key finding is that India’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) remains at 2.0 — below the replacement level of 2.1.
While this marks an important demographic milestone, it does not mean the need for family planning services has reduced. Due to population momentum, India’s population will continue to grow as large numbers of young people enter their reproductive years. Sustained investments in voluntary, rights-based family planning services therefore remain critical.
NFHS-6 also shows a concerning shift in contraceptive preferences. Use of modern contraceptive methods among currently married women declined from 56.4% in NFHS-5 to 52.7%, while reliance on traditional methods increased sharply from 10.3% to 16.4%.
This trend raises important questions around informed choice, quality counselling, access to modern contraceptives, and whether women and couples are able to use methods that best suit their needs.
While traditional methods may reflect greater autonomy and preference in some cases, they also carry higher failure rates and may increase the risk of unintended pregnancies if not supported by appropriate counselling and reproductive health services.
Family planning is not only about population stabilisation. It is equally about women’s health, bodily autonomy, economic empowerment, and reproductive rights. Modern contraceptive choices remain essential for enabling informed reproductive decisions and improving maternal health outcomes.
The NFHS-6 findings reinforce the need for continued investments in contraceptive choice, quality counselling, male engagement, and women-centred, rights-based family planning services across India. Empowerment means services are available — but agency means women can actually choose and use a method that works best for them.
