Female population in Asia-Pacific region lowest in India, says study

India has the lowest percentage of female population in the Asia-Pacific region ranking lower than Pakistan, Maldives and Bangladesh despite having the highest sex ratio at birth compared to these countries, a new study shows.

According to the report 'Power, Voice and Rights' by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), while India had 48.2% female population at birth, Pakistan had 48.5, Bangladesh had 48.8 and Japan 51.1%.

The sex ratio at birth in India was 1.08. The comparative figure was 1.05 for Pakistan, 1.04 for Bangladesh and 1.05 for Nepal.

India also has 42.7 million women who were missing in the year 2007 and the mean age at marriage is 20 for women and 25 for men. 

Pakistan has just 6.1 million women missing and Bangladesh 3.2 million. 

India's infant mortality rate has declined from 83 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 57 per 1,000 in 2006.

The country has 0.3% of its people in the age group of 15-49 vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. The corresponding figure for Pakistan is 0.1 and and Bangladesh 0.5.

Releasing the report here today, Helen Clarke, former New Zealand Prime Minister and Administrator UNDP said, "The
report again shows that six out of ten of the world's poorest
people are women. Women are still subject to violence".

Regarding India, she said that the country presents a mixed picture. While the government shows exceptional commitment to the cause of women's development, the situation on the ground is quite different.