NEW DELHI: Silently, and without much sarkari fanfare, dramatic changes are taking place in the population indicators of some states that you won't see reflected in country-level data.

Crude birth rate, that is, the number of live births per 1,000 population dipped from 26.4 to 22.8 for the whole country between 1998 and 2008. That's a 14% decline. But in eight major states, the decline was much more. In Punjab , birth rate fell by a whopping 23%, followed by Kerala and Maharashtra (both 20%) and West Bengal (18%).

Countrywide, the crude death rate , that is, the number of deaths per 1,000 population, came down by 18% in a decade. Again, there were surprises in the toppers' list. Both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan saw a 23% dip in death rates, closely followed by Bihar (22%) and UP (20%).

Subtracting deaths from births gives the natural growth rate of the population. For India, this key indicator declined by 11%, but in Kerala and Punjab, the rate of population growth slowed down by as much as 32%. In Maharashtra, it was down by 23% and in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, by about 18%.

These astonishing figures are computed from the annual Sample Registration System (SRS) survey done by the government's Census office for the years 1998 and 2008. The survey for 2008, which is the latest available, covered a sample of 7.1 million people spread across the country.

There has been a significant decline in the infant mortality rate (number of babies up to one year of age dying per 1,000 live births) in India from 72 in 1998 to 53 in 2008. Although more than 5% of babies dying in the first year of birth is still shocking, there is a decline of 26% over the past decade.

But many states are way ahead in the fight to bring down baby deaths. Tamil Nadu has slashed infant mortality by an incredible 42%, West Bengal by 34%, Maharashtra by 33% and Orissa by 30%. A few smaller states have actually shown increases in infant mortality rates. These include Delhi (-13%), J&K, Mizoram and Meghalaya. However, SRS data for smaller states needs to be seen with caution because of the small sample sizes.

While all these are comparative rates, the absolute numbers are just as important. As of 2008, Kerala had the lowest birth rate of 15 per thousand, followed by Tamil Nadu (16), Punjab (17) and West Bengal (18). Death rates are lowest in West Bengal (6.2 per thousand) followed by Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Punjab and Bihar (all around 7). The natural growth rate was lowest in Kerala (8 per thousand) closely followed by Tamil Nadu (about 9), Punjab (10) and AP as well as West Bengal (both about 11). Infant mortality rate was again lowest in Kerala at 12 per thousand live births. Then came Tamil Nadu (31), Maharashtra (33) and W Bengal (35).

Experts believe a combination of factors is responsible for these positive changes, including more institutional deliveries, better sanitation and availability of life-saving drugs. Larger socio-economic factors like better rural incomes in West Bengal, high education levels in Kerala and better economic standards in Punjab are obviously contributing to state level changes in life conditions.

India is passing through a demographic transition to a society where population will grow slowly, and people will live longer, hopefully leading a healthier life.