The National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) is a large-scale, multi-round, cross-sectional survey that provides information on population, health, and nutrition for India and its states and union territories. It is the fifth in the NFHS series, which began with the first round in 1992-93. The survey was created to provide essential data on health and family welfare to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) for policy and program purposes, and to track emerging health issues.
The fieldwork for NFHS-5 was conducted in two phases between June 2019 and April 2021, covering approximately 636,699 households. The survey mechanism involves using four questionnaires—household, woman's, man's, and biomarker—to collect data from eligible women aged 15-49 and men aged 15-54. The MoHFW designated the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, as the nodal agency for the survey.
Like its predecessor, NFHS-4 (2015-16), NFHS-5 provides estimates for many key indicators at the district level. NFHS-5 introduced new areas of focus, including disabilities, preschool education, access to toilet facilities, death registration, and methods and reasons for abortion. The survey connects to national health initiatives like the Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) framework and provides data to monitor progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Key indicators like the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) falling below the replacement level of 2.1 and an increase in institutional births from 79% to 89% at the all-India level show significant changes between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5.