Published Jun 02, 2026 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 02, 2026 | 7:00 AM
Women in the South generally survive to older ages at rates that match or exceed the national average.
Synopsis: All five southern States recorded a higher share of widowed, divorced or separated women than the national average in 2024, with Tamil Nadu and Kerala reporting the highest figures among the larger States. The same States also have some of India’s oldest female populations, with elderly women outnumbering elderly men, alongside higher female life expectancy, later marriage and, in most cases, higher male mortality during working ages.
All five southern States recorded a higher share of women living without a spouse than the national average in 2024. No other part of India showed the same pattern.
According to the Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report 2024, 5.4 percent of women nationally were widowed, divorced or separated. The report groups these categories together and does not provide separate estimates for each.
Tamil Nadu recorded the highest share among the larger States at 11.6 percent, more than double the national average. Kerala followed at 10.4 percent, while Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana recorded 8.6 percent, 8.0 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively. Together, the five southern States occupied five of the top seven positions nationally.
The pattern is not mirrored among men. The national average for men who were widowed, divorced or separated stood at 1.6 percent. Karnataka recorded 1.4 percent and Telangana 1.6 percent, while Tamil Nadu, at 2.9 percent, had the highest figure among the southern States. Even so, the variation among men was far less pronounced than among women.
The gender gap is particularly striking. In Tamil Nadu, the difference between the shares of women and men living without a spouse was 8.7 percentage points, while Kerala recorded a gap of 8.6 percentage points. In all five southern States, the gender gap exceeded the national average of 3.8 percentage points.
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Several demographic indicators in the SRS Statistical Report 2024 help explain why southern States record higher shares of women who are widowed, divorced or separated.
Women in the South generally survive to older ages at rates that match or exceed the national average. Kerala records the highest female adult survival rate in the country, with a 94.5 percent probability that a woman aged 15 will survive to age 60. The corresponding figures for the other southern States range from 89.8 percent to 91.2 percent, compared with the national average of 90.9 percent.
Men, however, face relatively higher mortality during their working years. Four of the five southern States record male death rates at or above the national average of 3.6 deaths per 1,000 population. Telangana records 4.6 deaths per 1,000, the third-highest rate among the larger States, followed by Karnataka at 4.5 and Tamil Nadu at 4.2. Kerala, at 2.9 per 1,000, is the only southern State below the national average.
Marriage patterns also differ from those in much of the country. Women in several southern States marry later than the national average age of 23.1 years. Kerala records a mean effective age at marriage of 24.5 years for women, followed by Tamil Nadu at 23.8 years and Karnataka at 23.7 years. Later marriage can increase the period a woman spends outside marriage over her lifetime.
Population ageing is another important factor. The southern States have some of the oldest populations in India, and older populations tend to have higher shares of widowed, divorced or separated women. Kerala has the highest proportion of elderly women in the country at 15.8 percent, compared with 14.4 percent for elderly men. In Tamil Nadu, elderly women account for 14.8 percent of the population, compared with 13.6 percent for elderly men.
In all five southern States, elderly women outnumber elderly men. The gap is particularly wide in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, reflecting both longer female life expectancy and higher male mortality. The pattern is not confined to urban areas. Kerala’s rural elderly female population stands at 16.1 percent, the highest among the larger States, suggesting that the concentration of widowed, divorced and separated women extends across both rural and urban populations.
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Bihar, which records the lowest share of widowed, divorced or separated (W/D/S) women among the larger States, offers a striking contrast to the southern States. At 2 percent, Bihar’s female W/D/S rate is less than one-fifth of Tamil Nadu’s 11.6 percent.
Bihar’s elderly female population accounts for 7.8 percent of its population, nearly half of Tamil Nadu’s 14.8 percent. Women in Bihar marry at a mean effective age of 21.7 years, compared with 24.5 years in Kerala. Bihar’s working-age male death rate stands at 2.3 per 1,000 population, far below Telangana’s 4.6 per 1,000.
Other northern States with low female W/D/S rates show similar demographic profiles. Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, where the share of widowed, divorced or separated women ranges from 2.4 percent to 3.1 percent, also record younger populations, earlier marriage ages and lower male mortality rates than most southern States.
The SRS data does not establish a causal relationship between these indicators and the higher prevalence of women living without a spouse in the South. However, it reveals a consistent association. States with the highest shares of widowed, divorced or separated women also tend to have older populations, higher female survival, later marriage and, in most cases, higher working-age male mortality.
