New Delhi, July 24 - The country has witnessed a significant decline in birth rate in the last 50 years, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said Friday.

Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Azad said birth rate has come down from 40.8 childbirths per 1,000 people in 1951 to 23.1 in 2007.

The data is based on the estimates available in the Sample Registration System (SRS).

Azad said the total fertility rate has also come down from six children per woman in 1951 to 2.7 in 2007.