New Delhi: The Union health ministry announced on Friday that India's under-five child mortality rates have dropped four points from 43 per 1,000 in 2015 to 39 in 2016, attributing the progress to special focus on low-performing states and improvements in early childcare.

The just-released data from the Sample Registration Survey for 2016 suggests that the rate of decline has doubled over the past year, the health ministry said. The new figures imply that the number of under-five deaths in India has for the first time dropped to below one million with nearly 120,000 fewer deaths in 2016 compared to 2015.

However, despite the overall progress, the figures also reveal a slight increase in under-five mortality in three states - Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand - in 2016 compared to the previous year, and no change in Telangana.

The survey bulletin has also indicated that the gender difference between male and female under-five mortality has reduced to 11 per cent from 17 per cent in 2014.

The current under-five mortality for boys is 37 per 1,000, and 41 for girls. Seven states - Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana - have reversed the gender gap in the survival of the female child.