Human sex ratio

Among Western European countries around 2001, the ratios ranged from 1.04 in Belgium to 1.07 in Switzerland,{{cite web |title=Sex ratio in Switzerland|url=http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/themen/00/01/blank/02.html | publisher=Switzerland Federal Statistics Office}} Italy,{{cite web |title=UN Sex Ratio Statistics|url=https://www.un.org/esa/population/unpop.htm|publisher=United Nations Population Division}} Ireland{{cite web|title=Sex ratio at birth (per 100 female newborn)|url=http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?q=sex+ratio+birth&d=PopDiv&f=variableID%3a52|publisher=United Nations Data Division}} and Portugal. In the aggregated results of 56 demographic and health surveys{{cite web|url=http://www.measuredhs.com/|title=The Demographic and Health Survey Program – Quality information to plan, monitor and improve population, health, and nutrition programs|publisher=measuredhs.com}} in African countries, the ratio is 1.03, but with considerable country-to-country variation.{{cite journal |author=Garenne M |title=Sex ratios at birth in African populations: a review of survey data |journal=Hum. Biol. |volume=74 |issue=6 |pages=889–900 |date=December 2002 |pmid=12617497 |doi=10.1353/hub.2003.0003 |s2cid=12297795 }}

Among Western European countries around 2001, the ratios ranged from 1.04 in Belgium to 1.07 in Switzerland,{{cite web |title=Sex ratio in Switzerland|url=http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/themen/00/01/blank/02.html | publisher=Switzerland Federal Statistics Office}} Italy,{{cite web |title=UN Sex Ratio Statistics|url=https://www.un.org/esa/population/unpop.htm|publisher=United Nations Population Division}} Ireland{{cite web|title=Sex ratio at birth (per 100 female newborn)|url=http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?q=sex+ratio+birth&d=PopDiv&f=variableID%3a52|publisher=United Nations Data Division}} and Portugal. In the aggregated results of 56 demographic and health surveys{{cite web|url=http://www.measuredhs.com/|title=The Demographic and Health Survey Program – Quality information to plan, monitor and improve population, health, and nutrition programs|publisher=measuredhs.com}} in African countries, the ratio is 1.03, but with considerable country-to-country variation.{{cite journal |author=Garenne M |title=Sex ratios at birth in African populations: a review of survey data |journal=Hum. Biol. |volume=74 |issue=6 |pages=889–900 |date=December 2002 |pmid=12617497 |doi=10.1353/hub.2003.0003 |s2cid=12297795 }}

[[File:PRC family planning do not abandon girls.jpg|thumb|A roadside sign in rural [[Sichuan]]: "It is forbidden to discriminate against, abuse or abandon baby girls."]]

[[File:PRC family planning don't abandon girls.jpg|thumb|A roadside sign in rural [[Sichuan]]: "It is forbidden to discriminate against, abuse or abandon baby girls."]]

There is controversy about whether sex ratios outside the 1.03–1.07 range are due to sex selection, as suggested by some scholars, or due to natural causes. Some scholars{{Who|date=January 2025}} argue that strong socioeconomic factors such as the [[dowry system in India]] and the [[one child policy]] of China are responsible for prenatal sex selection. In a widely cited article,Sen, Amartya (1990), More than 100 million women are missing, New York Review of Books, 20 December, pp. 61–66 [[Amartya Sen]] supported such views. Other researchers{{Who|date=January 2025}} argue that an unbalanced sex ratio should not be automatically held as evidence of prenatal sex selection; Michel Garenne reports that many African nations have, over decades, had birth sex ratios below 1.00: that is, more girls are born than boys.Michel Garenne, Southern African Journal of Demography, Vol. 9, No. 1 (June 2004), pp. 91–96 Angola, Botswana and Namibia have reported birth sex ratios between 0.94 and 0.99, which is quite different from the presumed "normal" sex ratio, meaning that significantly more girls have been born in such countries.Michel Garenne, Southern African Journal of Demography, Vol. 9, No. 1 (June 2004), p. 95

There is controversy about whether sex ratios outside the 1.03–1.07 range are due to sex selection, as suggested by some scholars, or due to natural causes. Some scholars{{Who|date=January 2025}} argue that strong socioeconomic factors such as the [[dowry system in India]] and the [[one child policy]] of China are responsible for prenatal sex selection. In a widely cited article,Sen, Amartya (1990), More than 100 million women are missing, New York Review of Books, 20 December, pp. 61–66 [[Amartya Sen]] supported such views. Other researchers{{Who|date=January 2025}} argue that an unbalanced sex ratio should not be automatically held as evidence of prenatal sex selection; Michel Garenne reports that many African nations have, over decades, had birth sex ratios below 1.00: that is, more girls are born than boys.Michel Garenne, Southern African Journal of Demography, Vol. 9, No. 1 (June 2004), pp. 91–96 Angola, Botswana and Namibia have reported birth sex ratios between 0.94 and 0.99, which is quite different from the presumed "normal" sex ratio, meaning that significantly more girls have been born in such countries.Michel Garenne, Southern African Journal of Demography, Vol. 9, No. 1 (June 2004), p. 95