NFHS-4
National Family Health Survey 4 (2015–16)
NFHS-4 is used to study district-level health, nutrition, and household living conditions before NFHS-5.
Registration requiredVery largeGood starting datasetStrong district source
Host / institution
IIPS / DHS Program · IIPS / MoHFW
Geography
India, state, district
Time coverage
2015–16
Update frequency
Wave-based
What this is best for
District-comparable health and nutrition baselines before NFHS-5
Main limitations
Single wave; biomarkers subset by design
Quick answers
Short research-facing answers derived from this catalog record.
- What is NFHS-4 used for?
- District-comparable health and nutrition baselines before NFHS-5
- How do you access NFHS-4 data?
- NFHS-4 is labeled “Registration required” on this guide. Open the access portal or documentation links on the record for the current host process—do not assume open download if registration or a DUA is required.
- What geography and time does NFHS-4 cover?
- Geography: India, state, district. Time coverage: 2015–16.
- What are the main limitations of NFHS-4?
- Single wave; biomarkers subset by design
Guides for using this data
Official portals, user guides, codebooks, and tutorials for access and analysis.
- User guideDHS: Getting started with datasetsdhsprogram.com/data/Getting-Started.cfm
- TutorialDHS: Using datasets for analysis (step-by-step)dhsprogram.com/data/Using-DataSets-for-Analysis.cfm
- OfficialDHS: Access instructions & registrationdhsprogram.com/data/Access-Instructions.cfm
- User guideOnline Guide to DHS Statisticsdhsprogram.com/Data/Guide-to-DHS-Statistics/index.cfm
- CodebookDHS recode variables & definitionsdhsprogram.com/data/Data-Variables-and-Definitions.cfm
- TutorialDHS file types & namesdhsprogram.com/data/File-Types-and-Names.cfm
- TutorialMerging DHS datasetsdhsprogram.com/data/Merging-Datasets.cfm
- TutorialDHS GitHub code sharegithub.com/DHSProgram
- PortalIPUMS DHS (harmonized variables)www.idhsdata.org
- PortalIndia Standard DHS datasets (DHS archive)dhsprogram.com/data/available-datasets.cfm
- PortalAccess portaldhsprogram.com/data/
Variables6
Live-fetched dhsprogram.com (2026-07-09): The DHS Program - Data Variables and Definitions. Representative fields for the page table — verify the full dictionary on the official site.
Sourced from live host documentation
Pairs well with
Many Indian data problems need survey + administrative combinations.