How do you access NFHS-5 data?

NFHS-5 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.

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Part of NFHS · 2019–21

NFHS-5 · NFHS

National Family Health Survey 5 (2019–21)

Name: National Family Health Survey 5 (2019–21)
Creator: IIPS / MoHFW

NFHS-5 is used to study household health, fertility, nutrition, and biomarkers at state and district level.

Registration requiredVery largeGood starting datasetStrong district source

health demographics nutrition gender

Host / institution

IIPS / DHS Program · IIPS / MoHFW

Geography

India, state, district

Time coverage

2019–21

Update frequency

Irregular multi-year wave

What this is best for

Flagship modern district-level household health source

Main limitations

Licensed microdata; multi-year fieldwork complicates single-year claims

Quick answers

Short research-facing answers derived from this catalog record.

What is NFHS-5 used for?: Flagship modern district-level household health source
How do you access NFHS-5 data?: NFHS-5 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-5 cover?: Geography: India, state, district. Time coverage: 2019–21.
What are the main limitations of NFHS-5?: Licensed microdata; multi-year fieldwork complicates single-year claims

Guides for using this data

Official portals, user guides, codebooks, and tutorials for access and analysis.

12 links

Variables12

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

Open official dictionary

Name / code	Description	Group
CASEID / HHID	Case and household identifiers	IDs
V024 / SDIST	State and district codes	Geography
V201	Total children ever born	Fertility
V313	Current contraceptive method	Family planning
M14 / M15	Antenatal care visits and place	Maternal
H1–H10	Childhood vaccination markers	Child health
HW70 / HW71 / HW72	Child anthropometry z-scores	Nutrition
HA40 / HB40	Adult BMI (women / men)	Biomarkers
HA57 / HB57	Anemia status	Biomarkers
SHB*	Blood pressure and glucose modules	NCDs
HV005 / V005	Household and women sample weights	Weights
Recode files	IR/MR/HR/PR/KR/BR standardized recode datasets	Files

Formats

microdata · DDI · XML · JSON

Technical tags

household surveymicrodatadistrict-levelwave-based

Example uses

District development, maternal-child health, NCD screening analyses

Open access portal

Pairs well with

Many Indian data problems need survey + administrative combinations.