Sex ratio at birth, the number of boysborn for every 100 girls, has increased in the SouthCaucasus in the past decades. A World Bank study sought toproduce rigorous and supporting evidence on the issue of“missing girls” in the South Caucasus countries of Armenia,Azerbaijan, and Georgia to inform and propose policyoptions. The findings highlight the causes and consequencesof skewed birth ratios and sex selection and are summed upin this brief. Although recent data suggest an improvingtrend, the higher-than-expected ratio of male to femalebirths reveals underlying gender inequality in the region-overshadowing progress in other areas, such as educationalattainment. The specific topics addressed in this paper are:the preference for sons, decline in fertility, prenatal sexdetection technology, and shocks due to the dropping rates.Finally the report concludes by discussing policies thatcould be put in place to address the current trend in sexratio in the Caucasus.
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