According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21), there has been a slight dip in the young population’s share in the last five years.
Salient features
- Between the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-21), the under-15 population has declined by 2 percentage points, from 29% to 27%, while the over-60 population has increased by as many points, from 10% to 12%.
- Over half the population (52%) is below 30, compared to 55.5% in NFHS-4.
- The NFHS divides the population into 5-year age groups from 0-4 years to 75-79, while those over 80 are counted in a single age group.
- NFHS-5 is based on 27,68,371 individuals in 6,36,699 sample households.
- The average household size has decreased slightly between 2015-16 and 2019-21 (from 4.6 persons to 4.4). Just over one-sixth of households (18%) have female heads, up from 15% in NFHS-4.
- The NFHS defines a household as a person or group of related or unrelated persons who live together in the same dwelling unit(s), who acknowledge one adult male or female as the head of the household, who share the same housekeeping arrangements, and who are considered a single unit.
