A UN report released on April 19 has provided the first official confirmation of something that had been anticipated for months now — that India’s population is expected to surpass that of China by the middle of this year at the latest.
- The annual State of World Population report by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has pegged India’s mid-2023 population at 1,428 million, marginally ahead of China’s 1,425 million.
Key points
- The UNFPA has said the population of the world is 8,045 million, of which the largest share (65%) is of people between the ages of 15 and 64 years, followed by those in the 10-24 years group (24%). 10 per cent of the population is above 65 years of age.
- The world’s two most populous regions are Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, with 2.3 billion people, representing 29 per cent of the global population; and Central and Southern Asia, with 2.1 billion (26 per cent).
- China and India accounted for the largest populations in these regions, with more than 1.4 billion each in 2022.
- Central and Southern Asia is expected to become the most populous region in the world by 2037.
- More than half of the projected increase in global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in eight countries — the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania.
- One of the reasons for population growth globally flagged by the UNFPA has been that of increasing life expectancy.
- Fertility rates have been dropping in various parts of the world, as have mortality rates all over the world, with better access to health care and improving standards of living. This also means that parts of the world, such as Japan, have a rapidly ageing population.
- The 2023 report finds that life expectancy among men now stands at 71 years while among women it stands at 76 years. Globally, life expectancy reached 72.8 years in 2019, an increase of almost 9 years since 1990.
India age group
- The UN report states that India now has 1,428.6 million people and is the most populous country in the world, outstripping China’s population.
- As much as 68% of India’s population belongs to the 15-64 years category, and 26% in the 10-24 years group, making India one of the youngest countries in the world. However, the fertility rate in India has been steadily dropping.
