India Overtakes China in Terms of Population: UNFPA Report

NEW DELHI: The United Nations Population Fund released a report on Wednesday. Entitled ‘’8 Billion Lives, Infinite Possibilities: The Case for Rights and Choices”, this report puts the population of India at 1428.6 million while the same from China at 1425.7. This number puts the population of India 2.9 million ahead of China. These figures are mentioned under the category of Demographic Indicators in “The State of World Population Report, 2023”. This is the first time that the population of India has overtaken that of China since 1950 when the UN started collecting and publishing population-related data.

“Yes, though it is unclear exactly when the crossover took place and direct comparisons can be hard due to the slightly different timings of countries’ individual data collection,” mentioned Anna Jefferys, media and crisis communications advisor for the UNFPA, when asked whether India has surpassed China in terms of population.

“What we can say is that China’s population reached its peak last year and started to decline and that while India’s population is growing, its rate of population growth has been declining since 1980,” Anna Jefferys added.

The report also mentioned that 25% of India’s population is in the age group of 0-14, 18% in 10-19, 26% in 10-24, 68% in 15-64, and 7% above 65. The corresponding numbers for China are 17%, 12%, 18%, 69% and 14% respectively.

Although the life expectancy in China is higher than that of India, India has a larger number of young people. “Its young population in a consumer-driven economy will be a major factor in driving the country’s development, and presents an enormous opportunity for the country’s economic growth,” mentioned the UNFPA’s India representative Andrea Wojner.

According to the report, India’s demographic diversity among states also provides unique opportunities to reap the benefits of demographic dividends. Different states are at various stages of demographic transition.

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