IT is a demographic Change… World has grown with assumption that the most Populous Country on the earth is China..Now the situation is different. The UN Report has brought to the fore that Now the most Populous country in the world is India….
Too many
India has overtaken China to become the most-populous country in the world. With 142.86 crore people, marginally ahead of China at 142.57 crore, India is on track to be the world’s most populous country.
Acccording to UN World Population Prospects published in 2022, by 2050, India’s population would reach 166.8 crore, far exceeding China’s declining population at 131.7 crore.
Population Surge
If we take a look at the population surge In 1950, India was at 86.1 crore, while China was at 114.4 crore.
India’s population is expected to grow further for the next three decades after which it will begin declining.
According to the report, the average life expectancy at birth for males in India is 71 years while for females it is 74 years. India’s total fertility rate (births per woman in the reproductive age) is estimated at 2.0.
The global population has touched 8 billion and according to the new UNFPA report, it is growing at its slowest rate since 1950, moreover it has fallen under 1 per cent in 2020.
Blessing in disguise?
According to the UNFPA’s State of World Population Report 2023, 68 per cent of India’s total population is between the ages of 15 and 64 years, which is considered the working population of a country. About 25 per cent is between 0-14 years; 18 per cent between 10 and 19 years, 26 percent between 10 and 24 years, and 7 per cent above 65 years.
As the world reaches 8 billion people, India’s 1.4 billion people could be seen as as 1.4 billion opportunities, As India with the largest youth cohort, its 254 million youth in the age group of 15 to 24 years can be a source to reckon with.
Concern
India’s “population explosion” is certainly a cause of concern
The growing population is indeed a cause of concern in terms of economic issues, environmental, Health and Education
The most significant aspect about India’s population is the young and working population is larger than the population which needs care
Population Boom
The demographic shift is attributed to fertility rate which accounts to the rise and fall in the population India’s current fertility rate is 2 which has come down from over 3.4 in 90s
The statistics shows that the rise in population is more in North than South India.
The population is expected to grow before declining which is due to momentum of population
India’s population is expected to peak by 2060
Youngest Nation
Indias workforce is expected to be around 1 billion, one in every eight of world population, is considered as an asset as a workforce of the world.
Young English-speaking, digitally literate massive workforce is considered as a big resource, which can be realised by proper planning and policies to convert it into an opportunity
The current average age of India is just 28 which is decade lesser than China
Challenge
IT is a two pronged war for India as India needs people who have the skills to fill some of the high-value jobs and an economy that produces these high-value jobs.
Poverty should be addressed with utmost urgency, there are too many mouths to feed and the jobs should be made available for the working hands
Most of the India’s population relies on Agriculture, the youth should be provided with the jobs in Industries or the Service Sector
India Needs to strengthen the policies to convert the population as a Force
With Over a Billion dreams and million aspirations… the population should be made an asset than the liability
-Dr SiddhivinayakBarve
Editor, ScienceNow Digital
