India is all set to become the world’s most populous country in 2023 and also surpass the China as most populous country. India’s high fertility rate would challenge economic growth.
United Nations released a report World Population Day showing world population estimates to reach 8 billion by November this year. This report also depicts that world population could grow to 8.5 billion in 2023 and 10.4 billion in 2100, as the pace of mortality slows.
India’s population was 1.21 billion in 2011, according to the domestic census, which is conducted once a decade. The government had deferred the 2021 census due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The world’s population was growing at its slowest pace since 1950, having fallen below 1% in 2020, UN estimates showed. In 2021, the average fertility of the world’s population stood at 2.3 births per woman over a lifetime, having fallen from about 5 births in 1950. Global fertility is projected to decline further to 2.1 births per woman by 2050.
The United Nations said more than half of the projected increase in the global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in eight countries – Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania.