According to the United Nations Population Fund’s State of World Population report, India is projected to overtake China as the world’s most populous country by mid-year, with a population of 1.4286 billion compared to China’s 1.4257 billion.
Here’s why India is expected to surpass China’s population in 2023
The population of China shrank for the first time since 1960, a decline attributed to high costs of living and the growing number of women entering the workforce and seeking higher education.
China ended its one-child policy in 2016 and started letting couples have three children in 2021, but official efforts to boost birth rates have failed to reverse the decline.
On the other hand, India has not conducted a census since 2011, and its once-in-a-decade population report, which was due to be held in 2021, has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The government is accused of deliberately delaying the census to hide data on contentious issues such as unemployment ahead of national elections next year.
India’s economy is struggling to provide jobs for the millions of young people entering the job market every year, with half of its population under 30.
The country also faces challenges in providing electricity, food, and housing for its growing population, with many of its cities already struggling to cope.
World population expected to breach 8 billion this year
According to the UN report, the global population is expected to reach 8.045 billion by mid-2023. Several countries in Europe and Asia can expect a demographic slump over the coming decades, while Africa’s population is projected to rise from 1.4 to 3.9 billion by 2100, with some 38 percent of Earth’s population living there, against around 18 percent today.
Eight nations with more than 10 million inhabitants, mostly in Europe, saw their populations shrink over the past decade. Japan is also seeing a decline due to its ageing population, losing more than three million inhabitants between 2011 and 2021.
According to the Pew Research Centre, India’s population has grown by more than one billion people since 1950, the year the UN began gathering population data. India’s population growth poses challenges to the country’s development, including providing sufficient resources and job opportunities for its growing population. While China faces a looming demographic decline due to a shrinking workforce and ageing population
