United Nations: India’s population could surpass that of China’s around 2024, two years later than previously estimated, and is projected to touch 1.5 billion in 2030, according to a UN forecast.
The World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision, published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said that currently China with 1.41 billion inhabitants and India with 1.34 billion remain the two most populous countries, comprising 19 and 18 per cent of the total global population.
“In or around 2024, the population of India is expected to surpass that of China,” the report said.
The 2017 Revision of World Population Prospects is the 25th round of official UN population estimates and projections.
In its 24th round of estimates released in 2015, it was projected that the population of India will surpass that of China’s by 2022.
The new estimates released here on Wednesday said that in 2024, India and China are expected to have roughly a population of 1.44 billion each.
After that, India’s population is projected to continue growing for several decades to around 1.5 billion in 2030 and approaching 1.66 billion in 2050, while the population of China is projected to remain stable until the 2030s, after which it may begin a slow decline.
India’s population may eventually see a decline in the half century after 2050 to 1.51 billion by 2100 but it will still be the most populous country in the world.
In India, life expectancy at birth will be 71 years in 2025-2030, growing to 74.2 years in 2045-2050.
The under-five mortality rate will decline from 32.3 deaths under age five per 1,000 live births in 2025-2030 to 18.6 in 2045-2050.
The report said the current world population of 7.6 billion is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100.
Ten countries are expected to account for more than half of the world’s projected population increase over the period 2017-2050: India, Nigeria, Congo, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, the US, Uganda, Indonesia and Egypt. (PTI)
