Demographics of India

This article is about the people from the republic of India. For other uses, see Indian.

Demographics of India
Population pyramid of India in 2020
PopulationIncrease 1,425,775,850[1]

(April 2023 est.)

1,428,627,663[2] (Mid-year 2023 est.)
Density473.42 people per km2 (2021 est.)[3]
Growth rate0.68% (2022 est.)[3]
Birth rate16.1 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)[3]
Death rate6.6 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)[3]
Life expectancyIncrease 72.03 years (2023 est.)[2]
 • male70.5 years (2023 est.)
 • female73.6 years (2023 est.)
Fertility rateDecrease 2.00 children born per woman (2023)[3]
Infant mortality rate29.94 deaths/1,000 live births (2018)[4]
Net migration rate0.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years25.68% (male 183,695,000/female 166,295,000) (2021 est.)
15–64 years67.49% (male 472,653,000/female 447,337,000) (2021 est.)
65 and over6.83% (male 44,275,000/female 48,751,000) (2021 est.)
Sex ratio
Total1.06 male(s)/female (2023)[5]
At birth1.1 male(s)/female (2023)[5]
Under 151.11 male(s)/female (2023)[5]
15–64 years1.07 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
65 and over0.85 male(s)/female (2023)[5]
Nationality
NationalityIndian
Major ethnicSee Ethnic groups of India
Minor ethnicSee Ethnic groups of India
Language
OfficialSee Languages of India
Spoken

India is the most populous country in the world with one-sixth of the world's population. According to estimates from the United Nations (UN), India has overtaken China as the country with the largest population in the world, with a population of 1,425,775,850 at the end of April 2023.[6][7][8][9]

Between 1975 and 2010, the population doubled to 1.2 billion, reaching the billion mark in 2000. According to the UN's World Population dashboard, India's population now stands at slightly over 1.428 billion, edging past China's population of 1.425 billion people, as reported by the news agency Bloomberg.[9] In 2015, India's population was predicted to reach 1.7 billion by 2050.[10][11] In 2017 its population growth rate was 0.98%, ranking 112th in the world; in contrast, from 1972 to 1983, India's population grew by an annual rate of 2.3%.[12]

In 2023, the median age of an Indian was 29.5 years,[13] compared to 39.8 for China and 49.5 for Japan; and, by 2030; India's dependency ratio will be just over 0.4.[14] However, the number of children in India peaked more than a decade ago and is now falling. The number of children under the age of five peaked in 2007, and since then the number has been falling. The number of Indians under 15 years old peaked slightly later (in 2011) and is now also declining.[15]

India has many ethnic groups,[16] and every major religion is represented, as are four major families of languages (Indo-European, Dravidian, Austroasiatic and Sino-Tibetan languages) as well as two language isolates: the Nihali language,[17] spoken in parts of Maharashtra, and the Burushaski language, spoken in parts of Jammu and Kashmir. 1,000,000 people in India are Anglo-Indians and between 25,000 and 70,000 people are Siddhis,who are descendants of Bantu slaves brought by Arabs, Persians and Portuguese to the western coast of India during the Middle Ages and the colonial period. They represent over 0.1% of the total population of India. Overall, only the continent of Africa exceeds the linguistic, genetic and cultural diversity of the nation of India.[18]

The sex ratio was 944 females for 1000 males in 2016, and 940 per 1000 in 2011.[19] This ratio has been showing an upwards trend for the last two decades after a continuous decline in the 20th century.[20]

  1. ^ "India overtakes China to become world's most populous country". The Guardian. 24 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b "worldometers".
  3. ^ a b c d e "Population & Demography Data Explorer". Our World in Data. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Data Warehouse".
  5. ^ a b c d e "SOUTH ASIAN :: INDIA". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  6. ^ UN Population Census Estimats
  7. ^ Marriner, Katie. "India is overtaking China today as the world's most populous country – according to this projection". MarketWatch. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  8. ^ "India to overtake China as world's most populous country in April 2023, United Nations projects". United Nations. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  9. ^ a b "India overtakes China to become world's most populous nation with 1.428 billion people: UN". The Economic Times. 20 April 2023. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  10. ^ Rick Gladstone (29 July 2015). "India Will Be Most Populous Country Sooner Than Thought, U.N. Says". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  11. ^ "United States Census Bureau – International Data Base (IDB)". Census.gov. Archived from the original on 25 June 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  12. ^ "Population growth (annual %)". World Bank. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  13. ^ "Median age – The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  14. ^ Basu, Kaushik (25 July 2007). "India's demographic dividend". BBC News. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  15. ^ "India's population growth will come to an end: the number of children has already peaked". Our World in Data. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  16. ^ US Department of State (17 April 2012). "Background Note: India".
  17. ^ SIL International. "Ethnologue report for Language Isolate". Retrieved 11 October 2007.
  18. ^ "Country Profile: India" (PDF). Library of Congress – Federal Research Division. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 March 2009.
  19. ^ "Population" (PDF). Government of India (2011). Census of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 January 2012.
  20. ^ "Sex Ratio Trend over Century in India – Open Governance India". Knoema. Archived from the original on 16 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2018.