India takes over China in population

India may have already overtaken China as the world’s most populous nation in a milestone that will add to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s urgent need to create  jobs and maintain the country’s main economic growth.

According to  World Population Review, an independent organization focused on census and population data, the population of South Asian countries at the end of 2022 was 1.17 billion.  That’s just over 5 million more than the 1.12 billion China reported on Tuesday, when officials reported the first decline since the 1960s.

India, where half the population is under the age of 30, will be the world’s fastest growing major economy in the coming years. To capitalize on the demographic dividend, Modi needs to create jobs for the millions of people who enter the workforce every year as the nation moves away from agricultural work. 

 The Unexpected the milestone to be reached later this year. As of January 18, India’s population has already reached 1.

23 billion, according to WPR. 

 According to another estimate by research platform Macrotrends, India’s latest figure is 1.

28 billion. The country has not released data from the decennial census  in 2021 after postponing population surveys due to pandemic disruptions. 

The government’s decision last year to limit the tenure of soldiers in the Indian armed forces to four years showed the administration’s pressure to create jobs and pay  retirement benefits. Re-elected in May 202

Modi set a goal of increasing the share of industry in the economy  from the current 1 percent to 25 percent. 

Despite India’s rapid economic growth before Covid and a relatively strong recovery from the pandemic, some 800 million people continue to depend on the government’s free food ration, the largest program of its kind in the world. 

Asia’s third largest economy is so far self-sufficient in food production. It is the second largest producer of rice, wheat and sugar. As a growing middle-class market, India is the largest consumer of sugar and at the same time the largest importer of edible oils. It is the second largest consumer of gold and steel and the third largest buyer of crude oil. It is also home to the third largest domestic aviation market in the world. 

 Although India’s population growth has slowed, the WPR expects this number to continue growing until at least 2050. 

China, on the other hand, is currently experiencing a slight contraction, which Bloomberg economist Eric Zhu described in a January 18 note as ” a continuing headwind for growth”. China’s population will decrease by 850,000 people in 2022. Compared to a year ago, it is clear from the data published by Statistics Finland.

According to  the UN, more than half of the world’s population growth between 2022 and 2050 is concentrated in just eight countries:  Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria and Pakistan,  Philippines and Tanzania.