India will take over China in terms of population by 2025, an analysis of the provisional Census, 2011 data suggests.
With more than 1.2 billion people, India contains about 17.5 per cent (every sixth person in the world is an Indian) of humanity. China is the only country with a larger population, with 144 million more people. The United Nations has estimated that the Indian population grew at an annual rate of 1.43 per cent during 2005-10. In comparison, China registered a much lower annual growth rate of 0.7 per cent during corresponding period.
In fact, the population growth is now almost at par with that of the developed nations.
Demographers expect India's population to surpass that of China, which is currently the most populous country in the world. At that time, India is expected to have a population of more than 1.4 billion, which will begin to drop in subsequent years.
27 m. born every year
Analysing the provisional Census, 2011 data, Management Institute of Population and Development has quoted the Population Reference Bureau's 2010 estimates which says that India had 1189 million people whereas China's has 1338 million. Nearly 27 million children are born every year in India and only 16 million in China.
In the last 20 years, India's population has increased by more than 350 million, while China's has increased only by 210 million. With China successfully managing the population issue, it has been able to improve the rate of economic growth. “One fails to understand why some experts and policy makers have stated that India's population is its strength,” the analysts point out.
