The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs has shared its world population predictions, which show that India will overtake China as the world’s most populous country before the end of April.
The UN estimates put the number of people living in India at 1,425,775,850 before the end of April, overtaking the hitherto leading country in population figures, China, which in 2022 peaked at around 1,426,000,000 people, a point from where it has started to decline.
The main factor altering population rates is the birth rate, which in China has been falling for years compared to the birth rate it enjoyed in 1971, when it equaled that of India. The UN has explained that since then, the birth rate in China has fallen drastically, a decline that India has not experienced until three decades later, and even then at a much slower rate.
In 2022, the birth rate in Beijing was 1.2 births per mother, while New Delhi saw 2 births per mother.
Although this department proposes the end of April as a date, they have clarified that it is very difficult to predict exactly when this change will occur. In fact, the State of Population 2023 report, published this month by the UN Population Fund, dated the shift to the middle of this year.
As reported by the ‘Indian Express’ newspaper, analysts in the country have expressed their reassurance that there is no cause for alarm in becoming the world’s most populous country, noting that India’s growth has slowed in recent years.
They have also reminded that this can have very positive consequences for the country’s economy, provided it invests and creates opportunities in the fields of education and youth employment.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
