India’s Population Prospects

The World Population Prospects (WPP) 2022 published by the United Nations has revived the debate on India’s population problems. This is because the revised estimates show that in 2023, India’s population of 1.428 billion will exceed China’s 1.425 billion, four years earlier than anticipated. At the global level, the WPP 2022 revised the global population numbers for 2022 to 7.9 billion.

Trends show that the global population growth will continue through most of the century and will turn negative only after it reaches 10.4 billion in 2086. However, some countries with large populations would see their populaces decline much earlier. This would include China (in 2024), Brazil (2047), Indonesia (2061), and India (2064). Other populous nations like Pakistan and Nigeria will see their population grow even in the next century, while the United States’s (US) population will largely stabilise from 2085.