India's population to decline in 2100; but to remain higher than China

United Nations: The World Population Prospects 2024 report suggested that India's population is going to peak in the early 2060s, reaching around 1.7 billion, and it will decline by 12 per cent. However, PTI reported that the country is expected to remain the world's most populated throughout the century.

The report, published on Thursday, predicts that the world's population will keep growing in the next 50-60 years and peak at around 10.3 billion people in the mid-2080s, up from 8.2 billion in 2024. By the end of the century, the population will reach 10.2 billion, slipping 12 per cent.

However, India will continue to be the most populous nation in 2100, keeping China in the second position. India had surpassed China in terms of population last year.

"The population of India, which is expected to remain the world's largest throughout the century, will likely decline by 12 per cent after reaching its peak in the early 2060s at about 1.7 billion," the UN report published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Population Division said.

Further, the report says that India, which is going to have a population of 1.45 billion in 2024, will peak at 1.69 billion in 2054.

Then the report said, "It is anticipated that China, the country currently with the world's second-largest population, will likely experience the largest absolute population loss between 2024 and 2054 (204 million)," followed by Japan (21 million) and Russia (10 million). "Longer-range population projections are more uncertain" for China, it said.

Responding to a question on the significantly low population projection for China, Director of the Population Division at UN DESA John Wilmoth said that "it really relates to the level of fertility that's observed currently in China. The current number is right around one birth per woman on average over a lifetime."