India may already have surpassed China as the world's most populous nation, which is a big milestone. The World Population Review (WPR) estimates that India will have 141.7 crore people by the end of 2022. According to official reports, that is just over 50 lakh more than the 141.2 crore figures China reported on January 17 when there was the first dip since the 1960s.
India, a nation where 50 percent of people are under 30, is predicted to have the fastest-growing major economy in the world. The UN predicted that the milestone will be attained this year. India's population climbed to 142.3 crore as of January 18, claims WPR. Even though India's population growth has slowed, WPR forecasts that it will continue to rise until at least 2050.
The most recent figure for India is 142.8 crore, according to a different estimate from the research platform Macrotrends. After postponing population surveys due to pandemic disruptions in 2021, the nation did not release its once-every-ten-year census statistics.
Free food rations are still used by almost 80 crore people in India, the largest programme of its sort in the world, despite the nation's relatively successful recovery from the pandemic and its rapid economic boom before COVID-19.
Last week, China has witnessed a historic drop in its population, according to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics. The fall has been reported for the first time in over 60 years after a steady and years-long decline in its birthrate.