“India is projected to have a population of 1.66 billion by 2050, as per Business Standard.”
Reports say that India’s population might already have exceeded that of China. While different predictions have slightly varying results, one thing is for sure. That India would be the world’s most populous nation by the end of April. The United Nations estimates predict India has a population size of 142.86 Crore, bypassing China’s population of 142.57 Crore. The notion of taking care of a giant population and creating more jobs must increase the responsibility and pressure on policymakers and the government.
IMF predicted India & China would lead the global economy in 2023. China has long stayed as the world’s number one country in population due to its comparably larger size. Initiatives like the one-child policy have discouraged population growth. India’s population growth has stayed strong, and the nation grew from 1.06 billion in 2000 to 1.407 billion in 2021.
Indian governments have been addressing the fast-growing population problem with reforms and awareness about family planning and promoting small families. However, the approach wasn’t aggressive and strict, unlike that of China. This came as a blessing in disguise, and today, around 60% of India’s population is of working age. Indian working-age population was estimated to be about 750-900 million in 2022, which offers a substantial demographic advantage to the country.
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The analysts say that India’s large young population and talented workforce, coupled with its vast base of consumers, will provide an advantage to the country. Today’s global market is consumer-driven, and India’s demographic advantage will be the most contributing factor in propelling the country’s development. India is in a sweet spot right now, with most global brands shifting their focus toward the Indian market. Moreover, they are looking at India as a promising source of affordable technology and labour and seeking to reduce their dependency on China.
However, the government would need to create more jobs and opportunities to convert this massive potential into development and resources. There needs to be growth in the percentage of training, regular jobs, and working women. The growth rate for India in FY 2023-24 is expected to drop to 6.4% from the usual 7+. However, that is still a resilience on the country’s economy given the global slowdown and inflation.
