India is on its way to becoming the world’s most populous country, overtaking China with almost 3 million more people by mid-2023, data released on Wednesday by the United Nations Report. The report also estimated that the global population will have hit 8.045 billion by the same date.
The demographic data from the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) “State of World Population Report, 2023” estimates India’s population at 1,428.6 million or 1.4286 billion against 1.4257 billion for China.
The United States is a distant third, with an estimated population of 340 million, the data showed. The data reflects information available as of February 2023, the report said.
UN population officials have said it was not possible to specify a date due to “uncertainty” about the data coming out of India and China, especially since India’s last census was conducted in 2011 and the next one due in 2021 has been delayed due to the pandemic.
Although India and China will account for more than one-third of the estimated global population of 8.045 billion, the population growth in both Asian giants has been slowing, at a much faster pace in China than in India.
Last year, China’s population fell for the first time in six decades, a historic turn that is expected to mark the start of a long period of decline in its citizen numbers with profound implications for its economy and the world.
