India's Population Growth

India's Population Growth

For a long time, India was considered to be following China in terms of population size. However, this is now a thing of the past. India has overtaken China. But how did this come about?

China has long been considered the most populous country in the world. Between 1949 and 1979, China's population almost doubled from 540 million to 969 million. However, such immense growth in China at that time also had a negative consequence. This refers to the greatest demographic catastrophe in Chinese history, the great Chinese famine, which occurred from 1958 to 1961. It is estimated that between 15 and 40 million people died as a result of resource scarcity. In the following years, numerous attempts were made to curb the population. The most well-known measure is the controversial one-child policy, which has its origins in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, China broke the one billion mark and today has approximately 1.4 billion inhabitants.

Since the 1950s, population growth in India has also increased sharply. This is due, among other things, to improvements in medicine and agriculture. India broke the one billion mark before the turn of the millennium and today has over 1.4 billion inhabitants. However, there is no decline in India yet. One of the reasons why India continues to grow compared to China is due to the age structure there. More than 40% of India's population is under 25 years old and in contrast, only about 7.1% are over 65 years old. Due to the age structure, India's potential demographic dividend is also very promising. The demographic dividend refers to a possible economic benefit that can be achieved through development-related changes in a country's age structure. India is particularly one of the most interesting countries in this regard. The potential of such a large population is well utilized in India. According to a study by Statista, in which 12,000 people between the ages of 18 and 64 were surveyed per country, approximately 80% of respondents in India have a university degree. By comparison, the figure in Germany is approximately 24%. Furthermore, there is enormous potential in India's IT sector. India is continuously expanding this through infrastructure investments. In terms of spending, the Indian state invests approximately 100 billion euros per year in infrastructure. Bangalore is particularly important in this regard. Both infrastructure investments and the geopolitical situation are currently playing into India's hands. Europe and the United States need new partners and want independence from China.

Looking at India and China with the aforementioned points in mind, it is striking that India is currently making good use of its potential and will continue to do so in the future, whereas China is showing declining trends. With regard to economic activity, demographic development plays a decisive role in particular. Here, India is also better positioned for the future due to its many young people compared to China. In China, on the other hand, most of the world's elderly people now live, which could result in the economic dynamism of the two countries continuing to diverge.

"India's population continues to grow. According to forecasts, the country will have twice as many inhabitants as China by the year 2100." (Source: ZDF)

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