India Population 2024

Although less than one-third of India's people live in towns and cities, around seventy percent of the population lives in villages and half of all Indians still derive their livelihood directly from agriculture sector. Indian states are organized into a number of districts, the districts are tehsils or mandals or taluks or subdivisions depending on the state structure, These are further divided into villages, each subdivision typically consisting of about 10 to 100 villages, some of the district subdivisions are even major cities or towns. Large cities have been growing at faster rates than small cities and towns due to the industrial and services infrastructure. India's population is young and more than half of the population is under the age of 35. Life expectancy is about 69.52 for men and 72.17 for women. Nomadic groups may be found in most parts of India and their population is around 60 million out of total of 315 tribes.

British administration in India began in 1858 and came to an end in 1947, The population of undivided India in 1947 was approximately 390 million. After partition, there were 330 million people in India, 30 million in West Pakistan, and 30 million people in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The Indian subcontinent was partitioned along religious lines into two separate countries by the end of British Raj, with a majority of Hindus, and Pakistan, with a majority of Muslims and later the eastern portion of Pakistan later split off to form Bangladesh. According to 1951 Census the the population is 361 million with 84.1% of Hindus, 9.8% of Muslims, 2.3% of Christians, 1.89% of Buddhists and 0.46% of Jains. India's population doubled between 1947 and the 1981 census with 683 million, and again by the 2011 census the population is doubled to 1.2 billion. The increase between 2001 and 2011 alone is more than 200 million was greater than the total population of some of the world's most populous countries. India hosts the G20 summit in 2023 is the year when economics will intertwine with diplomacy. The above picture is taken in Varanasi, is a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, dating back between 302 and 288 BCE Megasthenes, Greek diplomat visited India enroute to Varanasi, and described "India then being the most cultured and one of the well advanced countries of the world".

India Population Indicators
Birth rate is 19 births/1000 people in 2016. Infant Mortality is 40/1000 live births in 2017. Fertility rate is 2.3 births per woman in 2017. Death rate is 7.1 deaths/1000 people in 2016. Population above 60 years is 7.7% in 2018. Life expectancy for male is 67, and for female is 70.

Population loss due to Road Accidents, Crime and Accidental deaths

329 people are lost every day due to Road Accidents in India in 2020 as against 415 people in 2018. Total 151,417 lost in 2018, The fast growing of India population, rate of motorization coupled with the urbanization has made people vulnerable to frequent road accidents resulting in fatalities, injuries and disabilities. As per the WHO Global Report on Road Safety 2018, India almost accounts for 11% of the accident related deaths in the World. As per Road Accidents 2018 Report in India, however ranks 1 in the number of road accident deaths across the 199 countries reported in the 2018 World Road Statistics, followed by China and US. In 2018, a total number of 467,044 road accidents have been reported by States and Union Territories , claiming 151,417 lives and causing injuries to 469,418 persons.

As per the Crime Report 2016 and 2020, An average of 76 rapes per day in 2020 against 106 rapes per day in India as per data 2014-2016 crime data(Total 28,046 cases in 2020, 38,947 cases registered Rape against women in 2016), The age of consent in India is 18. 79 Murders per day in 2020 against 83 Murders per day(29,193 Murders in 2020 as against 30,450 in 2016), 232 Kidnapping and Abduction cases per day in 2020 as against 241 average per day in 2016, 347 deaths by Negligence per day in 2020 as against 384 deaths per day in 2016, 19 dowry deaths per day in 2020 as against 20 dowry deaths average per day in 2016, 918 cases of Human Trafficking, 305 average cases per day of Cruelty by Husband or his Relatives in 2020 against 302 average cases per day in 2016, A total of 643,583 cases of Offenses against Property(Theft, Extortion, Robbery, Dacoity, Cheating, Arson, Criminal Trespass and Burglary) in 2020 against 796,032 cases in 2016. Only 70-80% of the cases are registered, other 20-30% is not registered due to Village Panchayat Settlements/Threatening/Police refuse action or not accompanied.

Income Distribution

The India's economy is the sixth largest in the world as measured by nominal GDP in 2022. Despite being fastest growing in the world, India's Poverty rate is 19.8% in 2011 roughly 240 million according to Pew global organisation. The poverty rate was more than 70% when British left India in 1947. India is trying to come out from British colonial impact in their late 19th to 20 century(1857-1947) from famines, slavery, diseases and high taxation. India's Low income group is 76.9%(960 million) as per world bank threshold of 995 dollars per year, from 2001 to 2011 total of 15.6% which is 200 million is moved from poverty to low income group due to various welfare schemes.

Indicators that effect India's economic growth

As per 2011 Census, the overall literacy rate of India is 73%, where as at the time of India's Independence the country's literacy is as low to 14%, the literacy rate is improved drastically over the period of 7 decades, states like Keral and Mizoram is 94% and 91.3%. are above national average where as the state like Bihar has 61.8 is very lower than national average. There is a strong need to improve the overall literacy rate which will impact on country's population growth rate and economic growth rate.

Religions in India

Religion is an important cultural feature of a population, all religions have left an imprint on the customs, art, literature, food habits, politics and culture of mankind. Followers of almost all the important religions with their various denominations live there. There are several religions in India, they are Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism. Hinduism is an ancient religion often regarded as the oldest religion in the world with roots tracing back to prehistoric times, over 10,000 years. The population of India by religion wise are 80% of the population practices Hinduism(1 billion), 14% with Islam(180 million), 2.3% with Christianity, 1.7% Sikhism(21 million), 0.7% Buddhism(12 million) and 0.4% with Jainism(4.45 million). Kumbh Mela is the Hindu festival celebrated every 12 years and the largest human gathering held at Prayag Triveni Sangam, the meeting points of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical river Sarasvati, an estimated of around 150 million people attended holy dip during the eight week festival in 2019.

Languages in India

Language is the principal means by which culture is accumulated, shared, and transmitted from one generation to another. Language expresses the uniqueness of a groups world view. According to 2011 Census language stats, Languages in India are 57% are Hindi speakers, 8.9% speak Bengali, 8.2% speak Marathi, 7.8% speak Telugu, 6.3% speak Tamil, 5% speak Gujarati, 5.2% speak Urdu, 4.9% speak Kannada, 3.5% Odia, 2.9% Malayalam, 3% Punjabi, 2% Assamese, 1.2% Maithili and 0.3% Sanskrit. According to 2011 census, the total number of such raw returns of mother tongues has totaled 19,569 languages in India. Thus, an inventory of classified mother tongues returned by 10,000 or more speakers are grouped under appropriate languages at the all India level, The total number of Indian languages arrived at is 121. Languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India under Scheduled Languages comprising of 22 languages, and Languages not included in the Eighth Schedule (Non-Scheduled Languages) comprising of 99 languages plus the category Total of other languages which includes all other languages and mother tongues were not identifiable on the basis of the linguistic information available. Of the total population of India, 96.71% have one of the Scheduled languages as their mother tongue, the remaining 3.29 per cent is accounted for by other languages. Major languages of India are:

India is a union of 28 states and 9 union territories with the recent inclusion of Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh by Government of India on 5th August 2019. The five states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh account for almost half of the total Indian population. Uttar Pradesh is located in the north-central region of the Indian continent, has over 200 million inhabitants followed by Maharashtra with 112 Million and Bihar with 105 Million. The Smallest state is Sikkim(0.6 Million). Below is the State wise population of India and 7 union territories with estimated figures of the year 2019:

History of India

By 1600 the population in India is expected to be around 115 million and by 1700 the population to be around 150 million and 170 million by 1800. The East India Company carried out quantitative exercises in various places prior to 1857. The first registered population census in India was conducted by British periodically from 1865, then in 1881 onward to the year 1947. Since from independence in 1947, a census has been conducted every 10 years, and the first census by Ministry of Home Affairs happened in 1951. It is recorded in 1951 census that the literacy rate is just 18% and life expectancy is only 32 years average. Based on the census on 1951 to 1941 the total displaced persons around 7 millions Muslims went to east and west Pakistan territory and around 7 million Hindus and Sikhs moved to Indian territory. At this census Hindus were 84%, 9.8% are Muslims remained in India, together with all religions India has become a powerful secular country and is spearheading the rise in global economy. The latest census was conducted in 2011 by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, the next census is scheduled in 2021 and will be 15th in series and 8th census since Independence.

Population Projection

The National Family Health Survey, NFHS-5, conducted in 2019-2020, found India's Total Fertility Rate (TFR) had reached 2.1 of the 17 States analysed in the fifth round of NFHS survey. India's population is said to be stabilising as the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has decreased across the majority of the country's states. India reports remarkable decline in total fertility rate, finds NFHS-5, all states except Bihar, Manipur and Meghalaya have a TFR of 2.1 or less, which implies that most states have attained replacement level fertility. NFHS-4 of 2015-2016 analysis which was taken 4 years back, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh had TFR well below the replacement level. The exceptions were Bihar (3.4), Uttar Pradesh (2.7), Jharkhand (2.6), Rajasthan (2.4), Madhya Pradesh (2.3), Chhattisgarh (2.2), Assam (2.2) and some north-eastern states.

Rank of Happiness

India was ranked 133rd position among the list of 156 countries which were included in the World Happiness Index. The index is based on national happiness based on respondent ratings of their own lives and factors like inequality, life expectancy, Social freedom and GDP Per Capitia. Life expectancy is 67.3 and stands at 101 rank, lower than the world average of 74 years. Well being is 4.6/10 points with 104 as rank and inequality stands at 103 out of 156. The World Happiness Report is an annual publication of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The world’s largest democracy’s rank fell to 133rd position in 2018 from 122nd in 2017.

How Women is treated in India

According to WPS 2017-2018 report, the rank is 131 out of 153 countries performing at the rate of average to worst with 0.57 index,the best is 0.87, the global average 0.68 and the worst is 0.38. The Mean years of schooling for women is 5.39 years, the best rating is for United States, Switzerland, Latvia, Germany and Canada with 13 to 14 years. Financial inclusion is 42.64% best is Norway, Finland and Denmark with100% and average is 48%. The cellphone usage is 71%, the countries with 100% are United Arab Emirates, Libya and Finland. Representation in Parliament is 11.56%, Rwanda, Iceland and Cuba are with 47-50%. Legal discrimination index for Women population of India is 24. United Kingdom, Spain, Mexico, Bosia & Malta has the best legal discriminate laws and index is 8, Global average is 23 and worst is 54. Son bias is preference for boys reflects serious discrimination against girls and women, India score is 1.109, Best score is 1.02, Global average is 1.08 and worst score is 1.16(China).

1. censusindia.gov.in/
2. giwps.georgetown.edu/
3. uidai.gov.in/images/state-wise-aadhaar-saturation.pdf
4. data.worldbank.org/indicator/sp.dyn.cdrt.in
5. India as Described by Megasthenes
6. Total fertility by education levels

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