Nov 14, 2008

India - To be No.1 in population by 2050

Gargi Parsai

NEW DELHI: India is projected to be the most populous country by 2050, overtaking China, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said in a report released on Wednesday.

Its population, now 118.6 crore, is projected to be 165.8 crore in 2050 as against 140.8 crore projected for China.

India’s population growth rate is projected at 1.5 per cent during 2005-10 compared to 0.6 per cent for China.

India’s current fertility rate is 2.78 compared to 1.73 in China.

Pakistan’s population of 16.7 crore will become 29.2 crore in 2050.

Sri Lanka would witness a negative growth, from 1.94 crore to 1.87 crore.

The ‘State of World Population Report, 2008’ report, released here by Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed, says the world population will increase from 674.9 crore to 919.1 crore by 2050.

The theme of the report is ‘Reaching Common Ground: Culture, Gender and Human Rights.’

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