The Chinese population is about to be overwhelmed.
By the end of April, India will be the most populous country in the world with more than 1.425 billion inhabitants, according to an estimate by a UN agency made public on Monday (24 April).
“
China will soon cede its long held place as the world's most populous country.
By the end of this month, India's population is expected to reach 1,425,775,850, equaling and then surpassing the population of mainland China
," according to a statement from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in New York. .
A “peak” of the Chinese population
On April 19, a United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report on the state of the world's population estimated India's population to be 1.4286 billion compared to China's 1.4257 billion. , by mid-2023. “
China's population peaked at 1.426 billion in 2022 and has started to decline.
Projections indicate that the size of the Chinese population could fall below one billion (people) by the end of the century (while) the Indian population should continue to grow for several decades,” the statement added
.
According to official data released earlier this year, China's population fell last year for the first time since 1960-1961, after a famine that began in 1959 left tens of millions dead in the sequel to the "
Great Leap Forward
".
Paradoxically, this decline in the population in China occurs despite the relaxation of the birth control policy in recent years.
Ten years ago, the Chinese were only allowed to have one child.
Since 2021, they can have three.
The census question
This decline is generally attributed to the cost of living which has risen sharply in China, as has the cost of raising a child.
The higher level of education of women also delays pregnancies.
As for India, the country has no official data on the number of its inhabitants, as it has not carried out a census since 2011. The census of India, which takes place only once per decade, was due to take place in 2021 but had to be delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Logistical obstacles and political reluctance now prevent it from taking place, and it is unlikely that this large-scale exercise will take place soon.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government has been accused by critics of deliberately delaying the census so as not to release data on sensitive issues like unemployment ahead of next year's national elections.
India's economy struggles to provide jobs for the millions of young people entering the job market every year.
Half of the South Asian giant's population is under 30 years old.
