India’s Population Exceeds China by 30 Lakh: UN Report

New Delhi: Overtaking China, India will become the world’s most populous country in a few months. India will have almost 30 lakh more people that China in the middle of this year, stated data released by the United Nations on Wednesday.

“State of World Population Report, 2023” by the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) estimates India’s population at 142.86 crore against 142.57 crore for China. The United States is in third position with a population of 34 crore. The data reflects information available as of February 2023, the report said.

Population experts using previous UN data have projected that India would go past China in April 2023. But the latest report from the global body did not specify a date for when the change would take place.

Although India and China will account for more than one-third of the estimated global population of 804.5 crore, the population growth in both Asian giants has been slowing, at a much faster pace in China than in India.

India’s annual population growth has averaged 1.2% since 2011, compared with 1.7% in the 10 years previously, according to government data.