Demographics of India


is the second most populated country in the world with nearly a fifth of the world's population. According to population stood at.
During 1975–2010, the population doubled to 1.2 billion. The Indian population reached the billion mark in 1998. India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2024, surpassing the population of China. It is expected to become the first country to be home to more than 1.5 billion people by 2030, and its population is set to reach 1.7 billion by 2050. Its population growth rate is 1.13%, ranking 112th in the world in 2017.
India has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35. It is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China and 48 for Japan; and, by 2030, India's dependency ratio should be just over 0.4.. However, the number of children in India peaked more than a decade ago and is now falling. The number of children under the age of five peaked in 2007; since then the number has been falling. The number of Indians under 15 years old peaked slightly later and is now also declining.
India has more than two thousand ethnic groups, and every major religion is represented, as are four major families of languages as well as two language isolates. 1,000,000 people in India are Anglo-Indians and 700,000 Westerners from the United States are living in India. They represent over 0.1% of the total population of India.
Further complexity is lent by the great variation that occurs across this population on social parameters such as income and education. Only the continent of Africa exceeds the linguistic, genetic and cultural diversity of the nation of India.
The sex ratio is 944 females for 1000 males . This ratio has been showing an upwards trend for the last two decades after a continuous decline in the last century.

History

Prehistory to early 19th century

The following table lists estimates for the population of India from prehistory up until 1820. It includes estimates and growth rates according to five different economic historians, along with interpolated estimates and overall aggregate averages derived from their estimates.
The population grew from the South Asian Stone Age in 10,000 BC to the Maurya Empire in 200 BC at a steadily increasing growth rate, before population growth slowed down in the classical era up to 500 AD, and then became largely stagnant during the early medieval era up to 1000 AD. The population growth rate then increased in the late medieval era from 1000 to 1500.
India's population growth rate under the Mughal Empire was higher than during any previous period in Indian history. Under the Mughal Empire, India experienced an unprecedented economic and demographic upsurge, due to Mughal agrarian reforms that intensified agricultural production, proto-industrialization that established India as the most important centre of manufacturing in international trade, and a relatively high degree of urbanisation for its time; 15% of the population lived in urban centres, higher than the percentage of the population in 19th-century British India and contemporary Europe up until the 19th century.
Under the reign of Akbar in 1600, the Mughal Empire's urban population was up to 17 million people, larger than the urban population in Europe. By 1700, Mughal India had an urban population of 23 million people, larger than British India's urban population of 22.3 million in 1871. Nizamuddin Ahmad reported that, under Akbar's reign, Mughal India had 120 large cities and 3,200 townships. A number of cities in India had a population between a quarter-million and half-million people, with larger cities including Agra with up to 800,000 people and Dhaka with over 1 million people. Mughal India also had a large number of villages, with 455,698 villages by the time of Aurangzeb.
In the early 18th century, the average life expectancy in Mughal India was 35 years. In comparison, the average life expectancy for several European nations in the 18th century were 34 years in early modern England, up to 30 years in France, and about 25 years in Prussia.

Late 19th century to early 20th century

The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire years. Sources: Our World In Data and Gapminder Foundation.
Years188018811882188318841885188618871888188918901902
Total Fertility Rate in India5.955.925.895.865.825.794.385.765.765.755.755.75

Years1921192219231924192519261927192819291930
Total Fertility Rate in India5.7615.775.785.795.85.815.825.835.855.86

Life expectancy from 1881 to 1950
Years188118911901190519111915192119251931193519411950
Life expectancy in India25.424.323.524.023.224.024.927.629.331.032.635.4

The population of India under the British Raj according to censuses:
Census yearPopulationGrowth
1871
18816.3
189113.1
19012.2
19117.4
19211.2
193110.6
194110.2

Studies of India's population since 1881 have focused on such topics as total population, birth and death rates, growth rates, geographic distribution, literacy, the rural and urban divide, cities of a million, and the three cities with populations over eight million: Delhi, Greater Mumbai, and Kolkata.
Mortality rates fell in the period 1920–45, primarily due to biological immunisation. Other factors included rising incomes, better living conditions, improved nutrition, a safer and cleaner environment, and better official health policies and medical care.

Salient features

India occupies 2.41% of the world's land area but supports over 18% of the world's population. At the 2001 census 72.2% of the population lived in about 638,000 villages and the remaining 27.8% lived in more than 5,100 towns and over 380 urban agglomerations.
India's population exceeded that of the entire continent of Africa by 200 million people in 2010. However, because Africa's population growth is nearly double that of India, it is expected to surpass both China and India by 2025.

Comparative demographics

List of states and union territories by demographics

Census yearPopulationChange
1951
196121.6
197124.8
198124.7
199123.9
200121.5
201117.7

RankState/UTPopulationPercent MaleFemaleDifference between male and femaleSex ratioRuralUrbanArea Density
1Uttar Pradesh16.50930
2Maharashtra9.28929
3Bihar8.60918
4West Bengal7.54950
5Madhya Pradesh6.00931
6Tamil Nadu5.96996
7Rajasthan5.66928
8Karnataka5.05973
9Gujarat4.99919
10Andhra Pradesh4.08996
11Odisha3.47979
12Telangana2.91988
13Kerala2.761084
14Jharkhand2.72948
15Assam2.58958
16Punjab2.29895
17Chhattisgarh2.11991
18Haryana2.09879
19Delhi 1.39868
20Jammu and Kashmir1.04889
21Uttarakhand0.83963
22Himachal Pradesh0.57972
23Tripura0.30960
24Meghalaya0.25989
25Manipur0.24985
26Nagaland0.16931
27Goa0.12973
28Arunachal Pradesh0.11938
29Puducherry 0.101037
30Mizoram0.09976
31Chandigarh 0.09818
32Sikkim0.05890
33Andaman and Nicobar Islands 0.03876
34Dadra and Nagar Haveli 0.03774
35Daman and Diu 0.02618
36Lakshadweep 0.01946
Total 100943

Religious demographics

The table below summarises India's demographics according to religion at the 2011 census in per cent. The data is "unadjusted" ; the 1981 census was not conducted in Assam and the 1991 census was not conducted in Jammu and Kashmir. Missing citing/reference for "Changes in religious demagraphics over time" table below.

;Characteristics of religious groups
Religious
group
Population
%
Growth
Sex ratio
Sex ratio
Sex ratio
Sex ratio
Literacy
Work participation
Hinduism79.80%16.8%93994692191373.3%41.0%
Islam14.23%24.6%95195794194368.5%32.6%
Christianity2.30%15.5%10231008104695884.5%41.9%
Sikhism1.72%8.4%90390589882875.4%36.3%
Buddhism0.70%6.1%96596097393381.3%43.1%
Jainism0.37%5.4%95493595988994.9%35.5%
Others/Religion not specified0.90%n/a959947975974n/an/a

Neonatal and infant demographics

The table below represents the infant mortality rate trends in India, based on sex, over the last 15 years. In the urban areas of India, average male infant mortality rates are slightly higher than average female infant mortality rates.
YearMaleFemaleTotal
199869.873.571.6
200556.35857
20094952-
201443.737.9040.7
201829.9529.8829.94

Some activists believe India's 2011 census shows a serious decline in the number of girls under the age of seven – activists posit that eight million female fetuses may have been aborted between 2001 and 2011. These claims are controversial. Scientists who study human sex ratios and demographic trends suggest that birth sex ratio between 1.08 and 1.12 can be because of natural factors, such as the age of mother at baby's birth, age of father at baby's birth, number of babies per couple, economic stress, endocrinological factors, etc. The 2011 census birth sex ratio in India, of 917 girls to 1000 boys, is similar to 870–930 girls to 1000 boys birth sex ratios observed in Japanese, Chinese, Cuban, Filipino and Hawaiian ethnic groups in the United States between 1940 and 2005. They are also similar to birth sex ratios below 900 girls to 1000 boys observed in mothers of different age groups and gestation periods in the United States.

Population within the age group of 0–6

State or UT codeState or UTTotalMaleFemaleDifference
1Jammu and Kashmir
2Himachal Pradesh
3Punjab
4Chandigarh
5Uttarakhand
6Haryana
7Delhi
8Rajasthan
9Uttar Pradesh
10Bihar
11Sikkim
12Arunachal Pradesh
13Nagaland
14Manipur
15Mizoram
16Tripura
17Meghalaya
18Assam
19West Bengal
20Jharkhand
21Odisha
22Chhattisgarh
23Madhya Pradesh
24Gujarat
25Daman and Diu
26Dadra and Nagar Haveli
27Maharashtra
28Andhra Pradesh
29Karnataka
30Goa
31Lakshadweep
32Kerala
33Tamil Nadu
34Puducherry
35Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Total

Population above the age of 7

State or UT codeState or UTTotalMaleFemale
1Jammu and Kashmir
2Himachal Pradesh
3Punjab
4Chandigarh
5Uttarakhand
6Haryana
7Delhi
8Rajasthan
9Uttar Pradesh
10Bihar
11Sikkim
12Arunachal Pradesh
13Nagaland
14Manipur
15Mizoram
16Tripura
17Meghalaya
18Assam
19West Bengal
20Jharkhand
21Odisha
22Chhattisgarh
23Madhya Pradesh
24Gujarat
25Daman and Diu
26Dadra and Nagar Haveli
27Maharashtra
28Andhra Pradesh
29Karnataka
30Goa
31Lakshadweep
32Kerala
33Tamil Nadu
34Puducherry
35Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Total

Literacy rate

State or UT codeState or UTOverall Male Female
1Jammu and Kashmir86.6187.2686.23
2Himachal Pradesh83.7890.8376.60
3Punjab86.6081.4871.34
4Chandigarh86.4390.5481.38
5Uttarakhand79.6388.3370.70
6Haryana76.6485.3866.77
7Delhi86.3491.0380.93
8Rajasthan67.0680.5152.66
9Uttar Pradesh69.7279.2459.26
10Bihar63.8273.3953.33
11Sikkim82.2087.2976.43
12Arunachal Pradesh66.9573.6959.57
13Nagaland80.1183.2976.69
14Manipur79.8586.4973.17
15Mizoram91.5893.7289.40
16Tripura87.7592.1883.15
17Meghalaya75.4877.1773.78
18Assam73.1878.8167.27
19West Bengal77.0882.6771.16
20Jharkhand67.6378.4556.21
21Odisha72.9082.4064.36
22Chhattisgarh71.0481.4560.59
23Madhya Pradesh70.6380.5360.02
24Gujarat79.3187.2370.73
25Daman and Diu87.0791.4879.59
26Dadra and Nagar Haveli77.6586.4665.93
27Maharashtra83.2089.8275.48
28Andhra Pradesh67.3574.7759.96
29Karnataka75.6082.8568.13
30Goa87.4092.8181.84
31Lakshadweep92.2896.1188.25
32Kerala93.9196.0291.98
33Tamil Nadu80.3386.8173.86
34Puducherry86.5592.1281.22
35Andaman and Nicobar Islands86.2790.1181.84
Overall 74.0382.1465.46

Linguistic demographics

41.03% of the Indians speak Hindi while the rest speak Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Maithili, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and a variety of other languages. There are a total of 122 languages and 234 mother tongues. The 22 languages are Languages specified in the Eighth Schedule of Indian Constitution and 100 non-specified languages.
The table immediately below excludes Mao-Maram, Paomata and Purul subdivisions of Senapati District of Manipur state due to cancellation of census results.
RankLanguageSpeakersPercentage
1Hindi41.030
2Bengali8.110
3Telugu7.190
4Marathi6.990
5Tamil5.910
6Urdu5.010
7Gujarati4.480
8Kannada3.690
9Malayalam3.210
10Odia3.210
11Punjabi2.830
12Assamese1.280
13Maithili1.180
14Bhili/Bhilodi0.930
15Santali0.630
16Kashmiri0.540
17Nepali0.280
18Gondi0.260
19Sindhi0.250
20Konkani0.240
21Dogri0.220
22Khandeshi0.200
23Kurukh0.170
24Tulu0.170
25Meitei 0.140
26Bodo0.130
27Khasi – Garo0.112
28Mundari0.105
29Ho0.103

Vital statistics

UN estimates

Census of India: sample registration system

Life expectancy

Source: UN World Population Prospects

Structure of the population

Structure of the population age wise are shown below:
Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercentage
0–49.32
5–910.48
10–1410.96
15–199.95
20–249.20
25–298.38
30–347.32
35–397.03
40–445.98
45–495.15
50–544.05
55–593.23
60–643.11
65–692.18
70–741.59
75–790.76
80–840.51
85–890.20
90–940.12
95–990.05
100+0.05
Unknown0.37
Total100.00

Population pyramid 2016 :
Age groupMaleFemaleTotal
0–48.78.28.5
5–99.18.88.9
10–149.89.49.6
15–1910.49.910.1
20–2410.210.710.4
25–299.59.89.7
30–348.18.08.1
35–397.07.27.1
40–446.16.16.1
45–495.35.45.3
50–544.44.34.3
55–593.53.73.6
60–643.03.13.1
65–692.12.22.2
70–741.41.51.5
75–790.80.90.9
80–840.40.50.5
85+0.20.30.3
0–1427.626.427.0
15–6467.568.267.8
65+4.95.45.4

Fertility rate

From the Demographic Health Survey:

Regional vital statistics

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
;Total population
1,166,079,217, 1,210 million, 1,281,935,911
;Rural population:
72.2%; male: 381,668,992, female: 360,948,755
;Age structure:
0–14 years: 27.34%

15-24 years: 17.9%

25-54 years: 41.08%

55-64 years: 7.45%

65+ years: 6.24%
;Median age:
Total: 28.7 years
Male: 28 years
female: 29.5 years
;Population growth rate :
1.1%
;Literacy rate:
74%

81.4%
;Per cent of population below poverty line:
22%
;Unemployment rate:
7.8%
;Net migration rate:
0.00 migrant/1,000 population
;Sex ratio:
At birth:
1.12 male/female

Under 10 years:
1.13 male/female

15–24 years:
1.13 male/female

24–64 years:
1.06 male/female

65 years and over:
0.9 male/female

Total population:
1.08 male/female
;Life expectancy at birth:
Total population: 69.7 years

Male: 68.4 years

Female: 71.2 years
;Total fertility rate:
2.35
The TFR by religion in 2005–2006 was: Hindus, 2.7; Muslims, 3.1; Christians, 2.4; and Sikhs, 2.0.
;Religious Composition:
Hindus 79.5%, Muslims 15%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.7%, other and unspecified 2%
;Scheduled castes and tribes:
Scheduled castes: 16.6% ;
scheduled tribes: 8.6%
;Languages
See Languages of India and List of Indian languages by total speakers. There are 216 languages with more than 10,000 native speakers in India. The largest of these is Hindi with some 337 million, and the second largest is Bengali with 238 million. 22 languages are recognised as official languages. In India, there are 1,652 languages and dialects in total.

Caste

Caste and community statistics as recorded from "Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission" or Mandal Commission of 1979. This was completed in 1983.''
There has not yet been a proper consensus on contemporary figures.
The following data is from the Mandal report:

Population projections

India is projected to overtake China as the world's most populous nation by 2027. Note that these projections make assumptions about future fertility and death rates which may not turn out to be correct in the event. Fertility rates also vary from region to region, with some higher than the national average and some lower of China.

2020 estimate

In millions
YearUnder 1515–6465+Total
2000361604451010
2005368673511093
2010370747581175
2015372819651256
2020373882761332

Ethnic groups

The national Census of India does not recognise racial or ethnic groups within India, but recognises many of the tribal groups as Scheduled Castes and Tribes.
According to a 2009 study published by Reich et al., the modern Indian population is composed of two genetically divergent and heterogeneous populations which mixed in ancient times, known as Ancestral North Indians and Ancestral South Indians. ASI corresponds to the Dravidian-speaking population of southern India, whereas ANI corresponds to the Indo-Aryan-speaking population of northern India. 700,000 people from the United States live in India. Between 300,000 and 1 million Anglo-Indians live in India.
For a list of ethnic groups in the Republic of India see ethnic groups of the Indian subcontinent.

Genetics

Y-chromosome DNA

Y-Chromosome DNA Y-DNA represents the male lineage, The Indian Y-chromosome pool may be summarised as follows where haplogroups R-M420, H, R2, L and NOP comprise generally more than 80% of the total chromosomes.
  • H ~ 30%
  • R1a ~ 34%
  • R2 ~ 15%
  • L ~ 10%
  • NOP ~ 10%
  • Other Haplogroups 15%

    Mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA mtDNA represents the female lineage. The Indian mitochondrial DNA is primarily made up of Haplogroup M
Numerous genomic studies have been conducted in the last 15 years to seek insights into India's demographic and cultural diversity. These studies paint a complex and conflicting picture.
  • In a 2003 study, Basu, Majumder et al. have concluded on the basis of results obtained from mtDNA, Y-chromosome and autosomal markers that " there is an underlying unity of female lineages in India, indicating that the initial number of female settlers may have been small; the tribal and the caste populations are highly differentiated; the Austroasiatic tribals are the earliest settlers in India, providing support to one anthropological hypothesis while refuting some others; a major wave of humans entered India through the northeast; the Tibeto-Burman tribals share considerable genetic commonalities with the Austroasiatic tribals, supporting the hypothesis that they may have shared a common habitat in southern China, but the two groups of tribals can be differentiated on the basis of Y-chromosomal haplotypes; the Dravidian speaking populations were possibly widespread throughout India but are regulated to South India now ; formation of populations by fission that resulted in founder and drift effects have left their imprints on the genetic structures of contemporary populations; the upper castes show closer genetic affinities with Central Asian populations, although those of southern India are more distant than those of northern India; historical gene flow into India has contributed to a considerable obliteration of genetic histories of contemporary populations so that there is at present no clear congruence of genetic and geographical or sociocultural affinities."
  • In a later 2010 review article, Majumder affirms some of these conclusions, introduces and revises some other. The ongoing studies, concludes Majumder, suggest India has served as the major early corridor for geographical dispersal of modern humans from out-of-Africa. The archaeological and genetic traces of the earliest settlers in India has not provided any conclusive evidence. The tribal populations of India are older than the non-tribal populations. The autosomal differentiation and genetic diversity within India's caste populations at 0.04 is significantly lower than 0.14 for continental populations and 0.09 for 31 world population sets studied by Watkins et al., suggesting that while tribal populations were differentiated, the differentiation effects within India's caste population was less than previously thought. Majumder also concludes that recent studies suggest India has been a major contributor to the gene pool of southeast Asia.
  • Another study covering a large sample of Indian populations allowed Watkins et al. to examine eight Indian caste groups and four endogamous south Indian tribal populations. The Indian castes data show low between-group differences, while the tribal Indian groups show relatively high between-group differentiation. This suggests that people between Indian castes were not reproductively isolated, while Indian tribal populations experienced reproductive isolation and drift. Furthermore, the genetic fixation index data shows historical genetic differentiation and segregation between Indian castes population is much smaller than those found in east Asia, Africa and other continental populations; while being similar to the genetic differentiation and segregation observed in European populations.
  • In 2006, Sahoo et al. reported their analysis of genomic data on 936 Y-chromosomes representing 32 tribal and 45 caste groups from different regions of India. These scientists find that the haplogroup frequency distribution across the country, between different caste groups, was found to be predominantly driven by geographical, rather than cultural determinants. They conclude there is clear evidence for both large-scale immigration into ancient India of Sino-Tibetan speakers and language change of former Austroasiatic speakers, in the northeast Indian region.
  • The genome studies conducted up until 2010 have been on relatively small population sets. Many are from just one southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh. Thus, any conclusions on demographic history of India must be interpreted with caution. A larger national genome study with demographic growth and sex ratio balances may offer further insights on the extent of genetic differentiation and segregation in India over the millenniums.

    Government

  • 2011 census of India
  • National Commission on Population

    Lists

  • List of most populous cities in India
  • List of most populous metropolitan areas in India
  • List of million-plus urban agglomerations in India
  • List of states and union territories of India by population
OWIKI.org. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.