Demographics of India

India remains a relatively young country, though it is undergoing a gradual demographic transition. As of 2024, the median age was approximately 29.8 years, compared to 40.2 in China. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that 68% of the population is between 15 and 64 years old, creating a potential "demographic dividend" where a large working-age population can drive economic growth. However, the number of children is declining; the under-5 population peaked in 2007 and the under-15 cohort peaked in 2011.

Between 1975 and 2010, the population doubled to 1.2 billion. While the population continues to grow, the rate has slowed significantly from 2.3% annually (1972–1983) to roughly 0.89% in 2023. Current projections suggest the population will reach 1.7 billion by 2050.

India is highly diverse, hosting thousands of ethnic groups and four major language families: Indo-European, Dravidian, Austroasiatic, and Tibeto-Burman. The country also includes linguistic isolates such as Nihali and Burushaski, and distinct minority communities including Anglo-Indians and Siddi.

The human sex ratio has shown an upward trend after decades of decline, reaching 943 females per 1,000 males in 2011 and estimated at 1,060 males per 1,000 females (approx. 944 females/1000 males) in 2023.

History

Prehistory to early 19th century

The following table lists estimates for the population of India, including what are now Pakistan and Bangladesh, from prehistory up until 1820. It includes estimates and growth rates according to five economic historians, along with interpolated estimates and overall aggregate averages derived from their estimates.

Population of India over time

India's population has changed significantly due to migrations, technological advancements, and societal developments. Below is a table of historical population 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 (during the Delhi Sultanate) from 1000 to 1500.

Under the Mughal Empire, India experienced a demographic upsurge, 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. These estimates by Abraham Eraly and Paolo Malanima have been criticised by Tim Dyson, who considers them exaggerations and estimates urbanisation of the Mughal Empire to be less than 9% of the population.

Under the reign of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605) 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 (1551–1621) 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 (in Agra Subah) with up to 800,000 people and Dhaka (in Bengal Subah) with over 1 million people. Mughal India also had a large number of villages, with 455,698 villages by the time of Aurangzeb (reigned 1658–1707).

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.

Life expectancy from 1881 to 1950

The population of India under the British Raj (including what are now Pakistan and Bangladesh) according to censuses:

Studies of India's population since 1881 have focused on such topics as total population, birth and death 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 (Bombay), and Kolkata (Calcutta).

Mortality rates fell in the period 1920–45, primarily due to biological immunisation. Suggestions that it was the benefits of colonialism are refuted by academic thinking: "There can be no serious, informed belief... that... late colonial era mortality diminished and population grew rapidly because of improvements in income, living standards, nutrition, environmental standards, sanitation or health policies, nor was there a cultural transformation...".