Jammu: In a fresh controversy, the United Nations Population Fund on Wednesday triggered a fresh controversy as it depicted the wrong map of India in its World Population Dashboard, while stating that India has surpassed China to become the world’s most populous nation with 142.86 crore people.
The map of India as depicted on the World Population Dashboard leaves out parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Ladakh from Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian government has raised the issue with the United Nation, asserting that Ladakh and J&K are integral parts of India.
“Taking a strong exception, India has asked for the data to be corrected immediately to accurately reflect the regions as part of India. However, the UN has not yet responded to these concerns,” said a senior official.
A response from the Ministry of External Affairs was, however, awaited.
Earlier, the latest UN data said that with 142.86 crore people, India has overtaken China to become the world’s most populous nation, while estimating that the country’s population is expected to grow for the next three decades after which it will begin declining.
China now has a population of 142.57 crore, thus being the second most populous country, the UN world population dashboard showed.
Nearly 50 per cent of India’s population is below the age of 25 years, according to UNFPA India representative Andrea Wojnar.
According to the UNFPA’s State of World Population (SWP) Report 2023, about 25 per cent of India’s population is in the age group of 0-14 years, 18 per cent in the 10 to 19 age group, 26 per cent in the age bracket of 10 to 24 years, 68 per cent in 15 to 64 years age group, and 7 per cent above 65 years.
Incidentally, the UNFPA’s SWP report earlier said that India will surpass China by mid-2023.
The population demographics of India vary from state to state. Kerala and Punjab have an ageing population while Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have a young population, UN analysis has revealed.
This is the first time that India has topped the UN list of most populous countries since it started collecting population data in 1950.
According to the United Nations’ World Population Prospects-2022, India’s population was 86.1 crore while China’s population was 114.4 crore in 1950.
The report further states that by 2050, India’s population is expected to rise to 166.8 crore while China’s population would dip to 131.7 crore.
The report also stated that the global population is growing at its slowest rate since 1950, having fallen under one per cent in 2020.
According to the World Population Prospects-2022, India’s population last year was 141.2 crore while China’s population was 142.6 crore. The report said the global population was projected to reach eight billion on November 15.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the life expectancy at birth for male in India is 71 while for female it is 74 years. The contraceptive prevalence rate of women aged 15-49 by any method as of 2023 is 51 per cent.
UN projections estimate that the country’s population is expected to grow for the next three decades after which it will begin declining.
According to experts, India has achieved the replacement level of fertility but the population will grow due to momentum phenomenon.
Replacement level fertility is the level of fertility at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next.
According to the UNFPA, the size of elderly population will nearly double to touch 192 million by 2030, largely in southern and western states.
“By 2050, every fifth Indian will be an elderly person, hence planning for this segment also deserves equal attention. The health and economic security of the elderly will need to gain primacy,” the UNFPA said.
Wojnar, the UNFPA India representative and the country director for Bhutan, said, “India’s 1.4 billion people must be seen as 1.4 billion opportunities.”
