Does India overtake China as world's most populous nation? Read what UN report says

In a shocking development, overtaking China, India has all set to become the world's most populous nation even though its population growth has been slowing down.

As per the data of World Population Prospects which comes under the United Nation's Population Division, India’s population was 141.7 crore as of the end of 2022. Moreover, India is projected to have a population of 1.668 billion in 2050, more than China's 1.317 billion by the middle of this century.

Meanwhile talking about China its population in 2022 was 1.4118 billion, and it fell by 850,000 from 2021. Meanwhile, the national birth rate hit a record low - 6.77 births per 1,000 people. The drop is the worst since China's Great Famine of 1961.

China’s birth rate stood at 6.77 births per 1,000 people in 2022, down from 7.52 in 2021, it said. The death rate nationwide stood at 7.37 per 1,000 people last year, putting the natural growth rate at negative 0.6 per 1,000 people.

It should be noted, India is among the youngest countries in the world. 27.3 per cent of its population is aged between 15 and 29 years. India is among the eight countries expected to be responsible for more than half the projected increase in global population up to 2050.