Population

India's population to stabilise by 2080 due to falling fertility rate: IASP

India's population is expected to stabilise by 2080 at 1.8 or 1.9 billion due to dipping total fertility rate, which is currently below the replacement level at 1.9, an official said. India is undergoing a rapid demographic transition, with the birth rate dropping sharply over the past two decades, he said. "In 2000, our TFR was 3.5 and today it stands at 1.9. This is a drastic decline," Indian Association for the Study of Population (IASP) general secretary Anil Chandran told PTI. He said India's population is expected to peak at 1.8 or 1.9 billion by 2080, when growth is expected to stabilise. "All estimates show that India's maximum population will remain below two billion," Chandran added. He attributed the fall in fertility primarily to increasing development and education levels. Increased female literacy, he said, has directly shaped decisions around marriage and childbearing, leading to smaller families. Greater use of contraceptives and wider access to birth control have

Ageing populations a 'ticking time bomb' for GDP growth, says EBRD

The report pointed to a range of factors driving the fall in the birth rate - from shifts in social norms to a reduction in women's career earnings from having a baby

India's population-adjusted road deaths at 30-year high, shows data

Road design, better enforcement of safety norms can limit fatalities

After the Spike: A bold argument for rethinking the demographic doom theory

Why a larger population is better than a smaller population with a higher quality of life

Putin brings laws to grapple with Russia's shrinking, aging population

For a quarter century, President Vladimir Putin has faced the spectre of Russia's shrinking and aging population. In 1999, a year before he came to power, the number of babies born in Russia plunged to its lowest recorded level. In 2005, Putin said the demographic woes needed to be resolved by maintaining "social and economic stability. In 2019, he said the problem still haunted the country. As recently as Thursday, he told a Kremlin demographic conference that increasing births was crucial for Russia. Putin has launched initiatives to encourage people to have more children -- from free school meals for large families to awarding Soviet-style hero-mother medals to women with 10 or more children. Many of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers had seven, eight, and even more children, Putin said in 2023. Let's preserve and revive these wonderful traditions. Having many children and a large family must become the norm. At first, births in Russia grew with its economic prosperity, f

China tops global automation race with record 300,000 industrial robots

China deployed over half of the world's new industrial robots in 2024, strengthening its lead in automated manufacturing across sectors like automobile, electronics, and logistics

Japan sees rise in anti-foreigner sentiment amid population crisis

Outside a train station near Tokyo, hundreds of people cheer as Sohei Kamiya, head of the surging nationalist party Sanseito, criticises Japan's rapidly growing foreign population. As opponents, separated by uniformed police and bodyguards, accuse him of racism, Kamiya shouts back, saying he is only talking common sense. Sanseito, while still a minor party, made big gains in July's parliamentary election, and Kamiya's Japanese First platform of anti-globalism, anti-immigration and anti-liberalism is gaining broader traction ahead of a ruling party vote Saturday that will choose the likely next prime minister. Anti-immigrant policies, which allow populists to vent their dissatisfaction on easy targets, are appealing to more Japanese as they struggle with dwindling salaries, rising prices and bleak future outlooks. Many Japanese are frustrated by these problems, though we are too reserved to speak out. Mr. Kamiya is spelling them all out for us, said Kenzo Hagiya, a retiree in the ..

China rolls out $500 child subsidies to boost birth rate: But is it enough

While China's new payout is its boldest pro-birth move yet, it may not counter the deep economic and social pressures driving China's demographic decline

Andhra to unveil policy to tackle declining fertility, says CM Naidu

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said that the state government will soon unveil a new policy framework to address declining fertility rates and demographic imbalance. Speaking at the Amaravati Summit on World Population Day on Friday, Naidu emphasised that population should be treated as the state's greatest economic strength, not a burden. "Population is the nation's strongest economic asset. A robust policy on population growth will be introduced soon," said Naidu, addressing the summit. He observed that rising expenses are deterring young couples from having children, while Parliament seats may increase in the future, southern states could see reduced representation. The CM recalled his earlier efforts promoting family planning and noted that today's demographic trends call for a shift in focus from control to management of population growth. "Before 2004, as CM, I incentivised family planning. We even brought a law disqualifying those with more than two .

Datanomics: Population Day highlights need for demographic dividend plans

India, China, the US, Indonesia, and Pakistan together account for approximately 46 per cent of the world's population

World Population Day 2025: Date, theme, significance and why it matters

World Population Day 2025 is celebrated every year on July 11, highlighting key issues, like population growth, healthcare, sustainability, and rights

In a first, citizens will be able to self-enumerate during upcoming census

A special dedicated web portal will be launched for self-enumeration during the upcoming Census, which will be available for both phases of the national enumeration exercise, officials said Monday. In the country's first digital census, enumerators will collect the data of citizens using mobile applications on their Android and Apple phones, they said. It will also be the first time in the country that citizens will get a chance to self-enumerate through a dedicated web portal which will be available for both the phases of Census - Houselisting and Housing Census (HLO) and Population Enumeration. "Digital Census initiative is a transformational step towards modernising the Census process. For the first time, technology will be used to collect data and send it electronically to the central server. This will result in early availability of Census data," an official said. Very stringent data security measures would be kept in place to ensure data security at the time of collection, ..

Boundaries of administrative units to be frozen on Dec 31, 2025 for Census

The Centre has asked states and Union Territories to make any proposed changes in the boundaries of administrative units before December 31, when they will be considered final for the census exercise. In a letter to all states and Union Territories, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Mritunjay Kumar Narayan has said that for the Census, all villages and towns are divided into uniform enumeration blocks and for each block, an enumerator is assigned to avoid any miss or repetition during the population count. According to norms, the Census can be conducted only three months after the freezing of boundary limits of administrative units such as districts, sub-districts, tehsils, talukas and police stations. Narayan said from April 1, 2026, the Houselisting Operation, the appointment of supervisors and enumerators and the work division among them will be done, and on February 1, 2027, the Census of the population will begin. It is important that once enumeration blocks

Datanomics: South fears delimitation punishment for population control

At stake is fears by southern states that they will lose Lok Sabha seats if delimitation is based on the new census

Govt notifies Census 2027, Cong questions 'silence' on caste enumeration

Centre may consider ST status for Bihar's Nonia community if caste census data shows widespread poverty, Shivraj Chouhan says amid intensifying caste politics

Statsguru: Young India yet to tap demographic dividend, needs a policy push

Among the countries having demographic dividend, India is a noticeable exception that has not harnessed this human resource

India’s population grows, but fertility rate dips | UN report explained

A new UN report says India’s population is now 1.46 billion. But the bigger headline? India’s fertility rate has dipped below the replacement level. What does that mean for India’s future?

Datanomics: UN bats for choice in Freedom vs Population control debate

The report also highlights India's stark "high fertility-low fertility duality," with Bihar and Uttar Pradesh showing high fertility, while Kerala and Tamil Nadu remain well below replacement levels

China to expand pain relief options for childbirth amid population decline

With only 30 per cent of Chinese women currently receiving pain relief during labour, China moves to close the gap and make childbirth more supportive for mothers

India's population at 1.46 bn, fertility drops below replacement rate: UN

India's population is estimated to reach 1.46 billion in 2025, continuing to be the highest in the world, according to a new UN demographic report, which also revealed the country's total fertility rate has fallen below the replacement rate. UNFPA's 2025 State of World Population (SOWP) Report, The Real Fertility Crisis, calls for a shift from panic over falling fertility to addressing unmet reproductive goals. Millions of people are not able to realise their real fertility goals, it asserts. This is the real crisis, not underpopulation or overpopulation, and the answer lies in greater reproductive agency - a person's ability to make free and informed 150 per cent choices about sex, contraception and starting a family, it says. The report also reveals key shifts in population composition, fertility, and life expectancy, signalling a major demographic transition. The report found that India's total fertility rate has declined to 1.9 births per woman, falling below the replacement l