India may have surpassed China by 5 million as far as population is concerned: Report

India may have already surpassed China as the world's most populous nation which highlights the need for the nation to create more jobs and avoid an economic fallout.

According to estimates from the World Population Review (WPR), an independent body focused on demographics, India's population climbed to 1.417 billion in the year ending 2022, therefore surpassing China by over five million. For the first time in decades, China registered a shrink in its population which stood at 1.412 billion as its birthrate plunged, official figures revealed on Tuesday.

The National Bureau of Statistics in China said the country had 1.41175 billion people at the end of 2022, compared with 1.41260 billion a year earlier. The figures registered a fall of 850,000 people in China, the first since 1961.

In the long term, UN experts see China’s population shrinking by 109 million by 2050, more than triple the decline of their previous forecast in 2019. This will mean a shrinking labour force and a greater burden on healthcare and other social security costs, reported The Independent. 

Both India and China now have more than 1.4 billion residents each, something which is bound to have major implications for the two largest growing economies on the planet. In a press conference on Tuesday, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India counsellor Wang Xiaojian said both countries should benefit from a“demographic dividend” when asked about the new statistics. “China and India both have a large population and rich labour resources. It is important for both countries to benefit wisely from the demographic dividend for development and rejuvenation and make a greater contribution to the future of humanity,” he said.

According to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s 2021 data, India’s working-age population stands at over 900 million highlighting the urge for more employment in the subcontinent.

China's birth rate drops to record low figures

For the first time in six decades, China has experienced a drop in its population with the national birth rate plunging to 6.77 births per 1,000 women, according to BBC. The country’s birth rate being on a downward trajectory has prompted a string of policies put in place by the Chinese government to slow the trend.

The birth rate also experienced a steep decline from 7.52 in 2021, as per the figures released by China's National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. “China’s population declined for the first time since 1961,” said Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.

“The population will likely trend down from here in the coming years. This is very important, with implications for potential growth and domestic demand,” Zhiwei said, according to South China Morning Post. The country has now reached an "era of negative population growth," years after it dismantled its one-child policy. Furthermore, the number of deaths surpassed the number of births in 2022 for the first time.