India population to exceed China by mid-2023: UN estimates
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India's once-in-a-decade census was due to be held in 2021, but was delayed on account of the COVID-19 epidemic.
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In this photograph newly born babies lie in a maternity ward at a government hospital in Gwalior. (AFP)
UN estimates showed that India is expected to surpass China in terms of population by almost three million people by mid-year.
According to the UN Population Fund's State of the World Population report, India will have 1.428 billion people compared to China's 1.425 billion by mid-2023.
It is worth noting that China's population shrunk for the first time in more than six decades in 2022, as per government data.
The report also forecasted that the global population will reach 8.045 billion by the same date.
India has no recent official data on its population since it has not conducted a census since 2011. The country's once-in-a-decade census was due to be held in 2021 but was delayed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The census is reportedly being hampered by logistical challenges and political resistance, so it is unlikely to be conducted anytime soon.
In order to conceal data on divisive matters like unemployment ahead of the country's elections, some claim that the government is purposefully postponing the census.
Since 1950, when the UN started compiling population figures, India's population has increased by more than one billion, according to the Pew Research Center.
