India to be most densely populated in the world by 2020

The latest report from United Nations (UN) claims that India will become the most densely populated country in the world in 2020 by over taking China. It will take only another five years for India to become the world’s most populous country.

The population of India in 2015 as per the Worldometer Info report is 1.282 billion which shows an increase of 1.24 percent when compared to 2014. The density is 390 people/square kilometer.  Country’s share of world population is 17.51 percent.

China with 1.357 billion in world population ranks first. United States of America (USA) is in the third position with the population of 316.5 million.

The UN report said that fast-growing Nigeria is on a course to overtake the United States by about 2050 to become the country with the third largest population.

The current global population of 7.3 billion is forecast to reach 9.7 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, slightly above the last set of U.N. projections. The UN report titled “World Population Prospects” claimed that the majority of growth will happen in developing regions, particularly Africa.

The report highlighted that decreasing fertility and rising life expectancy is making the world greyer and most regions will have an ageing population, starting with Europe where one third of the population is projected to be over 60 by 2050. Globally, the number of people aged 80 or over – currently 125 million – is projected to more than triple by 2050 and to increase more than seven times by 2100.

But in Africa, children under 15 account for two fifths of the population.

Who conducts the Population Census in India?

The responsibility of conducting the decennial Census rests with the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India under Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. It may be of historical interest that though the population census of India is a major administrative function; the Census Organisation was set up on an ad-hoc basis for each Census till the 1951 Census. The Census Act was enacted in 1948 to provide for the scheme of conducting population census with duties and responsibilities of census officers.

The Government of India decided in May 1949 to initiate steps for developing systematic collection of statistics on the size of population, its growth, etc., and established an organisation in the Ministry of Home Affairs under Registrar General and ex-Officio Census Commissioner, India. This organisation was made responsible for generating data on population statistics including Vital Statistics and Census. Later, this office was also entrusted with the responsibility of implementation of Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 in the country. Dr C Chandramouli is the present Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.

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Author: Pragit Elayath, a freelance journalist based in South India