India population to surpass China mid-year: UN
This file photo taken on October 23, 2022, shows people walking in a market in Jalandhar.
India is set to overtake China as the world's most populous country by mid-year with almost 3 million more people, UN estimates showed on Wednesday.
India's population will be 1.4286 billion compared with China's 1.4257 billion at mid-year, the United Nations Population Fund's State of World Population report showed.
China's population shrank last year for the first time in more than six decades, official data showed earlier this year.
The report also estimated that the global population will have hit 8.045 billion by the same date.
India has no recent official data on how many people it has because it has not conducted a census since 2011.
India's once-in-a-decade census was due to be held in 2021 but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It is now bogged down by logistical hurdles and political reluctance, making it unlikely the massive exercise will begin anytime soon.
According to the Pew Research Centre, India's population has grown by more than 1 billion people since 1950, the year the UN began gathering population data.
