UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th July, 2022) India will surpass China as the world's most populous nation by 2023, the United Nations World Population Prospect 2022 report said on Monday.
"We currently projected India will surpass China to become the world's most populous nation as early as next year, 2023," UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population (DESAP) Director John Wilmoth said during a briefing on the report.
Wilmoth said India has generally had a higher fertility rate than China, which is why it has slowly caught up in terms of population growth and is now poised to overtake China.
Wilmoth also said November 15 is estimated to be the day when the world population exceeds eight billion people. However, the United Nations has cautioned that margin of error is plus or minus one year or more.
The available population statistics depend on the censuses conducted in individual countries. The UN DEASP office has been tracking the census bureaus' reports and reassessing its estimates. India's crossover was initially projected to take place in 2027, but as the numbers coming out of China changed, the United Nations reevaluated its projection to the current one.
