Demographics

Visualizing India’s Population Growth from 2022-2100

Published

7 months ago

November 12, 2022

Pablo Alvarez

Featured Creator

Article/Editing:

Carmen Ang

Charting out India's population growth over the years

Visualizing India’s Population Growth from 2022-2100

For years, India has been on track to overtake China as the world’s most populated country.

In fact, we’ve covered this phenomenon in past articles, back when India was expected to overtake China’s population by the end of the decade.

However, according to the UN’s latest population prospects, this takeover is projected to happen sooner than previously expected—as early as next year.

This graphic by Pablo Alvarez provides an up-to-date chart of India’s population growth projections compared to other countries. Projection data from Our World in Data ranges from 1800 all the way to until 2100.

Some Historical Context

For over three centuries, China has had the largest population of any country in the world.

In the 1800s, China’s population was about 322 million, which was nearly double India’s at the time. And until the mid-20th century, both countries’ populations stayed relatively stable.

However, in 1949, China’s population started to experience dramatic growth. This occurred after the Chinese Civil War when the People’s Republic of China was first established.

Around the same time, India’s population had also started to increase. Since both countries were experiencing population booms, the status quo remained the same, and China kept its position as the world’s most populated country.

Year	China's Population	India's Population
1950	543,979,233	357,021,106
1951	553,613,990	364,922,356
1952	564,954,522	372,997,192
1953	577,378,687	381,227,710
1954	589,936,006	389,731,408
1955	603,320,152	398,577,988
1956	616,283,025	407,656,598
1957	630,003,022	416,935,404
1958	643,791,575	426,295,767
1959	652,179,197	435,900,351
1960	654,170,699	445,954,573
1961	655,260,384	456,351,883
1962	664,614,653	467,024,195
1963	683,903,564	477,933,620
1964	704,593,776	489,059,307
1965	723,846,349	500,114,347
1966	742,948,545	510,992,615
1967	761,006,267	521,987,066
1968	780,371,962	533,431,917
1969	801,430,969	545,314,679
1970	822,534,453	557,501,303
1971	843,285,425	569,999,181
1972	862,840,402	582,837,969
1973	881,652,084	596,107,487
1974	899,367,646	609,721,954
1975	915,124,664	623,524,225
1976	929,375,929	637,451,444
1977	942,581,333	651,685,632
1978	955,138,940	666,267,761
1979	968,298,969	681,248,379
1980	982,372,463	696,828,379
1981	997,259,502	712,869,300
1982	1,013,483,168	729,169,469
1983	1,029,226,907	745,826,550
1984	1,044,172,200	762,895,161
1985	1,060,239,983	780,242,087
1986	1,077,770,524	797,878,992
1987	1,096,851,842	815,716,128
1988	1,115,889,802	833,729,683
1989	1,134,414,721	852,012,670
1990	1,153,704,251	870,452,162
1991	1,170,626,176	888,941,763
1992	1,183,813,393	907,574,051
1993	1,195,855,556	926,351,289
1994	1,207,286,682	945,261,956
1995	1,218,144,429	964,279,137
1996	1,228,298,833	983,281,216
1997	1,237,801,449	1,002,335,231
1998	1,246,836,111	1,021,434,572
1999	1,255,433,237	1,040,500,049
2000	1,264,099,069	1,059,633,672
2001	1,272,739,587	1,078,970,908
2002	1,280,926,121	1,098,313,030
2003	1,288,873,365	1,117,415,122
2004	1,296,816,706	1,136,264,583
2005	1,304,887,557	1,154,638,717
2006	1,313,086,568	1,172,373,788
2007	1,321,513,227	1,189,691,814
2008	1,330,167,144	1,206,734,803
2009	1,339,125,592	1,223,640,160
2010	1,348,191,371	1,240,613,616
2011	1,357,095,485	1,257,621,190
2012	1,366,560,818	1,274,487,221
2013	1,376,100,301	1,291,132,067
2014	1,385,189,671	1,307,246,508
2015	1,393,715,448	1,322,866,506
2016	1,401,889,685	1,338,636,336
2017	1,410,275,956	1,354,195,684
2018	1,417,069,462	1,369,003,309
2019	1,421,864,032	1,383,112,049
2020	1,424,929,785	1,396,387,128
2021	1,425,893,463	1,407,563,841
2022	1,425,887,335	1,417,173,176
2023	1,425,671,353	1,428,627,666
2024	1,425,178,781	1,441,719,857
2025	1,424,381,923	1,454,606,728
2026	1,423,255,200	1,467,231,220
2027	1,421,809,061	1,479,578,524
2028	1,420,045,577	1,491,671,044
2029	1,417,974,640	1,503,470,599
2030	1,415,605,903	1,514,994,087
2031	1,412,946,006	1,526,208,895
2032	1,410,012,870	1,537,108,031
2033	1,406,810,382	1,547,689,840
2034	1,403,314,820	1,557,919,804
2035	1,399,547,502	1,567,802,259
2036	1,395,546,725	1,577,302,810
2037	1,391,338,419	1,586,438,626
2038	1,386,952,001	1,595,245,784
2039	1,382,367,126	1,603,664,860
2040	1,377,556,940	1,611,676,335
2041	1,372,522,392	1,619,318,358
2042	1,367,267,098	1,626,585,371
2043	1,361,737,253	1,633,430,527
2044	1,355,912,814	1,639,837,776
2045	1,349,756,905	1,645,863,188
2046	1,343,210,239	1,651,513,758
2047	1,336,262,905	1,656,777,044
2048	1,328,873,608	1,661,705,661
2049	1,321,004,204	1,666,284,988
2050	1,312,636,324	1,670,490,601
2051	1,303,756,602	1,674,343,637
2052	1,294,381,084	1,677,872,878
2053	1,284,539,872	1,681,073,177
2054	1,274,244,757	1,683,955,037
2055	1,263,512,556	1,686,563,352
2056	1,252,371,986	1,688,894,376
2057	1,240,879,994	1,690,942,710
2058	1,229,126,155	1,692,704,326
2059	1,217,157,937	1,694,150,262
2060	1,205,020,648	1,695,285,494
2061	1,192,805,228	1,696,121,515
2062	1,180,553,371	1,696,684,918
2063	1,168,316,255	1,696,976,688
2064	1,156,145,637	1,696,961,377
2065	1,144,050,918	1,696,634,190
2066	1,132,053,398	1,695,973,643
2067	1,120,182,121	1,694,997,001
2068	1,108,424,587	1,693,712,645
2069	1,096,787,133	1,692,129,035
2070	1,085,287,618	1,690,230,784
2071	1,073,902,390	1,687,990,288
2072	1,062,612,889	1,685,415,098
2073	1,051,380,906	1,682,564,511
2074	1,040,194,851	1,679,449,249
2075	1,029,035,603	1,676,034,859
2076	1,017,860,464	1,672,328,378
2077	1,006,663,152	1,668,352,088
2078	995,438,014	1,664,100,419
2079	984,185,395	1,659,592,784
2080	972,906,889	1,654,856,929
2081	961,612,987	1,649,862,775
2082	950,338,410	1,644,678,011
2083	939,100,117	1,639,364,769
2084	927,912,383	1,633,888,924
2085	916,808,804	1,628,242,630
2086	905,821,024	1,622,427,549
2087	894,960,259	1,616,451,908
2088	884,243,889	1,610,366,043
2089	873,694,704	1,604,195,815
2090	863,319,537	1,597,908,860
2091	853,111,768	1,591,484,817
2092	843,067,031	1,584,943,122
2093	833,162,187	1,578,296,210
2094	823,380,981	1,571,569,445
2095	813,718,728	1,564,797,337
2096	804,153,592	1,557,945,215
2097	794,673,485	1,551,000,312
2098	785,270,315	1,543,990,233
2099	775,944,429	1,536,933,456
2100	766,673,268	1,529,850,116

China’s baby boom lasted two decades. But by the late 1970s, the Chinese government implemented a one-child policy in an attempt to slow things down and control population growth, out of fear that China was becoming overpopulated.

The plan worked—according to China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission spokesman Mao Qunan, the government’s efforts ended up reducing the number of births over the years by roughly 400 million.

China’s Population is Aging Faster Than India’s

These days, China has one of the most rapidly aging populations in the world. By 2040, it’s expected that 28% of the country’s population will be over the age of 60.

In contrast, India’s population is relatively young—half of its population is under 30, and only an eighth is over 60.

Does this mean that India’s GDP will eventually outpace China’s? Not necessarily.

As quoted in an article published in Business Standard, Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist of the Bank of Baroda says that India needs to increase its labor participation, as well as general access to education, in order to reap the benefits of its increasing working-age population.

As of 2022, India’s workforce participation rate sits at 46%, compared to China’s 68%. How will this change in the future?

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Misc

Ranked: The Cities with the Most Skyscrapers in 2023

We rank the world’s leading cities with the most skyscrapers, highlighting China’s remarkable dominance in building vertically.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2023

Jeff Desjardins

Ranked: The Cities with the Most Skyscrapers in 2023

When it comes to soaring skylines and architectural marvels, no country has embraced the vertical revolution quite like China.

In this graphic, which uses data from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), we reveal the 25 cities with the most skyscrapers and supertall buildings globally.

Unsurprisingly, China’s cities dominate the list, solidifying the country’s reputation as a global powerhouse of tall buildings.

The 25 Top Cities by Skyscraper Count

Topping the charts is Hong Kong, with an impressive 657 skyscrapers, including six supertalls (buildings over 300 meters tall).

Rank	City	Country	Skyscrapers (>150m)	Supertalls (>300m)
1	Hong Kong	🇨🇳 China	657	6
2	Shenzhen	🇨🇳 China	513	16
3	New York City	🇺🇸 United States	421	16
4	Dubai	🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates	395	28
5	Guangzhou	🇨🇳 China	254	11
6	Shanghai	🇨🇳 China	250	5
7	Kuala Lumpur	🇲🇾 Malaysia	211	5
8	Chongqing	🇨🇳 China	205	5
9	Tokyo	🇯🇵 Japan	200	0
10	Wuhan	🇨🇳 China	183	5
11	Chicago	🇺🇸 United States	178	7
12	Jakarta	🇮🇩 Indonesia	160	1
13	Chengdu	🇨🇳 China	150	0
14	Bangkok	🇹🇭 Thailand	133	3
15	Shenyang	🇨🇳 China	129	3
16	Singapore	🇸🇬 Singapore	128	0
17	Nanning	🇨🇳 China	122	6
18	Mumbai	🇮🇳 India	114	0
19	Tianjin	🇨🇳 China	109	3
20	Nanjing	🇨🇳 China	108	7
21	Toronto	🇨🇦 Canada	106	0
22	Busan	🇰🇷 South Korea	106	4
23	Seoul	🇰🇷 South Korea	104	2
24	Changsha	🇨🇳 China	97	5
25	Melbourne	🇦🇺 Australia	94	1

Hong Kong, along with Shenzhen (#2), and Guangzhou (#5) are part of the burgeoning megacity known as the Pearl River Delta, which is home to over 1,500 skyscrapers. This is even more impressive when considering that Shenzhen was a small fishing village until the 1970s.

New York City secures the third position on the list, boasting an impressive tally of 421 skyscrapers. Although it may have relinquished its title to Chinese cities, the city’s skyline endures as a globally renowned symbol, prominently featuring the iconic Empire State Building. Notably, while the Empire State Building enjoys widespread familiarity, it no longer ranks among the world’s 50 tallest structures.

Rounding out the top five is Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, which grabs the fourth position with 395 skyscrapers, a staggering 28 of which are supertalls. This desert oasis has become synonymous with grandiose architecture and record-breaking structures, exemplified by the Burj Khalifa, which is the world’s current tallest building at 828 meters (2,715 ft).

China’s Numbers in Context

Looking at this data from another perspective, China actually has more skyscrapers on this list than the rest of the world combined.

Country	Cities in Top 25	Skyscrapers	Supertalls
🇨🇳 China	12	2777	72
🌐 Rest of World	13	2350	67

China’s rapid urbanization, economic growth, and ambitious construction projects have fueled this impressive feat. There’s no doubt that the country’s relentless pursuit of vertical development, coupled with its booming population and thriving cities, has positioned China as the unrivaled leader in the global skyscraper race.

The Future of the Global Skyline

As the world continues to reach new heights in architectural marvels, there are even more supertall skyscrapers in the pipeline that will reshape skylines across the globe.

From the soaring Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, poised to surpass the Burj Khalifa as the world’s tallest building, to the remarkable Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, which is set to claim the title of the world’s second-tallest structure when it opens in June 2023, these projects will captivate city dwellers for years to come.

Even as these new monumental buildings rise, China’s prominence in the world of skyscrapers—with three cities in the top five globally—is likely to remain unchallenged.