In April, the United Nations estimated that India had overtaken China as the world's most populous country. While the announcement received a great deal of media attention, India's 2024 census will likely reveal that the UN's projections have been vastly overestimated.
According to India's most recent census data, the country's population stood at 1.03 billion in 2001 and 1.21 billion in 2011. The UN's 2022 World Population Prospects (WPP) report, however, put these figures at 1.08 billion and 1.26 billion, respectively. Moreover, India's National Family Health Survey indicated a fertility rate of 1.99 in 2017–19, in contrast to the WPP's estimate of 2.16.
