India displaced China as the world’s most populous country last year, but leaders in the country are pushing for citizens to have more children.
The population of India is estimated to be a staggering 1,455,132,618 as of October 28 2024, equivalent to 17.8% of the total world population.
India’s population has exploded in recent decades, doubling to 1.2 billion between 1975 and 2010 and reaching one billion in 2000.
However, the leaders of the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have recently called for people to have larger families, with the former weighing up incentives. They point to an ageing population and low fertility rates, as per BBC News.
Andhra Pradesh has also dropped its “two-child policy” for local body elections, and neighbouring Telangana may soon follow suit, according to reports.
N. Chandrababu Naidu, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, has warned the region that it will face a ticking time bomb as it is currently failing to reach the “replacement level” for fertility.
The fertility rate was 5.7 births per woman in 1950, and the current rate of two reflects a significant fall.
According to experts, countries in the developed world require an average birth rate of 2.1 to increase or maintain their population, a metric known as the “replacement rate.”
In India, fertility rates have dropped below the two-birth replacement level in 17 of the 29 states and territories, prompting concern among authorities.
Five southern Indian states that previously led India’s demographic transition now have total fertility rates below 1.6, which either match or are lower than many European nations.
Representatives in these states fear that shifting demographics will significantly impact electoral representation and the state-wide allocation of federal revenues and parliamentary seats.
Srinivas Goli, a professor of demography at the International Institute for Population Sciences, told the outlet: “They fear being penalised for their effective population control policies, despite being better economic performers and contributing significantly to federal revenues,”
India is preparing for the delimitation of electoral seats in 2026, reintroduced for the first time in decades.
The process sees seats allotted based on the population. Electoral boundaries have been redrawn to reflect population shifts, and economically prosperous southern states will likely have their parliamentary seats reduced.
India isn’t alone in facing a population problem, with concerns growing in Europe about declining populations. In September, the EU discussed a report that revealed the strain on welfare systems and public finances with a sharp fall in working-age citizens and a spike in the number of older people.
Experts have also warned the US faces a “silver tsunami” after figures suggested that by 2035, older adults will outnumber children for the first time in the country’s history.
Japan’s birth rate is also continuing to plummet, while North Korea has reportedly issued punishments to retailers selling contraceptives.
On the other hand, some regions are seeing the opposite. The population of sub-Saharan Africa is projected to see a major surge, with numbers expected to double by 2050, according to the UN.
