India to become world's most populated nation in 2023?

India is expected to surpass China and become the world's most-populated nation in 2023. This is four years ahead of the earlier estimate by the United Nations. 

The world's total population is expected to hit 8 billion in 2022, as per UN's report titled World Population Prospects 2022.The report states that the number of people in the world is expected to reach 8 billion on November 15, 2022. 

It further projected that the world's population is expected to hit 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050. The world's total population is expected to peak at around 10.4 billion people in 2080s, which is lower than UN’s 2019 estimate of 11 billion people. 

This was stated by the UN report on the occasion of the World Population Day 2022. Speaking on the same, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, "Reaching a global population of eight billion is a numerical landmark, but our focus must always be on people. In the world we strive to build, 8 billion people means 8 billion opportunities to live dignified and fulfilled lives."

READ ALSO: China’s population crosses 1.4 billion, birthrate shows decline amid fears of shrinking workforce

World's most populated countries 2022

• As per the UN report, over half the projected rise in population is expected to be in just eight countries: India, Pakistan, Egypt, Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania and the Philippines. 
• The Central and Southern Asia may become the world's most populous region in the world by 2037. 
• The population of sub-Saharan Africa is expected to double by late 2040s and cross 2 billion. 
• The population growth rates in Europe and Northern America were almost zero in both 2020 and 2021. 

Which is most populated country in the world?

China is currently the most populated country in the world. However, the nation is expected to experience an absolute decline in its population as early as next year, while India's population is expected to grow. An earlier report had projected India's population to surpass China's population by 2027.

China's population of 1.41 billion has grown at the slowest pace since the 1950s. Though its population has grown by more than five percent over the past decade, the birth rate has shown steady decline, raising the nation's fears over shrinking working population and aging population. 

This comes despite relaxation of China's decades-old strict "one-child policy" amid fear over a looming demographic crisis. 

READ ALSO: China ends two-child policy, allows couples to have three children

India's Population 2022

In India, the total fertility rate is expected to decline to 1.29 births per woman by 2100, instead of UN’s earlier estimate of 1.69 births, as per the UN report that cites data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

Number of Men and Women to be equal by 2050

The report further states that the number of men and women are expected to be equal by 2050. The current global count of 49.7 percent women and 50.3 percent men is expected to be inverted.

World Population Trends

The world's population had reached 7 billion in 2011. It will hit 8 billion this year, 11 years later. 

Earlier, it had taken hundreds of thousands of years for the world population to grow to 1 billion. Later, it grew sevenfold in just another 200 years or so.