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India is set to imminently overtake China as the world’s most populous country. Demographic growth is a sensitive topic for both countries, but particularly for the Chinese, who are worried about recent population decline and its impact on domestic productivity.
Still, for all the emphasis on population size, it is just one metric contributing to the development of a country’s labor force – and economic growth. So what else matters? We compare some other indicators impacting India and China’s respective economic trajectories.
In the next few months, India is set to overtake China as the world’s most populous country. With 70% of its people under the age of 64, India is in a prime position to expand its workforce and economic output — and solidify its place as a global economic juggernaut. By contrast, China’s population shrank last year for the first time since the 1960s. The growing elderly demographic is causing massive concerns about Beijing’s growth prospects, forcing the Chinese Communist Party to scrap its one-child policy in recent years. We compare the two countries' population sizes since 1960 and forecasts for the next few decades.
