India is called a country of youth, but by the end of the century it may be called a country of old people. This claim has been made in the 'India Aging Report 2023' of the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF). Read the shocking report.
India is called a country of youth, but by the end of the century it may become a country of old people. This claim has been made in the 'India Aging Report 2023' of the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF). The report says, the elderly population is increasing rapidly in India. Currently, India is among the countries with the highest population of youth, but changing figures show that this picture may change.
According to the report, at present the number of elderly people above 60 years is around 15 crores. These constitute 10.5 percent of the country's population. In 2021, the population of elderly people above 60 years of age was 10.1 percent, which is expected to increase to 15 percent by 2036 and to 20.8 percent by 2015. The report says that by the end of the century the elderly population will exceed 36 percent.
How did this happen?
How is the number of youth in the country decreasing and the number of elderly increasing? This question has been answered in the report. In fact, the elderly population in India has increased decade after decade since 1961. Although it grew slowly till 2001, the rate has increased since then. Statistics show that since 2010, the number of people under 15 years of age has declined and the number of elderly people has increased. It has been said in the report that if the situation continues like this, India will become a country of old people.
How many youth in India?
Till now it is believed that India has the largest number of youth in the world. If compared with the most populous China, the number of youth in India is 47 percent more than that there. At present, out of the population of 138 crore in the country, there are 25 crore youth whose age is between 15 to 25 years.
If we understand in simple language, 18 percent of the population is youth. Whereas in China there are only 17 crore youth who fit the standards of the United Nations. Looked at this way, only 12 percent of China's population is youth.
Whom does India consider as youth?
In India, till 2014, people aged between 13 to 35 years were categorized as youth, but the National Youth Policy in 2014 changed this standard. According to the new policy, only those whose age is 15 to 30 years are considered youth in government records. Seen this way, more than 37 crore population of the country is youth.
At the same time, China's Youth Development Plan considers people up to 35 years of age as youth. Even in Southern African countries, people up to 35 years of age have been called youth. If seen in this way, India has a population of about 48 crore youth.
Why is the youth population decreasing?
The same thing has been said in the Central Government's report 'Youth in India 2022' regarding youth. The report says, India is now becoming a country of old people. By 2036, only 34.55 crore population of the country will be youth. In the next 15 years, the number of youth will decrease and the population of elderly will increase. Now let us know the reason for this.
Three major reasons are being cited for the decline in youth population.
Falling fertility rate: The fertility rate in the country is falling year after year. If we understand in simple language, the number of children a woman gives birth to on an average is called fertility rate. The fertility rate was 2.4 in 2011, which came down to 2.1 in 2019. That means it decreased further.
Death Rate: The death rate is decreasing in India. This can be understood from the crude death rate. Crude death rate means the number of deaths per 1 thousand people. In 2011 it was 7.1 and in 2019 the crude death rate decreased to 6.0.
Infant Mortality Rate: Infant Mortality Rate i.e. death rate of newborn. This gives information about how many newborns died per birth of 1000 children. Its situation has improved since before, but there has not been much change.
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