DEMOGRAPHIC

TREND OF INDIA
DEMOGRAPHY OF INDIA – A GLANCE
A. IMPORTANCE
B. MEANING AND DEFINITION
C. NATURE OF THE STUDY
* SIZE
* COMPOSITION
* DISTRIBUTION
D. DEMOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF INDIA
* SIZE AND GROWTH RATE OF POPULATION
* DENSITY OF POPULATION
* AGE COMPOSITION
* LITERACY RATE
* RURAL URBAN DISTRIBUTION OF
POPULATION
E. SOME FACTS AND FIGURES OF OUR POPULATION
 Importance
Study of demography is increasingly assuming more importance not
only in India but all over the world.

Primarily, ever-growing population in developing countries is

straining social, economic and even political system of nations.

The importance of population studies is increasing

 There is realization that population explosion is hindering economic

development.

Significance of population studies was realized even in earlier period.

Demography today can neither be ignored by the planners nor policy
maker, nor administrators nor by academicians and politicians.
 Meaning and Definition

Demography is the study of changes which take place in population

including its size, distribution and organization. It has been derived
from the Latin word “demos” meaning people. Hence, it is the
science of people.

As regards definition of this term, it has been defined in various

ways by different authors. Some of these are given below.
 Frank Lorimar
“In broad sense demography includes both demographic analysis and
population studies. A broad study of demography studies both qualitative
and quantitative aspects of population.”

W.G. Brackley

“Demography does not deal with the behaviour of individuals but only
with the aggregate of people. The numerical portrayal of human population
is known as demography”.
 Benard Benjamin

 “The demographer is concerned with the measuring past and forecasting

future population change”.

Thompson and Lewis

The most appropriate definition is given by Thompson & Lewis ; that is
 “The DEMOGRAPHIC studies is concerned with the population, its size,
composition and distribution and in changes in these aspects through time,
and the causes of there changes as they are related to human welfare.”
 UNO
 According to UNO under demography we study all determinants and
consequences of population.
 Thus, demography deals with study of the components of population
varieties and chance.
 NATURE OF THE STUDY
Three main aspects are concerned under demography.
Size and growth of the population, Composition of
population and Distribution of population.

1. Size : This deals with the number of people living in an

area and what changes are taking place and how these
changes are affected.
 In a demographic study, the concern is not only in
finding out
 How many people live in a particular area at a given
point of time
 Whether the number is larger than what it was, but also,
 What would be the likely number in future.
These can be due to increase in the rates of death and birth,
or on account of increased migration, etc.
2. Composition:
Composition of population mainly
related to certain characteristics.
Age, Sex & Literacy are most widely used
characteristics of population study.
According to Thompson & Lewis composition
of a population affects demographic
processes.
3. Distribution:
 Population distribution study is concerned
with matters like
 how are the people distributed
 what is the nature of changes in population
distribution.
 To find out the proportion of population living
in advanced urban industrial areas, newly
developing out growing urban industrial areas
and rural areas and the ways in which changes
are taking place in each category.
 Demographic features of India
It shows mainly the number of people living in a country at a
particular time, the rate at which they are growing and the
composition and distribution of population.
 Size and Growth rate of population:
India today possesses about 2.4 percent of the total land area of
the world but she has to support about 17 percent of the world
population. A study of growth rate of India’s population falls
into four phases.
1891-1921: STAGNANT POPULATION

1921-1951: STEADY GROWTH

1951-1981: RAPID HIGH GROWTH

1981-2001: HIGH GROWTH WITH SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN

 TABLE -1
GROWTH OF POPULATION IN INDIA – 1901-2001

Total population Increase or Decrease Percentage increase or Growth Rate

Year (in Millions) ( in Millions) decrease

1901 236 -- --

1911 252 +16 5.7

1921 251 -1 -0.3 0.19

1931 279 +28 11.0

1941 319 +40 14.2

1951 361 +42 13.3 1.22

1961 439 +78 21.5

1971 548 +109 24.8

1981 683 +135 24.7 2.14

1991 844 +161 23.5

2001 1027 +183 21.3 1.09

 During the first phase of 20 years ( 1901-
1921), the population of India grew by 15
million. The growth rate per annum was
negligible, i.e. 0.19 percent per annum for
the period.
 This stage was characterized by high birth
rate and high death rate. Birth and death
rates were more or less equal during this
period.
 In this period India was in the first stage
of demographic transaction, which
marked by stagnant population.
 During the second phase of 30 years (1921-
1951), the population of India grew by 110
million. The growth rate of population
was 1.22 percent per annum. The growth
rate was considered as moderate.
 During the third phase (1951-1981), the
population of India grew from 361 mn
from 1951 to 683 mn in 1981. The growth
rate of population during this period was
2.14 percent. Compared to previous phase
the growth rate is almost double. It is
resulted in population explosion. Thus,
India is now in the second stage of
demographic transaction when death rate
is low but the birth rate is high.
 According to latest estimate the
population of India in 2005 is 1.1 billion.
And it will increase to 1.4 billion by 2026.
There is a projection that it may surpass
China by 2025. If we compare India’s
population growth with the most
populous country in the world China, we
can find the following facts
 WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT – 2004

India and China account for nearly 38 percent of the world population.
It may be noted that the average annual growth of population has declined
to 1.1 percent in China, where as in India it is still quite high at 1.9
percentage.

It is a very interesting fact that India is adding one Australia to its population
every year and one Japan in every Census.

Country Population In Annual Growth Rate

Billion to total

India 1.1 17 1.9

China 1.3 21 1.1

 Density of population

 The density of population is considered as one of the important

demographic features.
 It refers to the average number of persons living per square kilometer of
area within the territory of the country. It can be calculated by dividing the
total population of a country by its total area.
 If we compare the figure it was 77 persons living per square km. in 1901, which
became 267 in 1991 and it rose to 324 per sq.km. in 2001.

 As per the latest estimate of 2006 the population density per square
kilometer is 338 in India.

 However, density of population is very unevenly distributed.

 Age Composition
The study of age composition is helpful in determining the proportion of the labour
force in the total population. The working age of the population is considered as 15-60.
On this basis percentage distributions of India’s population is shown in the Table -3.

TABLE – 3
AGE COMPOSITION ( IN PERCENTAGE )
AGE GROUP
0-14 15-59 60+
Year
1961 41.0 53.3 5.7
1971 41.4 53.4 5.2
1981 39.7 54.1 6.2
1991 36.5 57.1 6.4
2001 35.6 58.2 6.3

This figures indicate that the proportion of child population in the 0-14 age
group was 35.6 percent in 2001.
The principal reason is high birth rate. A high proportion of children
only reflects a large proportion of unproductive consumers.
It can be observed that nearly 43 percent of the total population
depends upon the rest 57 percent of the working population.
 TABLE - 4

POPULATION BY BROAD AGE - GROUPS

( AGE GROUP ) PERCENTAGE POPULATION

YEAR 0-14 15-59 60+ TOTAL

2006 32.1 60.4 7.5 100

2011 29.1 62.6 8.3 100

2016 26.8 63.9 9.3 100

2021 25.1 64.2 10.7 100

2026 23.3 64.3 12.4 100

•As the figure shows there is decline in the child population in 2006. It is reflect
in lower birth rate.
•The dependency ratio is also declining. That is in 2006 nearly 40% of our
population depends on the rest 60%.
•By 2020 25% of the India’s population will be under 15 and 64% will be in the
working age group.
•And by this time the US will require 17 million workers, Japan 9 million, China
10 million and Russia 6 million.
•India can earn a rich demographic dividend if it sets about giving its young
people the right skills.
 Sex Composition
Sex composition gives us an idea about the number of females in a region
per 1000 males.
TABLE – 5
SEX RATIO IN INDIA

Year Females / 1000 Males

1981 934
1991 927
2001 933
2006 932

It can be seen that there is a slight improvement in the sex ratio in 2001
compared to 1991 census. Among the various states of India, Kerala alone
shows a higher proportion of female 1058 per 1000 males in 2001. In Orissa it is
972 per 1000 males. It is lowest in Harayana ( 861/1000) followed by Punjab
(874/1000) and U.P. ( 898/1000). It is observed that poverty and IMR are the two
main determining factors of a declining sex ratio.
 Literacy Rate
The quality of population can be judged from life expectancy, the level of
literacy and the level of technical training of the people of a country. It is

presented in a Tabular form

TABLE – 6
LITERACY RATE IN INDIA

Year Persons Male Female

1991 52.2 64.1 39.3
2001 65.4 75.8 54.1

•One important and widely accepted parameter of Human Development is

the percentage of literate people in the total population.

•Kerala has the highest literacy rate of 90.92 percent and Bihar has the
lowest percentage of literates ( 47.53). In Orissa it is 63.61.

•The overall literacy level in India is 65% which is far below the cent percent
level of literacy achieved in Australia, Canada, UK and the US.
 Rural Urban Distribution of Population

Another notable feature of a country’s population is the distribution pattern

of the population in rural and urban areas.
 Urbanization is taken as an index for economic development.
 Urbanization refers to the settlement of people in the urban areas coming
from rural areas. This takes place because of the growth of industries,
availability of education and health care facilities, development of transport
and communication and greater areas for employment.
 Higher rate of growth of population leads to the increase of the member of
rural labours seeking employment. They come to the urban sector,
increasing the number of the urban population. In India rural-urban
migration has been visibly observed in our demographic scenario. It can be
observed from the table.
 TABLE - 7
RURAL – URBAN DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION

1921 Rural Urban Percentage increase in urban Population

1921 88.7 11.3 --

1931 87.8 12.2 +19.1
1941 85.9 14.1 +32.1
1951 82.7 17.3 +43.2
1961 82.0 18.0 +25.3
1971 80.1 19.9 +38.0
1981 76.7 23.3 +46.8
1991 74.3 25.7 +35.6
2001 72.2 27.8 +31.2

It can be visible from the table that rural urban migration has become a persistent
and continues phenomenon in our demographic map. Migration is a critical
aspect of the demographic trends. Currently 27.8% of the population is urbanized
in India but this is expected to rise to 40.7% by 2030 and even more.
 SOME OF THE RAPID URBANIZARS ARE
RAPID URBANIZARS
2007 2015 2025

PUNJAB 37 40.8 45.8

GUJURAT 39.3 41.7 44.8
TAMILNADU 50.9 59.1 68.7
MAHARASTRA 44.9 48.0 51.9
MIZORAM 52.0 54.8 58.3

SLOW URBANIZARS
2007 2015 2025

WESTBENGAL 28.3 28.7 29.2

BIHAR 10.5 10.5 10.5
ASSAM 14.2 16.0 18.4
UP 21.5 22.5 23.5
ORISSA 16.1 17.6 19.7
INDIA 29.2 31.1 33.3
 It is evident that urbanization is a very slow process in India. With a
showing down of the population growth rate in the coming decades and
with an acceleration in the tempo of industrialization, it is expected that the
extent of urbanization in India may show a significant change.
 Thus, the study of demography is of utmost importance due to its
application in solving many population problem, may it be political,
economic, social and administrative.
 Particularly economy of a country cannot be studied independently of its
population and as such economic development.
 The increasing growth rate of population lowers per capita income,
standard of living and put pressure as limited Natural Resources, food
supply, housing, education, employment, health etc.
 Demography as a subject is increasingly becoming popular on account of
their practical utility in every walk of life. it is also assuming popularity and
importance because it is closely related to other subjects of social sciences.
 Rural Urban Income Disparity
 Over 73 % of people live in rural area,
while they get only 48 % of National
income.
 It also shows the per capita income
differential between rural and urban
sector.
 The ratio of rural - urban per capita
income ahs been increasing indicating that
PCI in the urban areas is almost three
times that of rural areas.
 Income disparity between
States
 There was a sharp increase in regional inequality in
India during the 1990s.
 In 2002-2003, the per capita Net State Domestic
Product (NSDP) of the richest state, Punjab, was
about 4.7 times that of Bihar, the poorest state.
 This ratio had increased from 4.2 in 1993-1994. The
time-series graph of this ratio shows that the disparity
between the richest and poorest state shot up
remarkably during the 1990s
 SOME FACTS ONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT OUR POPULATION
 The growth rate of the labour force is faster than that of the
population. While the population is expected to grow by 1.4% per
annum during the eleventh plan period the labour force is expected
to grow by 2%.
 The Teacher Pupil ratio in Indian primary schools is 1:41, while in
China it is 1:21.
 Female labour force participation rate has increased marginally
from 42% in 1990 to 45% in 2005.
 According to UNESCO 13.5 million Indian children are not enrolled
in schools.
 There are also 40 million slums in India.

Although the task is tough if India provides the right environment for the army
of young people then it can became a prosperous nation. If not it will remain a
poor country.
Thank You