India left China behind in terms of population, but large population will prove to be demographic dividend

India Population Report 2023: In terms of population, India has now left China behind. The population of India has increased to 142.8 crore while China is now behind India with a population of 142.5 crore. UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) has released the data. But with the coming of these figures, challenges have also increased along with concerns for India.

Indian economy is 5 times smaller than China

Even though India has gone ahead in terms of population than China. But in every aspect of economic scale, India is far behind China. While the size of China’s economy is $17.73 trillion, the size of India’s economy is only $3.18 trillion. That is, China’s economy is five times bigger than the Indian economy. The unemployment rate in India is close to 7 percent while in China it is less than 5 percent.

Only 57% of India’s population is in the workforce

According to the report that has come about the population, 25 percent of the population is below 15 years, while around 25 percent of the population is between the age of 15 to 25 years. The average age of India is 28 years. 65 percent of the total population is below 35 years of age. Our population in the age group of 10 to 24 years is 26 percent whereas in China it is only 18 percent. Three decades ago, when China’s economy started picking up, 85 percent of its total population was involved in the workforce. Whereas in India it is only 52 percent. Women’s participation in the workforce is only 20 per cent in India, compared to 61 per cent in China and a global average of 47 per cent. India will have to put a lot of emphasis on skill development to include its large population in the workforce. According to UNFPA’s Indian representative Andrea Wojner, India’s large population has the potential to become an economic superpower.

The challenge of providing employment to the growing population

India is aiming to become the fifth largest economy in the world. However, along with this, some things are becoming a cause of concern. The big problem before India is to provide employment to the youth population who are rapidly joining the workforce. But the degrees of these youth are becoming an obstacle in their desire to get employment. Bloomberg’s report said that the biggest problem is qualified people. There are employment opportunities, companies also need them, but the corporate world is not able to find better skilled people.

Employment opportunities will have to be increased

India’s large population is like a double edged sword. To take advantage of it, employment opportunities in crores have to be increased in the country. Because every year lakhs of people join the workforce. Investment has to be attracted to increase employment opportunities. According to the report of Wish Bank, investment growth in India increased at an annual rate of 10.5 percent between 2000 and 2010, which has decreased to 5.7 percent between 2011 and 2021. Despite the improvement in the rank of Ease of Doing Business, the pace of investment has slowed down. The PLI scheme that the central government has brought for different sectors will create 60 lakh new employment opportunities. However, considering India’s growing labor market, this is not enough.

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