INDIA’S YOUNG POPULATION

Aug. 1, 2020

The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India released data on Young Population as part of the Sample Registration System (SRS) 2018 report.

Key findings:

  • For the first time, more than half of India’s population, irrespective of gender or whether it’s in urban or rural areas, is now 25 years or older.

  • Overall, the under-25s in 2018 constituted 46.9% of the population. Nationally, 46.3% of the female population was below 25 years of age compared to 47.4% of males.

  • Even among rural men, the proportion of those below 25 years of age had fallen to 49.9% from 50.2% in 2017. In all other categories — urban women, urban men and rural women — those under 25 already constituted less than half the population.

  • As India’s fertility rate goes down steadily along with a rise in life expectancy, the proportion of its young population is shrinking and the median age has been increasing.

  • However, Bihar, with the highest fertility rate of 3.2, had the highest proportion of its population below 25 years, 57.2%, followed by UP with the second-highest fertility rate of 2.9, where the under-25 year population was 52.7%.