India People - 2024

Population

1,399,179,585 (2023 est.)

Nationality

noun: Indian(s)

adjective: Indian

Ethnic groups

Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, and other 3% (2000)

Languages

Hindi 43.6%, Bengali 8%, Marathi 6.9%, Telugu 6.7%, Tamil 5.7%, Gujarati 4.6%, Urdu 4.2%, Kannada 3.6%, Odia 3.1%, Malayalam 2.9%, Punjabi 2.7%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.1%, other 5.6%; note - English enjoys the status of subsidiary official language but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; there are 22 other officially recognized languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language (2011 est.)

major-language sample(s):

विश्व फ़ैक्टबुक, आधारभूत जानकारी का एक अनिवार्य स्रोत (Hindi)

The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Religions

Hindu 79.8%, Muslim 14.2%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.7%, other and unspecified 2% (2011 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 24.77% (male 182,143,540/female 164,492,120)

15-64 years: 68.42% (male 494,814,550/female 462,533,456)

65 years and over: 6.8% (2023 est.) (male 43,860,101/female 51,335,818)

2023 population pyramid:

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 48.1

youth dependency ratio: 38.1

elderly dependency ratio: 10.1

potential support ratio: 9.9 (2021 est.)

Median age

total: 29.5 years (2023 est.)

male: 28.8 years

female: 30.2 years

Population growth rate

0.7% (2023 est.)

Birth rate

16.5 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Death rate

9.7 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Net migration rate

0.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Population distribution

with the notable exception of the deserts in the northwest, including the Thar Desert, and the mountain fringe in the north, a very high population density exists throughout most of the country; the core of the population is in the north along the banks of the Ganges, with other river valleys and southern coastal areas also having large population concentrations

Urbanization

urban population: 36.4% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 2.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas - population

32.941 million NEW DELHI (capital), 21.297 million Mumbai, 15.333 million Kolkata, 13.608 million Bangalore, 11.776 million Chennai, 10.801 million Hyderabad (2023)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.1 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.11 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female

total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

21.2 years (2019/21)

note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49

Maternal mortality ratio

103 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 30.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)

male: 30 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 30.8 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 67.7 years (2023 est.)

male: 66 years

female: 69.6 years

Total fertility rate

2.07 children born/woman (2023 est.)

Gross reproduction rate

0.98 (2023 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

66.7% (2019/20)

Drinking water source

improved: urban: 96.9% of population

rural: 94.7% of population

total: 95.5% of population

unimproved: urban: 3.1% of population

rural: 5.3% of population

total: 4.5% of population (2020 est.)

Current health expenditure

3% of GDP (2020)

Physicians density

0.74 physicians/1,000 population (2020)

Hospital bed density

0.5 beds/1,000 population (2017)

Sanitation facility access

improved: urban: 98.6% of population

rural: 75.2% of population

total: 83.4% of population

unimproved: urban: 1.4% of population

rural: 24.8% of population

total: 16.6% of population (2020 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2023)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria

water contact diseases: leptospirosis

animal contact diseases: rabies

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

3.9% (2016)

Alcohol consumption per capita

total: 3.09 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer: 0.23 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits: 2.85 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

Tobacco use

total: 27.2% (2020 est.)

male: 41.3% (2020 est.)

female: 13% (2020 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

31.5% (2019/21)

Currently married women (ages 15-49)

72.6% (2023 est.)

Child marriage

women married by age 15: 4.8%

women married by age 18: 23.3%

men married by age 18: 2.6% (2021 est.)

Education expenditures

4.5% of GDP (2020 est.)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 74.4%

male: 82.4%

female: 65.8% (2018)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 12 years

male: 12 years

female: 12 years (2020)