The Major characteristics of the Demographic Profile of India:
1. Size and Growth of India’s population.
2. Age structure of the Indian population.
3. Sex-Ratio in India.
4. Birth rate and Death rate.
5. Increasing Literacy rate of the Indian population.
6. Increasing Rural-Urban differences.
1. Size and Growth of India’s Population: India is the second-most populous country in the world after China. According to the 2011 census, India’s population is 121 crores(1.21 billion). Between 1901-1951 the average annual growth rate did not exceed 1.33%, a modest rate of growth. In fact between 1911 and 1921 there was a negative rate of growth of – 0.03%.
This was because of the influenza epidemic during 1918-19. The growth rate of the population substantially increased after independence from British rule going up to 2.2% during 1961- 1981. Since then although the annual growth rate has decreased it remains one of the highest in the developing world.
2. Age structure of the Indian population: India has a very young population – that is, the majority of Indians tend to be young, compared to most other countries. The share of the less than 15 age group in the total population has come down from its highest level of 42% in 1971 to 29% in 2011. The share of the 15-60 age group has increased from 53% to 63%, while the share of the 60+ age group is very small but it has begun to increase (from 5% to 8%) over the same period.
But the age composition of the Indian population is expected to change significantly in the next two decades. 0-14 age group will reduce its share by about 11% (from 34% in 2001 to 23% in 2026) while the 60 plus age group will increase its share by about 5% (from 8% in 2001 to about 12% in 2026).
3. The declining Sex-ratio in India: The sex ratio is an important indicator of gender balance in the population. The sex ratio is defined as the number of females per 1000 males. The trends of the last four decades have been particularly worrying – from 941 in 1961 the sex ratio had fallen to an all-time low of 927 in 1991 before posting a modest increase in 2001.
According to the Census of India 2011, the sex ratio has increased and now it is 940 females per 1000 males. But what has really alarmed demographers, policymakers, social activists, and concerned Citizens is the drastic fall in the child sex ratio. The sex ratio for the 0 – 6 years age group (known as the juvenile or child sex ratio) has generally been substantially higher than the overall sex ratio for all age groups, but it has been falling very sharply.
In fact, the decade 1991-2001 represents an anomaly in that the overall 1 sex ratio has posted its highest ever increase of 6 points from the all-time low of 927 to 933, but the child sex ratio in 2011 census has dropped from 927 to 914, a plunge of 13 points taking it below the overall sex ratio for the first time.
4. Increasing literacy rate of Indian population: Literacy varies considerably across gender, regions, and social groups. The literacy rate for women is almost 22% less than the literacy rate for men. However, female literacy has been rising faster than male literacy, partly because it started from relatively low levels.
Female literacy rose by about 11.2 percent between 2001 and 2011 compared to the rise in male literacy of 6.2 percent in the same period. Female literacy which was 8.9% in 1951, has increased to 65.4 in 2011. Male literacy in the same period was 27.2% which has increased to 82.17. The total literacy rate of 18.3% in 1951 has increased to 74.04 in 2011.
5. Increasing Rural-Urban differences: According to the 2011 Census, 68.8% of the population lives in rural areas while 31.2% of people live in urban areas. The urban population has been increasing steadily, from about 17.3% in 1951 to 31.2 in 2011, an increase of about two-and-a-half times.
