Demographic Profile of

India
Introduction
Characteristics of Indian Population
Population growth
Age
Sex
Religion
Language
Occupation
National Policy on Population
 Introduction
The systematic study of population is known as
Demography.
Demography is mainly 2 types – formal demography
& social demography.
Census is an important source of demographic data.
 Common concepts &
Indicators
Birth Rate: Total number of live births in a particular
area on per thousand population.
Death Rate : Number of deaths in a given area during a
given time per thousand population.
Growth rate of population: Difference between birth rate &
death rate.
Fertility rate : Number of live births per 1000 woman in the
age group of 15- 49 years.
Infant mortality rate: death rates of babies less than 1 year.
Characteristics of Indian
Population
Indian population exhibit the following characteristics:
Age Structure : In Indian population there are
significant number of people in the age structure of 0-
14 (37.8%) & in the age group of 15 to 59 there are
55.5% & 6.7% to 60+ age group. Effects of this age
structure in economy is adverse to development.
Sex Composition : The sex ratio in Indian population
is 927 females per 1000 males in 1991census. It is
continuously declining since 1951. It has serious
implication on marriage rate, death rate birth rate etc.
Indian Population (Cont.)
Marital Status : In India 50.4% are unmarried,
44.6% are married and rest are widowed, separated
etc. Mean age of marriage is 19.4 for females & 24.7
for males. Depending on education, region or
occupation this age varies both for males & females.
Rural-Urban Settlement : Of the total population
28.3% is urban and 71.7% is rural (in1998). It shows
considerable increase in than 1951( 17.3%). Rural to
urban migration are there 26.6%(approx).
Indian population ( Cont.)
Occupational structure : Only 44.86% people in
India in the age group of 15-59 are economically
active & the rest are dependent on them. In terms of
sex only 67.6% of males are working where as 32.4
% females are working.

Literacy Rate: Literacy level in India is quite high

52.21% were found literate of which 64.13% are
males and 39.29% are females. The highest literacy
rate was found in Kerala.
 Continuation
Language : Of the 15 major language Hindi is used
by majority (43%). Then came the turn of Bengali,
Telugu & Marathi (8%) each.
Religious Composition : Hindus & Muslims are
dominating religions of the country. Other religions do
exist.
Schedule Caste & schedule Tribe : According to
1991 census roughly 1 in every 4 persons in India
belongs to either SC or ST.
 Synopsis

Definition & types of demography.

Some common concepts.
Characteristics of Indian population on the basis of
age, sex, marital status, rural-urban settlement,
occupation, language ,religion, literacy & ST/SC
structure.
World Population growth

Globally, the growth rate of the human population has

been steadily declining .
Although the last 50 years have seen a rapid
increase in population due to medical advances and
massive increase in agricultural productivity made by
the Green Revolution.
Total world population is now 6.684 billion.
India is the second largest populated country of the
world.
 Population Growth of
India
The post World War-II period witnessed population
explosion all over the world.
Indian population growth is subdivided into 3 distinct
phases-
a) From 1901- 1931 (17%) - sporadic
b) From 1931-1961 (57.4%) – rapid
c) From 1961-1999 ( 127.4%) - explosive
• The AGR in India is 2% before 2001, now 1.9%.
 Approaches

2 approaches are adopted for determining population

growth of India –
1. historical perspective ( 1951-2001) &
2. current perspective (1991-2001).
A Table Presentation
Year Population ( in
Million)
1600 100
1800 120
1901 238.4
1951 361.1
1991 846.3
2001 1029
2007 1134
 State wise distribution

India has 35 states & U.T with varying population size.

They are classified into 2 broad categories –
I. Major states with population of more than 20 million.
II. Smaller states and Union Territories with less than 20
million.
Total population of 17 major states counts for 982.32
million i.e. 95 % .
6 U.T. shares 2.7 million only 0.26 % of the
population.
Regional distribution of
population
 Causes of Population
Growth
1. Widening gap between BR and MR
2. Low age at marriage
3. High illiteracy
4. Religious attitude towards family
planning
5. Other causes
Effects of population on
economic devp. of India
1. Pressure of population on land : very low
land-man ratio.
2. Low per-capita national income
3. Effect on food supply: availability of per
capita food grain is low.
4. Pressure on social overheads : education,
medical care & housing.
 Effects (cont.)

Effect on capital formation: Diversion of

resources
Burden of unproductive consumer :
Population and unemployment:
High density of population in India
 India’s position in HDI
index
HDI index shows that India ranks 128th position
among 177 countries.
HPI value is 31.3
I. Probability of not surviving past age 40 - 16.8%
II. Adult literacy rates - 39%
III. People without access of pure drinking water – 14%
IV. Children underweight in age below 5 - 47%India
accounts for 4.6% of global emission.
 Synopsis

Introduction to concept of demographic

transition.
India’s population & state – wise distribution .
Causes of population growth.
Effects of population growth and an introduction
to HDI index.