Socio Economic Factors & Trends in India

Population of India

India is the second most populous country in the world, with 1,336,286,256 (1.3 billion) people (May 2016), nearly a fifth of the world's population. Already containing 18% of the world's population, India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2022, surpassing China, its population reaching 1.6 billion by 2050. Its population growth rate is 1.2%, ranking 94th in the world in 2013. The Indian population had reached the billion mark by 1998. Uttara pradesh is the most populated state around 16% of total and sikkim is the least around 0.05%in states while lakshdweep is least around 0.01% population in Union terrotories.

India has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35. It is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China and 48 for Japan; and, by 2030, India's dependency ratio should be just over 0.4. It project the future labour market and the production capacity.

Comparative demographics

Comparative demographics

Category                                            Global Ranking                References

Area                                                             7th  

Population                                                   2nd               

Population growth rate                           102nd of 212                in 2010

Population density                                    24th of 212                  in 2010

Male to Female ratio, at birth                 12th of 214                   in 2009

Population growth of India per decade

Census Year       Population          Change (%)

1951       361,088,000                             -

1961       439,235,000                          21.6

1971       548,160,000                          24.8

1981       683,329,000                           24.7

1991       846,387,888                           23.9

2001       1,028,737,436                        21.5

2011       1,210,726,932                        17.7

Literacy in India

Literacy in India is a key for socio-economic progress, and the Indian literacy rate has grown to 74.04% (2011 figure) from 12% at the end of British rule in 1947. Although this was a greater than sixfold improvement, the level is well below the world average literacy rate of 84%, and of all nations, India currently has the largest illiterate population. Despite government programmes, India's literacy rate increased only "sluggishly", and a 1990 study estimated that it would take until 2060 for India to achieve universal literacy at then-current rate of progress. The 2011 census, however, indicated a 2001–2011 decadal literacy growth of 9.2%, which is slower than the growth seen during the previous decade.

There is a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate in India: effective literacy rates (age 7 and above) in 2011 were 82.14% for men and 65.46% for women. The low female literacy rate has had a dramatically negative impact on family planning and population stabillisation efforts in India. Studies have indicated that female literacy is a strong predictor of the use of contraception among married Indian couples, even when women do not otherwise have economic independence. The census provided a positive indication that growth in female literacy rates (11.8%) was substantially faster than in male literacy rates (6.9%) in the 2001–2011 decadal period, which means the gender gap appears to be narrowing.

The current literacy rate of India is 74.04%

Comparative literacy statistics

The table below shows the adult and youth literacy rates for India and some neighboring countries in 2002. Adult literacy rate is based on the 15+ years age group, while the youth literacy rate is for the 15–24 years age group (i.e. youth is a subset of adults).

Country	Adult Literacy Rate	Youth Literacy Rate ages 15–24
China	95.1% (2010)	99.7% (2015)
Sri Lanka	92.6% (2015)	98.8% (2015)
Myanmar	89.9% (2007)	96.3% (2015)
World Average	84% (2010)	89.6% (2010)
India	74.04% (2011)	90.2% (2015)
Nepal	55.5% (2007)	86.9%(2015)
Pakistan	50.2% (2007)	74.8% (2015)
Bangladesh	53.5% (2007)	83.2% (2015)

Urbanization

Urbanization in India began to accelerate after independence, due to the country's adoption of a mixed economy, which gave rise to the development of the private sector. Urbanization is taking place at a faster rate in India. Population residing in urban areas in India, according to 1901 census, was 11.4%. This count increased to 28.53% according to 2001 census, and crossing 30% as per 2011 census, standing at 31.16%. According to a survey by UN State of the World Population report in 2007, by 2030, 40.76% of country's population is expected to reside in urban areas. As per World Bank, India, along with China, Indonesia, Nigeria, and the United States, will lead the world's urban population surge by 2050.

Causes of urbanization in India

The main causes of urbanization in India are:

·         Expansion in government services, as a result of the Second World War

·         Migration of people during the partition of India

·         The Industrial Revolution

·         Eleventh five-year plan that aimed at urbanization for the economic development of India

·         Economic opportunities are just one reason people move into cities

·         Infrastructure facilities in the urban areas

·         Growth of private sector after 1990

Consequences of urbanization

Rapid rise in urban population, in India, is leading to many problems like increasing slums, decrease in standard of living in urban areas, also causing environmental damage.

The Industrial Revolution in the 18th century caused countries like United States and England to become superpower nations but the present condition is worsening. India's urban growth rate is 2.07% which seems to be significant compared to Rwanda with 7.6%. India has around 300 million people living in metropolitan areas. This has greatly caused slum problems, with so many people over crowding cities and forcing people to live in unsafe conditions which also includes illegal buildings. Water lines,roads and electricity are lacking which is causing fall of living standards. It is also adding to the problem of all types of pollution.

Sector Vise Changes in Economy

Indian economy is classified in three sectors — Agriculture and allied, Industry and Services. Agriculture sector includes Agriculture (Agriculture proper & Livestock), Forestry & Logging, Fishing and related activities. Industry includes Manufacturing (Registered & Unregistered), Electricity, Gas, Water supply, and Construction. Services sector includes Trade, repair, hotels and restaurants, Transport, storage, communication & services related to broadcasting, Financial, real estate & prof servs, Community, social & pers. Servs.

According to CIA Fackbook sector wise Indian GDP composition in 2014 are as follows :

Sector                   In 1950-51                      In 2014-15

Agriculture            (51.81%)                         (17.9%)

Industry                (14.16%)                         (24.2%)

Services                (33.25%)                         (57.9%)

Total production of agriculture sector is $366.92 billion. India is 2nd larger producer of agriculture product. India accounts for 7.68 percent of total global agricultural output. GDP of Industry sector is $495.62 billion and world rank is 12. In Services sector, India world rank is 11 and GDP is $1185.79 billion. Contribution of Agriculture sector in Indian economy is much higher than world's average (6.1%). Contribution of Industry and Services sector is lower than world's average 30.5% for Industry sector and 63.5% for Services sector.