A public survey by UNFPA for a 2023 report has found that the most commonly held opinion in India, as well as in Brazil, Egypt and Nigeria, is that the population in each country “is too large and fertility rates were too high.”
The projected Nigerian population today stands at 221 million.
Due to the rescheduling of governorship elections, Nigeria’s first census in 17 years, which was originally scheduled for the end of March, was moved to May.
Data on the exact population and the size of different ethnic groups will be updated as part of the census in Africa’s most populous country.
As of the middle of this year, India will have nearly 3 million more people than its neighbour China, according to data released by the United Nations on Wednesday.
According to the UNFPA’s “State of World Population Report” for this year, India’s population is expected to reach 1.4286 billion by mid-year, while China’s is expected to reach 1.4257 billion, or 2.9 million fewer.
A report based on data collected through February places the United States in third place, with an estimated population of 340 million as of June 30.
Experts have predicted India’s population will surpass China’s this month based on the UN’s historical data, but the latest report did not specify a date.
Since India’s last census was in 2011 and the next was scheduled for 2021 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, UN population officials have said it is impossible to pinpoint a date because of uncertainty about the data from India and China.
Both countries’ population growth has been slowing, but China’s decline has been more rapid than India’s. Together, they will make up more than a third of the estimated global population of 8.045 billion.
For the first time in over 60 years, China saw a decline in its population last year. This historic turn is expected to usher in a long period of decline in citizen numbers, which will have far-reaching consequences for China’s economy and the global economy as a whole.
Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that dividends from population growth depended on more than just numbers.
“Population is important but talents are also important…China has taken active measures to respond to population aging,” Wang told reporters on Wednesday.
“As Premier Li Qiang pointed out, our population dividend has not disappeared. Our talent dividend is booming, and the impetus for development is strong,” she said.
The Nigerian census figures have been highly speculative as the last census held in 2006 ended in controversy.
