Telling Numbers: Over half of India’s population is still under age 30, slight dip in last 5 years

The age pyramid shows India’s population is young, which, NFHS-5 notes, is typical of developing countries with low life expectancy. The pyramid also shows that fertility has decreased considerably in the last 5 years, it says.

Over half the population (52%) is below 30, compared to 55.5% in NFHS-4. (File)

India’s population remains young, with more than one-fourth aged under 15 years and less than an eighth over 60. There has been only a slight dip in the young population’s share in the last five years: Between the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-21), released last week, the under-15 population has declined by 2 percentage points, from 29% to 27%, while the over-60 population has increased by as many points, from 10% to 12%.

Over half the population (52%) is below 30, compared to 55.5% in NFHS-4. The NFHS divides the population into 5-year age groups from 0-4 years to 75-79, while those over 80 are counted in a single age group.

Age pyramid. Source: NFHS-5

The age pyramid shows India’s population is young, which, NFHS-5 notes, is typical of developing countries with low life expectancy. The pyramid also shows that fertility has decreased considerably in the last 5 years, it says.

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NFHS-5 is based on 27,68,371 individuals in 6,36,699 sample households. The NFHS defines a household as a person or group of related or unrelated persons who live together in the same dwelling unit(s), who acknowledge one adult male or female as the head of the household, who share the same housekeeping arrangements, and who are considered a single unit.

The average household size has decreased slightly between 2015-16 and 2019-21 (from 4.6 persons to 4.4). Just over one-sixth of households (18%) have female heads, up from 15% in NFHS-4.

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