Gandhinagar: At an event in Gujarat, where he launched the Gujarati translation of his book, 'The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World', External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated said that India's population is declining 'due to education, social awareness, and prosperity.' "The rate of growth of the Indian population is falling. The reason is education, social awareness, and prosperity. The family size among each one of us, with the passage of time, is small,' said Jaishankar.
The UN World Population Prospects (WPP), 2022, forecasts India becoming the most populous country by 2023, surpassing China, with a 140 crore population. India currently has 17.5 percent of the world's population. India is projected to reach 150 crores by 2030 and 166 crores by 2050.
"... Forced population control can have very dangerous consequences, it can create a gender imbalance," said Jaishankar. In 2021, India's Total Fertility Rate (TFR) slipped below the replacement level of fertility (which is 2.1 children per woman) to two.
