UN: India population to surpass China’s mid-year

India is set to surpass China as the world’s most populous country by mid-year according to UN estimates on Wednesday.

India is set to overtake China by almost three million more people, to have a population of 1.4286 billion compared to China’s 1.4257 billion at mid-year, according to United Nations Population Fund’s State of World Population report.

According to official data, China’s population shrank last year for the first time in over six decades. The global population is estimated to hit 8.045 billion by the same time, the report added.

India, however, has not conducted a census since 2011, with the next due to 2021, but was postponed due to the pandemic.

In 1950, the UN began gathering population and according to Pew Research Centre, this is the same year that India’s population has grown by more than one billion people ever since.