Latest news with #2025StateofWorldPopulationReport
New Indian Express
a day ago
- Health
- New Indian Express
India's fertility rate drops below replaceable level
NEW DELHI: The United Nations Population Fund's latest report predicts that India's population will reach an estimated 1.46 billion by 2025 but at the same time the fertility rate has declined below the replaceable level. Right now the fertility rate is precariously placed at 1.9. This means soon the population curve will start moving south. According to UNFPA's 2025 State of World Population Report, in the next 40 years India will reach an estimated population of about 1.7 billion before it starts declining. The report says that nearly 36 percent of adult women in India experience unintended pregnancies while 30 percent face an unfulfilled desire to have either more or fewer children. The report says that 23 percent face both the issues. It stresses the need to shift focus from concerns about under-population and overpopulation to addressing unmet needs regarding sexual health, contraception, and family planning. Despite decline in fertility rate, India's youthful population remains significant with 24 percent in 0-14 age-group and 26 percent in 10 and 24. A substantial 68% is of working age aged between 15-64 presenting a potential demographic dividend if matched by adequate employment and policy support.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Financial limitation one of biggest barriers to reproductive freedom in India: UN study
New Delhi, Financial limitation is one of the biggest barriers to reproductive freedom in India with about 38 per cent respondents saying this is stopping them from having the families they want, according to a UN study released on Tuesday. The findings were shared in UNFPA's 2025 State of World Population Report, The Real Fertility Crisis, which is an online poll conducted across 14 countries including India with 14,000 respondents out of which 1,048 adults were from India. The study listed financial limitations as one of the biggest barriers to reproductive freedom with 38 per cent of the respondents in India saying financial limitations are stopping them from having the families they want. Job insecurity , housing constraints , and the lack of reliable childcare are making parenthood feel out of reach, the report said. Also, health barriers like poor general wellbeing , infertility , and limited access to pregnancy-related care add further strain, the report said. The UNFPA said many are also holding back due to growing anxiety about the future - from climate change to political and social instability while 19 per cent faced partner or family pressure to have fewer children than they personally wanted. The SOWP 2025 underlined millions of individuals are not able to realise their real fertility goals. "This is the real crisis, not underpopulation or overpopulation. And, the answer lies in greater reproductive agency - a person's ability to make free and informed 150 per cent choices about sex, contraception and starting a family," the report said. It said many people, especially women, still face significant barriers to making free and informed decisions about their reproductive lives and significant disparities persist across regions and states. The report said states such as Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh continue to experience high fertility rates, while others, like Delhi, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, have sustained below-replacement fertility. "This duality reflects differences in economic opportunities, access to healthcare, education levels, and prevailing gender and social norms," it said. "India has made significant progress in lowering fertility rates - from nearly five children per woman in 1970 to about two today - thanks to improved education and access to reproductive healthcare," said Andrea M. Wojnar, UNFPA India representative. "This has led to major reductions in maternal mortality, meaning million more mothers are alive today, raising children and building communities. Yet, deep inequalities persist across states, castes, and income groups. The real demographic dividend comes when everyone has the freedom and means to make informed reproductive choices. India has a unique opportunity to show how reproductive rights and economic prosperity can advance together," she said. Beyond traditional barriers, emerging social realities are reshaping reproductive decisions. The report identified a complex web of modern challenges: the growing loneliness pandemic, shifting relationship patterns, difficulties in finding supportive partners, social stigma around reproductive decisions, and deeply entrenched gender norms. Rising expectations around intensive parenting place disproportionate pressure on women, reinforcing unequal caregiving burdens and influencing decisions about if and when to have children, the report said. The report underscored that the real crisis lies not in population size, but in the widespread challenges to support individuals' right to decide freely and responsibly if, when, and how many children to have.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
India's population touches 1.46 billion, fertility drops below replacement rate: UN report
New Delhi, India's population is estimated to reach 1.46 billion in 2025, continuing to be the highest in the world, according to a new UN demographic report, which also revealed the country's total fertility rate has fallen below the replacement rate. UNFPA's 2025 State of World Population Report, The Real Fertility Crisis, calls for a shift from panic over falling fertility to addressing unmet reproductive goals. Millions of people are not able to realise their real fertility goals, it asserts. This is the real crisis, not underpopulation or overpopulation, and the answer lies in greater reproductive agency - a person's ability to make free and informed 150 per cent choices about sex, contraception and starting a family, it says. The report also reveals key shifts in population composition, fertility, and life expectancy, signalling a major demographic transition. The report found that India's total fertility rate has declined to 1.9 births per woman, falling below the replacement level of 2.1. This means that, on average, Indian women are having fewer children than needed to maintain the population size from one generation to the next, without migration. Despite the slowing birth rate, India's youth population remains significant, with 24 per cent in the age bracket of 0-14, 17 per cent in 10-19, and 26 per cent in 10-24. The country's 68 per cent of the population is of working age , providing a potential demographic dividend, if matched by adequate employment and policy support. The elderly population currently stands at seven per cent, a figure that is expected to rise in the coming decades as life expectancy improves. As of 2025, life expectancy at birth is projected to be 71 years for men and 74 years for women. According to the UN estimates, India's population at present stands at 1,463.9 million. India is now the world's most populous nation, with nearly 1.5 billion people – a number expected to grow to about 1.7 billion before it begins to fall, around 40 years from now, the report said. Behind these numbers are the stories of millions of couples who decided to start or expand their families, as well as the stories of women who had few choices about whether, when or how often they became pregnant, the report said. In 1960, when India's population was about 436 million, the average woman had nearly six children. Back then, women had less control over their bodies and lives than they do today. Fewer than 1 in 4 used some form of contraception, and fewer than 1 in 2 attended primary school , the report said. But in the coming decades, educational attainment increased, access to reproductive healthcare improved, and more women gained a voice in the decisions that affected their lives. The average woman in India now has about two children. While women in India, and every other country, have more rights and choices today than their mothers or grandmothers did, they still have a long way to go before they are empowered to have the number of children they want, if any, when they want them. The UN report placed India in a group of middle-income countries undergoing rapid demographic change, with population doubling time now estimated at 79 years. "India has made significant progress in lowering fertility rates – from nearly five children per woman in 1970 to about two today, thanks to improved education and access to reproductive healthcare," said Andrea M Wojnar, UNFPA India Representative. "This has led to major reductions in maternal mortality, meaning million more mothers are alive today, raising children and building communities. Yet, deep inequalities persist across states, castes, and income groups. "The real demographic dividend comes when everyone has the freedom and means to make informed reproductive choices. India has a unique opportunity to show how reproductive rights and economic prosperity can advance together," she said.
