Demographics of India

India is the most populous country in the world, with a population of over 1.428 billion as of April 2023. This means that about one in every six people on Earth lives in India, making it a very large and important country. India recently became more populous than China, which used to be the most populous country.

India is a relatively young country, with a median age of about 29.8 years as of 2024. This is much younger than China, where the median age is around 40.2 years. About 68% of India's people are between the ages of 15 and 64, which creates a big group of people who can work and help the country's economy grow.

India's population has more than doubled since 1975, growing from about 600 million to over 1.4 billion today. However, the rate of growth has slowed down a lot. In the 1970s and 1980s, the population grew by about 2.3% each year, but now it only grows by about 0.89% each year. Experts think India's population will reach about 1.7 billion by the year 2050.

India is also a very diverse country, with thousands of different ethnic groups and people who speak many languages. There are four major language families in India: Indo-European, Dravidian, Austroasiatic, and Tibeto-Burman. There are also special language groups like Nihali and Burushaski, as well as smaller communities such as Anglo-Indians and Siddi.

History

Prehistory to early 19th century

The following table shows estimates of India's population (including areas now called Pakistan and Bangladesh) from very old times up until 1820. It includes guesses and growth rates from five economic historians, along with interpolated guesses and overall aggregate averages.

Historical population (10,000 BC - 1820 CE)

Population of India over time

India's population has changed a lot because of people moving in and out, new inventions, and changes in society. Below is a table of guesses about India's population from very old times up to 2021:

Estimated Population of India (10,000 BC – 2021)

The population grew from the South Asian Stone Age in 10,000 BC to the Maurya Empire in 200 BC at a faster rate over time. Then the growth slowed down in the classical era up to 500 AD, and stayed about the same during the early medieval era up to 1000 AD. The growth rate went up again in the late medieval era (during the Delhi Sultanate) from 1000 to 1500.

Under the Mughal Empire, India had a big increase in people and money because of new ways to farm that made more food. About 15% of people lived in cities, which was more than in 19th-century British India and Europe at that time. Some guesses by Abraham Eraly and Paolo Malanima have been questioned by Tim Dyson, who thinks the numbers might be too high and guesses that fewer people lived in cities.

Under Akbar (who ruled from 1556 to 1605), the cities in the Mughal Empire had up to 17 million people, more than in Europe. By 1700, Mughal India had 23 million people in cities, more than British India had in 1871. Nizamuddin Ahmad (1551–1621) said that under Akbar, Mughal India had 120 big cities and 3,200 smaller towns. Some cities had between 250,000 and 500,000 people, with big cities like Agra (in Agra Subah) having up to 800,000 people and Dhaka (in Bengal Subah) having over 1 million people. Mughal India also had many villages—455,698 of them by the time of Aurangzeb (who ruled from 1658 to 1707).

Late 19th century to early 20th century

The total fertility rate is the number of children a woman has on average. It comes from good data for many years. Sources: Our World in Data and Gapminder Foundation.

Life expectancy from 1881 to 1950

The population of India under the British Raj (including what are now Pakistan and Bangladesh) based on censuses:

Studies of India's population since 1881 have looked at the total number of people, how many are born and die, where people live, how many can read and write, the difference between life in the country and in cities, big cities with a million people, and three cities with more than eight million people: Delhi, Greater Mumbai (Bombay), and Kolkata (Calcutta).

Death rates went down between 1920 and 1945, mostly because of medicines that help people not get sick. Some people thought this happened because of colonialism, but experts say this is not true.

Year	Maddison (2001)		Clark (1967)		Biraben (1979)		Durand (1974)		McEvedy (1978)		Aggregate average		Period	Average % growth / century
Year	Population	% growth / century	Population	% growth / century	Population	% growth / century	Population	% growth / century	Population	% growth / century	Population	% growth / century	Period	Average % growth / century
10,000 BC	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	100,000	—N/a	100,000	—N/a	Stone Age	3.9
4000 BC	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	1,000,000	3.9	1,000,000	3.9	Stone Age	3.9
2000 BC	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	6,000,000	9.4	6,000,000	9.4	Bronze Age	9.4
500 BC	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	25,000,000	10	25,000,000	10	Iron Age	10.2
400 BC	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	30,000,000	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	26,600,000	6.3	28,300,000	13.2	Iron Age	10.2
200 BC	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	55,000,000	35.4	—N/a	—N/a	30,000,000	6.3	42,500,000	22.5	Maurya era	22.5
1 AD	75,000,000	—N/a	70,000,000	—N/a	46,000,000	–9.3	75,000,000	—N/a	34,000,000	6.5	60,000,000	18.8	Classical era	5.3
200	75,000,000	0	72,500,000	1.7	45,000,000	–1.1	75,000,000	0	39,000,000	7.1	61,300,000	1.1
400	75,000,000	0	75,000,000	1.7	32,000,000	–18.6	75,000,000	0	45,000,000	7.4	60,400,000	–0.7
500	75,000,000	0	75,000,000	0	33,000,000	3.1	75,000,000	0	48,000,000	6.5	61,200,000	1.3
600	75,000,000	0	75,000,000	0	37,000,000	12.1	75,000,000	0	51,000,000	6.5	62,600,000	2.3	Early medieval era	1.9
700	75,000,000	0	75,000,000	0	50,000,000	35.1	75,000,000	0	56,500,000	10.3	66,300,000	5.9
800	75,000,000	0	75,000,000	0	43,000,000	–16.3	75,000,000	0	62,000,000	10.3	66,000,000	–0.5
900	75,000,000	0	72,500,000	–3.5	38,000,000	–13.2	75,000,000	0	69,500,000	11.4	66,000,000	0
1000	75,000,000	0	70,000,000	–3.5	40,000,000	5.3	75,000,000	0	77,000,000	11.4	67,400,000	2.1
1100	81,000,000	8	72,500,000	3.5	51,000,000	27.5	81,300,000	8.4	80,000,000	3.9	73,200,000	8.6	Late medieval era	8.1
1200	87,500,000	8	75,000,000	3.5	65,100,000	27.5	88,200,000	8.4	83,000,000	3.8	79,800,000	9
1300	94,500,000	8	75,000,000	0	83,000,000	27.5	95,700,000	8.4	88,000,000	6	87,200,000	9.3
1400	102,000,000	8	77,000,000	3.3	88,800,000	7	103,700,000	8.4	94,000,000	6.8	92,900,000	7
1500	110,000,000	8	79,000,000	3.3	95,000,000	7	112,500,000	8.4	100,000,000	6.4	99,300,000	7
1600	135,000,000	22.8	100,000,000	26.6	145,000,000	52.6	135,800,000	20.7	130,000,000	30	129,200,000	30.1	Mughal era	31.9
1650	150,000,000	22.2	150,000,000	125	160,000,000	20.7	149,100,000	20.7	145,000,000	24.4	150,800,000	36.2
1700	165,000,000	22.2	200,000,000	77.8	175,000,000	20.7	163,900,000	20.7	160,000,000	21.8	172,800,000	31.3
1750	182,100,000	21.8	200,000,000	0	182,700,000	9	180,000,000	20.7	170,000,000	12.9	183,000,000	12.1	Colonial era	12.2
1800	200,900,000	21.8	190,000,000	–10.8	190,700,000	9	—N/a	—N/a	185,000,000	18.4	190,400,000	8
1820	209,000,000	21.8	190,000,000	0	194,000,000	9	—N/a	—N/a	200,000,000	47.7	198,300,000	22

Years	1881	1891	1901	1905	1911	1915	1921	1925	1931	1935	1941	1950
Life expectancy in India	25.4	24.3	23.5	24.0	23.2	24.0	24.9	27.6	29.3	31.0	32.6	35.4

Languages

Main articles: List of languages by number of native speakers in India and Languages of India

India has many languages spoken by people. Some of the most common ones include:

Hindi (26.6%)
Bengali (7.94%)
Marathi (6.84%)
Telugu (6.68%)
Tamil (5.69%)
Gujarati (4.55%)
Urdu (4.19%)
Bhojpuri (4.18%)
Kannada (3.59%)
Malayalam (2.87%)
Others (26.9%)

Most Commonly Spoken Native Language in India by District, 2011 Census

In total, India has 122 languages and 234 mother tongues that people speak. Twenty-two of these languages are listed in a special part of the Indian Constitution.

Top 30 Languages of India by number of native speakers from 1971 to 2011 (including ^#Non-scheduled languages)
Language	Language Family	Speakers (1971)	Speakers (1981)	Speakers (1991)	Speakers (2001)	Speakers (2011)
Hindi	Indo-Aryan	202,767,971	257,749,009	329,505,193	422,048,642	528,347,193
Bengali	Indo-Aryan	44,792,312	51,298,319	69,595,738	83,369,769	97,237,669
Telugu	Dravidian	44,756,923	50,624,611	66,017,615	74,002,856	81,127,740
Marathi	Indo-Aryan	41,765,190	49,452,922	62,481,681	71,936,894	83,026,680
Tamil	Dravidian	37,690,106	–	53,006,368	60,793,814	69,026,881
Urdu	Indo-Aryan	28,620,895	34,941,435	43,406,932	51,536,111	50,772,631
Gujarati	Indo-Aryan	25,865,012	33,063,267	40,695,370	46,091,617	55,492,554
Kannada	Dravidian	21,710,649	25,697,146	32,753,676	37,924,011	43,706,512
Malayalam	Dravidian	21,938,760	25,700,705	30,377,176	33,066,392	34,838,819
Odia	Indo-Aryan	19,863,198	23,021,528	28,061,313	33,017,446	37,521,324
Punjabi	Indo-Aryan	14,108,443	19,611,199	23,378,744	29,102,477	33,124,726
Assamese	Indo-Aryan	8,959,558	–	13,079,696	13,168,484	15,311,351
Maithili	Indo-Aryan	6,130,026	7,522,265	7,766,921	12,179,122	13,583,464
Bhili/Bhilodi^#	Indo-Aryan	3,399,285	4,293,314	5,572,308	9,582,957	10,413,637
Santali	Austro-Asiatic	3,786,899	4,332,511	5,216,325	6,469,600	7,368,192
Kashmiri	Indo-Aryan	2,495,487	3,176,975	–	5,527,698	6,797,587
Nepali	Indo-Aryan	1,419,835	1,360,636	2,076,645	2,871,749	2,926,168
Gondi^#	Dravidian	1,688,284	1,913,262	2,124,852	2,713,790	2,984,453
Sindhi	Indo-Aryan	1,676,875	2,044,389	2,122,848	2,535,485	2,772,264
Konkani	Indo-Aryan	1,508,432	1,570,108	1,760,607	2,489,015	2,256,502
Dogri	Indo-Aryan	1,299,143	1,530,616	–	2,282,589	2,596,767
Khandeshi^#	Indo-Aryan	251,896	1,216,789	973,709	2,075,258	1,860,236
Kurukh^#	Dravidian	1,235,665	1,333,670	1,426,618	1,751,489	1,988,350
Tulu^#	Dravidian	1,158,419	1,417,224	1,552,259	1,722,768	1,846,427
Meiteilon (Manipuri)	Sino-Tibetan	791,714	901,407	1,270,216	1,466,705	1,761,079
Bodo	Sino-Tibetan	556,576	–	1,221,881	1,350,478	1,482,929
Khasi^#	Austro-Asiatic	479,028	628,846	912,283	1,128,575	1,431,344
Mundari^#	Austro-Asiatic	771,253	742,739	861,378	1,061,352	1,128,228
Ho^#	Austro-Asiatic	751,389	783,301	949,216	1,042,724	1,421,418
Tripuri^#	Sino-Tibetan	372,579	502,067	694,940	854,023	1,011,294

Vital statistics

Crude birth rate trends in India(per 1000 people, national average)

India has many people, and numbers change over time. There are tables that show how the number of people in India has grown and changed from year to year.

United Nations, World Population Prospects: The 2024 revision – India
Year	Mid-year population	Births per year	Deaths per year	Annual change in population	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Crude migration rate (per 1000)	Total Fertility rate	Infant mortality (per 1000)	Life expectancy
1950	346,278,817	15,287,998	7,852,219	7,435,779	44.15	22.68	21.6		5.73	181.2	41.7
1951	353,870,058	15,663,440	7,973,004	7,591,241	44.26	22.53	21.6	0.5	5.77	180.1	41.7
1952	361,874,904	16,082,888	8,048,990	8,004,846	44.44	22.24	21.9	0.2	5.82	177.5	42.0
1953	370,104,571	16,501,176	8,169,722	8,229,667	44.59	22.07	22.1	0	5.87	175.3	42.2
1954	378,687,141	16,903,336	8,122,090	8,582,570	44.64	21.45	22.7	−0.4	5.91	172.2	43.0
1955	387,700,891	17,219,756	8,168,768	9,013,750	44.41	21.07	22.8	−0.1	5.91	169.7	43.4
1956	396,988,906	17,526,402	8,232,471	9,288,015	44.15	20.74	22.8	0	5.91	167.3	43.8
1957	406,253,895	17,825,650	8,323,747	9,264,989	43.88	20.49	22.8	0	5.91	165.0	44.1
1958	415,777,437	18,053,426	8,374,383	9,523,542	43.42	20.14	22.7	−0.2	5.90	162.7	44.4
1959	425,780,669	18,321,022	8,395,630	10,003,232	43.03	19.72	22.7	−0.2	5.89	160.3	44.9
1960	435,990,344	18,705,012	8,467,290	10,209,675	42.90	19.42	22.9	0.2	5.92	158.2	45.2
1961	446,564,730	19,054,934	8,586,012	10,574,386	42.67	19.23	22.8	0.5	5.94	156.4	45.4
1962	457,283,092	19,422,986	8,679,851	10,718,362	42.48	18.98	22.9	0.5	5.95	154.5	45.7
1963	468,138,576	19,783,962	8,767,246	10,855,484	42.26	18.73	22.9	0.5	5.97	152.7	45.9
1964	479,229,599	20,156,988	8,871,377	11,091,023	42.06	18.51	23.0	0.3	5.98	151.1	46.2
1965	490,140,141	20,414,206	9,488,516	10,910,542	41.65	19.36	21.7	0.9	5.94	156.4	45.0
1966	500,740,250	20,632,990	9,543,207	10,600,109	41.20	19.06	21.6	0.2	5.88	154.7	45.3
1967	511,606,375	20,889,458	9,609,691	10,866,125	40.83	18.78	21.5	0	5.83	153.1	45.7
1968	522,716,894	21,162,298	9,155,303	11,110,519	40.48	17.52	22.4	−0.5	5.76	145.0	47.5
1969	533,880,544	21,386,208	9,218,624	11,163,650	40.06	17.27	22.3	0	5.68	143.3	47.9
1970	545,864,268	21,705,420	9,287,483	11,983,724	39.76	17.01	22.3	−0.1	5.62	141.7	48.2
1971	558,096,383	22,169,874	9,382,778	12,232,115	39.72	16.81	22.5	−0.1	5.57	139.9	48.6
1972	570,482,142	22,509,830	9,468,026	12,385,759	39.46	16.60	22.5	0	5.48	138.5	49.0
1973	583,465,595	22,929,810	9,517,150	12,983,453	39.30	16.31	22.7	0.1	5.40	136.3	49.5
1974	597,041,392	23,284,796	9,489,001	13,575,797	39.00	15.89	22.8	0	5.33	133.3	50.2
1975	611,309,532	23,451,070	9,492,655	14,268,140	38.36	15.53	22.6	0	5.20	130.7	50.8
1976	625,861,887	23,935,742	9,499,656	14,552,355	38.24	15.18	22.7	−0.4	5.13	127.9	51.4
1977	640,801,105	24,070,484	9,494,741	14,939,218	37.56	14.82	22.2	0.1	5.01	124.9	51.9
1978	655,728,226	24,359,834	9,461,503	14,927,121	37.15	14.43	22.1	0.3	4.89	121.7	52.5
1979	671,155,745	24,833,594	9,440,528	15,427,519	37.00	14.07	22.3	0.2	4.81	118.4	53.1
1980	687,354,031	25,471,068	9,452,567	16,198,286	37.06	13.75	22.5	0.4	4.78	115.2	53.6
1981	703,696,255	25,868,440	9,446,658	16,342,224	36.76	13.42	22.7	0.3	4.70	112.1	54.2
1982	720,313,474	26,221,360	9,431,256	16,617,219	36.40	13.09	22.6	0.3	4.62	109.3	54.7
1983	737,372,685	26,637,448	9,418,131	17,059,211	36.13	12.77	22.6	0.2	4.57	106.7	55.3
1984	754,875,451	27,113,114	9,414,277	17,502,766	35.92	12.47	22.7	0.2	4.52	104.2	55.8
1985	772,647,801	27,366,950	9,398,793	17,772,350	35.42	12.16	22.5	0.2	4.43	101.8	56.3
1986	790,689,978	27,848,424	9,392,670	18,042,177	35.22	11.88	22.7	−0.1	4.40	99.4	56.8
1987	808,931,261	27,860,878	9,365,358	18,241,283	34.44	11.58	22.2	0.2	4.31	97.0	57.3
1988	827,342,997	28,040,342	9,337,583	18,411,736	33.89	11.29	21.9	0.2	4.22	94.6	57.8
1989	846,039,530	28,154,986	9,306,083	18,696,533	33.28	11.00	21.6	0.3	4.13	92.2	58.2
1990	864,972,219	28,171,520	9,277,651	18,932,689	32.57	10.73	21.1	0.5	4.05	89.8	58.7
1991	883,927,607	28,305,720	9,256,425	18,955,388	32.02	10.47	21.0	0.2	3.96	87.6	59.1
1992	902,957,072	28,365,204	9,232,809	19,029,465	31.41	10.22	20.7	0.3	3.88	85.5	59.5
1993	922,118,380	28,374,418	9,221,708	19,161,308	30.77	10.00	20.3	0.4	3.80	83.5	59.8
1994	941,163,775	28,512,692	9,201,756	19,045,395	30.30	9.78	20.0	0.4	3.72	81.4	60.2
1995	960,301,048	28,588,052	9,191,892	19,137,273	29.77	9.57	19.7	0.4	3.65	79.3	60.6
1996	979,678,464	28,623,284	9,180,936	19,377,416	29.22	9.37	19.4	0.3	3.58	77.1	61.0
1997	999,133,765	28,659,994	9,166,224	19,455,301	28.68	9.17	19.0	0.4	3.51	74.8	61.4
1998	1,018,665,073	28,724,934	9,155,898	19,531,308	28.20	8.99	18.7	0.4	3.45	72.5	61.8
1999	1,038,225,821	28,790,310	9,141,493	19,560,748	27.73	8.80	18.4	0.3	3.38	70.2	62.2
2000	1,057,922,728	29,111,712	9,127,431	19,696,907	27.52	8.63	18.3	0.1	3.35	67.8	62.7
2001	1,077,898,572	29,324,930	9,143,228	19,975,844	27.21	8.48	18.2	0	3.30	65.4	63.1
2002	1,097,600,381	29,128,216	9,103,548	19,701,809	26.54	8.29	17.7	0.2	3.22	63.1	63.6
2003	1,116,802,997	28,794,442	9,074,469	19,202,616	25.78	8.13	17.2	0.2	3.12	60.8	64.1
2004	1,135,991,510	28,537,736	9,067,053	19,188,513	25.12	7.98	16.7	0.2	3.05	58.6	64.5
2005	1,154,676,319	28,063,000	9,027,961	18,684,809	24.30	7.82	16.1	0.1	2.96	56.3	65.0
2006	1,172,878,890	27,637,610	8,995,893	18,202,571	23.56	7.67	15.5	−0.1	2.86	54.1	65.4
2007	1,190,676,028	27,304,622	8,972,698	17,797,138	22.93	7.54	15.1	−0.3	2.78	51.9	65.8
2008	1,207,930,962	27,186,094	8,950,894	17,254,934	22.51	7.41	14.7	−0.4	2.72	49.6	66.1
2009	1,225,524,760	27,219,670	8,934,340	17,593,798	22.21	7.29	14.5	−0.5	2.67	47.4	66.5
2010	1,243,481,564	26,900,710	8,908,601	17,956,804	21.63	7.16	14.1	−0.2	2.60	45.2	66.9
2011	1,261,224,952	26,681,990	8,889,393	17,743,388	21.16	7.05	13.7	0	2.54	43.0	67.4
2012	1,278,674,506	26,432,416	8,879,964	17,449,554	20.67	6.95	13.3	0.1	2.47	40.8	67.9
2013	1,295,829,506	25,995,998	8,888,126	17,155,000	20.06	6.86	13.0	0.1	2.41	38.7	68.5
2014	1,312,277,184	25,050,538	8,884,412	16,447,678	19.09	6.77	12.3	0.2	2.31	36.7	69.1
2015	1,328,024,492	25,147,252	8,936,426	15,747,308	18.94	6.73	12.1	−0.2	2.29	34.7	69.6
2016	1,343,944,293	25,207,146	9,004,539	15,919,801	18.76	6.70	11.9	0	2.27	32.8	70.1
2017	1,359,657,392	24,466,744	9,072,749	15,713,099	18.00	6.67	11.3	0.3	2.20	31.1	70.5
2018	1,374,659,068	24,620,206	9,169,449	15,001,676	17.91	6.67	11.0	−0.1	2.18	29.4	70.7
2019	1,389,030,303	24,124,982	9,264,486	14,371,235	17.37	6.67	10.3	0	2.11	27.9	70.9
2020	1,402,617,692	23,485,340	10,118,286	13,587,389	16.74	7.21	9.2	0.4	2.05	26.6	70.1
2021	1,414,203,889	23,321,854	13,093,783	11,586,197	16.49	9.26	7.0	−1.0	2.01	25.5	67.2
2022	1,425,423,212	23,286,124	9,373,180	11,219,323	16.34	6.58	7.2	−0.4	1.99	23.9	67.7
2023	1,438,069,597	23,219,488	9,507,013	12,646,385	16.15	6.61	9.5	−1.4	1.98	22.6	72.0
2024	1,450,935,791	23,186,978	9,557,050	12,999,094	15.98	6.59	9.39	-0.43	1.96
2025					15.8	6.6	9.1		1.94
2026					15.6	6.7	8.9		1.93

Decadal growth rate by state and union territories (Census of India)
States and UTs	1901–11	1911–21	1921–31	1931–41	1941–51	1951–61	1961–71	1971–81	1981–91	1991–01	2001–11
India	+5.75	-0.31	+11.00	+14.22	+13.31	+21.51	+24.80	+24.66	+23.87	+21.54	+17.70
Jammu and Kashmir	+7.16	+5.75	+10.14	+10.36	+10.42	+9.44	+29.65	+29.69	+30.89	+29.43	+23.64
Himachal Pradesh	- 1.22	+1.65	+5.23	+11.54	+5.42	+17.87	+23.04	+23.71	+20.79	+17.54	+12.94
Punjab	-10.78	+6.26	+12.02	+19.82	-4.58	+21.56	+21.70	+23.89	+20.81	+20.10	+13.89
Chandigarh	-16.07	-1.65	+9.10	+14.11	+7.47	+394.13	+114.59	+75.55	+42.16	+40.28	+17.19
Uttarakhand	+8.20	-1.23	+8.74	+13.63	+12.67	+22.57	+24.42	+27.45	+23.13	+20.41	+18.81
Haryana	-9.70	+1.95	+7.14	+15.63	+7.60	+33.79	+32.22	+28.75	+27.41	+28.43	+19.90
Delhi	+1.98	+18.03	+30.26	+44.27	+90.00	+52.44	+52.93	+53.00	+51.45	+47.02	+21.21
Rajasthan	+6.70	-6.29	+14.14	+18.01	+15.20	+26.20	+27.83	+32.97	+28.44	+28.41	+21.31
Uttar Pradesh	-1.36	-3.16	+6.56	+13.57	+11.78	+16.38	+19.54	+25.39	+25.61	+25.85	+20.23
Bihar	+1.52	-0.97	+9.74	+12.22	+10.58	+19.79	+20.91	+24.16	+23.38	+28.62	+25.42
Sikkim	+48.98	-7.05	+34.37	+10.67	+13.34	+17.76	+29.38	+50.77	+28.47	+33.06	+12.89
Arunachal Pradesh	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	+38.91	+35.15	+36.83	+27.00	+26.03
Nagaland	+46.76	+6.55	+12.62	+6.04	+8.60	+14.07	+39.88	+50.05	+56.08	+64.53	-0.58
Manipur	+21.71	+10.92	+16.04	+14.92	+12.80	+35.04	+37.53	+32.46	+29.29	+24.86	+24.50
Mizoram	+10.64	+7.90	+26.42	+22.81	+28.42	+35.61	+24.93	+48.55	+39.70	+28.82	+23.48
Tripura	+32.48	+32.59	+25.63	+34.14	+24.56	+78.71	+36.28	+31.92	+34.30	+16.03	+14.84
Meghalaya	+15.71	+7.21	+13.83	+15.59	+8.97	+27.03	+31.50	+32.04	+32.86	+30.65	+27.95
Assam	+16.99	+20.48	+19.91	+20.40	+19.93	+34.98	+34.95	+23.36	+24.24	+18.92	+17.07
West Bengal	+6.25	-2.91	+8.14	+22.93	+13.22	+32.80	+26.87	+23.17	+24.73	+17.77	+13.84
Jharkhand	+11.19	+0.31	+16.86	+12.13	+9.35	+19.69	+22.58	+23.79	+24.03	+23.36	+22.42
Odisha	+10.44	-1.94	+11.94	+10.22	+6.38	+19.82	+25.05	+20.17	+20.06	+16.25	+14.05
Chhattisgarh	+24.15	+1.41	+14.51	+13.04	+9.42	+22.77	+27.12	+20.39	+25.73	+18.27	+22.61
Madhya Pradesh	+12.38	-2.40	+10.21	+12.06	+8.38	+24.73	+29.28	+27.16	+27.24	+24.26	+20.35
Gujarat	+7.79	+3.79	+12.92	+19.25	+18.69	+26.88	+29.39	+27.67	+21.19	+22.66	+19.28
Daman and Diu	+1.45	-3.26	+15.98	+17.52	+13.55	-24.56	+70.85	+26.07	+28.62	+55.73	+53.76
Dadra and Nagar Haveli	+19.52	+6.99	+23.23	+5.70	+2.70	+39.56	+27.96	+39.78	+33.57	+59.22	+55.88
Maharashtra	+10.74	-2.91	+14.91	+11.99	+19.27	+23.60	+27.45	+24.54	+25.73	+22.73	+15.99
Andhra Pradesh	+12.49	-0.13	+12.99	+12.75	+14.02	+15.65	+20.90	+23.10	+24.20	+14.59	+10.98
Karnataka	+3.60	-1.09	+9.38	+11.09	+19.36	+21.57	+24.22	+26.75	+21.12	+17.51	+15.60
Goa	+2.36	-3.55	+7.62	+7.05	+1.21	+7.77	+34.77	+26.74	+16.08	+15.21	+8.23
Lakshadweep	+4.85	-6.31	+17.62	+14.43	+14.60	+14.61	+31.95	+26.53	+28.47	+17.30	+6.30
Kerala	+11.75	+9.16	+21.85	+16.04	+22.82	+24.76	+26.29	+19.24	+14.32	+9.43	+4.91
Tamil Nadu	+8.57	+3.47	+8.52	+11.91	+14.66	+11.85	+22.30	+17.50	+15.39	+11.72	+15.61
Puducherry	+4.39	-5.06	+5.93	+10.20	+11.31	+16.34	+27.81	+28.15	+33.64	+20.62	+28.08
Andaman and Nicobar Islands	+7.34	+2.37	+8.78	+14.61	-8.28	+105.19	+81.17	+63.93	+48.70	+26.90	+6.86

Period	Life expectancy at birth	Life expectancy at age 15	Life expectancy at age 65	Life expectancy at age 80
1950	41.18	60.06	75.90	84.77
1955	43.74	60.96	76.14	84.86
1960	45.61	61.75	76.33	84.93
1965	45.56	61.84	76.20	84.91
1970	48.59	63.40	76.55	85.30
1975	50.76	64.68	77.00	85.69
1980	53.59	66.10	77.22	85.82
1985	56.32	67.35	77.30	85.81
1990	58.62	68.32	77.59	85.94
1995	60.63	69.08	78.06	86.22
2000	62.75	69.92	78.56	86.44
2005	64.94	70.84	78.87	86.45
2010	67.16	71.83	79.28	86.64
2015	69.33	72.88	79.91	87.14
2020	70.16	72.81	79.48	86.92

Crude birth rate and total fertility rate (wanted fertility rate)
Year	Total		Urban		Rural
Year	CBR	TFR¹	CBR	TFR¹	CBR	TFR¹
1992–1993	28.7	3.39 (2.64)	24.1	2.70 (2.09)	30.4	3.67 (2.86)
1998–1999	24.8	2.85 (2.13)	20.9	2.27 (1.73)	26.2	3.07 (2.28)
2005–2006	23.1	2.68 (1.90)	18.8	2.06 (1.60)	25.0	2.98 (2.10)
2015–2016	19.0	2.18 (1.8)	15.8	1.75 (1.5)	20.7	2.41 (1.9)
2019–2021	17.1	1.99 (1.6)	14.0	1.63 (1.4)	18.6	2.14 (1.7)
CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman). ¹Number in parentheses represents the wanted fertility rate.

Total fertility rate (wanted fertility rate) by religion
Year	Hindu	Muslim	Christian	Sikh	Buddhist/ Neo-Buddhist	Jain	Other
2019–2021	1.94 (1.6)	2.36 (1.8)	1.88 (1.7)	1.61 (1.4)	1.39 (1.2)	1.60 (1.5)	2.15 (1.7)
CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman). ¹Number in parentheses represents the wanted fertility rate.

Crude birth rate and total fertility rate (wanted fertility rate) 2015–2016
State (Population 2011)	Total		Urban		Rural
State (Population 2011)	CBR	TFR¹	CBR	TFR¹	CBR	TFR¹
Uttar Pradesh (199 812 341)	22.6	2.74 (2.06)	18.6	2.08 (1.62)	24.0	2.99 (2.22)
Maharashtra (112 374 333)	16.6	1.87 (1.57)	15.5	1.68 (1.41)	17.5	2.06 (1.73)
Bihar (104 099 452)	27.1	3.41 (2.48)	20.4	2.42 (1.83)	28.0	3.56 (2.58)
West Bengal (91 276 115)	16.6	1.77 (1.53)	14.0	1.57 (1.38)	18.0	1.85 (1.58)
Madhya Pradesh (72 626 809)	20.2	2.32 (1.82)	17.7	1.95 (1.61)	21.3	2.48 (1.91)
Tamil Nadu (72 147 030)	15.5	1.70 (1.51)	13.9	1.54 (1.38)	17.2	1.86 (1.63)
Rajasthan (68 548 437)	20.8	2.40 (1.81)	17.5	1.94 (1.52)	22.0	2.56 (1.91)
Karnataka (61 095 297)	15.9	1.81 (1.42)	15.2	1.65 (1.30)	16.5	1.92 (1.50)
Gujarat (60 439 692)	16.7	2.03 (1.54)	15.3	1.82 (1.39)	17.9	2.19 (1.64)
Andhra Pradesh (49 386 799)	16.1	1.83 (1.64)	13.9	1.53 (1.39)	17.0	1.96 (1.75)
Odisha (41 974 218)	18.1	2.05 (1.69)	15.6	1.73 (1.50)	18.7	2.12 (1.72)
Telangana (35 193 978)	17.1	1.79 (1.59)	17.1	1.67 (1.53)	17.2	1.88 (1.64)
Kerala (33 406 061)	11.2	1.56 (1.47)	11.4	1.57 (1.47)	11.0	1.55 (1.46)
Jharkhand (32 988 134)	21.7	2.55 (2.06)	16.3	1.78 (1.47)	23.5	2.83 (2.27)
Assam (31 205 576)	19.5	2.21 (1.78)	13.2	1.45 (1.25)	20.5	2.34 (1.87)
Punjab (27 743 338)	13.8	1.62 (1.37)	13.5	1.59 (1.32)	14.0	1.63 (1.39)
Chhattisgarh (25 545 198)	20.7	2.23 (1.88)	17.9	1.78 (1.58)	21.5	2.37 (1.97)
Haryana (25 351 462)	18.7	2.05 (1.63)	16.3	1.78 (1.44)	20.2	2.22 (1.75)
Jammu and Kashmir (12 541 302)	17.7	2.01 (1.67)	13.9	1.58 (1.39)	19.4	2.18 (1.77)
Uttarakhand (10 086 292)	19.0	2.07 (1.60)	17.1	1.80 (1.43)	20.0	2.24 (1.71)
Himachal Pradesh (6 864 602)	15.3	1.88 (1.55)	12.0	1.43 (1.15)	15.7	1.92 (1.59)
Tripura (3 673 917)	15.3	1.69 (1.55)	12.7	1.40 (1.34)	16.4	1.80 (1.62)
Meghalaya (2 966 889)	24.6	3.04 (2.79)	16.1	1.67 (1.57)	26.7	3.47 (3.18)
Manipur (2 855 794)	21.2	2.61 (2.33)	17.5	2.14 (1.96)	23.7	2.92 (2.57)
Nagaland (1 978 502)	21.4	2.74 (2.35)	16.3	1.78 (1.58)	24.1	3.38 (2.86)
Goa (1 458 545)	12.8	1.66 (1.37)	13.4	1.72 (1.37)	11.7	1.55 (1.37)
Arunachal Pradesh (1 383 727)	17.9	2.12 (1.64)	17.0	1.69 (1.26)	18.2	2.29 (1.79)
Mizoram (1 097 206)	18.7	2.26 (2.15)	16.9	1.97 (1.89)	21.2	2.71 (2.54)
Sikkim (610 577)	11.4	1.17 (0.88)	12.1	1.11 (0.82)	11.1	1.21 (0.91)
CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman). ¹Number in parentheses represents the wanted fertility rate.

Crude birth rate and total fertility rate (wanted fertility rate) 2019–2021
State (Population 2011)	Total		Urban		Rural
State (Population 2011)	CBR	TFR¹	CBR	TFR¹	CBR	TFR¹
Uttar Pradesh (199 812 341)	20.5	2.35 (1.77)	16.7	1.88 (1.49)	21.8	2.50 (1.86)
Maharashtra (112 374 333)	13.8	1.71 (1.43)	12.6	1.50 (1.27)	15.0	1.89 (1.58)
Bihar (104 099 452)	25.9	2.98 (2.25)	20.4	2.35 (1.88)	27.0	3.11 (2.31)
West Bengal (91 276 115)	15.5	1.64 (1.42)	12.4	1.39 (1.24)	17.0	1.73 (1.48)
Madhya Pradesh (72 626 809)	17.2	1.99 (1.61)	13.7	1.61 (1.34)	18.5	2.12 (1.69)
Tamil Nadu (72 147 030)	13.7	1.76 (1.59)	12.7	1.61 (1.50)	14.6	1.89 (1.66)
Rajasthan (68 548 437)	18.7	2.01 (1.61)	15.3	1.67 (1.42)	19.8	2.11 (1.65)
Karnataka (61 095 297)	14.2	1.67 (1.38)	13.2	1.50 (1.25)	14.9	1.79 (1.46)
Gujarat (60 439 692)	15.0	1.86 (1.53)	13.3	1.65 (1.39)	16.3	2.0 (1.60)
Andhra Pradesh (49 386 799)	13.8	1.68 (1.55)	12.5	1.47 (1.36)	14.3	1.78 (1.64)
Odisha (41 974 218)	15.9	1.82 (1.52)	13.1	1.48 (1.26)	16.5	1.89 (1.57)
Telangana (35 193 978)	15.3	1.75 (1.55)	16.0	1.75 (1.57)	15.3	1.74 (1.54)
Kerala (33 406 061)	11.8	1.79 (1.68)	11.9	1.82 (1.71)	11.6	1.76 (1.65)
Jharkhand (32 988 134)	20.2	2.26 (1.87)	14.2	1.56 (1.32)	22.0	2.48 (2.04)
Assam (31 205 576)	16.8	1.87 (1.56)	13.1	1.50 (1.37)	17.4	1.93 (1.59)
Punjab (27 743 338)	13.3	1.63 (1.35)	12.1	1.55 (1.29)	14.0	1.68 (1.38)
Chhattisgarh (25 545 198)	16.4	1.82 (1.57)	13.6	1.42 (1.28)	17.2	1.94 (1.66)
Haryana (25 351 462)	16.4	1.91 (1.54)	14.1	1.65 (1.38)	17.5	2.04 (1.62)
Jammu and Kashmir (12 541 302)	13.1	1.41 (1.3)
Uttarakhand (10 086 292)	16.7	1.85 (1.46)	16.8	1.84 (1.47)	16.6	1.86 (1.47)
Himachal Pradesh (6 864 602)	12.7	1.66 (1.43)	11.2	1.43 (1.36)	12.9	1.69 (1.44)
Tripura (3 673 917)	14.5	1.70 (1.49)	11.0	1.39 (1.29)	15.8	1.81 (1.56)
Meghalaya (2 966 889)	24.2	2.91 (2.66)	14.8	1.57 (1.43)	26.5	3.31 (3.04)
Manipur (2 855 794)	17.4	2.17 (1.98)	14.7	1.84 (1.73)	19.1	2.38 (2.13)
Nagaland (1 978 502)	15.4	1.72 (1.57)	12.5	1.21 (1.13)	16.8	2.00 (1.82)
Goa (1 458 545)	10.3	1.30 (1.21)	10.3	1.26 (1.19)	10.3	1.36 (1.24)
Arunachal Pradesh (1 383 727)	16.0	1.80 (1.49)	14.8	1.44 (1.24)	16.2	1.88 (1.54)
Mizoram (1 097 206)	15.0	1.87 (1.78)	13.9	1.63 (1.56)	16.4	2.19 (2.08)
Sikkim (610 577)	10.2	1.05 (0.85)	7.8	0.71 (0.54)	11.7	1.32 (1.11)
Delhi	14.8	1.62 (1.29)	14.6	1.60 (1.27)	23.4	2.47 (2.06)
CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman). ¹Number in parentheses represents the wanted fertility rate.

Birth rate, death rate, natural growth rate, and infant mortality rate, by state and UT(2010)
State or UT	Birth rate			Death rate			Natural growth rate			Infant mortality rate
State or UT	Total	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban
Andaman and Nicobar Islands	15.6	15.5	15.8	4.3	4.8	3.3	11.3	10.7	12.6	25	29	18
Andhra Pradesh	17.9	18.3	16.7	7.6	8.6	5.4	10.2	9.7	11.3	46	51	33
Arunachal Pradesh	20.5	22.1	14.6	5.9	6.9	2.3	14.6	15.2	12.3	31	34	12
Assam	23.2	24.4	15.8	8.2	8.6	5.8	14.9	15.8	10.1	58	60	36
Bihar	28.1	28.8	22.0	6.8	7.0	5.6	21.3	21.8	16.4	48	49	38
Chandigarh	15.6	21.6	15.0	3.9	3.7	3.9	11.6	17.9	11.0	22	20	23
Chhattisgarh	25.3	26.8	18.6	8.0	8.4	6.2	17.3	18.4	12.4	51	52	44
Dadra and Nagar Haveli	26.6	26.0	28.6	4.7	5.1	3.3	21.9	20.9	25.3	38	43	22
Daman and Diu	18.8	19.1	18.3	4.9	4.9	4.8	13.9	14.2	13.6	23	19	29
Delhi	17.8	19.7	17.5	4.2	4.6	4.1	13.6	15.0	13.4	30	37	29
Goa	13.2	12.6	13.7	6.6	8.1	5.7	6.6	4.5	8.0	10	10	10
Gujarat	21.8	23.3	19.4	6.7	7.5	5.5	15.1	15.8	14.0	44	51	30
Haryana	22.3	23.3	19.8	6.6	7.0	5.6	15.7	16.3	14.3	48	51	38
Himachal Pradesh	16.9	17.5	11.5	6.9	7.2	4.2	10.0	10.3	7.3	40	41	29
Jammu and Kashmir	18.3	19.5	13.5	5.7	5.9	4.7	12.6	13.6	8.8	43	45	32
Jharkhand	25.3	26.7	19.3	7.0	7.4	5.4	18.3	19.3	13.9	42	44	30
Karnataka	19.2	20.2	17.5	7.1	8.1	5.4	12.1	12.1	12.1	38	43	28
Kerala	14.8	14.8	14.8	7.0	7.1	6.7	7.8	7.7	8.1	13	14	10
Lakshadweep	14.3	15.5	13.2	6.4	6.1	6.7	8.0	9.5	6.5	25	23	27
Madhya Pradesh	27.3	29.2	20.5	8.3	9.0	6.0	18.9	20.2	14.5	62	67	42
Maharashtra	17.1	17.6	16.4	6.5	7.5	5.3	10.6	10.2	11.1	28	34	20
Manipur	14.9	14.8	15.3	4.2	4.3	4.0	10.7	10.5	11.3	14	15	9
Meghalaya	24.5	26.6	14.8	7.9	8.4	5.6	16.6	18.2	9.2	55	58	37
Mizoram	17.1	21.1	13.0	4.5	5.4	3.7	12.5	15.7	9.3	37	47	21
Nagaland	16.8	17.0	16.0	3.6	3.7	3.3	13.2	13.3	12.7	23	24	20
Odisha	20.5	21.4	15.2	8.6	9.0	6.6	11.9	12.4	8.6	61	63	43
Puducherry	16.7	16.7	16.7	7.4	8.2	7.0	9.3	8.5	9.6	22	25	21
Punjab	16.6	17.2	15.6	7.0	7.7	5.8	9.6	9.5	9.8	34	37	28
Rajasthan	26.7	27.9	22.9	6.7	6.9	6.0	20.0	20.9	16.9	55	61	31
Sikkim	17.8	18.1	16.1	5.6	5.9	3.8	12.3	12.3	12.3	30	31	19
Tamil Nadu	15.9	16.0	15.8	7.6	8.2	6.9	8.3	7.8	8.9	24	25	22
Tripura	14.9	15.6	11.5	5.0	4.8	5.7	9.9	10.8	5.8	27	29	19
Uttar Pradesh	28.3	29.2	24.2	8.1	8.5	6.3	20.2	20.7	17.9	61	64	44
Uttarakhand	19.3	20.2	16.2	6.3	6.7	5.1	13.0	13.5	11.1	38	41	25
West Bengal	16.8	18.6	11.9	6.0	6.0	6.3	10.7	12.6	5.6	31	32	25

Infant mortality rate trend (deaths per 1000) As per NFHS & UNICEF Data.
Year	Male	Female	Total
1998	69.8	73.5	71.6
2005	56.3	58	57
2009	49	52	—N/a
2014	43.7	37.90	40.7
2018	29.95	29.88	29.94

Ethnic groups

India is home to many different ethnic groups, each with its own culture, language, and traditions. The largest group is the Indo-Aryans, making up about 78% of the population, followed by the Dravidians at around 19.6%. Other groups include the Austroasiatic, Tibeto-Burman, and several smaller tribal groups. These groups live in various parts of India, adding to the country's rich cultural diversity.

Population size and structure

Main article: List of States and Union Territories by demographics

India covers only 2.41% of the world's land but is home to over 18% of all people. In 2001, most people lived in about 638,000 villages, with only a small part living in more than 5,100 towns and over 380 urban areas. By 2011, fewer people lived in villages, and more lived in towns and cities. India's population became larger than the whole continent of Africa in 2010, but Africa's population is growing very fast and may pass India's soon.

Comparative demographics
Category	Global ranking
Area	7th
Population	1st
Population growth rate	102nd of 212
Population density	24th of 212
Male to Female ratio, at birth	12th of 214

Population growth of India per decade
Census year	Population	Change (%)
1951	361,088,003	–
1961	439,235,000	21.6
1971	548,160,000	24.8
1981	683,329,000	24.7
1991	846,387,888	23.9
2001	1,028,737,436	21.5
2011	1,210,193,422	17.7

Population distribution by states/union territories (2011)
Rank	State/UT	Population	Percent (%)	Male	Female	Difference between male and female	Sex ratio	Rural	Urban	Area (km²)	Density (per km²)
1	Uttar Pradesh	199,812,341	16.50	104,480,510	95,331,831	9,148,679	930	155,111,022	44,470,455	240,928	828
2	Maharashtra	112,374,333	9.28	58,243,056	54,131,277	4,111,779	929	61,545,441	50,827,531	307,713	365
3	Bihar	104,099,452	8.60	54,278,157	49,821,295	4,456,862	918	92,075,028	11,729,609	94,163	1,102
4	West Bengal	91,276,115	7.54	46,809,027	44,467,088	2,341,939	950	62,213,676	29,134,060	88,752	1,030
5	Madhya Pradesh	72,626,809	6.00	37,612,306	35,014,503	2,597,803	931	52,537,899	20,059,666	308,245	236
6	Tamil Nadu	72,147,030	5.96	36,137,975	36,009,055	128,920	996	37,189,229	34,949,729	130,058	555
7	Rajasthan	68,548,437	5.66	35,550,997	32,997,440	2,553,557	928	51,540,236	17,080,776	342,239	201
8	Karnataka	61,095,297	5.05	30,966,657	30,128,640	838,017	973	37,552,529	23,578,175	191,791	319
9	Gujarat	60,439,692	4.99	31,491,260	28,948,432	2,542,828	919	34,670,817	25,712,811	196,024	308
10	Andhra Pradesh	49,386,799	4.08	24,738,068	24,648,731	89,337	996	34,776,389	14,610,410	160,205	308
11	Odisha	41,974,218	3.47	21,212,136	20,762,082	450,054	979	34,951,234	6,996,124	155,707	269
12	Telangana	35,193,978	2.91	17,704,078	17,489,900	214,178	988	21,585,313	13,608,665	114,840	307
13	Kerala	33,406,061	2.76	16,027,412	17,378,649	−1,351,237	1084	17,445,506	15,932,171	38,863	859
14	Jharkhand	32,988,134	2.72	16,930,315	16,057,819	872,496	948	25,036,946	7,929,292	79,714	414
15	Assam	31,205,576	2.58	15,939,443	15,266,133	673,310	958	26,780,526	4,388,756	78,438	397
16	Punjab	27,743,338	2.29	14,639,465	13,103,873	1,535,592	895	17,316,800	10,387,436	50,362	550
17	Chhattisgarh	25,545,198	2.11	12,832,895	12,712,303	120,592	991	19,603,658	5,936,538	135,191	189
18	Haryana	25,351,462	2.09	13,494,734	11,856,728	1,638,006	879	16,531,493	8,821,588	44,212	573
19	Delhi (UT)	16,787,941	1.39	8,887,326	7,800,615	1,086,711	868	944,727	12,905,780	1,484	11,297
20	Jammu and Kashmir	12,541,302	1.04	6,640,662	5,900,640	740,022	889	9,134,820	3,414,106	222,236	56
21	Uttarakhand	10,086,292	0.83	5,137,773	4,948,519	189,254	963	7,025,583	3,091,169	53,483	189
22	Himachal Pradesh	6,864,602	0.57	3,481,873	3,382,729	99,144	972	6,167,805	688,704	55,673	123
23	Tripura	3,673,917	0.30	1,874,376	1,799,541	74,835	960	2,710,051	960,981	10,486	350
24	Meghalaya	2,966,889	0.25	1,491,832	1,475,057	16,775	989	2,368,971	595,036	22,429	132
25	Manipur	2,855,794	0.24	1,438,687	1,417,107	21,580	985	1,899,624	822,132	22,327	128
26	Nagaland	1,978,502	0.16	1,024,649	953,853	70,796	931	1,406,861	573,741	16,579	119
27	Goa	1,458,545	0.12	739,140	719,405	19,735	973	551,414	906,309	3,702	394
28	Arunachal Pradesh	1,383,727	0.11	713,912	669,815	44,097	938	1,069,165	313,446	83,743	17
29	Puducherry (UT)	1,247,953	0.10	612,511	635,442	−22,931	1037	394,341	850,123	479	2,598
30	Mizoram	1,097,206	0.09	555,339	541,867	13,472	976	529,037	561,997	21,081	52
31	Chandigarh (UT)	1,055,450	0.09	580,663	474,787	105,876	818	29,004	1,025,682	114	9,252
32	Sikkim	610,577	0.05	323,070	287,507	35,563	890	455,962	151,726	7,096	86
33	Andaman and Nicobar Islands (UT)	380,581	0.03	202,871	177,710	25,161	876	244,411	135,533	8,249	46
34	Dadra and Nagar Haveli (UT)	343,709	0.03	193,760	149,949	43,811	774	183,024	159,829	491	698
35	Daman and Diu (UT)	243,247	0.02	150,301	92,946	57,355	618	60,331	182,580	112	2,169
36	Lakshadweep (UT)	64,473	0.01	33,123	31,350	1,773	946	14,121	50,308	32	2,013
–	Total (India)	1,210,854,977	100	623,724,248	586,469,174	35,585,741	943	833,087,662	377,105,760	3,287,240	382

Literacy rate by state/union territory in 2011
State or UT code	State or UT	Overall (%)	Male (%)	Female (%)
1	Jammu and Kashmir	68.74%	76.75%	58.01%
2	Himachal Pradesh	83.78%	90.83%	76.60%
3	Punjab	75.84%	81.48%	71.34%
4	Chandigarh	86.43%	90.54%	81.38%
5	Uttarakhand	79.63%	88.33%	70.70%
6	Haryana	76.64%	85.38%	66.77%
7	Delhi	86.34%	91.03%	80.93%
8	Rajasthan	67.06%	80.51%	52.66%
9	Uttar Pradesh	69.72%	79.24%	59.26%
10	Bihar	63.82%	73.39%	53.33%
11	Sikkim	82.20%	87.29%	76.43%
12	Arunachal Pradesh	66.95%	73.69%	59.57%
13	Nagaland	80.11%	83.29%	76.69%
14	Manipur	79.85%	86.49%	73.17%
15	Mizoram	91.58%	93.72%	89.40%
16	Tripura	87.75%	92.18%	83.15%
17	Meghalaya	75.48%	77.17%	73.78%
18	Assam	73.18%	78.81%	67.27%
19	West Bengal	77.08%	82.67%	71.16%
20	Jharkhand	67.63%	78.45%	56.21%
21	Odisha	72.90%	82.40%	64.36%
22	Chhattisgarh	71.04%	81.45%	60.59%
23	Madhya Pradesh	70.63%	80.53%	60.02%
24	Gujarat	79.31%	87.23%	70.73%
25	Daman and Diu	87.07%	91.48%	79.59%
26	Dadra and Nagar Haveli	77.65%	86.46%	65.93%
27	Maharashtra	83.20%	89.82%	75.48%
28	Andhra Pradesh	67.35%	74.77%	59.96%
29	Karnataka	75.60%	82.85%	68.13%
30	Goa	87.40%	92.81%	81.84%
31	Lakshadweep	92.28%	96.11%	88.25%
32	Kerala	93.91%	96.02%	91.98%
33	Tamil Nadu	80.33%	86.81%	73.86%
34	Puducherry	86.55%	92.12%	81.22%
35	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	86.27%	90.11%	81.84%
–	Overall (India)	74.03%	82.14%	65.46%

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percentage (%)	Cumulative percentage
0–4	58,632,074	54,174,704	112,806,778	9.32	9.32
5–9	66,300,466	60,627,660	126,928,126	10.48	19.8
10–14	69,418,835	63,290,377	132,709,212	10.96	30.76
15–19	63,982,396	56,544,053	120,526,449	9.95	40.71
20–24	57,584,693	53,839,529	111,424,222	9.20	49.91
25–29	51,344,208	50,069,757	101,413,965	8.38	58.29
30–34	44,660,674	43,934,277	88,594,951	7.32	65.61
35–39	42,919,381	42,221,303	85,140,684	7.03	72.64
40–44	37,545,386	34,892,726	72,438,112	5.98	78.62
45–49	32,138,114	30,180,213	62,318,327	5.15	83.77
50–54	25,843,266	23,225,988	49,069,254	4.05	87.82
55–59	19,456,012	19,690,043	39,146,055	3.23	91.05
60–64	18,701,749	18,961,958	37,663,707	3.11	94.16
65–69	12,944,326	13,510,657	26,454,983	2.18	96.34
70–74	9,651,499	9,557,343	19,208,842	1.59	97.93
75–79	4,490,603	4,741,900	9,232,503	0.76	98.69
80–84	2,927,040	3,293,189	6,220,229	0.51	99.2
85–89	1,120,106	1,263,061	2,383,167	0.20	99.4
90–94	652,465	794,069	1,446,534	0.12	99.52
95–99	294,759	338,538	633,297	0.05	99.57
100+	289,325	316,453	605,778	0.05	99.62
Unknown	2,372,881	2,116,921	4,489,802	0.37	99.99
Total	623,270,258	587,584,719	1,210,854,977	100.00
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	194,351,375	178,092,741	372,444,116	30.76
15–64	394,175,879	373,559,847	767,735,726	63.40
65+	32,370,123	33,815,210	66,185,333	5.47

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	664,184,000	626,890,000	1,291,074,000	100
0–4	62,872,000	56,038,000	118,910,000	9.21
5–9	61,499,000	56,969,000	118,468,000	9.18
10–14	65,142,000	59,682,000	124,824,000	9.67
15–19	67,223,000	60,871,000	128,094,000	9.92
20–24	63,521,000	57,356,000	120,877,000	9.36
25–29	57,272,000	53,357,000	110,629,000	8.57
30–34	50,782,000	49,250,000	100,032,000	7.75
35–39	45,318,000	44,787,000	90,105,000	6.98
40–44	41,280,000	40,497,000	81,777,000	6.33
45–49	36,602,000	35,107,000	71,709,000	5.55
50–54	30,738,000	29,016,000	59,754,000	4.63
55–59	24,403,000	23,307,000	47,710,000	3.70
60–64	19,133,000	19,288,000	38,421,000	2.98
65–69	15,198,000	16,114,000	31,312,000	2.43
70–74	11,002,000	11,723,000	22,725,000	1.76
75–79	7,703,000	8,367,000	16,070,000	1.24
80+	4,496,000	5,161,000	9,657,000	0.75
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	189,513,000	172,689,000	362,202,000	28.05
15–64	436,272,000	412,836,000	849,108,000	65.77
65+	38,399,000	41,365,000	79,764,000	6.18

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	700,623,000	662,383,000	1,363,006,000	100
0–4	60,153,000	54,120,000	114,273,000	8.38
5–9	62,276,000	55,390,000	117,666,000	8.63
10–14	61,266,000	56,785,000	118,051,000	8.66
15–19	64,862,000	59,420,000	124,282,000	9.12
20–24	66,770,000	60,474,000	127,244,000	9.34
25–29	62,944,000	56,956,000	119,900,000	8.80
30–34	56,614,000	52,961,000	109,575,000	8.04
35–39	50,027,000	48,836,000	98,863,000	7.25
40–44	44,450,000	44,315,000	88,765,000	6.51
45–49	40,204,000	39,903,000	80,107,000	5.88
50–54	35,235,000	34,331,000	69,566,000	5.10
55–59	29,082,000	28,062,000	57,144,000	4.19
60–64	22,465,000	22,079,000	44,544,000	3.27
65–69	16,823,000	17,583,000	34,406,000	2.52
70–74	12,546,000	13,904,000	26,450,000	1.94
75–79	8,269,000	9,294,000	17,563,000	1.29
80+	6,637,000	7,970,000	14,607,000	1.07
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	183,695,000	166,295,000	349,990,000	25.68
15–64	472,653,000	447,337,000	919,990,000	67.50
65+	44,275,000	48,751,000	93,026,000	6.83

Population between age 0–6 by state/union territory
State or UT code	State or UT	Total	Male	Female	Difference
1	Jammu and Kashmir	2,008,670	1,080,662	927,982	152,680
2	Himachal Pradesh	763,864	400,681	363,183	37,498
3	Punjab	2,941,570	1,593,262	1,348,308	244,954
4	Chandigarh	117,953	63,187	54,766	8,421
5	Uttarakhand	1,328,844	704,769	624,075	80,694
6	Haryana	3,297,724	1,802,047	1,495,677	306,370
7	Delhi	1,970,510	1,055,735	914,775	140,960
8	Rajasthan	10,504,916	5,580,212	4,924,004	656,208
9	Uttar Pradesh	29,728,235	15,653,175	14,075,060	1,578,115
10	Bihar	18,582,229	9,615,280	8,966,949	648,331
11	Sikkim	61,077	31,418	29,659	1,759
12	Arunachal Pradesh	202,759	103,430	99,330	4,100
13	Nagaland	285,981	147,111	138,870	8,241
14	Manipur	353,237	182,684	170,553	12,131
15	Mizoram	165,536	83,965	81,571	2,394
16	Tripura	444,055	227,354	216,701	10,653
17	Meghalaya	555,822	282,189	273,633	8,556
18	Assam	4,511,307	2,305,088	2,206,219	98,869
19	West Bengal	10,112,599	5,187,264	4,925,335	261,929
20	Jharkhand	5,237,582	2,695,921	2,541,661	154,260
21	Odisha	5,035,650	2,603,208	2,432,442	170,766
22	Chhattisgarh	3,584,028	1,824,987	1,759,041	65,946
23	Madhya Pradesh	10,548,295	5,516,957	5,031,338	485,619
24	Gujarat	7,564,464	3,974,286	3,519,890	454,396
25	Daman and Diu	25,880	13,556	12,314	1,242
26	Dadra and Nagar Haveli	49,196	25,575	23,621	1,954
27	Maharashtra	12,848,375	6,822,262	6,026,113	796,149
28	Andhra Pradesh	8,642,686	4,448,330	4,194,356	253,974
29	Karnataka	6,855,801	3,527,844	3,327,957	199,887
30	Goa	139,495	72,669	66,826	5,843
31	Lakshadweep	7,088	3,715	3,373	342
32	Kerala	3,322,247	1,695,889	1,626,358	69,531
33	Tamil Nadu	6,894,821	3,542,351	3,352,470	189,881
34	Puducherry	127,610	64,932	62,678	2,254
35	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	39,497	20,094	19,403	691
–	Total (India)	158,789,287	82,952,135	75,837,152	7,114,983

Population above the age of seven by state/union territory
State or UT code	State or UT	Total	Male	Female
1	Jammu and Kashmir	–	–	–
2	Himachal Pradesh	–	–	–
3	Punjab	–	–	–
4	Chandigarh	–	–	–
5	Uttarakhand	–	–	–
6	Haryana	22,055,357	11,703,083	10,352,274
7	Delhi	14,782,725	7,920,675	6,862,050
8	Rajasthan	58,116,096	30,039,874	28,076,222
9	Uttar Pradesh	169,853,242	88,943,240	80,910,002
10	Bihar	85,222,408	44,570,067	40,652,341
11	Sikkim	546,611	290,243	256,368
12	Arunachal Pradesh	1,179,852	616,802	563,050
13	Nagaland	1,694,621	878,596	816,025
14	Manipur	2,368,519	1,187,080	1,181,439
15	Mizoram	925,478	468,374	457,104
16	Tripura	3,226,977	1,644,513	1,582,464
17	Meghalaya	2,408,185	1,210,479	1,197,706
18	Assam	26,657,965	13,649,839	13,008,126
19	West Bengal	81,235,137	41,740,125	39,495,012
20	Jharkhand	27,728,656	14,235,767	13,492,889
21	Odisha	36,911,708	18,598,470	18,313,238
22	Chhattisgarh	21,956,168	11,002,928	10,953,240
23	Madhya Pradesh	62,049,270	32,095,963	29,953,307
24	Gujarat	52,889,452	27,507,996	25,381,456
25	Daman and Diu	217,031	136,544	80,487
26	Dadra and Nagar Haveli	293,657	167,603	126,054
27	Maharashtra	99,524,597	51,539,135	47,985,462
28	Andhra Pradesh	76,022,847	38,061,551	37,961,296
29	Karnataka	54,274,903	27,529,898	26,745,005
30	Goa	1,318,228	668,042	650,186
31	Lakshadweep	57,341	29,391	27,950
32	Kerala	–	–	–
33	Tamil Nadu	65,244,137	32,616,520	32,627,617
34	Puducherry	1,116,854	545,553	571,301
35	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	340,447	182,236	158,211
–	Total (India)	1,051,404,135	540,772,113	510,632,022

Religion

Main article: Religion in India

Hindu population pyramid in India based on the 2011 Census data. This chart visualizes the distribution of the Hindu population across various age groups in India.

India has many different religions, and most people follow Hinduism. Here are the main religions and how many people belong to each one, based on data from 2011:

Hindus (79.8%)
Muslims (14.2%)
Christians (2.31%)
Sikhs (1.72%)
Buddhists (0.69%)
Jains (0.37%)
Other Religions and Persuasions (0.66%)
Religion Not Stated (0.24%)

Muslim population pyramid in India based on the 2011 Census data. This chart visualizes the distribution of the Muslim population across various age groups in India.

There are also special charts that show how religions are spread across different age groups and areas, but these charts are not shown here.

Buddhist population pyramid in India based on the 2011 Census data. This chart visualizes the distribution of the Buddhist population across various age groups in India.

Jain population pyramid in India based on the 2011 Census data. This chart visualizes the distribution of the Jain population across various age groups in India.

Religious populations' numbers (2011)
Religion	Population	Percentage (%)
Hindus	966,378,868	79.80%
Muslims	172,245,158	14.23%
Christians	27,819,588	2.30%
Sikhs	20,833,116	1.72%
Buddhists	8,442,972	0.70%
Jains	4,451,753	0.37%
Others	7,937,734	0.66%
Not Stated	2,867,303	0.24%

Changes in religious demographics over time
Year	Hindus	Muslims	Christians	Sikhs	Buddhists	Jainis	Zoroastrians	Others/ Religion not specified
1951	84.1%	9.8%	2.3%	1.79%	0.74%	0.46%	0.13%	0.43%
1961	83.45%	10.69%	2.44%	1.79%	0.74%	0.46%	0.09%	0.43%
1971	82.73%	11.21%	2.60%	1.89%	0.70%	0.48%	0.09%	0.41%
1981	82.30%	11.75%	2.44%	1.92%	0.70%	0.47%	0.09%	0.42%
1991	81.53%	12.61%	2.32%	1.94%	0.77%	0.40%	0.08%	0.44%
2001	80.46%	13.43%	2.34%	1.87%	0.77%	0.41%	0.06%	0.72%
2011	79.80%	14.23%	2.30%	1.72%	0.70%	0.37%	—N/a	0.9%

Characteristics of religious groups
Religious group	Population (2011) %	Growth (2001–2011)	Sex ratio (2011)				Literacy (2011) (%)	Work participation (2011) (%)
Religious group	Population (2011) %	Growth (2001–2011)	total	rural	urban	child	Literacy (2011) (%)	Work participation (2011) (%)
Hinduism	79.80%	16.8%	939	946	921	913	73.3%	41.0%
Islam	14.23%	24.6%	951	957	941	943	68.5%	32.6%
Christianity	2.30%	15.5%	1023	1008	1046	958	84.5%	41.9%
Sikhism	1.72%	8.4%	903	905	898	828	75.4%	36.3%
Buddhism	0.70%	6.1%	965	960	973	933	81.3%	43.1%
Jainism	0.37%	5.4%	954	935	959	889	94.9%	35.5%
Others/Religion Not Specified	0.90%	n/a	959	947	975	974	n/a	n/a

Caste/tribe

Caste/Tribe demographics (1983)
Caste/Tribe	Population	Percentage
Total population	731,000,000	100%
Scheduled castes and tribes	164,913,600	22.56%
Scheduled castes	110,015,500	15.05%
Scheduled tribes	54,898,100	7.51%

Non OBC/SC/ST Hindu castes/communities	128,509,800	17.58%
Brahmin (including Bhumihar)	40,351,200	5.52%
Kshtriyas(Rajput)	28,509,000	3.90%
Maratha	16,155,100	2.21%
Jats	7,310,000	1%
Vaishya, Bania, etc.	13,742,800	1.88%
Kayasthas	7,821,700	1.07%
Others [ Including Yadavs (Kshtriyas) ]	14,620,000	2%

Non-Hindu communities and groups	121,346,000	16.6%
Muslim (Non S.T)	81,798,900	11.19%
Christian (Non S.T)	15,789,600	2.16%
Sikh (Non scheduled)	12,207,700	1.67%
Buddhist (Non S.T)	4,897,700	0.67%
Jain (Non scheduled)	3,435,700	0.47%

Other backward classes and communities (OBC)	380,120,000	52%
Hindu OBC	318,716,000	43.60%
Non-Hindu OBC	61,404,000	8.40%

Largest cities of India

For a more comprehensive list, see List of cities in India by population.

Largest cities or towns in India 2011 Census of India
Rank	Name	State/UT	Pop.	Rank	Name	State/UT	Pop.
1	Mumbai	Maharashtra	12,478,447	11	Kanpur	Uttar Pradesh	2,920,067
2	Delhi	Delhi	11,007,835	12	Lucknow	Uttar Pradesh	2,901,474
3	Chennai	Tamil Nadu	8,696,010	13	Nagpur	Maharashtra	2,405,421
4	Bengaluru	Karnataka	8,425,970	14	Indore	Madhya Pradesh	1,960,521
5	Hyderabad	Telangana	6,809,970	15	Thane	Maharashtra	1,818,872
6	Ahmedabad	Gujarat	5,570,585	16	Bhopal	Madhya Pradesh	1,795,648
7	Kolkata	West Bengal	4,486,679	17	Visakhapatnam	Andhra Pradesh	1,730,320
8	Surat	Gujarat	4,462,002	18	Pimpri-Chinchwad	Maharashtra	1,729,359
9	Pune	Maharashtra	3,115,431	19	Patna	Bihar	1,683,200
10	Jaipur	Rajasthan	3,073,350	20	Vadodara	Gujarat	1,670,806

Charts

Graphs are not available right now because of technical problems. When the problems are fixed, the graphs will be shown again. You can see the data used for the graphs by visiting the links provided.

Population	1.4 billion (2023)
Density	484 people per square kilometer (2023)
Growth rate	0.89% (2023)
Life expectancy	72 years (2023)
Nationality	Indian

History

Prehistory to early 19th century

Population of India over time

Late 19th century to early 20th century

Languages

Vital statistics

Ethnic groups

Population size and structure

Religion

Caste/tribe

Largest cities of India

Charts

Images

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