How many people live in India right now?
Right now, according to UN estimates
1,480,583,702
| Today | In 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Births | · | · |
| Deaths | · | · |
| Growth | · | · |
2026 figures
- Rank by population
- 1 of 237
- Share of world population
- 17.79%
- Median age
- 29.2 years
- Children per woman
- 1.93
- Life expectancy
- 72.7 years
- People per km²
- 497
According to UN estimates, about 1.48 billion people live in India right now. It is the most populous country in the world, ahead of China, and it is home to one in every 6 people on the planet.
Every day, about 62,900 people are born there and about 27,100 die. Overall, the population grows by about 34,700 people a day (0.86% a year).
In 1950, about 346 million people lived there. Today there are 4.3 times as many. The UN expects it to peak around 2061, at about 1.70 billion, and then begin to fall. By 2050 it is projected to have about 1.68 billion people (13% more than today), and by 2100 about 1.51 billion.
Half of its people are younger than 29 (worldwide, 31). Women have an average of 1.93 children each, below the 2.1 needed for each generation to replace the one before, and life expectancy at birth is 73 years (worldwide, 74). There are 497 people per square kilometer.
UN estimates up to today and projections (medium variant) from today onward.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the population of India in 2026?
- India has about 1.48 billion people right now, according to the UN's World Population Prospects 2024. On July 1, 2026, there were 1,476,625,576.
- How many people are born each day in India?
- About 62,900 a day (23.0 million a year). About 27,100 people die each day (9.9 million a year).
- Is the population of India growing?
- Yes: it grows by 0.86% a year, or about 12.7 million people.
- What will the population of India be in 2050?
- According to the UN projection (medium variant), about 1.68 billion, with a peak around 2061 at about 1.70 billion.
- Why doesn't this figure match the country's official statistics?
- The UN estimates the population of every country with the same method, based on censuses, surveys and registers, and projects it year by year. Each national statistics office uses its own censuses and registers, which may be more up to date or count foreign residents differently. That is why the figures can differ slightly.
Countries with a similar population
- China 1,411,889,261
- United States 349,570,529
- Indonesia 288,549,861
More countries in Asia
- China 1,411,889,261
- Indonesia 288,549,861
- Pakistan 260,627,143
- Bangladesh 178,484,000
- Japan 122,207,158
- Philippines 118,018,709
- Vietnam 102,351,218
- Iran 93,380,131
- Turkey 88,012,216
- Thailand 71,536,984
- Myanmar 55,285,187
- South Korea 51,574,559
All countries and territories →
Where these figures come from
The figures are estimates from the United Nations Population Division, published in World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant): the reference used by international organizations and by most population counters. The UN estimates how many people there are on July 1 of each year and how many are born, die and migrate; between one date and the next, this counter spreads the change continuously, second by second.
It is not a real-time headcount: nobody can count every person in a country at once. It is the best available estimate, and it may differ slightly from the figures of each country's statistics office, which use their own censuses and population registers.