This statistic depicts the age distribution of India from 2013 to 2023. In 2023, about 25.06 percent of the Indian population fell into the 0-14 year category, 68.02 percent into the 15-64 age group and 6.92 percent were over 65 years of age. Age distribution in India India is one of the largest countries in the world and its population is constantly increasing. India’s society is categorized into a hierarchically organized caste system, encompassing certain rights and values for each caste. Indians are born into a caste, and those belonging to a lower echelon often face discrimination and hardship. The median age (which means that one half of the population is younger and the other one is older) of India’s population has been increasing constantly after a slump in the 1970s, and is expected to increase further over the next few years. However, in international comparison, it is fairly low; in other countries the average inhabitant is about 20 years older. But India seems to be on the rise, not only is it a member of the BRIC states – an association of emerging economies, the other members being Brazil, Russia and China –, life expectancy of Indians has also increased significantly over the past decade, which is an indicator of access to better health care and nutrition. Gender equality is still non-existant in India, even though most Indians believe that the quality of life is about equal for men and women in their country. India is patriarchal and women still often face forced marriages, domestic violence, dowry killings or rape. As of late, India has come to be considered one of the least safe places for women worldwide. Additionally, infanticide and selective abortion of female fetuses attribute to the inequality of women in India. It is believed that this has led to the fact that the vast majority of Indian children aged 0 to 6 years are male.

Abstract

The second National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2), conducted in 1998-99, provides information on fertility, mortality, family planning, and important aspects of nutrition, health, and health care. The International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) coordinated the survey, which collected information from a nationally representative sample of more than 90,000 ever-married women age 15-49. The NFHS-2 sample covers 99 percent of India's population living in all 26 states. This report is based on the survey data for 25 of the 26 states, however, since data collection in Tripura was delayed due to local problems in the state.

IIPS also coordinated the first National Family Health Survey (NFHS-1) in 1992-93. Most of the types of information collected in NFHS-2 were also collected in the earlier survey, making it possible to identify trends over the intervening period of six and one-half years. In addition, the NFHS-2 questionnaire covered a number of new or expanded topics with important policy implications, such as reproductive health, women's autonomy, domestic violence, women's nutrition, anaemia, and salt iodization.

The NFHS-2 survey was carried out in two phases. Ten states were surveyed in the first phase which began in November 1998 and the remaining states (except Tripura) were surveyed in the second phase which began in March 1999. The field staff collected information from 91,196 households in these 25 states and interviewed 89,199 eligible women in these households. In addition, the survey collected information on 32,393 children born in the three years preceding the survey. One health investigator on each survey team measured the height and weight of eligible women and children and took blood samples to assess the prevalence of anaemia.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS

Three-quarters (73 percent) of the population lives in rural areas. The age distribution is typical of populations that have recently experienced a fertility decline, with relatively low proportions in the younger and older age groups. Thirty-six percent of the population is below age 15, and 5 percent is age 65 and above. The sex ratio is 957 females for every 1,000 males in rural areas but only 928 females for every 1,000 males in urban areas, suggesting that more men than women have migrated to urban areas.

The survey provides a variety of demographic and socioeconomic background information. In the country as a whole, 82 percent of household heads are Hindu, 12 percent are Muslim, 3 percent are Christian, and 2 percent are Sikh. Muslims live disproportionately in urban areas, where they comprise 15 percent of household heads. Nineteen percent of household heads belong to scheduled castes, 9 percent belong to scheduled tribes, and 32 percent belong to other backward classes (OBCs). Two-fifths of household heads do not belong to any of these groups.

Questions about housing conditions and the standard of living of households indicate some improvements since the time of NFHS-1. Sixty percent of households in India now have electricity and 39 percent have piped drinking water compared with 51 percent and 33 percent, respectively, at the time of NFHS-1. Sixty-four percent of households have no toilet facility compared with 70 percent at the time of NFHS-1.

About three-fourths (75 percent) of males and half (51 percent) of females age six and above are literate, an increase of 6-8 percentage points from literacy rates at the time of NFHS-1. The percentage of illiterate males varies from 6-7 percent in Mizoram and Kerala to 37 percent in Bihar and the percentage of illiterate females varies from 11 percent in Mizoram and 15 percent in Kerala to 65 percent in Bihar. Seventy-nine percent of children age 6-14 are attending school, up from 68 percent in NFHS-1. The proportion of children attending school has increased for all ages, particularly for girls, but girls continue to lag behind boys in school attendance. Moreover, the disparity in school attendance by sex grows with increasing age of children. At age 6-10, 85 percent of boys attend school compared with 78 percent of girls. By age 15-17, 58 percent of boys attend school compared with 40 percent of girls. The percentage of girls 6-17 attending school varies from 51 percent in Bihar and 56 percent in Rajasthan to over 90 percent in Himachal Pradesh and Kerala.

Women in India tend to marry at an early age. Thirty-four percent of women age 15-19 are already married including 4 percent who are married but gauna has yet to be performed. These proportions are even higher in the rural areas. Older women are more likely than younger women to have married at an early age: 39 percent of women currently age 45-49 married before age 15 compared with 14 percent of women currently age 15-19. Although this indicates that the proportion of women who marry young is declining rapidly, half the women even in the age group 20-24 have married before reaching the legal minimum age of 18 years. On average, women are five years younger than the men they marry. The median age at marriage varies from about 15 years in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh to 23 years in Goa.

As part of an increasing emphasis on gender issues, NFHS-2 asked women about their participation in household decisionmaking. In India, 91 percent of women are involved in decision-making on at least one of four selected topics. A much lower proportion (52 percent), however, are involved in making decisions about their own health care. There are large variations among states in India with regard to women's involvement in household decisionmaking. More than three out of four women are involved in decisions about their own health care in Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Punjab compared with about two out of five or less in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Rajasthan. Thirty-nine percent of women do work other than housework, and more than two-thirds of these women work for cash. Only 41 percent of women who earn cash can decide independently how to spend the money that they earn. Forty-three percent of working women report that their earnings constitute at least half of total family earnings, including 18 percent who report that the family is entirely dependent on their earnings. Women's work-participation rates vary from 9 percent in Punjab and 13 percent in Haryana to 60-70 percent in Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh.

FERTILITY AND FAMILY PLANNING

Fertility continues to decline in India. At current fertility levels, women will have an average of 2.9 children each throughout their childbearing years. The total fertility rate (TFR) is down from 3.4 children per woman at the time of NFHS-1, but is still well above the replacement level of just over two children per woman. There are large variations in fertility among the states in India. Goa and Kerala have attained below replacement level fertility and Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Punjab are at or close to replacement level fertility. By contrast, fertility is 3.3 or more children per woman in Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Nagaland, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh. More than one-third to less than half of all births in these latter states are fourth or higher-order births compared with 7-9 percent of births in Kerala, Goa, and Tamil Nadu.

Efforts to encourage the trend towards lower fertility might usefully focus on groups within the population that have higher fertility than average. In India, rural women and women from scheduled tribes and scheduled castes have somewhat higher fertility than other women, but fertility is particularly high for illiterate women, poor women, and Muslim women. Another striking feature is the high level of childbearing among young women. More than half of women age 20-49 had their first birth before reaching age 20, and women age 15-19 account for almost one-fifth of total fertility. Studies in India and elsewhere have shown that health and mortality risks increase when women give birth at such young ages?both for the women themselves and for their children. Family planning programmes focusing on women in this age group could make a significant impact on maternal and child health and help to reduce fertility.

INFANT AND CHILD MORTALITY

NFHS-2 provides estimates of infant and child mortality and examines factors associated with the survival of young children. During the five years preceding the survey, the infant mortality rate was 68 deaths at age 0-11 months per 1,000 live births, substantially lower than 79 per 1,000 in the five years preceding the NFHS-1 survey. The child mortality rate, 29 deaths at age 1-4 years per 1,000 children reaching age one, also declined from the corresponding rate of 33 per 1,000 in NFHS-1. Ninety-five children out of 1,000 born do not live to age five years. Expressed differently, 1 in 15 children die in the first year of life, and 1 in 11 die before reaching age five. Child-survival programmes might usefully focus on specific groups of children with particularly high infant and child mortality rates, such as children who live in rural areas, children whose mothers are illiterate, children belonging to scheduled castes or scheduled tribes, and children from poor households. Infant mortality rates are more than two and one-half times as high for women who did not receive any of the recommended types of maternity related medical care than for mothers who did receive all recommended types of care.

HEALTH, HEALTH CARE, AND NUTRITION

Promotion of maternal and child health has been one of the most important components of the Family Welfare Programme of the Government of India. One goal is for each pregnant woman to receive at least three antenatal check-ups plus two tetanus toxoid injections and a full course of iron and folic acid supplementation. In India, mothers of 65 percent of the children

In 1800, the population of the region of present-day India was approximately 169 million. The population would grow gradually throughout the 19th century, rising to over 240 million by 1900. Population growth would begin to increase in the 1920s, as a result of falling mortality rates, due to improvements in health, sanitation and infrastructure. However, the population of India would see it’s largest rate of growth in the years following the country’s independence from the British Empire in 1948, where the population would rise from 358 million to over one billion by the turn of the century, making India the second country to pass the billion person milestone. While the rate of growth has slowed somewhat as India begins a demographics shift, the country’s population has continued to grow dramatically throughout the 21st century, and in 2020, India is estimated to have a population of just under 1.4 billion, well over a billion more people than one century previously. Today, approximately 18% of the Earth’s population lives in India, and it is estimated that India will overtake China to become the most populous country in the world within the next five years.

The average for 2023 based on 196 countries was 0.51 percent. The highest value was in India: 17.94 percent and the lowest value was in Andorra: 0 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The population of India is divided into several groups based on social, educational, and financial statuses. The formation of these groups is a result of the historical social structure of the country. Between 2019 and 2021, Other Backward Class (OBC) constituted the largest part of Indian households accounting for about ** percent. On the other hand, Schedule Tribes formed about *** percent of households. How prosperous is India’s caste-based society? India suffers from extreme social and economic inequality. The combined share of Schedule Tribe and Schedule Caste in the affluent population of India was less than ** percent. Contrary to this, economically and socially stronger groups constituted the major part of the affluent population. Hence, indicating a strong relationship between caste and prosperity. India’s thoughts on caste-based reservation The constitution of India provides reservations to the weaker sections of the society for their upliftment and growth. However, the need for reservation has increased with time, making the whole situation even more complicated. People are divided over the existence of a system that provides preference to certain castes or sects. In a survey conducted in 2016 about providing employment reservation to young adults of Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe, many people expressed opposition. More than ** percent of opposition came from upper Hindu caste. Minimum opposition was observed from the people belonging to Schedule Tribe and Schedule Caste.

The growth in India's overall population is driven by its young population. Nearly ** percent of the country's population was between the ages of 15 and 64 years old in 2020. With over *** million people between 18 and 35 years old, India had the largest number of millennials and Gen Zs globally.

Abstract

The 44th round started from July 1988. The survey period of this round was July 1988 to June 1989. This round has been devoted to mainly three enquiries. First and foremost, there has been an enquiry on the living condition of the tribal population. Of the other two, one is concerned with the housing condition of the general population and the other is a survey on current building construction activity. For the purpose of this enquiry, “tribal population” mean the members of the Scheduled Tribes declared under the Article 342 of the Constitution of India. They are known to be the descendants of the earliest inhabitants of India (hence called “Adivasis”). At present, in most parts of India, they form one of the economically weakest sections of the society. So far there has not been any systematic study of their living conditions covering the whole country. Whatever data are available are derived from the decennial censuses, apart from some micro studies carried out by social anthropologists. In the NSS the tribal population has always been covered as part of the general population. In NSS 32nd and 33rd rounds special surveys had been carried out through an integrated schedule (schedule 16.4) in the North-Eastern region. The survey was conducted in the rural areas of the following States:- 32nd round : Arunachal Pradesh, Assam (N. Cachar and Karbi Anglong districts only), Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura; 33rd round: In addition to the above States, Mizoram also. Even though this covered many aspects specially related to the life of the people of this region (who are mostly tribals), no such survey has so far been undertaken about the life of the tribals living in the main tribal belt stretching from West Bengal through Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh to Gujarat and Rajasthan. The scope of the enquiry is to understand the living condition of the tribals living in the main tribal belt stretching from West Bengal through Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh to Gujarat and Rajasthan.) The object of the enquiry in the this round is to throw light on as many aspects as possible of the tribal population of this country. This relates to aspects of their “level of the living” including demographic and activity particulars, family expenditure etc. as well as to their entrepreneurial activities.

Geographic coverage

The survey covered the whole of Indian Union except Ladakh and Kargil districts of Jammu and Kashmir state. The rural areas of Nagaland, so far outside NSS coverage up to the 43rd round, have also been brought in this round.

Analysis unit

Randomly selected households based on sampling procedure and members of the household

Universe

The survey used the interview method of data collection from a sample of randomly selected households and members of the household.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sample design is stratified two-stage with the census village as the first stage unit in the rural sector and UFS block as the first stage unit in the urban sector. The second stage units are households.

The sample design in the rural sector has been decided with a view to providing good estimates for the tribal enquiry. Except in the north-eastern region, the tribal population is concentrated in some districts within the states having considerable tribal population and even in those districts they are found to be unevenly distributed geographically. Therefore special stratification and selection procedures have been adopted not only to net sufficient number of tribal households in the sample but also to improve the design in general for the tribal enquiry.

While the rural design is oriented towards the tribal enquiry, the urban design is oriented towards the enquiry on construction. As building construction activity is found to be concentrated in some areas in the urban sector, attempts have been made in urban design to demarcate such areas in larger towns as separate strata. Detailed description of the rural and urban sample designs are as follows:

SAMPLE DESIGN : RURAL

Sampling frame of villages: The list of 1981 census villages constitute the sampling frame for selection of villages in most districts. However in Assam (where '81 census was not done) and a few districts of some other states (where the available lists of villages were not satisfactory), 1971 census village lists have been used as frame.

Stratification :
In Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Daman & Diu and Pondicherry where there are practically no tribal population, the strata used in NSS 43rd round were retained. In Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep also the strata of 43rd round were retained because of the high percentage of ST population in these States/U.T.'s. (The strata of 43rd round have been retained in the case of Sikkim as the distribution of tribal population is more or less uniform over all the districts). In the remaining states fresh stratification was carried out as described below.

In these states all districts accounting for the bulk of the state's tribal population were selected for formation of strata with concentration of tribal population. Besides these districts, tribal concentration strata have been demarcated also in some other districts with relatively small tribal population in order to ensure coverage of as many different ethnic groups as possible.

Within each district so identified for formation of tribal concentration strata, the tehsils with relatively high concentration of tribal population, together constituted one stratum. These tehsils were selected in such a way that together they accounted for the bulk (70% or more) of the district tribal population and the proportion of tribal to total population in this stratum was significantly greater than that of the district as a whole. The strata so formed were not always geographically contiguous. These tribal concentration strata are called STRATUM TYPE -1. Further, all the strata of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep and Sikkim are also considered as stratum type-1. All the remaining strata in the rural sector (in any State/U.T.) are called stratum type -2.

Sampling deviation

There was no deviation from the original sampling design.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

NSS Round 44 Schedule 29.2 consists of 17 blocks as enumerated below:

Block 1: identification of sample household Block 2: particulars of field operations Block 3: remarks by investigator Block 4: remarks by supervisory officer (s) Block 5: household characteristics Block 6: demographic particulars of household members Block 7: particulars of assistance received by the household during last 3 years Block 8: particulars of land owned and possessed Block 9: particulars of disposal of land during last 5 years Block 10: information on input items for cultivation during 1987-88 Block 11: particulars of crops produced during 1987-88 Block 12: particulars of wage employment in forest and forestry operation
Block 13: particulars of forest produce collected, consumed at home and sold by household members during last 30 days as self-employed Block 14: particulars of household enterprise (other than cultivation) during last 30 days Block 15: particulars of products (other than forest products) marketed during last 30 days Block 16 : inventory of assets owned on the date of survey Block 17 : cash dues and grain & other commodity dues payable by the household as on the date of survey and particulars of transaction of loans during last 365 days

Abstract

The 2015-16 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), the fourth in the NFHS series, provides information on population, health, and nutrition for India and each state and union territory. For the first time, NFHS-4 provides district-level estimates for many important indicators. All four NFHS surveys have been conducted under the stewardship of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India. MoHFW designated the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, as the nodal agency for the surveys. Funding for NFHS-4 was provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), UNICEF, UNFPA, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Government of India. Technical assistance for NFHS-4 was provided by ICF, Maryland, USA. Assistance for the HIV component of the survey was provided by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) and the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), Pune.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

• Household
• Individual
• Children age 0-5
• Woman age 15-49
• Man age 15-54

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The NFHS-4 sample was designed to provide estimates of all key indicators at the national and state levels, as well as estimates for most key indicators at the district level (for all 640 districts in India, as of the 2011 Census). The total sample size of approximately 572,000 households for India was based on the size needed to produce reliable indicator estimates for each district and for urban and rural areas in districts in which the urban population accounted for 30-70 percent of the total district population. The rural sample was selected through a two-stage sample design with villages as the Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) at the first stage (selected with probability proportional to size), followed by a random selection of 22 households in each PSU at the second stage. In urban areas, there was also a two-stage sample design with Census Enumeration Blocks (CEB) selected at the first stage and a random selection of 22 households in each CEB at the second stage. At the second stage in both urban and rural areas, households were selected after conducting a complete mapping and household listing operation in the selected first-stage units.

The figures of NFHS-4 and that of earlier rounds may not be strictly comparable due to differences in sample size and NFHS-4 will be a benchmark for future surveys. NFHS-4 fieldwork for Bihar was conducted in all 38 districts of the state from 16 March to 8 August 2015 by the Academic Management Studies (AMS) and collected information from 36,772 households, 45,812 women age 15-49 (including 7,464 women interviewed in PSUs in the state module), and 5,872 men age 15-54.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

Four questionnaires - household, woman's, man's, and biomarker, were used to collect information in 19 languages using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI).

The internet penetration rate in India rose over ** percent in 2025, from about ** percent in 2015. Although these figures seem relatively low, it meant that more than half of the population of **** billion people had internet access that year. This also ranked the country second in the world in terms of active internet users. Internet availability and accessibility By 2021, the number of internet connections across the country tripled, with urban areas accounting for a higher density of connections than rural regions. Despite incredibly low internet prices, internet usage in India has yet to reach its full potential. Lack of awareness and a tangible gender gap lie at the heart of the matter, with affordable mobile handsets and mobile internet connections presenting only a partial solution. Reliance Jio was the popular choice among Indian internet subscribers, offering them wider coverage at cheap rates. Digital living Home to one of the largest bases of netizens in the world, India is abuzz with internet activities being carried out every moment of every day. From information and research to shopping and entertainment to living in smart homes, Indians have welcomed digital living with open arms. Among these, social media usage was one of the most common reasons for accessing the internet.

In 2024, approximately 67 percent of the total population in China lived in cities. The urbanization rate has increased steadily in China over the last decades. Degree of urbanization in China Urbanization is generally defined as a process of people migrating from rural to urban areas, during which towns and cities are formed and increase in size. Even though urbanization is not exclusively a modern phenomenon, industrialization and modernization did accelerate its progress. As shown in the statistic at hand, the degree of urbanization of China, the world's second-largest economy, rose from 36 percent in 2000 to around 51 percent in 2011. That year, the urban population surpassed the number of rural residents for the first time in the country's history.The urbanization rate varies greatly in different parts of China. While urbanization is lesser advanced in western or central China, in most coastal regions in eastern China more than two-thirds of the population lives already in cities. Among the ten largest Chinese cities in 2021, six were located in coastal regions in East and South China. Urbanization in international comparison Brazil and Russia, two other BRIC countries, display a much higher degree of urbanization than China. On the other hand, in India, the country with the worlds’ largest population, a mere 36.3 percent of the population lived in urban regions as of 2023. Similar to other parts of the world, the progress of urbanization in China is closely linked to modernization. From 2000 to 2024, the contribution of agriculture to the gross domestic product in China shrank from 14.7 percent to 6.8 percent. Even more evident was the decrease of workforce in agriculture.

As of October 2025, 6.04 billion individuals worldwide were internet users, which amounted to 73.2 percent of the global population. Of this total, 5.66 billion, or 68.7 percent of the world's population, were social media users. Global internet usage Connecting billions of people worldwide, the internet is a core pillar of the modern information society. Northern Europe ranked first among worldwide regions by the share of the population using the internet in 2025. In the Netherlands, Norway, and Saudi Arabia, 99 percent of the population used the internet as of February 2025. North Korea was at the opposite end of the spectrum, with virtually no internet usage penetration among the general population, ranking last worldwide. Eastern Asia was home to the largest number of online users worldwide—over 1.34 billion at the latest count. Southern Asia ranked second, with around 1.2 billion internet users. China, India, and the United States rank ahead of other countries worldwide by the number of internet users. Worldwide internet user demographics As of 2024, the share of female internet users worldwide was 65 percent, five percent less than that of men. Gender disparity in internet usage was bigger in African countries, with around a 10-percent difference. Worldwide regions, like the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe, showed a smaller usage gap between these two genders. As of 2024, global internet usage was higher among individuals between 15 and 24 years old across all regions, with young people in Europe representing the most considerable usage penetration, 98 percent. In comparison, the worldwide average for the age group of 15 to 24 years was 79 percent. The income level of the countries was also an essential factor for internet access, as 93 percent of the population of the countries with high income reportedly used the internet, as opposed to only 27 percent of the low-income markets.

The statistic displays the literacy rate in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India between 1991 and 2011, broken down by gender. In 2001, 70 percent of the female population living in Andhra Pradesh knew how to read or write. India's literacy rate from 1981 through 2011 can be found here.

Which county has the most Facebook users?

              There are more than 378 million Facebook users in India alone, making it the leading country in terms of Facebook audience size. To put this into context, if India’s Facebook audience were a country then it would be ranked third in terms of largest population worldwide. Apart from India, there are several other markets with more than 100 million Facebook users each: The United States, Indonesia, and Brazil with 193.8 million, 119.05 million, and 112.55 million Facebook users respectively.

              Facebook – the most used social media

              Meta, the company that was previously called Facebook, owns four of the most popular social media platforms worldwide, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Facebook, and Instagram. As of the third quarter of 2021, there were around 3,5 billion cumulative monthly users of the company’s products worldwide. With around 2.9 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most popular social media worldwide. With an audience of this scale, it is no surprise that the vast majority of Facebook’s revenue is generated through advertising.

              Facebook usage by device
              As of July 2021, it was found that 98.5 percent of active users accessed their Facebook account from mobile devices. In fact, almost 81.8 percent of Facebook audiences worldwide access the platform only via mobile phone. Facebook is not only available through mobile browser as the company has published several mobile apps for users to access their products and services. As of the third quarter 2021, the four core Meta products were leading the ranking of most downloaded mobile apps worldwide, with WhatsApp amassing approximately six billion downloads.

As of October 2025, India had the largest Facebook audience worldwide, with over 403 million users. To put this figure into perspective, if India’s Facebook user base were a country, it would rank as the third most populous nation globally. Besides India, three other markets had more than 100 million Facebook users each: the United States, Indonesia and Brazil. Facebook – the most used social media Meta, the company that was previously called Facebook, owns four of the most popular social media platforms worldwide, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Facebook, and Instagram. As of the third quarter of 2021, there were around 3.5 billion cumulative monthly users of the company’s products worldwide. With around 2.9 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most popular social media worldwide. With an audience of this scale, it is no surprise that the vast majority of Facebook’s revenue is generated through advertising. Facebook usage by device As of July 2021, it was found that 98.5 percent of active users accessed their Facebook account from mobile devices. In fact, almost 81.8 percent of Facebook audiences worldwide access the platform only via mobile phone. Facebook is not only available through mobile browser as the company has published several mobile apps for users to access their products and services. As of the third quarter 2021, the four core Meta products were leading the ranking of most downloaded mobile apps worldwide, with WhatsApp amassing approximately six billion downloads.

Literacy in India has been increasing as more and more people receive a better education, but it is still far from all-encompassing. In 2023, the degree of literacy in India was about 77 percent, with the majority of literate Indians being men. It is estimated that the global literacy rate for people aged 15 and above is about 86 percent. How to read a literacy rateIn order to identify potential for intellectual and educational progress, the literacy rate of a country covers the level of education and skills acquired by a country’s inhabitants. Literacy is an important indicator of a country’s economic progress and the standard of living – it shows how many people have access to education. However, the standards to measure literacy cannot be universally applied. Measures to identify and define illiterate and literate inhabitants vary from country to country: In some, illiteracy is equated with no schooling at all, for example. Writings on the wallGlobally speaking, more men are able to read and write than women, and this disparity is also reflected in the literacy rate in India – with scarcity of schools and education in rural areas being one factor, and poverty another. Especially in rural areas, women and girls are often not given proper access to formal education, and even if they are, many drop out. Today, India is already being surpassed in this area by other emerging economies, like Brazil, China, and even by most other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. To catch up, India now has to offer more educational programs to its rural population, not only on how to read and write, but also on traditional gender roles and rights.

According to a survey carried out by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in 2021 in India, Kerala reflected the highest population of old aged people amounting to almost 17 percent. In 2031, this value is projected to go up to almost 21 percent.

As of October 2025, India had the largest Instagram audience worldwide, with 480.55 million users. The United States ranked second with 181.75 million users, followed by Brazil with 147 million. However, Turkey recorded the highest audience reach, with 92.1 percent of its population using the platform. It took Instagram 11.2 years to reach the milestone of 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. Instagram’s demographics in the United States As of March 2025, Instagram was the fourth most visited social media service in the United States, after Facebook, Pinterest and X. Out of TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, TikTok was the most used of all three platforms by Generation Z. Overall, 57 percent of Gen Z social media users used Instagram in 2021, down from 61 percent in 2020 and 64 percent in 2019. Instagram finds most popularity with those in the 25 to 34 year age group, and as of January 2025, roughly 28.3 of all users in the United States belonged to this age group. The social media app was also more likely to be used by women. Most followed accounts on Instagram Instagram’s official account had the most followers as of April 2024 with over 672 million followers. Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) had over 628 million followers on the platform, while the Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi (@leomessi) had over 502 million followers. The Instagram accounts of the American singer and actress Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) and the media personality and makeup mogul Kylie Jenner (@kyliejenner) had over 400 million followers each.

According to the latest census data, Lakshadweep, the island union territory had the highest share of Muslim population in the country, where ** percent of its population identified as followers of the Islamic faith. Jammu & Kashmir ranked second at ** percent during the same time period. With almost all major religions being practiced throughout the country, India is known for its religious diversity. Islam makes up the highest share among minority faiths in the country.

As of April 2024, almost 32 percent of global Instagram audiences were aged between 18 and 24 years, and 30.6 percent of users were aged between 25 and 34 years. Overall, 16 percent of users belonged to the 35 to 44 year age group.

              Instagram users

              With roughly one billion monthly active users, Instagram belongs to the most popular social networks worldwide. The social photo sharing app is especially popular in India and in the United States, which have respectively 362.9 million and 169.7 million Instagram users each.

              Instagram features

              One of the most popular features of Instagram is Stories. Users can post photos and videos to their Stories stream and the content is live for others to view for 24 hours before it disappears. In January 2019, the company reported that there were 500 million daily active Instagram Stories users. Instagram Stories directly competes with Snapchat, another photo sharing app that initially became famous due to it’s “vanishing photos” feature.
              As of the second quarter of 2021, Snapchat had 293 million daily active users.

As of October 2025, men aged 25 to 34 represented Facebook’s largest user group, making up **** percent of the platform’s global audience. Across all age groups except those aged 65 and older, male users outnumbered female users. Facebook connects the world Founded in 2004 and going public in 2012, Facebook is one of the biggest internet companies in the world with influence that goes beyond social media. It is widely considered as one of the Big Four tech companies, along with Google, Apple, and Amazon (all together known under the acronym GAFA). Facebook is the most popular social network worldwide and the company also owns three other billion-user properties: mobile messaging apps WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, as well as photo-sharing app Instagram. Facebook users The vast majority of Facebook users connect to the social network via mobile devices. This is unsurprising, as Facebook has many users in mobile-first online markets. Currently, India ranks first in terms of Facebook audience size with *** million users. The United States, Brazil, and Indonesia also all have more than 100 million Facebook users each.