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.
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License information was derived automatically
India Population: Census: Age: 5 to 9 Year data was reported at 126,928.126 Person th in 03-01-2011. This records a decrease from the previous number of 128,317.000 Person th for 03-01-2001. India Population: Census: Age: 5 to 9 Year data is updated decadal, averaging 126,928.126 Person th from Mar 1991 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 128,317.000 Person th in 03-01-2001 and a record low of 111,295.000 Person th in 03-01-1991. India Population: Census: Age: 5 to 9 Year data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAD001: Census: Population: by Age Group.
The statistic shows the total population of India from 2019 to 2029. In 2023, the estimated total population in India amounted to approximately 1.43 billion people.
Total population in India
India currently has the second-largest population in the world and is projected to overtake top-ranking China within forty years. Its residents comprise more than one-seventh of the entire world’s population, and despite a slowly decreasing fertility rate (which still exceeds the replacement rate and keeps the median age of the population relatively low), an increasing life expectancy adds to an expanding population. In comparison with other countries whose populations are decreasing, such as Japan, India has a relatively small share of aged population, which indicates the probability of lower death rates and higher retention of the existing population.
With a land mass of less than half that of the United States and a population almost four times greater, India has recognized potential problems of its growing population. Government attempts to implement family planning programs have achieved varying degrees of success. Initiatives such as sterilization programs in the 1970s have been blamed for creating general antipathy to family planning, but the combined efforts of various family planning and contraception programs have helped halve fertility rates since the 1960s. The population growth rate has correspondingly shrunk as well, but has not yet reached less than one percent growth per year.
As home to thousands of ethnic groups, hundreds of languages, and numerous religions, a cohesive and broadly-supported effort to reduce population growth is difficult to create. Despite that, India is one country to watch in coming years. It is also a growing economic power; among other measures, its GDP per capita was expected to triple between 2003 and 2013 and was listed as the third-ranked country for its share of the global gross domestic product.
https://dataful.in/terms-and-conditionshttps://dataful.in/terms-and-conditions
The dataset contains year-, age-group- and gender-wise compiled data on all India quinquennial (5 years period) population of India from the year 2011 to 2036. The figures of population given for different years are the projected figures, except for the census year of 2011. The data has been provided by categorizing the population according to different age groups such as 0 to 1, 1 to 4, 5 to 9, 10 to 14, 15 to 19, 20 to 24, 25 to 29, 30 to 34, 35 to 39, 40 to 44, 45 to 49, 50 to 54, 55 to 59, 60 to 64, 65 to 69, 70 to 74, 75 to 79 and 80 and above.
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.
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License information was derived automatically
India Population: Census: Age: 0 to 4 Year data was reported at 112,806.778 Person th in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 110,447.000 Person th for 03-01-2001. India Population: Census: Age: 0 to 4 Year data is updated decadal, averaging 110,447.000 Person th from Mar 1991 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 112,806.778 Person th in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 102,378.000 Person th in 03-01-1991. India Population: Census: Age: 0 to 4 Year data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAD001: Census: Population: by Age Group.
Globally, about 25 percent of the population is under 15 years of age and 10 percent is over 65 years of age. Africa has the youngest population worldwide. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 40 percent of the population is below 15 years, and only three percent are above 65, indicating the low life expectancy in several of the countries. In Europe, on the other hand, a higher share of the population is above 65 years than the population under 15 years. Fertility rates The high share of children and youth in Africa is connected to the high fertility rates on the continent. For instance, South Sudan and Niger have the highest population growth rates globally. However, about 50 percent of the world’s population live in countries with low fertility, where women have less than 2.1 children. Some countries in Europe, like Latvia and Lithuania, have experienced a population decline of one percent, and in the Cook Islands, it is even above two percent. In Europe, the majority of the population was previously working-aged adults with few dependents, but this trend is expected to reverse soon, and it is predicted that by 2050, the older population will outnumber the young in many developed countries. Growing global population As of 2025, there are 8.1 billion people living on the planet, and this is expected to reach more than nine billion before 2040. Moreover, the global population is expected to reach 10 billions around 2060, before slowing and then even falling slightly by 2100. As the population growth rates indicate, a significant share of the population increase will happen in Africa.
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License information was derived automatically
Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) in India was reported at 24.62 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. India - Population ages 0-14 (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on September of 2025.
WorldPop produces different types of gridded population count datasets, depending on the methods used and end application.
Please make sure you have read our Mapping Populations overview page before choosing and downloading a dataset.
A description of the modelling methods used for age and gender structures can be found in
"https://pophealthmetrics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1478-7954-11-11" target="_blank">
Tatem et al and
Pezzulo et al. Details of the input population count datasets used can be found here, and age/gender structure proportion datasets here.
Both top-down 'unconstrained' and 'constrained' versions of the datasets are available, and the differences between the two methods are outlined
here. The datasets represent the outputs from a project focused on construction of consistent 100m resolution population count datasets for all countries of the World structured by male/female and 5-year age classes (plus a <1 year class). These efforts necessarily involved some shortcuts for consistency. The unconstrained datasets are available for each year from 2000 to 2020.
The constrained datasets are only available for 2020 at present, given the time periods represented by the building footprint and built settlement datasets used in the mapping.
Data for earlier dates is available directly from WorldPop.
WorldPop (www.worldpop.org - School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton; Department of Geography and Geosciences, University of Louisville; Departement de Geographie, Universite de Namur) and Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University (2018). Global High Resolution Population Denominators Project - Funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1134076). https://dx.doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/WP00646
The median age in India was 27 years old in 2020, meaning half the population was older than that, half younger. This figure was lowest in 1970, at 18.1 years, and was projected to increase to 47.8 years old by 2100. Aging in India India has the second largest population in the world, after China. Because of the significant population growth of the past years, the age distribution remains skewed in favor of the younger age bracket. This tells a story of rapid population growth, but also of a lower life expectancy. Economic effects of a young population Many young people means that the Indian economy must support a large number of students, who demand education from the economy but cannot yet work. Educating the future workforce will be important, because the economy is growing as well and is one of the largest in the world. Failing to do this could lead to high youth unemployment and political consequences. However, a productive and young workforce could provide huge economic returns for India.
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License information was derived automatically
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 born in the three years preceding NFHS-2 received at least one antenatal
Open Database License (ODbL) v1.0https://www.opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/
License information was derived automatically
Explore the Saudi Arabia World Development Indicators dataset , including key indicators such as Access to clean fuels, Adjusted net enrollment rate, CO2 emissions, and more. Find valuable insights and trends for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, China, and India.
Indicator, Access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, rural (% of rural population), Access to electricity (% of population), Adjusted net enrollment rate, primary, female (% of primary school age children), Adjusted net national income (annual % growth), Adjusted savings: education expenditure (% of GNI), Adjusted savings: mineral depletion (current US$), Adjusted savings: natural resources depletion (% of GNI), Adjusted savings: net national savings (current US$), Adolescents out of school (% of lower secondary school age), Adolescents out of school, female (% of female lower secondary school age), Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population), Agricultural methane emissions (% of total), Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added per worker (constant 2015 US$), Alternative and nuclear energy (% of total energy use), Annualized average growth rate in per capita real survey mean consumption or income, total population (%), Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values), Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), Average working hours of children, working only, ages 7-14 (hours per week), Average working hours of children, working only, male, ages 7-14 (hours per week), Cause of death, by injury (% of total), Cereal yield (kg per hectare), Changes in inventories (current US$), Chemicals (% of value added in manufacturing), Child employment in agriculture (% of economically active children ages 7-14), Child employment in manufacturing, female (% of female economically active children ages 7-14), Child employment in manufacturing, male (% of male economically active children ages 7-14), Child employment in services (% of economically active children ages 7-14), Child employment in services, female (% of female economically active children ages 7-14), Children (ages 0-14) newly infected with HIV, Children in employment, study and work (% of children in employment, ages 7-14), Children in employment, unpaid family workers (% of children in employment, ages 7-14), Children in employment, wage workers (% of children in employment, ages 7-14), Children out of school, primary, Children out of school, primary, male, Claims on other sectors of the domestic economy (annual growth as % of broad money), CO2 emissions (kg per 2015 US$ of GDP), CO2 emissions (kt), CO2 emissions from other sectors, excluding residential buildings and commercial and public services (% of total fuel combustion), CO2 emissions from transport (% of total fuel combustion), Communications, computer, etc. (% of service exports, BoP), Condom use, population ages 15-24, female (% of females ages 15-24), Container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units), Contraceptive prevalence, any method (% of married women ages 15-49), Control of Corruption: Estimate, Control of Corruption: Percentile Rank, Upper Bound of 90% Confidence Interval, Control of Corruption: Standard Error, Coverage of social insurance programs in 4th quintile (% of population), CPIA building human resources rating (1=low to 6=high), CPIA debt policy rating (1=low to 6=high), CPIA policies for social inclusion/equity cluster average (1=low to 6=high), CPIA public sector management and institutions cluster average (1=low to 6=high), CPIA quality of budgetary and financial management rating (1=low to 6=high), CPIA transparency, accountability, and corruption in the public sector rating (1=low to 6=high), Current education expenditure, secondary (% of total expenditure in secondary public institutions), DEC alternative conversion factor (LCU per US$), Deposit interest rate (%), Depth of credit information index (0=low to 8=high), Diarrhea treatment (% of children under 5 who received ORS packet), Discrepancy in expenditure estimate of GDP (current LCU), Domestic private health expenditure per capita, PPP (current international $), Droughts, floods, extreme temperatures (% of population, average 1990-2009), Educational attainment, at least Bachelor's or equivalent, population 25+, female (%) (cumulative), Educational attainment, at least Bachelor's or equivalent, population 25+, male (%) (cumulative), Educational attainment, at least completed lower secondary, population 25+, female (%) (cumulative), Educational attainment, at least completed primary, population 25+ years, total (%) (cumulative), Educational attainment, at least Master's or equivalent, population 25+, male (%) (cumulative), Educational attainment, at least Master's or equivalent, population 25+, total (%) (cumulative), Electricity production from coal sources (% of total), Electricity production from nuclear sources (% of total), Employers, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate), Employment in industry (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate), Employment in services, female (% of female employment) (modeled ILO estimate), Employment to population ratio, 15+, male (%) (modeled ILO estimate), Employment to population ratio, ages 15-24, total (%) (national estimate), Energy use (kg of oil equivalent per capita), Export unit value index (2015 = 100), Exports of goods and services (% of GDP), Exports of goods, services and primary income (BoP, current US$), External debt stocks (% of GNI), External health expenditure (% of current health expenditure), Female primary school age children out-of-school (%), Female share of employment in senior and middle management (%), Final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$), Firms expected to give gifts in meetings with tax officials (% of firms), Firms experiencing losses due to theft and vandalism (% of firms), Firms formally registered when operations started (% of firms), Fixed broadband subscriptions, Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people), Foreign direct investment, net outflows (% of GDP), Forest area (% of land area), Forest area (sq. km), Forest rents (% of GDP), GDP growth (annual %), GDP per capita (constant LCU), GDP per unit of energy use (PPP $ per kg of oil equivalent), GDP, PPP (constant 2017 international $), General government final consumption expenditure (current LCU), GHG net emissions/removals by LUCF (Mt of CO2 equivalent), GNI growth (annual %), GNI per capita (constant LCU), GNI, PPP (current international $), Goods and services expense (current LCU), Government Effectiveness: Percentile Rank, Government Effectiveness: Percentile Rank, Lower Bound of 90% Confidence Interval, Government Effectiveness: Standard Error, Gross capital formation (annual % growth), Gross capital formation (constant 2015 US$), Gross capital formation (current LCU), Gross fixed capital formation, private sector (% of GDP), Gross intake ratio in first grade of primary education, male (% of relevant age group), Gross intake ratio in first grade of primary education, total (% of relevant age group), Gross national expenditure (current LCU), Gross national expenditure (current US$), Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure (constant LCU), Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure (current US$), Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure, PPP (constant 2017 international $), Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure: linked series (current LCU), Human capital index (HCI) (scale 0-1), Human capital index (HCI), male (scale 0-1), Immunization, DPT (% of children ages 12-23 months), Import value index (2015 = 100), Imports of goods and services (% of GDP), Incidence of HIV, ages 15-24 (per 1,000 uninfected population ages 15-24), Incidence of HIV, all (per 1,000 uninfected population), Income share held by highest 20%, Income share held by lowest 20%, Income share held by third 20%, Individuals using the Internet (% of population), Industry (including construction), value added (constant LCU), Informal payments to public officials (% of firms), Intentional homicides, male (per 100,000 male), Interest payments (% of expense), Interest rate spread (lending rate minus deposit rate, %), Internally displaced persons, new displacement associated with conflict and violence (number of cases), International tourism, expenditures for passenger transport items (current US$), International tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$), Investment in energy with private participation (current US$), Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) (modeled ILO estimate), Development
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, China, India Follow data.kapsarc.org for timely data to advance energy economics research..
UNICEF's country profile for India, including under-five mortality rates, child health, education and sanitation data.
According to a survey conducted in 2023 among rural households in India, nearly 85 percent of parents with some level of education allocated specific study time for their children. In contrast, only about 69 percent of illiterate parents did the same for their children at home.
This statistic represents the population of children and young adults across India in 2016, broken down by age groups. The population for 16 to 17 year olds during the measured time period was approximately ** million, while young adults between 18 and 23 years old accounted for the largest numbers in this category.
The proportion of selected age groups of world population in 2016, broken down by region can be found here.
The Bureau of the Census has released Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF1) 100-Percent data. The file includes the following population items: sex, age, race, Hispanic or Latino origin, household relationship, and household and family characteristics. Housing items include occupancy status and tenure (whether the unit is owner or renter occupied). SF1 does not include information on incomes, poverty status, overcrowded housing or age of housing. These topics will be covered in Summary File 3. Data are available for states, counties, county subdivisions, places, census tracts, block groups, and, where applicable, American Indian and Alaskan Native Areas and Hawaiian Home Lands. The SF1 data are available on the Bureau's web site and may be retrieved from American FactFinder as tables, lists, or maps. Users may also download a set of compressed ASCII files for each state via the Bureau's FTP server. There are over 8000 data items available for each geographic area. The full listing of these data items is available here as a downloadable compressed data base file named TABLES.ZIP. The uncompressed is in FoxPro data base file (dbf) format and may be imported to ACCESS, EXCEL, and other software formats. While all of this information is useful, the Office of Community Planning and Development has downloaded selected information for all states and areas and is making this information available on the CPD web pages. The tables and data items selected are those items used in the CDBG and HOME allocation formulas plus topics most pertinent to the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS), the Consolidated Plan, and similar overall economic and community development plans. The information is contained in five compressed (zipped) dbf tables for each state. When uncompressed the tables are ready for use with FoxPro and they can be imported into ACCESS, EXCEL, and other spreadsheet, GIS and database software. The data are at the block group summary level. The first two characters of the file name are the state abbreviation. The next two letters are BG for block group. Each record is labeled with the code and name of the city and county in which it is located so that the data can be summarized to higher-level geography. The last part of the file name describes the contents . The GEO file contains standard Census Bureau geographic identifiers for each block group, such as the metropolitan area code and congressional district code. The only data included in this table is total population and total housing units. POP1 and POP2 contain selected population variables and selected housing items are in the HU file. The MA05 table data is only for use by State CDBG grantees for the reporting of the racial composition of beneficiaries of Area Benefit activities. The complete package for a state consists of the dictionary file named TABLES, and the five data files for the state. The logical record number (LOGRECNO) links the records across tables.
The National Family Health Survey 2019-21 (NFHS-5), the fifth in the NFHS series, provides information on population, health, and nutrition for India, each state/union territory (UT), and for 707 districts.
The primary objective of the 2019-21 round of National Family Health Surveys is to provide essential data on health and family welfare, as well as data on emerging issues in these areas, such as levels of fertility, infant and child mortality, maternal and child health, and other health and family welfare indicators by background characteristics at the national and state levels. Similar to NFHS-4, NFHS-5 also provides information on several emerging issues including perinatal mortality, high-risk sexual behaviour, safe injections, tuberculosis, noncommunicable diseases, and the use of emergency contraception.
The information collected through NFHS-5 is intended to assist policymakers and programme managers in setting benchmarks and examining progress over time in India’s health sector. Besides providing evidence on the effectiveness of ongoing programmes, NFHS-5 data will help to identify the need for new programmes in specific health areas.
The clinical, anthropometric, and biochemical (CAB) component of NFHS-5 is designed to provide vital estimates of the prevalence of malnutrition, anaemia, hypertension, high blood glucose levels, and waist and hip circumference, Vitamin D3, HbA1c, and malaria parasites through a series of biomarker tests and measurements.
National coverage
The survey covered all de jure household members (usual residents), all women aged 15-49, all men age 15-54, and all children aged 0-5 resident in the household.
Sample survey data [ssd]
A uniform sample design, which is representative at the national, state/union territory, and district level, was adopted in each round of the survey. Each district is stratified into urban and rural areas. Each rural stratum is sub-stratified into smaller substrata which are created considering the village population and the percentage of the population belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (SC/ST). Within each explicit rural sampling stratum, a sample of villages was selected as Primary Sampling Units (PSUs); before the PSU selection, PSUs were sorted according to the literacy rate of women age 6+ years. Within each urban sampling stratum, a sample of Census Enumeration Blocks (CEBs) was selected as PSUs. Before the PSU selection, PSUs were sorted according to the percentage of SC/ST population. In the second stage of selection, a fixed number of 22 households per cluster was selected with an equal probability systematic selection from a newly created list of households in the selected PSUs. The list of households was created as a result of the mapping and household listing operation conducted in each selected PSU before the household selection in the second stage. In all, 30,456 Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) were selected across the country in NFHS-5 drawn from 707 districts as on March 31st 2017, of which fieldwork was completed in 30,198 PSUs.
For further details on sample design, see Section 1.2 of the final report.
Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]
Four survey schedules/questionnaires: Household, Woman, Man, and Biomarker were canvassed in 18 local languages using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI).
Electronic data collected in the 2019-21 National Family Health Survey were received on a daily basis via the SyncCloud system at the International Institute for Population Sciences, where the data were stored on a password-protected computer. Secondary editing of the data, which required resolution of computer-identified inconsistencies and coding of open-ended questions, was conducted in the field by the Field Agencies and at the Field Agencies central office, and IIPS checked the secondary edits before the dataset was finalized.
Field-check tables were produced by IIPS and the Field Agencies on a regular basis to identify certain types of errors that might have occurred in eliciting information and recording question responses. Information from the field-check tables on the performance of each fieldwork team and individual investigator was promptly shared with the Field Agencies during the fieldwork so that the performance of the teams could be improved, if required.
A total of 664,972 households were selected for the sample, of which 653,144 were occupied. Among the occupied households, 636,699 were successfully interviewed, for a response rate of 98 percent.
In the interviewed households, 747,176 eligible women age 15-49 were identified for individual women’s interviews. Interviews were completed with 724,115 women, for a response rate of 97 percent. In all, there were 111,179 eligible men age 15-54 in households selected for the state module. Interviews were completed with 101,839 men, for a response rate of 92 percent.
The National Family Health Surveys (NFHS) programme, initiated in the early 1990s, has emerged as a nationally important source of data on population, health, and nutrition for India and its states. The 2005-06 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), the third in the series of these national surveys, was preceded by NFHS-1 in 1992-93 and NFHS-2 in 1998-99. Like NFHS-1 and NFHS-2, NFHS-3 was designed to provide estimates of important indicators on family welfare, maternal and child health, and nutrition. In addition, NFHS-3 provides information on several new and emerging issues, including family life education, safe injections, perinatal mortality, adolescent reproductive health, high-risk sexual behaviour, tuberculosis, and malaria. Further, unlike the earlier surveys in which only ever-married women age 15-49 were eligible for individual interviews, NFHS-3 interviewed all women age 15-49 and all men age 15-54. Information on nutritional status, including the prevalence of anaemia, is provided in NFHS3 for women age 15-49, men age 15-54, and young children.
A special feature of NFHS-3 is the inclusion of testing of the adult population for HIV. NFHS-3 is the first nationwide community-based survey in India to provide an estimate of HIV prevalence in the general population. Specifically, NFHS-3 provides estimates of HIV prevalence among women age 15-49 and men age 15-54 for all of India, and separately for Uttar Pradesh and for Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, and Tamil Nadu, five out of the six states classified by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) as high HIV prevalence states. No estimate of HIV prevalence is being provided for Nagaland, the sixth high HIV prevalence state, due to strong local opposition to the collection of blood samples.
NFHS-3 covered all 29 states in India, which comprise more than 99 percent of India's population. NFHS-3 is designed to provide estimates of key indicators for India as a whole and, with the exception of HIV prevalence, for all 29 states by urban-rural residence. Additionally, NFHS-3 provides estimates for the slum and non-slum populations of eight cities, namely Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Meerut, Mumbai, and Nagpur. NFHS-3 was conducted under the stewardship of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India, and is the result of the collaborative efforts of a large number of organizations. The International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, was designated by MOHFW as the nodal agency for the project. Funding for NFHS-3 was provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), DFID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, UNFPA, and MOHFW. Macro International, USA, provided technical assistance at all stages of the NFHS-3 project. NACO and the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) provided technical assistance for the HIV component of NFHS-3. Eighteen Research Organizations, including six Population Research Centres, shouldered the responsibility of conducting the survey in the different states of India and producing electronic data files.
The survey used a uniform sample design, questionnaires (translated into 18 Indian languages), field procedures, and procedures for biomarker measurements throughout the country to facilitate comparability across the states and to ensure the highest possible data quality. The contents of the questionnaires were decided through an extensive collaborative process in early 2005. Based on provisional data, two national-level fact sheets and 29 state fact sheets that provide estimates of more than 50 key indicators of population, health, family welfare, and nutrition have already been released. The basic objective of releasing fact sheets within a very short period after the completion of data collection was to provide immediate feedback to planners and programme managers on key process indicators.
The population covered by the 2005 DHS is defined as the universe of all ever-married women age 15-49, NFHS-3 included never married women age 15-49 and both ever-married and never married men age 15-54 as eligible respondents.
Sample survey data
SAMPLE SIZE
Since a large number of the key indicators to be estimated from NFHS-3 refer to ever-married women in the reproductive ages of 15-49, the target sample size for each state in NFHS-3 was estimated in terms of the number of ever-married women in the reproductive ages to be interviewed.
The initial target sample size was 4,000 completed interviews with ever-married women in states with a 2001 population of more than 30 million, 3,000 completed interviews with ever-married women in states with a 2001 population between 5 and 30 million, and 1,500 completed interviews with ever-married women in states with a population of less than 5 million. In addition, because of sample-size adjustments required to meet the need for HIV prevalence estimates for the high HIV prevalence states and Uttar Pradesh and for slum and non-slum estimates in eight selected cities, the sample size in some states was higher than that fixed by the above criteria. The target sample was increased for Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh to permit the calculation of reliable HIV prevalence estimates for each of these states. The sample size in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal was increased to allow separate estimates for slum and non-slum populations in the cities of Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Meerut, and Nagpur.
The target sample size for HIV tests was estimated on the basis of the assumed HIV prevalence rate, the design effect of the sample, and the acceptable level of precision. With an assumed level of HIV prevalence of 1.25 percent and a 15 percent relative standard error, the estimated sample size was 6,400 HIV tests each for men and women in each of the high HIV prevalence states. At the national level, the assumed level of HIV prevalence of less than 1 percent (0.92 percent) and less than a 5 percent relative standard error yielded a target of 125,000 HIV tests at the national level.
Blood was collected for HIV testing from all consenting ever-married and never married women age 15-49 and men age 15-54 in all sample households in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. All women age 15-49 and men age 15-54 in the sample households were eligible for interviewing in all of these states plus Nagaland. In the remaining 22 states, all ever-married and never married women age 15-49 in sample households were eligible to be interviewed. In those 22 states, men age 15-54 were eligible to be interviewed in only a subsample of households. HIV tests for women and men were carried out in only a subsample of the households that were selected for men's interviews in those 22 states. The reason for this sample design is that the required number of HIV tests is determined by the need to calculate HIV prevalence at the national level and for some states, whereas the number of individual interviews is determined by the need to provide state level estimates for attitudinal and behavioural indicators in every state. For statistical reasons, it is not possible to estimate HIV prevalence in every state from NFHS-3 as the number of tests required for estimating HIV prevalence reliably in low HIV prevalence states would have been very large.
SAMPLE DESIGN
The urban and rural samples within each state were drawn separately and, to the extent possible, unless oversampling was required to permit separate estimates for urban slum and non-slum areas, the sample within each state was allocated proportionally to the size of the state's urban and rural populations. A uniform sample design was adopted in all states. In each state, the rural sample was selected in two stages, with the selection of Primary Sampling Units (PSUs), which are villages, with probability proportional to population size (PPS) at the first stage, followed by the random selection of households within each PSU in the second stage. In urban areas, a three-stage procedure was followed. In the first stage, wards were selected with PPS sampling. In the next stage, one census enumeration block (CEB) was randomly selected from each sample ward. In the final stage, households were randomly selected within each selected CEB.
SAMPLE SELECTION IN RURAL AREAS
In rural areas, the 2001 Census list of villages served as the sampling frame. The list was stratified by a number of variables. The first level of stratification was geographic, with districts being subdivided into contiguous regions. Within each of these regions, villages were further stratified using selected variables from the following list: village size, percentage of males working in the nonagricultural sector, percentage of the population belonging to scheduled castes or scheduled tribes, and female literacy. In addition to these variables, an external estimate of HIV prevalence, i.e., 'High', 'Medium' or 'Low', as estimated for all the districts in high HIV prevalence states, was used for stratification in high HIV prevalence states. Female literacy was used for implicit stratification (i.e., villages were
The schedule on morbidity and health care (Schedule 25.0) framed for the 60th round consists of 13 blocks. The different blocks of the schedule are: Block 0: descriptive identification of sample household Block 1: identification of sample household Block 2: particulars of field operation Block 3: household characteristics Block 4: demographic particulars of household members Block 5: particulars of earstwhile household members who died during last 365 days Block 6: particulars of economic independence and ailments for persons aged 60 years and above Block 7: particulars of medical treatment received as inpatient of a hospital during last 365 days Block 8: expenses incurred for treatment of members treated as impatient of hospital during last 365 days and source of finance Block 9: particulars of spells of ailment of household members during last 15 days (including hospitalisation) Block 10: expenses incurred during last 15 days for treatment of members (not as an inpatient of hospital) and source of finance Block 11: particulars of immunisation of children (0 - 4 yrs.), pre-natal and post-natal care for ever married women of age below 50 years during last 365 days Block 12: remarks by investigator Block 13: comments by supervisory officer(s)
The survey will cover the whole of the Indian Union except (i) Leh (Ladakh) and Kargil districts of Jammu & Kashmir, (ii) interior villages of Nagaland situated beyond five kilometres of the bus route and (iii) villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands which remain inaccessible throughout the year.
Sample survey data [ssd]
Sample Design
Outline of sample design
A stratified multi-stage design has been adopted for the 60th round survey. The first stage units (FSU) will be the 1991 census villages in the rural sector and Urban Frame Survey (UFS) blocks in the urban sector. The ultimate stage units (USU) will be households in both the sectors. In case of large villages/blocks requiring hamlet-group (hg)/sub-block (sb) formation, one intermediate stage will be the selection of two hgs/sbs from each FSU.
Sampling Frame for First Stage Units
For the rural sector, the list of Census 1991 villages (panchayat wards for Kerala) and Census 1981 villages for J & K will constitute the sampling frame. For the urban sector, the list of latest available Urban Frame Survey (UFS) blocks will be considered as the sampling frame.
Stratification
Rural sector: Two special strata will be formed at the State/ UT level, viz. Stratum 1: all FSUs with population between 0 to 50 and Stratum 2: FSUs with population more than 15,000.
Special stratum 1 will be formed if at least 50 such FSUs are found in a State/UT. Similarly, special stratum 2 will be formed if at least 4 such FSUs are found in a State/UT. Otherwise, such FSUs will be merged with the general strata. From FSUs other than those covered under special strata 1 and 2, general strata will be formed and its numbering will start from 3. Each district of a State/UT will normally be treated as a separate stratum. However, if the census rural population of the district is greater than or equal to 2.5 million as per population census 2001 or 2 million as per population census 1991, the district will be split into two or more strata, by grouping contiguous tehsils to form strata. However, in Gujarat, some districts are not wholly included in an NSS region. In such cases, the part of the district falling in an NSS region will constitute a separate stratum.
Urban sector: In the urban sector, strata will be formed within each NSS region on the basis of size class of towns as per Population Census 2001. The stratum numbers and their composition (within each region) are given below.
stratum 1 : all towns with population less than 50,000
stratum 2 : all towns with population 50,000 or more but less than 2 lakhs
stratum 3 : all towns with population 2 lakhs or more but less than 10 lakhs
stratum 4, 5, 6,...: each town with population 10 lakhs or more
The stratum numbers will remain as above even if, in some regions, some of the strata are not formed.
Total sample size (FSUs)
7612 FSUs have been allocated at all-India level on the basis of investigator strength in different States/UTs for central sample and 8260 for state sample.
Allocation of total sample to States and UTs
The total number of sample FSUs is allocated to the States and UTs in proportion to provisional population as per Census 2001 subject to the availability of investigators ensuring more or less uniform work-load.
Allocation of State/UT level sample to rural and urban sectors
State/UT level sample is allocated between two sectors in proportion to provisional population as per Census 2001 with 1.5 weightage to urban sector subject to the restriction that urban sample size for bigger states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu etc. should not exceed the rural sample size. Earlier practice of giving double weightage to urban sector has been modified considering the fact that there has been considerable growth in urban population. A minimum of 8 FSUs will be allocated to each state/UT separately for rural and urban areas.
Allocation to strata:
Within each sector of a State/UT, the respective sample size will be allocated to the different strata in proportion to the stratum population as per census 2001. Allocations at stratum level will be adjusted to a multiple of 4 with a minimum sample size of 4.
Selection of FSUs
FSUs will be selected with Probability Proportional to Size With Replacement (PPSWR), size being the population as per Population Census 1991 in all the strata for rural sector except for stratum 1. In stratum 1 of rural sector and in all the strata of urban sector, selection will be done using Simple Random Sampling Without Replacement (SRSWOR). Within each stratum, samples will be drawn in the form of two independent sub-samples in both the rural and urban sectors.
Selection of hamlet-groups/sub-blocks/households - important steps
Proper identification of the FSU boundaries: The first task of the field investigators is to ascertain the exact boundaries of the sample FSU as per its identification particulars given in the sample list. For urban samples, the boundaries of each Urban Frame Survey (UFS) block may be identified by referring to the map corresponding to the frame code specified in the sample list (even though map of the block for a latter period of the UFS might be available).
Criterion for hamlet-group/sub-block formation: After identification of the FSU, it is to be determined whether listing will be done in the whole sample FSU or not. In case the population of the selected village or block is found to be 1200 or more, it will be divided into a suitable number (say, D) of „hamlet-groups? in the rural sector and „sub-blocks? in the urban sector as stated below.
less than 1200 (no hamlet-groups/sub-blocks) 1
1200 to 1799 3
1800 to 2399 4
2400 to 2999 5
3000 to 3599 6
…………..and so on
For rural areas of Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland and Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur, Doda districts of Jammu and Kashmir and Idukki district of Kerala, the number of hamlet-groups will be formed as follows.
approximate present population of the sample village no. of hgs to be formed
less than 600 (no hamlet-groups) 1
600 to 899 3
900 to 1199 4
1200 to 1499 5
.………..and so on
Two hamlet-groups/sub-blocks will be selected from a large village/UFS block wherever hamlet-groups/sub-blocks have been formed, by SRSWOR. Listing and selection of the households will be done independently in the two selected hamlet-groups/sub-blocks.
Formation of hamlet-groups/sub-blocks: In case hamlet-groups/sub-blocks are to be formed in the sample FSU, the same should be done by more or less equalizing population (details are in Chapter Two). Note that while doing so, it is to be ensured that the hamlet-groups/sub-blocks formed are clearly identifiable in terms of physical landmarks.
Listing of households: Having determined the hamlet-groups/sub-blocks, i.e. area(s) to be considered for listing, the next step is to list all the households (including those found to be temporarily locked after ascertaining the temporariness of locking of households through local enquiry). The hamlet-group/sub-block with sample hg/sb number 1 will be listed first and that with sample hg/sb number 2 will be listed next.
Formation of Second Stage Strata and allocation of households for Schedule 25.0
In each selected village/block/hamlet-group/sub-block, four second stage strata (SSS) will be formed as given below.
SSS 1: households with at least one member hospitalised during last 365 days
SSS 2: from the remaining households, households having at least one child of age below 5 years
SSS 3: from the remaining households, households with at least one member of age 60 years or above
SSS 4: other households
Selection of households for Schedules 1.0, 10 and 25.0
From each SSS the sample households for all the schedules will be selected by SRSWOR. If a household is selected for more than one schedule only one schedule will be canvassed in that household in the priority order of Schedule 1.0, Schedule 10 and Schedule 25.0 and in that case the household will be replaced for the other schedule. If a household is selected for Schedule 1.0 it will not be selected for Schedule 10 or Schedule 25.0. Similarly, if a household is not selected for Schedule 1.0 but selected for Schedule 10 it will not be selected for Schedule 25.0. However, for the household, selected from SSS1 of Schedule 25.0, the Schedule 25.0 will be canvassed even if the household is selected for other schedules.
Sampling
The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) carried out the first country wide comprehensive survey of physically disabled persons during the 36th round survey (July - December, 1981). The next survey on the subject was carried out after a period of ten years in NSS 47th round (July - December, 1991). In NSS 36th and 47th round surveys, information was collected on three types of physical disabilities - visual, communication and loco motor - along with the cause of disability, aid/appliance acquired by the disabled, general and vocational educational level of the disabled etc. In addition, data on developmental milestones and behavioural pattern of all children of age 5-14 years, regardless of whether they were physically disabled or not, were collected.
National coverage
Randomly selected households based on sampling procedure and members of the household
The survey used the interview method of data collection from a sample of randomly selected households and members of the household.
Sample survey data [ssd]
Outline of Sample Design: A stratified multi-stage design was adopted for the conduct of survey of NSS 47th round. The first-stage units were census villages (panchayat wards for Kerala) in the rural sector and the NSSO Urban Frame Survey (UFS) blocks in the urban sector. The ultimate stage units were households in both the sectors.
Sampling Frame for First-Stage Units: For the rural sector, the list of Census 1991 villages (panchayat wards for Kerala) and Census 1981 villages for J & K constituted the sampling frame. For the urban sector, the list of latest available Urban Frame Survey (UFS) blocks was considered as the sampling frame.
Stratification
Rural sector: Two special strata were formed as given below at the State/ UT level on the basis of Population Census 1991 viz.
Stratum 1: all FSUs with population between 0 to 50, and Stratum 2: FSUs with population more than 15,000
The special stratum 1 was formed if at least 50 such FSU's were found in a State/UT. Similarly, special stratum 2 was formed if at least 4 such FSUs were found in a State/UT. Otherwise, such FSUs were merged with the general strata.
From the remaining FSUs (not covered under stratum 1 &2) general strata (hereafter, stratum will refer to general stratum unless otherwise mentioned) was formed and numbered 3, 4, 5 …. etc. (even if no special strata have been formed). Each district of a State/UT was normally treated as a separate stratum. However, if the provisional population of the district was greater than or equal to 2.5 million as per Census 2001, the district was divided into two or more strata with more or less equal population as per population census 1991 by grouping contiguous tehsils. However, in Gujarat, some districts were not wholly included in an NSS region. In such cases, the part of the district falling in an NSS region constituted a separate stratum.
Urban sector: In the urban sector, stratum was formed within each NSS region on the basis of size class of towns as per Census 1991 town population except for towns specified in Table 4. The stratum number and their composition (within each region) are given below:
stratum 1: all towns with population (P) < 0.1 million stratum 2: all towns with 0.1= P < 0.5 million stratum 3: all towns with 0.5= P < 1 million stratum 4,5,6, … each town with P= 1 million
Sample size: The total number of FSUs for the Survey of Disabled Persons was 6648 while the number fo SSUs was 56762.
Face-to-face [f2f]
The schedule on Survey of Disabled Persons (Schedule 26) consists of the following blocks:
Block 0: Descriptive identification of sample household Block 1: Identification of sample household Block 2: Particulars of field operation Block 3: Household characteristics Block 4: Demographic and other particulars of household members Block 5: Particulars of disability of the disabled member Block 6: Particulars of enrolment of disabled persons of age 5-14 years Block 7: Remarks by investigator Block 8: Comments by supervisory officer(s)
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.