In 2022, India overtook China as the world's most populous country and now has almost 1.46 billion people. China now has the second-largest population in the world, still with just over 1.4 billion inhabitants, however, its population went into decline in 2023. Global population As of 2025, the world's population stands at almost 8.2 billion people and is expected to reach around 10.3 billion people in the 2080s, when it will then go into decline. Due to improved healthcare, sanitation, and general living conditions, the global population continues to increase; mortality rates (particularly among infants and children) are decreasing and the median age of the world population has steadily increased for decades. As for the average life expectancy in industrial and developing countries, the gap has narrowed significantly since the mid-20th century. Asia is the most populous continent on Earth; 11 of the 20 largest countries are located there. It leads the ranking of the global population by continent by far, reporting four times as many inhabitants as Africa. The Demographic Transition The population explosion over the past two centuries is part of a phenomenon known as the demographic transition. Simply put, this transition results from a drastic reduction in mortality, which then leads to a reduction in fertility, and increase in life expectancy; this interim period where death rates are low and birth rates are high is where this population explosion occurs, and population growth can remain high as the population ages. In today's most-developed countries, the transition generally began with industrialization in the 1800s, and growth has now stabilized as birth and mortality rates have re-balanced. Across less-developed countries, the stage of this transition varies; for example, China is at a later stage than India, which accounts for the change in which country is more populous - understanding the demographic transition can help understand the reason why China's population is now going into decline. The least-developed region is Sub-Saharan Africa, where fertility rates remain close to pre-industrial levels in some countries. As these countries transition, they will undergo significant rates of population growth

Chart and table of India population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

Chart and table of Canada population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

Chart and table of Israel population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

As of January 2024, India had a total of 362 million Instagram users, the largest Instagram audience in the world. The United States had 169 million users, and Brazil had 134 million. Indonesia, Turkey, and Japan ranked in fourth, fifth and sixth position, respectively. Brunei is the leading country for Instagram audience reach, with 92 percent of the population using the social media service. Guam came in second, with a penetration rate of 79.2 percent and the Cayman Islands ranked third, with 78.8 percent, followed closely by Kazakhstan, Iceland and Montenegro. It took Instagram 11.2 years to reach the milestone of 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. WhatsApp, also owned by Meta, took 11 years, whilst Facebook took 13.3 years and YouTube took just over 14 years. Instagram’s demographics in the United States As of May 2021, Instagram was the fourth most visited social media service in the United States, after Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. 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, 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 December 2021, roughly a third 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 February 2022 with over 470 million followers. Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) had over 401 million followers on the platform and media personality and makeup mogul Kylie Jenner (@kyliejenner) had over 309 million followers. National Geographic (@natgeo) had over 206.9 million followers, sharing educational content through its renowned photojournalism.

Chart and table of Malaysia population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

Chart and table of Sri Lanka population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the New York City metro area from 1950 to 2025. United Nations population projections are also included through the year 2035.

Chart and table of Pakistan population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Mumbai, India metro area from 1950 to 2025. United Nations population projections are also included through the year 2035.

In 2022, the majority of Indian adults had a wealth of 10,000 U.S. dollars or less. On the other hand, about 0.1 percent were worth more than one million dollars that year. India The Republic of India is one of the world’s largest and most economically powerful states. India gained independence from Great Britain on August 15, 1947, after having been under their power for 200 years. With a population of about 1.4 billion people, it was the second most populous country in the world. Of that 1.4 billion, about 28.5 million lived in New Delhi, the capital. Wealth inequality India suffers from extreme income inequality. It is estimated that the top 10 percent of the population holds 77 percent of the national wealth. Billionaire fortune has increase sporadically in the last years whereas minimum wages have remain stunted.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Visakhapatnam, India metro area from 1950 to 2025. United Nations population projections are also included through the year 2035.

Around 908.8 million people in India lived in the rural areas in 2022, a decrease from 2021. Urban India, although far behind with over 508 million people, had a higher year-on-year growth rate during the measured time period.

The number of smartphone users in India was estimated to reach over one billion in 2023. It was estimated by 2040, the number of smartphone users in India will reach 1.55 billion.

Smartphone users in India – additional information

The number of smartphone users worldwide is projected to amount to nearly 7.7 billion by 2027. It is expected that, by 2022, more than two third of the total global population will use a smartphone. Due to China’s rapid growth, the country has become a distant leader in the smartphone market, leaving the U.S., which previously held the top position, far behind. Smartphone users in China already accounted for 72 percent of the country’s population in 2022. By 2028, more than 83 percent of the population in China is projected to use a smartphone. For 2022, the number of smartphone users in China amounted to nearly 1.04 billion.

India, the second most populous country in the world, passed the United States in number of smartphone users in 2017. Around 223 million people in the U.S. use a smartphone by 2017, compared to 340 million in India. Despite this increase in volume, the U.S. still has a higher smartphone penetration rate than India. The smartphone penetration rate in India reached close to 71 percent by 2023, a penetration rate that the U.S. already reached in 2019. Samsung was the leading smartphone vendor in India in 2022, followed by Xiaomi and Vivo.

In financial year 2024, nearly 102 million credit cards were issued in India. The cumulative number of cards increased constantly in recent years and even recovered quickly from falling numbers during the lockdown from the end of March to the end of May 2020, amidst the first wave of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. India’s credit card market In India, credit cards came in vogue only after the market liberalizations of the 1990s and the diversification of the banking sector. Around 78 public, private, and foreign banks as well as numerous smaller cooperative and regional rural banks were operating in 2022. In 2020, India ranked 11th on the list of countries with the most credit cards in use, far behind the United States with over one billion cards. Debit card market Debit cards are a very popular form or payment in India with an estimated number of more than 907 million cards in use. Value of debit card transactions amounted to around three trillion Indian rupees in June 2022. India's debit card penetration is estimated to be around 34 percent in 2023.