Population CAGR: India vs China Population Growth Rate In Last 60 Years

Demographers and Economists love to observe the population growth of different countries around the world. A key metric to measure is the population CAGR (compound annual growth rate) to understand the trends in the global population.

In 2023, India just surpassed China’s population (1.426 Billion or 1,426 Million).

In 1963, India’s population (478 Million) was just 70% of that of China’s population (682 Million).

China’s population in the year 1963: 682 Million
China’s population in the year 2023: 1,426 Million

India’s population in the year 1963: 478 Million
India’s population in the year 2023: 1,426 Million

Let’s take a look at the compound annual growth rate of both the countries’ populations between 1963 and 2023.

China’s Population CAGR

Using the values for population of China in 1963 and 2023, and feeding them in the CAGR Calculator, we can get the average historical growth rate in China’s population in the last 60 years.

We will use the population numbers like this:

Initial Value: 682

Final Value: 1426

Since both the values are in millions, we can ignore writing the additional six zeroes, and still get the same answer for CAGR.

India vs China Population Growth Rate, POPULATION CAGR

We observe that the historical population growth rate of China was 1.24% per year between 1963 and 2023.

India’s Population CAGR

Using the numbers for population of India in 1963 and 2023, and inputting them in the CAGR Calculator, we can get the average historical growth rate in India’s population in the last 60 years.

We will use the population numbers like this:

Initial Value: 478

Final Value: 1426

Since both the values are in millions, we can ignore writing the additional six zeroes, and still get the same answer for CAGR.

We observe that the historical population growth rate of India was 1.84% per year between 1963 and 2023.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we see that with a difference in population CAGR of 0.60 (i.e., 1.84 – 1.24) percentage points, India was able to surpass China’s population in 60 years.