With a total population of 1.32 billion, India is said to have overtaken China to become the world’s most populous country, according to a Chinse academician and a demographer.
Yi Fuxian, a scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who had also campaigned against country’s family planning laws for years, said that the population of his country may not be 1.37 billion, as official numbers show.
Fuxian said that the actual number of people living in his country was closer to 1.29 billion, which is less than India’s population which stands nearly 1.32 billion.
According to a latest estimate, India’s projected population stands at nearly 1.28 billion as of 2015.
Reports in Western media also suggested that the country may have already overtaken its neighbouring side in population figures.
“I think the real number is 1.29 billion but the government thinks it is 1.38 billion. India is maybe 1.32 billion right now,” the academic told The Guardian.
India’s population, which currently stands at around 1.21 billion according to 2011 Census, has increased fourfold since its independence.
