Question

Mention the salient demographic indicators of China, Pakistan and India.

Answer 1

The important demographic indicators of Indian, China and Pakistan are tabulated as below.

             Demographic Indicators, 2000-01

Country	Estimated Population (in millions)	Annual Growth Rate of Population (1990-2003)	Density (per sq. km)	Sex Ratio	Fertility Rate	Urbanisation
India	1103.6	1.7	358	933	3.0	27.8
China	1303.7	1.0	138	937	1.8	36.1
Pakistan	162.4	2.5	193	922	5.1	33.4

The important demographic indicators are as follows:

a) Total Population: China is the largest populated country in the world followed by India. The above table depicts that China’s population in 2000-01 was approximately 1303.7 million and that of India and Pakistan was 1103.6 million and 162.4 million respectively.

b)Annual Growth Rate of Population: Although China is the largest populated country but a strong positive point for China is that, its annual growth rate of population is just 1% per annum while that of India and Pakistan is 1.7% and 2.5% per annum. With such a high growth rate it would not be wrong to expect that in the forthcoming decades India will surpass the total population of China.

c)Density of Population: In spite of the fact that China is highly populated and geographically occupying the largest area among the three nations, its density of population is the lowest. It is as low as 138 persons per square kilometer of area compared to 358 and 193 persons in India and Pakistan respectively. Lower the degree of density of population the lower is the pressure on the country’s natural resources and higher is the probability of sustainable development.

d)Sex Ratio: This ratio counts the number of females per 1000 males. The sex ratios in all the three countries are almost same with China having a marginally higher sex ratio of 937 females per 1000 males. This depicts the low economic and social status of women in India and Pakistan.

e)Fertility Rate: This rate refers to the number of children a woman gives birth to during her lifetime. China enjoys an upper hand in this case. The fertility rate of Chinese woman is only 1.8 whereas those of India and Pakistan are 3.0 and 5.1. This implies that in India and Pakistan a woman usually gives birth to approximately 3 and 5 children. This is the most important concern for both India and Pakistan, as with such a high fertility rate, population in the coming decades will surpass that of China.

f)Urbanisation: Lastly, China is comparatively more urbanised than India and Pakistan. The rate of urbanisation in China is 36.1% while that in India and Pakistan is 27.8% and 33.4% respectively.  The degree of urbanisation depicts the standard and quality of living of people of a particular country. Also, this confirms the shift in the economic structure of an economy. Higher degree of urbanisation reveals higher industrialisation and development of tertiary sector in the economy.

Thus to sum up, although China is the largest populated country but its other demographic indicators are stronger than those of both India and Pakistan. It would not be wrong to expect a decline in China’s population in the coming decades due to implementation of various policy measures and also due to low annual growth rate of population.