Economics · Ch 7 — Population

Size, Growth and Density of India's Population

Size and Growth of India's Population

As per Census 2011 (the last completed Census; Census 2021 was postponed), India's population stood at 121.09 crore (1,210,854,977) — the second-largest in the world at the time. India's population has grown steadily since independence, though the rate of growth has been slowing since the 1981–1991 decade:

Census Year	Population (crore)	Decadal Growth Rate (%)	Density (persons/sq km)	Sex Ratio (F/1000 M)
1991	84.63	23.87	267	927
2001	102.87	21.54	325	933
2011	121.09	17.70	382	943

The decadal growth rate is calculated as:

\text{Decadal Growth Rate (\%)} = \frac{P_t - P_{t-10}}{P_{t-10}} \times 100

where $P_t$ is the population at the end of the decade and $P_{t-10}$ the population ten years earlier.

Density of Population

Density measures how crowded a region is:

\text{Density} = \frac{\text{Total Population}}{\text{Total Area (sq km)}}

India's density rose from 325 (2001) to 382 persons per sq km (2011), but density is highly uneven across states — Bihar (2011: 1,102/sq km) is the most densely populated large state, while Arunachal Pradesh (17/sq km) is the least.

Gujarat's Own Population Profile

The Gujarat Board (GSHSEB) Std-12 Economics syllabus also expects students to relate the national picture to the state's own figures. As per Census 2011:

Indicator	India	Gujarat
Population	121.09 crore	6.04 crore (6,04,39,692)
Decadal Growth 2001–11	17.70%	19.28%

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