The demographic feature of Indian economy states characteristics of population constitutes the human resources of a country. The population is vital from the point of economic growth and resources of the country. India’s population is rising geometrically where as production rises arithmetically, according to 2001 census the population is about 102 cores. The demography of India’s population is like the density of population, age composition, sex composition, literacy rate, life expectancy and rural-urban ratio etc.
image source: kyspp.nus.edu.sg/cag/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/12/graph-02.jpg
6 Important Demographic Features of Indian Economy
Density of population:
The density of population calculated as a ratio of the number of persons per square kilometer of land area. Normally the density of population is very high in the urban and industrial areas and it is quite low in the rural areas, according 2001 census the density of population in India is 324. The density of Population was as low as 7.7 persons per square kilometers in 1901.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
In 2001 density of population further creased to 324 people per square kilometer. India is one of the dense populated countries in the world. The density of population determines the magnitude of the burden that India is being called upon to carry and to determine the future potential of growth. The availability of natural resources and the use of technology determine the density of population with higher standard of living. So the density of population is an index of either prosperity or poverty of a country
Sex composition:
In India there is trend in favor of masculine population. The sex distribution of population of India I show two things (a) a higher ratio males in the population and (b) a rising tendency towards masculinity. The proportion of females per 100 males has fallen from 962 in 1901 to 933 in 2001. In Kerala females are 1040 in 1991 per 1000 males.
In India 103 female babies are born against 100 male babies and loss of female babies after birth is much higher than that of male. This led to fall in sex ratio. There are a number of factors which are responsible for the fall in sex ration. They are of more female folks due to insufficient attention and care after birth. The death rates of women are high during reproductive age group 11-19 due to the practice in early marriage.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Age composition:
The analysis of age composition of population can determine the proportion of labor force in the total population of the country. The population in India is divided into three groups on the basis of age structure such as 0-14, 15-59 and 60 and above. The higher child population in India has resulted from higher birth rate and fall in the infant mortality rate. Populations on 0-14 age groups are dependent. The proportion on working population in the age group of 55-60 has been declining from 60.2 percent in 1921 to 57.1 percent in 1951 and then 54.1 percent in 1981. Again, the proportion of age and old population in the age group to 60 and above has also been increasing from 1.2 percent in 1921 to 5.5 percent in 1951 and then to 6 A percent in 1981 . Thus, the proportion of child, and the old people are increasing in number.
Rural – Urban Composition:
The rural urban composition of India population reflects on the pattern of living of the country’s population.’In India majority of the population lives in rural areas. However, there is growing trend for gradual shift of population from rural to urban areas. The urban population increased by 41 percent during 194.51. The percentage of urban population in total population has gone up from 17 percent in 1951 to 25.72 percent in 1991 and 27.8 percent in 2001 2011 is hoped.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Life Expectancy:
The average life expectancy of birth in India has been gradually increasing the average life experience was 41.2 years in 1951-61 and increase to 46.4 years in 1961-71. The increases in the life expectancy have become possible due full in the infant mortality. So although the life expectancy in Mila increased in recent years but it compares on favorable with the level of the expectancy attained in some other countries.
Literacy rate in India:
In India the level of literacy which was only 18.3 percent in 1951 gradually increased to 23 percent in 1961 and 34.5 percent 1971. The sate literacy was mentioned was measured in India excluding the children in the age groups of 0-4 till 1981.
To the Census 2001 the literacy rate is 65.38 for male and 54.16 for women, if the growth of literacy to remove literacy totally net before 2040 AD.