Population growth to fertility rate: What census 2025 might reveal

The census would set the stage for the delimitation exercise and introduction of the Women Reservation Act

India will begin the national census in 2025 and conclude it early 2026, said news reports this week. While the decennial exercise couldn’t be conducted in 2021 due to Covid-19, preliminary trends and interpolations by various organisations offer insights into what we might expect from the census.

 

Government data shows that the average annual population growth rate in the decade ended 2011 was 1.64 per cent, the lowest in independent India (barring 1951 when it was 1.25 per cent due to high mortality). Growth rate further declined to 1.06 per cent in 2023, considering the 12-year period of 2011-23, according