Data Bytes

In 1950, a child born in India could expect to live only until the age of 41, while a child born in the United Kingdom the same year could expect to live to 69 years.

Life expectancy at birth is the average number of years a newborn would live if they were exposed to the sex- and age-specific death rates prevailing at that time. This is a hypothetical measure that assumes current mortality rates will remain constant throughout the individual's life, providing a snapshot of a population's overall health and mortality conditions at that time. Data on life expectancy for the countries of the world is periodically estimated by the United Nations Population Division.

In 1950, India was one of the world's poorest and least developed countries. By 2024, not only had life expectancy in India gone up to 72 years, but the gap between India and the UK had also narrowed substantially, to now being less than a decade apart.

The only recent time that life expectancy in India slid backwards was during the COVID-19 pandemic, when life expectancy fell in most countries, reflecting the prevailing health conditions at the time. By 2022, life expectancy was back to its pre-pandemic levels, and on the path to growth, once again.

Read more about why life expectancy is different at different age groups.

The population dependency ratio is the share of those segments of the population who are dependents - children and the elderly - relative to those parts of the population who can be economically productive. A higher dependency ratio means that a country will need to spend more money on welfare measures like education, childcare, eldercare and pensions, while having a smaller base of people who can produce the wealth that is needed to fund such a safety net.

India's 'demographic dividend' was in part fueled by the decline in its total dependency ratio since the 1960s. As population growth began to slow down, more adults (aged 15-64 years) of working age were part of the population, forming a large workforce able to fuel the economy. This was reflected in the falling child dependency ratio - the ratio of children (aged 0-14 years) relative to the population.

But the total dependency ratio is made up of two parts - the child dependency ratio and the old-age dependency ratio. As India ages, the old-age dependency ratio keeps rising, and within the next ten years, this will drive the first increase in India's total dependency ratio in 70 years. This has implications for growth, development, eldercare and society.

Read more about how dependency ratios differ by state in India.