Last month, the United Nation’s Population Division projected that India will overtake China to become the world’s most-populous country by the middle of this year. The U.N. population estimate renewed discussion about India’s economic potential, including whether its swelling population could create a major “demographic dividend” that, in turbocharging its economy, would allow India to surpass China on that front as well. At the time, China’s GDP stood at $2.77 trillion and its GDP per capita at $2,193 in constant 2015 dollars, while 36 percent of its population lived in urban areas. In 2021, India’s GDP was $2.73 trillion and its GDP per capita $1,937, and its urbanization rate was 35 percent. Over the next 20 years, China’s GDP soared to $14.6 trillion—overtaking Japan in 2010 as the world’s second-largest economy along the way—as its GDP per capita nearly quintupled to $10,358.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 17, 2023 13:26 UTC