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China vs. India

Demographics

ChinaIndia
Population1,397,897,720 (July 2021 est.)1,339,330,514 (July 2021 est.)
Age structure0-14 years: 17.29% (male 129,296,339/female 111,782,427)

15-24 years: 11.48% (male 86,129,841/female 73,876,148)

25-54 years: 46.81% (male 333,789,731/female 318,711,557)

55-64 years: 12.08% (male 84,827,645/female 83,557,507)

65 years and over: 12.34% (male 81,586,490/female 90,458,292) (2020 est.)
0-14 years: 26.31% (male 185,017,089/female 163,844,572)

15-24 years: 17.51% (male 123,423,531/female 108,739,780)

25-54 years: 41.56% (male 285,275,667/female 265,842,319)

55-64 years: 7.91% (male 52,444,817/female 52,447,038)

65 years and over: 6.72% (male 42,054,459/female 47,003,975) (2020 est.)
Median agetotal: 38.4 years

male: 37.5 years

female: 39.4 years (2020 est.)
total: 28.7 years

male: 28 years

female: 29.5 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate0.26% (2021 est.)1.04% (2021 est.)
Birth rate11.3 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)17.53 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Death rate8.26 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)7.1 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Net migration rate-0.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)-0.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Sex ratioat birth: 1.11 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.16 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.17 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female

total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
at birth: 1.11 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.13 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.14 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 1.07 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 1 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female

total population: 1.08 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
Infant mortality ratetotal: 11.15 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 11.6 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 10.64 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
total: 39.55 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 39.47 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 39.63 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
Life expectancy at birthtotal population: 76.31 years

male: 74.23 years

female: 78.62 years (2021 est.)
total population: 70.03 years

male: 68.71 years

female: 71.49 years (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate1.6 children born/woman (2021 est.)2.28 children born/woman (2021 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rateNA0.2% (2017 est.)
Nationalitynoun: Chinese (singular and plural)

adjective: Chinese
noun: Indian(s)

adjective: Indian
Ethnic groupsHan Chinese 91.6%, Zhuang 1.3%, other (includes Hui, Manchu, Uighur, Miao, Yi, Tujia, Tibetan, Mongol, Dong, Buyei, Yao, Bai, Korean, Hani, Li, Kazakh, Dai, and other nationalities) 7.1% (2010 est.)

note: the Chinese Government officially recognizes 56 ethnic groups
Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDSNA2.3 million (2020 est.)
Religionsfolk religion 21.9%, Buddhist 18.3%, Christian 5.2%, Muslim 2%, Hindu < 0.1%, Jewish < 0.1%, other 0.7% (includes Daoist (Taoist)), unaffiliated 51.8% (2020 est.)

note: officially atheist
Hindu 79.8%, Muslim 14.2%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.7%, other and unspecified 2% (2011 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deathsNA69,000 (2017 est.)
LanguagesStandard Chinese or Mandarin (official; Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry); note - Zhuang is official in Guangxi Zhuang, Yue is official in Guangdong, Mongolian is official in Nei Mongol, Uighur is official in Xinjiang Uygur, Kyrgyz is official in Xinjiang Uygur, and Tibetan is official in Xizang (Tibet)

major-language sample(s):
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The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Hindi 43.6%, Bengali 8%, Marathi 6.9%, Telugu 6.7%, Tamil 5.7%, Gujarati 4.6%, Urdu 4.2%, Kannada 3.6%, Odia 3.1%, Malayalam 2.9%, Punjabi 2.7%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.1%, other 5.6%; note - English enjoys the status of subsidiary official language but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; there are 22 other officially recognized languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language (2011 est.)

major-language sample(s):
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The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Literacydefinition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 96.8%

male: 98.5%

female: 95.2% (2018)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 74.4%

male: 82.4%

female: 65.8% (2018)
Major infectious diseasesdegree of risk: high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Japanese encephalitis

soil contact diseases: hantaviral hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS)

note: a new coronavirus is causing an outbreak of respiratory illness (COVID-19) in China; illness with this virus has ranged from mild to severe with fatalities reported; the US Department of State has issued a do not travel advisory for China due to COVID-19; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also recommended against travel to China and published additional guidance at https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/warning/novel-coronavirus-china; the US Department of Homeland Security has issued instructions requiring US passengers who have been in China to travel through select airports where the US Government has implemented enhanced screening procedures; as of 19 July 2021, China has reported a total of 119,784 cases of COVID-19 or 8.14 cumulative cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population with 0.38 cumulative deaths per 100,000 population; as of 10 June 2021, 43.21% of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine
degree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria

water contact diseases: leptospirosis

animal contact diseases: rabies

note: clusters of cases of a respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) are being reported across 27 States and Union Territories in India; as of 20 July 2021, India has reported a total of 31,174,322 cases of COVID-19 or 2,259 cumulative cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population with 30.03 cumulative deaths per 100,000 population; as of 19 July 2021, 23.65% of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine; effective 4 May 2021, the US has banned most travel from India to the US
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)total: 14 years

male: 14 years

female: 14 years (2015)
total: 12 years

male: 11 years

female: 12 years (2019)
Education expendituresNA3.8% of GDP (2013)
Urbanizationurban population: 62.5% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 1.78% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

note: data do not include Hong Kong and Macau
urban population: 35.4% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 2.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Drinking water sourceimproved: urban: 97.7% of population

rural: 87.8% of population

total: 92.8% of population

unimproved: urban: 2.3% of population

rural: 12.2% of population

total: 7.2% of population (2017 est.)
improved: urban: 96% of population

rural: 91% of population

total: 92.7% of population

unimproved: urban: 4% of population

rural: 9% of population

total: 7.2% of population (2017 est.)
Sanitation facility accessimproved: urban: 97.1% of population

rural: 82% of population

total: 90.7% of population

unimproved: urban: 2.4% of population

rural: 18% of population

total: 9.3% of population (2017 est.)
improved: urban: 93.7% of population

rural: 61.1% of population

total: 72% of population

unimproved: urban: 6.3% of population

rural: 38.9% of population

total: 28% of population (2017 est.)
Major cities - population27.796 million Shanghai, 20.897 million BEIJING (capital), 16.382 million Chongqing, 13.794 million Tianjin, 13.635 million Guangzhou, 12.592 million Shenzhen (2021)31.181 million NEW DELHI (capital), 20.668 million Mumbai, 14.974 million Kolkata, 12.765 million Bangalore, 11.235 million Chennai, 10.269 million Hyderabad (2021)
Maternal mortality rate29 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)145 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight2.4% (2013)33.4% (2016/18)
Health expenditures5.4% (2018)3.5% (2018)
Physicians density1.98 physicians/1,000 population (2017)0.86 physicians/1,000 population (2018)
Hospital bed density4.3 beds/1,000 population (2017)0.5 beds/1,000 population (2017)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate6.2% (2016)3.9% (2016)
Contraceptive prevalence rate84.5% (2017)53.5% (2015/16)
Dependency ratiostotal dependency ratio: 42.2

youth dependency ratio: 25.2

elderly dependency ratio: 17

potential support ratio: 5.9 (2020 est.)

data do not include Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan
total dependency ratio: 48.7

youth dependency ratio: 38.9

elderly dependency ratio: 9.8

potential support ratio: 10.2 (2020 est.)

Source: CIA Factbook