India will overtake China as the world's most populous country this year, UN says

India will overtake China this year as the world's most populous country, a new report from the United Nations says.

The U.N. report said India will have 2.9 million people more than China sometime in the middle of this year.

India will have an estimated 1.4286 billion people versus mainland China’s 1.4257 billion at that time, according to U.N. projections.

China has had the world’s largest population since at least 1950, the year the U.N. began releasing population data.

Not long ago, India wasn’t expected to become the most populous country until later this decade. But the timing has been sped up by a drop in China’s fertility rate as families have fewer children, The Associated Press reported.

What other countries are among the world's largest?

Here are the populations of the rest of the world's largest countries. Each of these countries ranks among the world's most populous in 2023, each with at least 100 million people, according to U.N. data:

• United States: 340.0 million

• Indonesia: 277.5 million

• Pakistan: 240.5 million

• Nigeria: 223.8 million

• Brazil: 216.4 million

• Bangladesh: 173.0 million

• Russia: 144.4 million

• Mexico: 128.5 million

• Ethiopia: 126.5 million

• Japan: 123.3 million

• Philippines: 117.3 million

• Egypt: 112.7 million

• Democratic Republic of Congo: 102.3 million

How are the populations of China and India different?

China and India combined make up more than a third of the world’s 8 billion people. But their population demographics differ in some key ways:

• India's population ages 15 to 24 is the largest in the world, at 254 million.

• China has a lower fertility rate than India.

• Life expectancy in China is several years higher than in India, for men and women alike, according to the U.N.

• A greater percentage of China's population is above 65 compared with India's.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: India is the most populous country, surpassing China in 2023