Knowledge Nugget: UNFPA State of World Population Report 2025 – Must-know insights for UPSC

Indian Express

12-06-2025

Take a look at the essential concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here's your knowledge nugget for today.
(Relevance: UPSC has asked questions on population, government policies to utlise demographic dividends, and key terms associated with it. Check them in the post-read questions. In this regard, understanding the SOWP Report 2025 is important for your UPSC exam.)
The 2025 State of World Population (SOWP) Report was released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This year's report, 'The real fertility crisis: The pursuit of reproductive agency in a changing world' has called for a shift from panic over falling fertility to addressing unmet reproductive goals. The report draws on academic research and new data from a UNFPA–YouGov survey spanning 14 countries, including India.
1. According to the report, one in three adult Indians (36%) face unintended pregnancies, while 30% experience unfulfilled desire for having either more or fewer children, and 23% face both.
2. SOWP Report 2025 underlines that millions of individuals are unable to realise their real fertility goals. This is the real crisis, not underpopulation or overpopulation. And, the answer lies in greater reproductive agency – a person's ability to make free and informed choices about sex, contraception, and starting a family.
3. One in five people globally expect not to have the number of children they desire. The key drivers include the prohibitive cost of parenthood, job insecurity, housing, concerns over the state of the world, and the lack of a suitable partner. A toxic blend of economic precarity and sexism plays a role in many of these issues, the report shows.
4. In the case of India, financial limitations are one of the biggest barriers to reproductive freedom. Nearly four in 10 people say financial limitations are stopping them from having the families they want. Job insecurity (21%), housing constraints (22%), and the lack of reliable childcare (18%) are making parenthood feel out of reach.
5. Health barriers like poor general well-being (15%), infertility (13%), and limited access to pregnancy-related care (14%) add further strain. Many are also holding back due to growing anxiety about the future—from climate change to political and social instability.
6. According to United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA, 2024), India is now the world's most populous nation, with nearly 1.5 billion people – a number expected to grow to about 1.7 billion before it begins falling, around 40 years from now.
Why is it called UNFPA?
High fertility and low fertility duality case of India
1. Replacement-level fertility is commonly defined as 2.1 births per woman, which is the rate at which a population size remains the same from one generation to the next. India has reached the replacement-level fertility of 2.0, but the report pointed out that many people, especially women, still face significant barriers to making free and informed decisions about their reproductive lives and significant disparities persist across regions and states. These barriers create what the report identifies as India's 'high fertility and low fertility duality.'
2. Fertility has fallen below the replacement level (2.1) in 31 states/UTs, but remains high in Bihar (3.0), Meghalaya (2.9), and Uttar Pradesh (2.7). Urban-rural gaps persist, and seven states have yet to reach replacement TFR in rural areas. In Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Delhi, many couples delay or skip childbirth due to costs and work-life conflict, especially among educated middle-class women. This duality reflects differences in economic opportunities, access to healthcare, education levels, and prevailing gender and social norms.
Issue of Infertility in India
The report highlighted that Infertility remains under-prioritised in India. Infertility needs to be considered for inclusion under the government's health insurance schemes, as suggested in the report. An estimated 27.5 million Indian couples face infertility, yet public sector services are limited, while private care remains expensive and largely confined to urban centres.
📍Positive Growth of Population: When the birth rate is more than the death rate between two points of time or when people from other countries migrate permanently to a region, it is called positive growth of population.
📍Negative Growth of Population: When there is a decrease in population between two points of time due to a fall in birth rate below the death rate or people migrate to other countries, it is called negative growth of population.
📍Density of Population: The number of persons per unit area is called the density of population. According to the 2011 Census, India's population density is 382 persons per square kilometer, and in states, Bihar has the highest density at 1106 persons per square kilometer. In 1951, it was 117 persons/sq km.
What is the demographic dividend?
FYI: The dependency ratio is equal to the population below 15 or above 64, divided by the population in the 15-64 age group. This is usually expressed as a percentage. The working-age population is generally defined as those aged 15-64 years.
📍Period of population explosion: The sudden increase in the population of the country is called a population explosion. In India, the decade of 1951-1981 is referred to as the period of population explosion. During this period, the average annual growth rate was as high as 2.2 percent.
📍Fertility Rate: The fertility rate refers to the number of live births per 1000 women in the child-bearing age group, usually taken to be 15 to 49 years. Total fertility rate (TFR)
📍Total Fertility Rate (TFR): According to the website of OECD, the total fertility rate in a specific year is defined as the total number of children that would be born to each woman if she were to live to the end of her child-bearing years and give birth to children in alignment with the prevailing age-specific fertility rates
(1) The total fertility rate in an economy is defined as: (UPSC CSE 2024)
(a) the number of children born per 1000 people in the population in a year.
(b) the number of children born to couple in their lifetime in a given population.
(c) the birth rate minus death rate.
(d) the average number of live births a woman would have by the end of her child-bearing age.
(2) India is regarded as a country with 'Demographic Dividend''. This is due to– (UPSC CSE 2011)
(a) Its high population in the age group below 15 years.
(b) Its high population in the age group of 15-­64 years.
(c) Its high population in the age group above 65 years.
(d) Its high total population.
(Source: NCERT, 'Millions unable to realise reproductive goals': UNFPA State of World Population Report 2025 reveals crisis of fertility aspirations, India becomes world's most populous nation: What's behind the population numbers?)
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Khushboo Kumari is a Deputy Copy Editor with The Indian Express. She has done her graduation and post-graduation in History from the University of Delhi. At The Indian Express, she writes for the UPSC section. She holds experience in UPSC-related content development. You can contact her via email: [e-mail] ... Read More