Most populous, 4th largest economy, lowest spending on health: India among G20 members 

Population

Earlier this year, India overtook China to become the most populous country in the world, according to data from the United Nations. In 2022, the latest year for which comparable data is available, India and China each accounted for more than a quarter of the G20 members’ total population. The third largest region, the European Union, accounted for about 9%.

While India’s population is expected to continue growing, from 1.4 billion today to 1.7 billion by 2050, most other G20 members are either already seeing their populations shrink or will see them shrink considerably over the next few decades, according to UN projections. In terms of fertility rate (number of births per woman), all G20 members barring Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa are at or below replacement level fertility (at 2.1, the level of fertility at which the population replaces itself from one generation to the next).

However, India’s growing population is also among the world’s youngest. In 2022, India had a dependency ratio of 47.5%, considerably lower than the developed G20 nations, according to the World Bank. The dependency ratio is the number of dependents (younger than 14 or older than 65) as a percentage of the working-age population.

Among the G20 members, though, India has the largest rural population at 64% of the population. The next highest is 42.1% in Indonesia. Argentina has the smallest rural population at 7.7%. India also has the second highest population density at 470 people per sq km; only South Korea exceeds it at 531.

Economy

In purchasing power parity terms, India is the fourth largest economy in the G20, according to World Bank data. But despite its relatively rapid growth since liberalisation, India still has the lowest per capita income in the group. China’s per capita income is more than twice India’s, while the United States’s is more than nine times India’s.

In 2022, India’s GDP growth clocked in at 7%, the highest among G20 members after Saudi Arabia at 8.7%, according to World Bank figures. In contrast, China grew at 3% and the US at 2.1%.

Though the growing economy has enabled millions to escape poverty, India still has the largest poor population among G20 members. For countries covered in the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, which measures poverty using indicators like health, education and standard of living, in addition to the traditionally used per capita income, India had the largest proportion of poor people at 16.4% of the total population. The next highest was South Africa at 6.3%.

In terms of employment, only India and Italy had a labour force participation rate (the share of working-age people employed or actively seeking employment) of less than 50%. It’s even worse for Indian women, who have a labour force participation rate of just 23.5%. Only Saudi Arabia, at 18.9%, has a smaller proportion of women actively working. Notably, in terms of women in national parliaments, only Japan had a smaller proportion of women in its legislature than India, at 9.9% and 14.9%, respectively. Mexico had the highest share of women legislators at 50%.

It’s a mixed bag for India on broad development indicators like the Human Development Index (HDI) and the Gini Index. Among the G20 members, India has the lowest HDI score, ranking it No. 132 in the world. HDI is a composite measure of life expectancy, education and income. The Gini Index, which measures inequality, shows that India is in the middle of the pack in the G20. South Africa has the highest inequality, followed by Brazil and Mexico. France, South Korea and Germany have the lowest inequality.

Health

Despite seeing a marked improvement since Independence, India has the second lowest life expectancy at birth in the G20. Only South Africa’s is lower while Japan’s is the highest. India, though, has the lowest expenditure on health as a percentage of its GDP at 3%. The US spends about 19% of its GDP on health and only three countries spend less than 5%.

India’s low health expenditure is reflected in several indicators. For instance, at 103, India has the third highest maternal mortality rate (deaths per lakh live births) after Indonesia (173) and South Africa (127). At 16%, India also has the highest proportion of the population facing undernourishment. India also lacks enough healthcare workers – in 2020, it had less than one physician per 1,000 people, compared with about 4 in Germany and Argentina.

But not only does India have the lowest health expenditure, it also has one of the highest out-of-pocket expenditure on health care – in 2020, 50.6% of all health spending in India was borne by households. In comparison, that figure is just 5.4% in South Africa, the lowest among G20 members.

Education

On education expenditure, India matches countries like South Korea and Italy. But in terms of literacy rate, India is still a laggard. While most G20 members are close to 100% literacy, India remains at 77% as of 2017-18.

While enrollment at the primary level is over 90% of the eligible population for all G20 members with data available, India falls short at the secondary level. Just under half of all Indians aged 25 or over have completed lower secondary-level education (up to class 10) in 2020. Indonesia and Mexico are the next lowest at 54.6% and 65.9%. Most developed G20 members are at well over 90%. In 2020, India also had the highest share of children out of school, at 15%.

Access to amenities

With the proliferation of cheap mobile subscriptions and Internet plans, Indians are better connected than ever. But still, India has the lowest number of mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people and the lowest access to the Internet in the G20.

India does better on metrics like access to electricity and clean cooking fuel, though. The government claims 100% rural electrification in India. South Africa has the lowest access to electricity at 89% of the population in 2021. Though a much lower proportion of Indians have access to clean cooking fuels compared with other G20 members, at 71.1%, it’s not too far off other developing members like Russia and China.

In terms of transport, India has the second highest number of rail passengers at 11.5 lakh in 2019, trailing China’s 14.4 lakh. India lags on air travel though, with 8.3 crore passenger trips in 2021, compared with 44 crore for China and 66 crore for the US.

Military

According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, India had the fifth highest military expenditure among G20 members in 2021 and the highest number of armed personnel as of 2019. Only Saudi Arabia, Russia, the US and South Korea spent more on their militaries as a percentage of their GDPs.

But India is still heavily reliant on arms imports – it had the highest arms imports in the world between 2017 and 2021, followed by Saudi Arabia. In terms of exports, India ranks near the bottom, ahead of only Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.

Climate

Most countries across the world, not just G20 members, are failing to meet their Paris Accord climate targets to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. China, the US and India have the highest greenhouse gas emissions, but in per capita terms, the wealthier and more developed nations are responsible for the most emissions. For instance, the average Indian was responsible for emitting 2 metric tonnes of CO2 in 2020, but the average Australian emitted 15 metric tonnes of CO2.

India, like other developing countries, has seen its CO2 emissions rise by 13% between 2012 and 2020, while most developed countries have managed to reduce emissions overall. This reduction has been achieved in part through increased renewable energy production. Though fossil fuels are the primary source of energy in all G20 countries, there are some outliers. In Brazil, for instance, nearly 50% of energy consumption came from renewable sources in 2020. India has made progress here too, about a third of its consumed energy coming from renewables.