NEW DELHI-The United Nations revealed on Wednesday that India is on track to surpass China as the world's most populated nation by the middle of this year, adding nearly 3 million more people.

India's population is estimated to be 1,428.6 million or 1.4286 billion according to the UNFPA's "State of World Population Report, 2023," compared to China's population of 1.4257 billion.

The findings showed that with an estimated 340 million people, the United States is a far cry from first place. According to the paper, the data represents knowledge as of February 2023.

India is expected to surpass China this month, according to population experts using prior UN data. But a timeframe for the change's implementation was not included in the most recent report from the international organization.

Due to "uncertainty" regarding the data coming out of China and India, UN population experts have stated that it is not possible to identify a date. This is particularly true given that India's previous census was performed in 2011 and that the country's upcoming 2021 census has been delayed due to the pandemic.

Even though the two Asian superpowers will make up more than one-third of the projected world population of 8.045 billion, China's population growth has been slower than India's, and vice versa.

For the first time in six decades, China's population declined last year. This historic development is likely to signal the beginning of a protracted period of declining citizen numbers, which will have significant effects on China's economy and the rest of the globe.

Government statistics show that India's population has grown by 1.2% annually on average since 2011 as opposed to 1.7% over the previous ten years.

According to Andrea Wojnar, a representative for UNFPA India, "the Indian survey findings suggest that population anxieties have seeped into large portions of the general public."

"However, population figures shouldn't be alarming or cause worry. If individual rights and preferences are upheld, they should be viewed as a sign of growth, development, and aspirations, she said.