2024
Estimated births per day
≈70,246 / day
estimated births per day
366 days in calendar 2024
Browse the place directories and read the reference tables below. Search and interactive comparisons need JavaScript.
A wider view of a changing country
India in Numbers.
From birth to later life.
Follow the branches of a life in India: births, health, school, qualifications, relationships, work and ageing. See counts in crore and lakh, percentages with clear denominators, and the official evidence behind each number.
From a first breath to later life
A life in India.
Follow the numbers.
Birth. Childhood. School. College. Relationships. Work. Later life. Explore 110 dated evidence records and the branches that shape everyday life.
2019–21
Children fully vaccinated with specified basic vaccines
76.4%
Children aged 12–23 months; card information or mother’s recall
2023–24
Higher education students enrolled
4.5 Cr
students
Full figure: 4,50,01,123 students
Institutional higher education enrolment including AISHE estimation; all reported study levels
2020–2024
Life expectancy at birth
70.6 years
Hypothetical birth cohort under mortality conditions of 2020–24
These are snapshots from different years and population groups, not the journey of one tracked generation. Counts use crore/lakh; percentages keep their own survey denominator.
01 / LIFE STAGE
Born in India
Births per day, sex and place of occurrence, maternity care and Caesarean delivery.
12 numbers · explore the branches →02 / LIFE STAGEGrowing up
Vaccination, nutrition, birth registration, parents and children’s living arrangements.
18 numbers · explore the branches →03 / LIFE STAGESchool years
Enrolment, girls, dropout, retention, educational attainment and language of instruction.
15 numbers · explore the branches →04 / LIFE STAGECollege and qualifications
Undergraduate, postgraduate, MBA and PhD students, annual pass-outs and adult qualifications.
13 numbers · explore the branches →05 / LIFE STAGEConnected life
Personal phones, household access, internet use and regular, distance and online study.
9 numbers · explore the branches →06 / LIFE STAGERelationships and marriage
Marriage age, early marriage, age at first sexual intercourse and the limits of heartbreak statistics.
5 numbers · explore the branches →07 / LIFE STAGEHabits and wellbeing
Alcohol, cigarettes and bidis, with the respondent group and rural–urban differences kept visible.
6 numbers · explore the branches →08 / LIFE STAGEWork, earnings and migration
Employment types, sectors, mean earnings and the reasons people move for study or work.
13 numbers · explore the branches →09 / LIFE STAGEIdentity and travel
PAN allotments, age and sex composition, Aadhaar linking and valid passport stock.
13 numbers · explore the branches →10 / LIFE STAGELater life and the end of life
Life expectancy at birth and at 60, registered deaths and estimated mortality totals.
6 numbers · explore the branches →72everyday-life library records
14data articles
26coverage themes
182research questions mapped
A few numbers to start with.
Each figure measures a particular group in a stated period. These are not all current-year population percentages.
Households with at least one smartphone
85.5%of households
All households represented by CMS Telecom 2025
Households possessing a car
7.5%of households
Households represented by NFHS-5, according to urban/rural residence
Urban clothing, bedding and footwear consumption expenditure
396INR per person per month
All persons represented in the urban household population; all-category expenditure is the share denominator
Workers in unincorporated non-agricultural establishments
128,051,800estimated workers
Workers reported by establishments within ASUSE’s covered unincorporated non-agricultural sectors
Read the evidence, then use it.
Smartphones in India: household access and personal ownership
85.5% of households had a smartphone in the 2025 telecom survey. Personal ownership tells a different story, particularly for women.
Read the data and analysis →Internet access in India: homes, connections and actual use
Compare household internet access, optical-fibre connections and individual internet use with national and rural–urban figures from 2025.
Read the data and analysis →How to read India’s mobile and broadband subscriber totals
TRAI’s August 2026 figures distinguish broadband, telephone subscriptions and M2M connections. Learn what each count can establish.
Read the data and analysis →Vehicles, cars and drivers in India: choosing the right count
A dated MoRTH vehicle-registration table explains the scale of two-wheelers and cars while keeping households, owners and drivers separate.
Read the data and analysis →Employment and unemployment in India: three rates to read together
The August 2026 PLFS reports 55.6% labour force participation, a 52.8% worker population ratio and 5.0% unemployment for people aged 15+.
Read the data and analysis →Women and work in India: participation, employment and state differences
Read female labour force participation alongside employment, with August 2026 national figures and a separate April–June state comparison.
Read the data and analysis →India’s unincorporated businesses: establishments, workers and digital use
ASUSE 2025 estimates 7.92 crore establishments and 12.81 crore workers in covered non-agricultural sectors, with rural–urban comparisons.
Read the data and analysis →Religion in India: the Census 2011 national and state picture
Explore Census 2011 religion counts for India and its states, including all eight categories, historical boundaries and the difference between counts and shares.
Read the data and analysis →Languages and mother tongues in India: what Census 2011 counts
Understand India’s Census 2011 language groups, mother tongues and scheduled-language shares, and why they do not measure fluency or advertising preference.
Read the data and analysis →Is India vegetarian? What the official food-frequency data can tell us
Read NFHS food-frequency responses for women and men aged 15–49, with eggs and meat kept separate and no misleading single vegetarian percentage for India.
Read the data and analysis →What India spends on food: the rural and urban HCES basket
Compare rural and urban food spending in HCES 2023–24, from milk to prepared food, and understand per-person averages, budget shares and category limits.
Read the data and analysis →Clothing and footwear spending in India: reading the HCES category
See rural and urban clothing, bedding and footwear consumption in HCES 2023–24, with clear limits on apparel-only market sizes, buyer spend and fashion claims.
Read the data and analysis →Housing and household assets in India: ownership, materials and amenities
Compare NFHS-5 housing materials, reported house ownership and household assets, with rural and urban figures and clear distinctions from property and buyer counts.
Read the data and analysis →Electricity, water, sanitation and clean cooking in India
Read dated NFHS measures of electricity, improved water, sanitation and clean cooking, with rural–urban differences and careful household-versus-person labels.
Read the data and analysis →The wider coverage map.
Explore the themes and questions shaping the publication. The map distinguishes published analysis from subjects awaiting data work.
Population and geographic change
Census counts, projections, settlements and boundaries, with the geographic unit and date stated before any comparison.
7 research questions →Digital access, devices and internet use
Household possessions, individual experience and subscriptions are complementary but different measures.
7 research questions →Vehicles, transport and commuting
Separate registered stock, household possession, licences and journeys to work.
7 research questions →Jobs, employees and the labour force
Employment counts and rates depend on age, activity status, reference period and whether the denominator is people or the labour force.
7 research questions →Businesses, establishments and formalisation
Surveyed establishments, registrations, workers and economic output are related but distinct ways to describe business activity.
7 research questions →Food habits and vegetarianism
Use actual food-frequency questions and keep age, sex, eggs and meat definitions visible.
7 research questions →Food budgets and consumption baskets
The cost and composition of food consumption, distinct from income, nutrition and spending only among buyers.
7 research questions →Clothing, bedding and footwear
A careful bridge from a combined survey category to meaningful apparel and footwear questions.
7 research questions →Housing, tenure, rooms and condition
Distinguish households from homes and housing materials from legal title, space and affordability.
7 research questions →Religion and historical population composition
National and geographic composition, with all categories retained and Census 2011 boundaries visible.
7 research questions →Languages and mother tongues
Language classifications and historical speaker distributions, without treating them as current fluency counts.
7 research questions →Migration, birthplace and changes of residence
Stocks, duration, reasons and movements require different denominators and do not all describe annual flows.
7 research questions →Tourism, visitors and destination activity
Visits, arrivals, nights and spending describe activity; none automatically counts unique people or residents.
7 research questions →Education, enrolment and skills
Institutions report students and staff; population-based education and measured skills need their own sources and denominators.
7 research questions →Age structure, fertility and mortality
Births, deaths, fertility, longevity and ageing use different rates, windows and population bases.
7 research questions →Multilingualism, literacy and communication
Differentiate mother tongue, additional languages, reading ability and the audience a service needs to reach.
7 research questions →Milk, eggs, fish and meat
Combine food-frequency and expenditure lenses without treating them as the same statistic.
7 research questions →Fruit, vegetables, pulses and nutrition measures
Describe frequency and household consumption while keeping clinical and nutrient conclusions separate.
7 research questions →Staples, grains and food access
What consumption surveys can establish about staple baskets and the limits of using spending as food security.
7 research questions →Rural, urban and unequal consumption
Read averages and distributions in place, with compatible categories and no invented household incomes.
7 research questions →Drinking-water access and service quality
Keep source classification, collection time, reliability and water quality as separate questions.
7 research questions →Sanitation, toilets and hygiene
Facility availability, sharing and service management answer different questions about living conditions.
7 research questions →Cooking fuels and household energy
Fuel categories, spending and the difference between a connection and actual household use.
7 research questions →Electricity and household appliances
Basic electricity coverage and possessions, with reliability and potential demand treated as separate evidence.
7 research questions →Household finance, women’s property and health cover
Account presence and household membership measures, with personal ownership and effective protection kept separate.
7 research questions →Places, households and practical market research
Turn evidence into clearly labeled research baselines without confusing residents, households, vehicles or buyers.
7 research questions →One country. Several ways to measure it.
A household with a phone is not the same unit as a person who owns one. A registered vehicle is not a driver, and a payroll addition is not necessarily a newly created job. Our evidence records keep these definitions next to the numbers so you can choose the right starting point.
How to use this number
Can these figures describe one person’s journey?
No. These are sourced snapshots from different years, surveys and population groups. They are not observations of one tracked generation. Read the period, unit and denominator before comparing two figures.
Read the matching evidence and context →
Explanation added 3 November 2026. Statistical reference periods and source-check dates remain those on the underlying records.