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The 'Elderly in India 2021' report

The 'Elderly in India 2021' report

  • The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) has produced the report "Elderly in India 2021."
  • The report is based on findings from the Technical Group on Population Projections for India and States 2011-2036.
  • Declining fertility and increasing longevity lead to rising numbers of older persons as well as a continuously growing share of older persons in the population.

Key findings:

  • The report stressed the 2017 United Nations Report on World Population Ageing, which claimed that by 2030 the people aged 60 years or above are expected to outnumber children under age 10.

Population:

  • The population of elderly India had been increasing steadily since 1961, mainly due to decrease in the death rate because of various health interventions.
  • The addition of the elderly population during 2001- 2011 was more than 27 million.
  • There are nearly 138 million elderly persons in India in 2021 comprising of 67 million males and 71 million females.
  • Upto Population Census 1991, the number of elderly females exceeded the number of elderly males. However, in the last two decades, the trend has been reversed.
  • it is projected that the number of elderly females will exceed the number of males in 2031.
  • An increase of nearly 34 million elderly persons was seen in 2021 over the Population Census 2011 and is further expected to increase by around 56 million elderly persons in 2031.
  • The general population has grown up by 12.4% during 2011-2021 in comparison to around 18% in earlier decade while the elderly population grow by 36% each in the last two decades (2001-2011 and 2011-2021).
  • In 1961, 5.6% of the population was in the age bracket of 60 years or more, the proportion has increased to 10.1% in 2021 and further likely to increase to 13.1% in 2031.

State-wise data:

  • Kerala has the maximum proportion of elderly people in its population (16.5%) followed by Tamil Nadu (13.6%), Himachal Pradesh (13.1%), Punjab (12.6%) and Andhra Pradesh (12.4%) in 2021. On the contrary, proportion is the least in the States of Bihar (7.7%) followed by Uttar Pradesh (8.1%) and Assam (8.2%).
  • For the year 2031, maximum proportion of elderly people in its population is projected in the state of Kerala (20.9%) followed by Tamil Nadu (18.2%), Himachal Pradesh (17.1%), Andhra Pradesh (16.4%) and Punjab (16.2%).

Sex ratio:

  • The sex ratio for general population is 948 in 2021which is quite close to the levels that were in 1951 i.e. 946 whereas, the sex ratio for elderly population is much higher in 2021 than 1951.

Life expectancy:

  • Life expectancy at birth in the country has increased in rural as well as urban areas.
  • In rural areas, it has increased from 48 years in 1970-75 to 68 years in 2014-18, while in urban areas it has increased from 58.9 years to 72.6 years.
  • At the age of 60 years, during the same period, it has increased from 13.5 to 17.6 years in rural areas and from 15.7 to 19.4 years in urban areas.
  • As per SRS Report 2014-18, Kerala has got the highest life expectancy at birth for both male and female.
  • As per SRS Report for the years 2008, 2013 and 2018, the Age Specific Death Rate of elderly people for the age group 60-64 years has decreased from 22.5 in 2008 to 19.5 in 2018. For age group 65-69 years, age specific death rate has also decreased from 33.5 in 2008 to 31.3 in 2018.

Economic Status:

  • The old age dependency ratio has increased from 10.9% in 1961 to 14.2% in 2011 and further projected to increase to 15.7% and 20.1% in 2021 and 2031 respectively.
  • The old-age dependency ratio is defined as the number of persons aged 60+ per 100 persons relative to the age group 15-59.
  • As per the Periodic labour Force Survey (PLFS), 2018-19, about 65% of elderly men and 18% of elderly women in the age-group 60-64 years had participated in economic activity.

Health and Social Status:

  • Literacy levels among elderly males and females have improved over time in both rural and urban areas. However, huge gender gap has been observed in literacy rates.
  • More than 50% of elderly persons suffering from disability (other than mental illness) have taken the treatment from consulting doctors.

Elderly:

  • Elderly or old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the average lifespan of human beings.
  • The government of India adopted ""National Policy for Older Persons"" in January, 1999.
  • The policy defines ""senior citizen‟ or ""elderly‟ as a person who is of age 60 years or above.

Life expectancy:

  • It is the expected (in the statistical sense) number of years of life remaining at a given age.

Death rate:

  • It is a measure of the number of deaths in some population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit time. Death rate is typically expressed in units of deaths per 1000 individuals per year;

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