[orc]MoSPI recently released a report on the elderly people in India. According to this report, a total of 103.9 million elderly people are living in India as of the 2011 Census. The number of elderly female is more than the number of elderly male. The decadal growth rate of elderly is almost twice that of the general population.
The Ministry of Statistics & Program Implementation (MoSPI) recently released a report on elderly people in India. The report contains details of the various programs for the elderly apart from comprehensive data on the elderly in the country. According to the report, there are 103.9 million elderly people (aged 60 and above) in the country as per the 2011 Census. There are 52.8 million elderly female compared to 51.1 million elderly male.
More elderly female than male in the last two decades
According to the 1961 census, the population of elderly male and elderly female was more or less the same at 12.4 million. Since then, the population of elderly male was more than that of the elderly female till 1991 census. As per the 1991 census, there were 29.4 million elderly male compared to 27.3 million elderly female. In 2001, however, the population of elderly female overtook that of the elderly male which continued in 2011 also.
Proportion of elderly in the Urban areas increasing with every Census
In the 1961 Census, there were 21 million elderly in the rural areas compared to 3.7 million in the urban areas, which is just 15% of the total elderly population. The proportion of elderly living in urban areas has continuously increased with every census like the trend in general population. From 15% in 1961, the percentage of elderly living in urban areas has gone up to 29.5% in 2011.
The Proportion of elderly in the total population increased by more than 50% in 50 years
Due to better medical & health facilities, people are living longer. This is evident in the proportion of elderly in the total population. While the proportion of elderly in 1961 was just 5.6% of the total population, it increased to 8.6% in 2011. The proportion of elderly in the total population has continuously increased in the last 50 years and has grown by more than 50% from 1961 to 2011. This is also evident in the decadal growth of general population Vs the elderly. Between 2001 and 2011, the elderly population grew by 35.5% while the general population grew by only 17.7%.
Kerala has the highest proportion of elderly people
As per the 2011 census, Kerala has the highest proportion of elderly people with 12.6% followed by Goa with 11.2%. Tamil Nadu had the third highest proportion of elderly people with 10.4%. Only Punjab and Himachal Pradesh also had more than 10% elderly. Eleven states had a greater proportion of elderly than the national average of 8.6%. Six of the seven North-Eastern states were in the bottom ten when it comes to proportion of elderly. Arunachal Pradesh had only 4.6% elderly, the lowest in the country.
Featured Image: By Sukanto Debnath
