As India surpasses China to become most populous country, here's all you need to know about population studies

Analysts have recently estimated that India is likely to have surpassed China as the world’s most-populous nation. While the growing population of India is a challenge, especially for policymakers, there are educational programmes available for those who are interested in studying the population trends and their repercussions.

According to World Population Review, an independent organization focused on census and demographics, India's population was 1.417 billion as 2022 ended. This figure is around 5 million more than the 1.412 billion reported by China on Tuesday, Bloomberg has reported.

Such estimates are made by the experts in Population study or Population science - an interdisciplinary field of scientific study that uses various statistical methods and models to analyse, determine, address, and predict population challenges and trends from data collected through various data collection methods such as population census, registration method, sampling, and some other systems of data sources.

The International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) in Mumbai is the foremost institute offering courses and research opportunities in population studies. The institute, located in the Deonar area, was established in July 1956 under the joint sponsorship of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, the Government of India and the United Nations. It was declared as a 'Deemed to be University' on August 14, 1985, under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. 

IIPS serves as a regional centre for Training and Research in Population Studies for the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) region. It holds a unique position among all the regional population centres. It was the first such centre started, and it serves a much larger population than any of the other regional centres. The Institute is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

There are seven academic departments in the institute, namely Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Fertility & Social Demography, Public Health & Mortality Studies, Migration & Urban Studies, Population & Development, Family & Generations, Survey Research & Data Analytics and Extra Mural Studies and Distance Education.

The Institute offers the following regular teaching programmes:

M.A./M.Sc Programme in Population Studies

Master of Science in Biostatistics and Demography

Master of Population Studies (MPS)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Population Studies

M.A. in Population Studies (Distance Learning)

Post Doctoral Fellowship(P.D.F.)

Diploma in Health Promotion Education (DHPE)

Those interested in seeking admission to the institute can go to its website https://www.iipsindia.ac.in/