The study by NSO from its India's population survey 2011 has indicated that the elderly population aged 60 plus has increased and as per reports 138 million aged people are there. The survey also indicated that more in the elderly population list are women with 71 million.
India's good elderly care and availability of medications are said to have boosted its elderly population.
As per a National Sample Survey Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistic and Programme Implementation's study titled Elderly In India 2021', India has 13.8 crore elderly population.
In the 60 plus age category, women seem to be more healthy and show better chances of survival compared to their age male counterparts.
As per reports, there are 71 million women in the aged and surviving category and 67 million are men.
As per the study, the number is further expected to increase and by 2031, India may have a whopping 56 million elderly population.
Although the aged population has increased, it may throw a new challenge as the aged population may also have a cascading impact on India's workforce and other sectors and result in new challenges towards the economy.
As per the report, while the general population has increased to 12% between 2011 to 2021, the elderly population saw an increase of 32.7%. Interestingly, the data shows a huge gap of about 14% rise in the growing population between elderly women and men. While 26.5% are men, 39% are women. The study also indicates that by 2031, women in the elderly population category will further increase.
Among the 20 plus states that have the highest number of aged population, southern state Kerala as per the report tops the list. Kerala has 16.5% of the aged population and underdeveloped state Bihar is placed at the bottom which has only 7.7%.
The study also stressed programs and policies to deal with the growing aged population to ensure better facilities and also address the challenges that come along with this vulnerable population segment.
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