India set to become world's most populous country

India is on track to become the world's most populous nation, surpassing China by 2.9 million people by mid-2023, according to data released by the United Nations on Wednesday. The South Asian country will have an estimated 1.4286 billion people against China's 1.4257 billion by the middle of the year, according to UN projections.

China has had the world's largest population since at least 1950, the year United Nations population data began. Both China and India have more than 1.4 billion people, and combined they make up more than a third of the world’s 8 billion people.

India's continued growth is likely to have social and economic consequences. India has the largest number of young people at 254 million aged between 15-24 years, according to the UN.Experts hope this means an expanding labor force that can help fuel growth in the country for decades to come.