Home

Nepal vs. India

Demographics

NepalIndia
Population30,424,878 (July 2021 est.)1,339,330,514 (July 2021 est.)
Age structure0-14 years: 28.36% (male 4,526,786/female 4,073,642)

15-24 years: 20.93% (male 3,276,431/female 3,070,843)

25-54 years: 38.38% (male 5,251,553/female 6,387,365)

55-64 years: 6.64% (male 954,836/female 1,059,360)

65 years and over: 5.69% (male 852,969/female 874,092) (2020 est.)
0-14 years: 26.31% (male 185,017,089/female 163,844,572)

15-24 years: 17.51% (male 123,423,531/female 108,739,780)

25-54 years: 41.56% (male 285,275,667/female 265,842,319)

55-64 years: 7.91% (male 52,444,817/female 52,447,038)

65 years and over: 6.72% (male 42,054,459/female 47,003,975) (2020 est.)
Median agetotal: 25.3 years

male: 23.9 years

female: 26.9 years (2020 est.)
total: 28.7 years

male: 28 years

female: 29.5 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate0.81% (2021 est.)1.04% (2021 est.)
Birth rate17.78 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)17.53 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Death rate5.57 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)7.1 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Net migration rate-4.12 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)-0.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Sex ratioat birth: 1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.11 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.07 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 0.82 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.98 male(s)/female

total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
at birth: 1.11 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.13 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.14 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 1.07 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 1 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female

total population: 1.08 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
Infant mortality ratetotal: 25.73 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 27.13 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 24.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
total: 39.55 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 39.47 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 39.63 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
Life expectancy at birthtotal population: 72.12 years

male: 71.38 years

female: 72.9 years (2021 est.)
total population: 70.03 years

male: 68.71 years

female: 71.49 years (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate1.93 children born/woman (2021 est.)2.28 children born/woman (2021 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate0.1% (2020 est.)0.2% (2017 est.)
Nationalitynoun: Nepali (singular and plural)

adjective: Nepali
noun: Indian(s)

adjective: Indian
Ethnic groupsChhettri 16.6%, Brahman-Hill 12.2%, Magar 7.1%, Tharu 6.6%, Tamang 5.8%, Newar 5%, Kami 4.8%, Muslim 4.4%, Yadav 4%, Rai 2.3%, Gurung 2%, Damai/Dholii 1.8%, Thakuri 1.6%, Limbu 1.5%, Sarki 1.4%, Teli 1.4%, Chamar/Harijan/Ram 1.3%, Koiri/Kushwaha 1.2%, other 19% (2011 est.)

note: 125 caste/ethnic groups were reported in the 2011 national census
Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS30,000 (2020 est.)2.3 million (2020 est.)
ReligionsHindu 81.3%, Buddhist 9%, Muslim 4.4%, Kirant 3.1%, Christian 1.4%, other 0.5%, unspecified 0.2% (2011 est.)Hindu 79.8%, Muslim 14.2%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.7%, other and unspecified 2% (2011 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths<1000 (2020 est.)69,000 (2017 est.)
LanguagesNepali (official) 44.6%, Maithali 11.7%, Bhojpuri 6%, Tharu 5.8%, Tamang 5.1%, Newar 3.2%, Bajjika 3%, Magar 3%, Doteli 3%, Urdu 2.6%, Avadhi 1.9%, Limbu 1.3%, Gurung 1.2%, Baitadeli 1%, other 6.4%, unspecified 0.2%; note - 123 languages reported as mother tongue in 2011 national census; many in government and business also speak English (2011 est.)

major-language sample(s):
????? ???? ??????,??????? ????????? ???? ????????? ????? (Nepali)

The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Hindi 43.6%, Bengali 8%, Marathi 6.9%, Telugu 6.7%, Tamil 5.7%, Gujarati 4.6%, Urdu 4.2%, Kannada 3.6%, Odia 3.1%, Malayalam 2.9%, Punjabi 2.7%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.1%, other 5.6%; note - English enjoys the status of subsidiary official language but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; there are 22 other officially recognized languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language (2011 est.)

major-language sample(s):
????? ??????, ??????? ??????? ?? ?? ????????? ????? (Hindi)

The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Literacydefinition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 67.9%

male: 78.6%

female: 59.7% (2018)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 74.4%

male: 82.4%

female: 65.8% (2018)
Major infectious diseasesdegree of risk: high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: Japanese encephalitis, malaria, and dengue fever
degree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria

water contact diseases: leptospirosis

animal contact diseases: rabies

note: clusters of cases of a respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) are being reported across 27 States and Union Territories in India; as of 20 July 2021, India has reported a total of 31,174,322 cases of COVID-19 or 2,259 cumulative cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population with 30.03 cumulative deaths per 100,000 population; as of 19 July 2021, 23.65% of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine; effective 4 May 2021, the US has banned most travel from India to the US
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)total: 13 years

male: 13 years

female: 13 years (2019)
total: 12 years

male: 11 years

female: 12 years (2019)
Education expenditures5.1% of GDP (2018)3.8% of GDP (2013)
Urbanizationurban population: 21% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 3.09% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
urban population: 35.4% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 2.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Drinking water sourceimproved: urban: 91.7% of population

rural: 91.4% of population

total: 91.5% of population

unimproved: urban: 8.3% of population

rural: 8.6% of population

total: 8.5% of population (2017 est.)
improved: urban: 96% of population

rural: 91% of population

total: 92.7% of population

unimproved: urban: 4% of population

rural: 9% of population

total: 7.2% of population (2017 est.)
Sanitation facility accessimproved: urban: 91.7% of population

rural: 71.9% of population

total: 75.7% of population

unimproved: urban: 7.3% of population

rural: 28.1% of population

total: 24.3% of population (2017 est.)
improved: urban: 93.7% of population

rural: 61.1% of population

total: 72% of population

unimproved: urban: 6.3% of population

rural: 38.9% of population

total: 28% of population (2017 est.)
Major cities - population1.472 million KATHMANDU (capital) (2021)31.181 million NEW DELHI (capital), 20.668 million Mumbai, 14.974 million Kolkata, 12.765 million Bangalore, 11.235 million Chennai, 10.269 million Hyderabad (2021)
Maternal mortality rate186 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)145 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight24.4% (2019)33.4% (2016/18)
Health expenditures5.8% (2018)3.5% (2018)
Physicians density0.75 physicians/1,000 population (2018)0.86 physicians/1,000 population (2018)
Hospital bed density0.3 beds/1,000 population (2012)0.5 beds/1,000 population (2017)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate4.1% (2016)3.9% (2016)
Mother's mean age at first birth21.6 years (2016 est.)

note: median age at first birth among women 25-49
21 years (2015/16)

note: median age a first birth among women 25-49
Contraceptive prevalence rate46.7% (2019)53.5% (2015/16)
Dependency ratiostotal dependency ratio: 53

youth dependency ratio: 44.1

elderly dependency ratio: 8.9

potential support ratio: 11.2 (2020 est.)
total dependency ratio: 48.7

youth dependency ratio: 38.9

elderly dependency ratio: 9.8

potential support ratio: 10.2 (2020 est.)

Source: CIA Factbook