Country page · South Asia
If you were born in India
1 in 6 babies · 17.44% of births · about 23,394,035 a year
Right now, about 17.44% of the world's babies are born in India — 1 in 6, or roughly 23,394,035 a year and 64,093 a day. Life expectancy there is 72.2 years.
How the 1 in 6 is calculated
This number is not based on population. It uses births: India has about 23,394,035 births a year, and the world has about 134,147,481. Divide one by the other and you get 17.44% — 1 in 6. Using population instead would understate young countries and overstate ageing ones, so every draw is weighted by births.
Life in India, in numbers
| Indicator | Value | World rank |
|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy women 73.9 · men 70.7 | 72.2 years | 102nd highest of 172 countries |
| Chance of dying before 5 26.6 / 1,000 | 2.7% | 111th lowest of 170 countries |
| Chance of dying before 1 23.3 / 1,000 | 2.3% | 112th lowest of 170 countries |
| Mothers who die giving birth per 100,000 births | 80 | 104th lowest of 170 countries |
| Children per woman | 1.96 | 82nd lowest of 172 countries |
| Expected years of schooling | 11.5 years | 110th highest of 168 countries |
| Tertiary enrollment | 34.4% | 95th highest of 168 countries |
| Income per person (PPP) GDP per capita, PPP | $11,748 | 110th highest of 170 countries |
| Income inequality closer to 0 = more equal | 23.00 | 157th highest of 157 countries |
| People living in cities | 35.7% | 145th highest of 172 countries |
| People working in farming | 41.6% | 134th lowest of 171 countries |
| People using the internet | 70.0% | 105th highest of 172 countries |
| Homicide per 100,000 people | 2.8 | 88th lowest of 155 countries |
| Health costs paid out of pocket share of health spending | 43.9% | 123rd lowest of 168 countries |
| Adults living with HIV | 0.20% | 84th highest of 142 countries |
| People who smoke | 22.6% | — |
How to read these numbers
Income is shown in purchasing-power-parity dollars, so it compares what money buys locally rather than market exchange rates. The under-5 rate is the share of babies who die before their fifth birthday; the maternal mortality ratio is per 100,000 live births. A Gini index closer to 0 means a more equal income distribution, and a higher number means a more unequal one.
Each indicator uses the most recent year with a non-empty value, which can differ by country; the rank compares this country with the other 171 in the dataset, not with every country on Earth. Where a value is missing, the page shows a dash rather than an estimate.
India compared with South Asia
Life expectancy in India is 72.2 years, against a South Asia average of 73.7. The under-5 death rate is 2.7%, versus 2.1% across the region. Income per person is $11,748, against $12,947 regionally; expected schooling is 11.5 years against 12.8. 35.7% of people live in cities, against 40.0% in the region.
| Indicator | India | South Asia | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 72.2 yrs | 73.7 yrs | 73.3 yrs |
| Under-5 deaths | 2.7% | 2.1% | 2.6% |
| Income per person (PPP) | $11,748 | $12,947 | $30,311 |
| Expected schooling | 11.5 yrs | 12.8 yrs | 13.0 yrs |
| People in cities | 35.7% | 40.0% | 61.6% |
What a life there looks like
Put those numbers together and you get a life: about 72.2 years on average, with roughly 26.6 of every 1,000 babies dying before their fifth birthday. A child can expect 11.5 years of school, and income per person is around $11,748. These are averages — every life still lands somewhere on the distribution.
If you play as someone born in India
The game draws India in about 1 of every 6 births. From there the life runs year by year: 72.2 years of life expectancy on average, a 2.7% chance of dying before five, and an income of about $11,748 per person. Choices move the odds; the starting statistics do not.
Nearby and similar countries
- Chance of being born in Bangladesh — 1 in 38
- Chance of being born in Nepal — 1 in 239
- Chance of being born in Sri Lanka — 1 in 610
- All 172 countries
Frequently asked questions
What are the odds of being born in India?
What is life expectancy in India?
How many babies are born in India each year?
Is India a good country to be born in, in the game?
Source: World Bank World Development Indicators, with UN World Population Prospects 2024 and UN IGME for births and mortality. Values are the most recent non-empty year for each indicator; the year is noted where it differs. Page updated 24 Oct 2026.