Emerging Demographic Change in South India

Introduction The estimated global population around 2001 was above 6 billion, out of which India accounts for more than 1 billion, second only to China. The world population is currently growing at 1.4 percent per annum as compared to India’s 1.9 percent and China’s 1 percent. According to available forecasts, India will overtake China in terms of population within the next 30 years. India's role in the global demographic growth remains therefore both formidable and decisive. However, the 2001 Indian census data also indicate that India's population, after a long spell of unprecedented growth over the last five decades, is now witnessing a gradual deceleration affecting almost all states. South India was a precursor of this demographic reversal because of the spectacular fall of its birth rates. Fertility transition has indeed been the crux of the matter ever since mortality started its slow decline from the 1920s onwards and the impact of mortality variations on the overall demographic growth has now been seriously reduced. The purpose of the present volume is to document the process of fertility change in South India, with focus on each state and its sub-regional components.