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The Demographic Structure of the Indian Society
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Demography is the systematic study of population. The term is of Greek origin 
and is composed of the two words, demos (people) and graphein (describe), 
implying the description of people.  Demography studies the trends and 
processes associated with population including – changes in population size; 
patterns of births, deaths, and migration; and the structure and composition 
of the population, such as the relative proportions of women, men and different 
age groups. There are different varieties of demography, including formal 
demography which is a largely quantitative field, and social demography 
which focuses on the social, economic or political aspects of populations. All 
demographic studies are based on processes of counting or enumeration – such 
as the census or the survey – which involve the systematic collection of data 
on the people residing within a specified territory.
Demography is a field that is of special importance to sociology – in fact, 
the emergence of sociology and its successful establishment as an academic 
discipline owed a lot to demography.  Two different processes happened to 
take place at roughly the same time in Europe during the latter half of the 
eighteenth century – the formation of nation-states as the principal form of 
political organisation, and the beginnings of the modern science of statistics.  
The modern state had begun to expand its role and functions.  It had, for 
instance, begun to take an active interest in the development of early forms 
of public health management, policing and maintenance of law and order, 
economic policies relating to agriculture and industry, taxation and revenue 
generation and the governance of cities.  
This new and constantly expanding sphere of state activity required the 
systematic and regular collection of social statistics – or quantitative data on 
various aspects of the population and economy.  The practice of the collection 
of social statistics by the state is in itself much older, but it acquired its modern 
form towards the end of the eighteenth century.  The American census of 1790 
was probably the first modern census, and the practice was soon taken up in 
Europe as well in the early 1800s.  In India, censuses began to be conducted 
by the British Indian government between 1867–72, and regular ten yearly 
(or decennial) censuses have been conducted since 1881.  Independent India 
continued the practice, and seven decennial censuses have been conducted 
since 1951, the most recent being in 2011.  The Indian census is the largest 
such exercise in the world (since China, which has a slightly larger population, 
does not conduct regular censuses).
Demographic data are important for the planning and implementation of 
state policies, specially those for economic development and general public 
welfare.  But when they first emerged, social statistics also provided a strong 
justification for the new discipline of sociology. Aggregate statistics – or the 
numerical characteristics that refer to a large collectivity consisting of millions 
of people – offer a concrete and strong argument for the existence of social 
phenomena.  Even though country-level or state-level statistics like the number 
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The Demographic Structure of the Indian Society
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Chapter 2.indd   5 9/1/2022   12:35:34 PM
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Indian Society
6
Demography is the systematic study of population. The term is of Greek origin 
and is composed of the two words, demos (people) and graphein (describe), 
implying the description of people.  Demography studies the trends and 
processes associated with population including – changes in population size; 
patterns of births, deaths, and migration; and the structure and composition 
of the population, such as the relative proportions of women, men and different 
age groups. There are different varieties of demography, including formal 
demography which is a largely quantitative field, and social demography 
which focuses on the social, economic or political aspects of populations. All 
demographic studies are based on processes of counting or enumeration – such 
as the census or the survey – which involve the systematic collection of data 
on the people residing within a specified territory.
Demography is a field that is of special importance to sociology – in fact, 
the emergence of sociology and its successful establishment as an academic 
discipline owed a lot to demography.  Two different processes happened to 
take place at roughly the same time in Europe during the latter half of the 
eighteenth century – the formation of nation-states as the principal form of 
political organisation, and the beginnings of the modern science of statistics.  
The modern state had begun to expand its role and functions.  It had, for 
instance, begun to take an active interest in the development of early forms 
of public health management, policing and maintenance of law and order, 
economic policies relating to agriculture and industry, taxation and revenue 
generation and the governance of cities.  
This new and constantly expanding sphere of state activity required the 
systematic and regular collection of social statistics – or quantitative data on 
various aspects of the population and economy.  The practice of the collection 
of social statistics by the state is in itself much older, but it acquired its modern 
form towards the end of the eighteenth century.  The American census of 1790 
was probably the first modern census, and the practice was soon taken up in 
Europe as well in the early 1800s.  In India, censuses began to be conducted 
by the British Indian government between 1867–72, and regular ten yearly 
(or decennial) censuses have been conducted since 1881.  Independent India 
continued the practice, and seven decennial censuses have been conducted 
since 1951, the most recent being in 2011.  The Indian census is the largest 
such exercise in the world (since China, which has a slightly larger population, 
does not conduct regular censuses).
Demographic data are important for the planning and implementation of 
state policies, specially those for economic development and general public 
welfare.  But when they first emerged, social statistics also provided a strong 
justification for the new discipline of sociology. Aggregate statistics – or the 
numerical characteristics that refer to a large collectivity consisting of millions 
of people – offer a concrete and strong argument for the existence of social 
phenomena.  Even though country-level or state-level statistics like the number 
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The Demographic Structure of the Indian Society
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Chapter 2.indd   5 9/1/2022   12:35:34 PM
2024-25
Indian Society
6
Demography is the systematic study of population. The term is of Greek origin 
and is composed of the two words, demos (people) and graphein (describe), 
implying the description of people.  Demography studies the trends and 
processes associated with population including – changes in population size; 
patterns of births, deaths, and migration; and the structure and composition 
of the population, such as the relative proportions of women, men and different 
age groups. There are different varieties of demography, including formal 
demography which is a largely quantitative field, and social demography 
which focuses on the social, economic or political aspects of populations. All 
demographic studies are based on processes of counting or enumeration – such 
as the census or the survey – which involve the systematic collection of data 
on the people residing within a specified territory.
Demography is a field that is of special importance to sociology – in fact, 
the emergence of sociology and its successful establishment as an academic 
discipline owed a lot to demography.  Two different processes happened to 
take place at roughly the same time in Europe during the latter half of the 
eighteenth century – the formation of nation-states as the principal form of 
political organisation, and the beginnings of the modern science of statistics.  
The modern state had begun to expand its role and functions.  It had, for 
instance, begun to take an active interest in the development of early forms 
of public health management, policing and maintenance of law and order, 
economic policies relating to agriculture and industry, taxation and revenue 
generation and the governance of cities.  
This new and constantly expanding sphere of state activity required the 
systematic and regular collection of social statistics – or quantitative data on 
various aspects of the population and economy.  The practice of the collection 
of social statistics by the state is in itself much older, but it acquired its modern 
form towards the end of the eighteenth century.  The American census of 1790 
was probably the first modern census, and the practice was soon taken up in 
Europe as well in the early 1800s.  In India, censuses began to be conducted 
by the British Indian government between 1867–72, and regular ten yearly 
(or decennial) censuses have been conducted since 1881.  Independent India 
continued the practice, and seven decennial censuses have been conducted 
since 1951, the most recent being in 2011.  The Indian census is the largest 
such exercise in the world (since China, which has a slightly larger population, 
does not conduct regular censuses).
Demographic data are important for the planning and implementation of 
state policies, specially those for economic development and general public 
welfare.  But when they first emerged, social statistics also provided a strong 
justification for the new discipline of sociology. Aggregate statistics – or the 
numerical characteristics that refer to a large collectivity consisting of millions 
of people – offer a concrete and strong argument for the existence of social 
phenomena.  Even though country-level or state-level statistics like the number 
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of deaths per 1,000 population – or the death rate – are made up by aggregating 
(or adding up) individual deaths, the death rate itself is a social phenomenon 
and must be explained at the social level.  Emile Durkheim’s famous study 
explaining the variation in suicide rates across different countries was a good 
example of this. Durkheim argued that the rate of suicide (i.e., number of 
suicides per 100,000 population) had to be explained by social causes even 
though each particular instance of suicide may have involved reasons specific 
to that individual or her/his circumstances.  
Sometimes a distinction is made between formal demography and a broader 
field of population studies. Formal demography is primarily concerned with the 
measurement and analysis of the components of population change.  Its focus 
is on quantitative analysis for which it has a highly developed mathematical 
methodology suitable for forecasting population growth and changes in the 
composition of population.  Population studies or social demography, on the 
other hand, enquires into the wider causes and consequences of population 
structures and change.  Social demographers believe that social processes and 
structures regulate demographic processes; like sociologists, they seek to trace 
the social reasons that account for population trends.
2.1 Some Theorie S and Con Cep TS in d emography The Mal Thusian Theory of Po Pula Tion Grow Th Among the most famous theories of demography is the one associated with the 
English political economist Thomas Robert Malthus (1766–1834).  Malthus’s 
theory of population growth – outlined in his Essay on Population (1798) – was 
a rather pessimistic one.  He argued that human populations tend to grow at 
a much faster rate than the rate at which the means of human subsistence 
(specially food, but also clothing and other agriculture-based products) can 
grow.  Therefore humanity is condemned to live in poverty forever because the 
growth of agricultural production will always be overtaken by population growth.  
While population rises in geometric progression (i.e., like 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc.), 
agricultural production can only grow in arithmetic progression  (i.e., like 2, 4, 
6, 8, 10, etc.). Because population growth always outstrips growth in production 
of subsistence resources, the only way to increase prosperity is by controlling 
the growth of population. Unfortunately, humanity has only a limited ability to 
voluntarily reduce the growth of its population (through ‘preventive checks’ 
such as postponing marriage or practicing sexual abstinence or celibacy).  
Malthus believed therefore that ‘positive checks’ to population growth – in the 
form of famines and diseases – were inevitable because they were nature’s way 
of dealing with the imbalance between food supply and increasing population. 
Malthus’s theory was influential for a long time.  But it was also challenged 
by theorists who claimed that economic growth could outstrip population 
8
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The Demographic Structure of the Indian Society
5
Chapter 2.indd   5 9/1/2022   12:35:34 PM
2024-25
Indian Society
6
Demography is the systematic study of population. The term is of Greek origin 
and is composed of the two words, demos (people) and graphein (describe), 
implying the description of people.  Demography studies the trends and 
processes associated with population including – changes in population size; 
patterns of births, deaths, and migration; and the structure and composition 
of the population, such as the relative proportions of women, men and different 
age groups. There are different varieties of demography, including formal 
demography which is a largely quantitative field, and social demography 
which focuses on the social, economic or political aspects of populations. All 
demographic studies are based on processes of counting or enumeration – such 
as the census or the survey – which involve the systematic collection of data 
on the people residing within a specified territory.
Demography is a field that is of special importance to sociology – in fact, 
the emergence of sociology and its successful establishment as an academic 
discipline owed a lot to demography.  Two different processes happened to 
take place at roughly the same time in Europe during the latter half of the 
eighteenth century – the formation of nation-states as the principal form of 
political organisation, and the beginnings of the modern science of statistics.  
The modern state had begun to expand its role and functions.  It had, for 
instance, begun to take an active interest in the development of early forms 
of public health management, policing and maintenance of law and order, 
economic policies relating to agriculture and industry, taxation and revenue 
generation and the governance of cities.  
This new and constantly expanding sphere of state activity required the 
systematic and regular collection of social statistics – or quantitative data on 
various aspects of the population and economy.  The practice of the collection 
of social statistics by the state is in itself much older, but it acquired its modern 
form towards the end of the eighteenth century.  The American census of 1790 
was probably the first modern census, and the practice was soon taken up in 
Europe as well in the early 1800s.  In India, censuses began to be conducted 
by the British Indian government between 1867–72, and regular ten yearly 
(or decennial) censuses have been conducted since 1881.  Independent India 
continued the practice, and seven decennial censuses have been conducted 
since 1951, the most recent being in 2011.  The Indian census is the largest 
such exercise in the world (since China, which has a slightly larger population, 
does not conduct regular censuses).
Demographic data are important for the planning and implementation of 
state policies, specially those for economic development and general public 
welfare.  But when they first emerged, social statistics also provided a strong 
justification for the new discipline of sociology. Aggregate statistics – or the 
numerical characteristics that refer to a large collectivity consisting of millions 
of people – offer a concrete and strong argument for the existence of social 
phenomena.  Even though country-level or state-level statistics like the number 
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The Demographic Structure of the Indian Society
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Indian Society
8
of deaths per 1,000 population – or the death rate – are made up by aggregating 
(or adding up) individual deaths, the death rate itself is a social phenomenon 
and must be explained at the social level.  Emile Durkheim’s famous study 
explaining the variation in suicide rates across different countries was a good 
example of this. Durkheim argued that the rate of suicide (i.e., number of 
suicides per 100,000 population) had to be explained by social causes even 
though each particular instance of suicide may have involved reasons specific 
to that individual or her/his circumstances.  
Sometimes a distinction is made between formal demography and a broader 
field of population studies. Formal demography is primarily concerned with the 
measurement and analysis of the components of population change.  Its focus 
is on quantitative analysis for which it has a highly developed mathematical 
methodology suitable for forecasting population growth and changes in the 
composition of population.  Population studies or social demography, on the 
other hand, enquires into the wider causes and consequences of population 
structures and change.  Social demographers believe that social processes and 
structures regulate demographic processes; like sociologists, they seek to trace 
the social reasons that account for population trends.
2.1 Some Theorie S and Con Cep TS in d emography The Mal Thusian Theory of Po Pula Tion Grow Th Among the most famous theories of demography is the one associated with the 
English political economist Thomas Robert Malthus (1766–1834).  Malthus’s 
theory of population growth – outlined in his Essay on Population (1798) – was 
a rather pessimistic one.  He argued that human populations tend to grow at 
a much faster rate than the rate at which the means of human subsistence 
(specially food, but also clothing and other agriculture-based products) can 
grow.  Therefore humanity is condemned to live in poverty forever because the 
growth of agricultural production will always be overtaken by population growth.  
While population rises in geometric progression (i.e., like 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc.), 
agricultural production can only grow in arithmetic progression  (i.e., like 2, 4, 
6, 8, 10, etc.). Because population growth always outstrips growth in production 
of subsistence resources, the only way to increase prosperity is by controlling 
the growth of population. Unfortunately, humanity has only a limited ability to 
voluntarily reduce the growth of its population (through ‘preventive checks’ 
such as postponing marriage or practicing sexual abstinence or celibacy).  
Malthus believed therefore that ‘positive checks’ to population growth – in the 
form of famines and diseases – were inevitable because they were nature’s way 
of dealing with the imbalance between food supply and increasing population. 
Malthus’s theory was influential for a long time.  But it was also challenged 
by theorists who claimed that economic growth could outstrip population 
8
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The Demographic Structure of the Indian Society
9
growth.  However, the most effective refutation of his theory 
was provided by the historical experience of European 
countries.  The pattern of population growth began to 
change in the latter half of nineteenth century, and by 
the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century these 
changes were quite dramatic.  Birth rates had declined, 
and outbreaks of epidemic diseases were being controlled.  
Malthus’s predictions were proved false because both food 
production and standards of living continued to rise despite 
the rapid growth of population.  
Malthus was also criticised by liberal and Marxist 
scholars for asserting that poverty was caused by population 
growth.  The critics argued that problems like poverty and starvation were 
caused by the unequal distribution of economic resources rather than by 
population growth.  An unjust social system allowed a wealthy and privileged 
minority to live in luxury while the vast majority of the people were forced to 
live in poverty. 
The Theory of De Mo Gra Phic Transi Tion Another significant theory in demography is the theory of demographic 
transition.  This suggests that population growth is linked to overall levels 
of economic development and that every society follows a typical pattern 
of development-related population growth.  There are three basic stages of 
population growth.  The first stage is that of low population growth in a 
society that is underdeveloped and technologically backward.  Growth rates 
are low because both the death rate and the birth rate are very high, so that 
“The power of population is so superior to the 
power of the earth to produce subsistence 
for man, that premature death must in 
some shape or other visit the human race. 
The vices of mankind are active and able ministers 
of depopulation. They are the precursors in the great 
army of destruction, and often finish the dreadful 
work themselves. But should they fail in this war of 
extermination, sickly seasons, epidemics, pestilence, 
and plague advance in terrific array, and sweep off 
their thousands and tens of thousands? Should success 
be still incomplete, gigantic inevitable famine stalks in 
the rear, and with one mighty blow levels the population 
with the food of the world?”
 –  Thomas Robert Malthus, An Essay on the 
 Principle of Population, 1798.
Box 2.1
Thomas Robert Malthus 
(1766 – 1834)
Malthus studied at Cambridge 
and trained to become a 
Christian  priest.  Later he was 
appointed Professor of History 
and Political Economy at the 
East India Company College at 
Haileybury near London, which 
was a training centre for the 
officers recruited to the Indian 
Civil Service.
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