Why some countries have more people than others?Compare pakistan with another developing country ?
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India at 70: A comparison of progress with Pakistan and 4 other nations
On the eve of independence day, here’s a comparison of progress India has made in improving income, health, education, and in preserving its forests, to five countries–China, Pakistan, Malaysia, South Korea and Brazil.In the 70 years since independence, India has made most progress in improving life expectancy, literacy, but has been slower in improving the level of income, and reducing infant mortality rates when compared to five other nations.
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comparison of progress India has made in improving income, health, education, and in preserving its forests, to five countries–China, Pakistan, Malaysia, South Korea and Brazil.
By IndiaSpend Team
UPDATED ON APR 25, 2018 04:18 PM IST
In the 70 years since independence, India has made most progress in improving life expectancy, literacy, but has been slower in improving the level of income, and reducing infant mortality rates when compared to five other nations.
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On the eve of independence day, we compared the progress India has made in improving income, health, education, and in preserving its forests, to five countries–China, Pakistan, Malaysia, South Korea and Brazil.
Why we chose these countries
We chose China because it had roughly the same per capita income in 1960 as India did. Our analysis showed that even though China and India are constantly compared, until now, China has outperformed India across most wealth and health indicators.
We looked at South Korea to get a sense of how India performed compared to a country that has gone from being a developing to a developed country after 1947.
We used Pakistan to compare progress in a country that shares the same history and culture, and was formed at the same time as India.
Brazil, one of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries, serves as a comparison with another emerging economy that is estimated to become one of the largest in the world over the next 30 years.
We picked Malaysia because it is, like India, multicultural and, although it was more prosperous than India when independence came, it has weathered significant ethnic tension and conflict. It represents the unique dynamism of a region, southeast Asia, in close proximity to India.
In 56 years, Indian income up 21 times, but progress slower than China, Malaysia
India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita (current US$)–which is the average income of each citizen and reflects the well being of the population–increased 21 times from $81.3 (Rs 1,705) in 1960 to $1709.4 (Rs 1,14,530) in 2016, according to World Bank estimates. But India made slower progress as compared to China, Malaysia, Brazil and South Korea.
Source: World Bank
The GDP per capita is calculated by dividing the country’s GDP by its population.
In 56 years, the gap in per capita GDP has increased most between India and China, in our comparison. In 1960, China’s GDP per capita ($89.5) was 9% more than India’s. In 2016, China’s GDP per capita ($ 8123.2) was 79% more than India’s ($1709.4). This widening gap could be attributed to greater increases in productivity of the Chinese labour force and more capital per worker, according to an opinion piece published by The Hindu in January 2015.
Similarly the gap between India and South Korea in 2016 is nearly twice of what it was in 1960. South Korea’s growth can be attributed to rapid industrialisation and emphasis on sectors such as steel, shipbuilding and electronics, according to an April 2015 article by Quartz.
Until 1991, when India liberalised its economy, per capita GDP is estimated to have grown by an average of 4.7% per year, compared to an average of 7.5% every year after 1991.
India’s GDP per capita in 1960 ($81.3) was 65% lower than Malaysia ($ 234.9), 61% lower than Brazil ($210), and 49% lower than South Korea ($158.2). Today India’s GDP per capita is 82% lower than Malaysia ($9502.6), 80% lower than Brazil ($8649.9) and 94% lower than South Korea ($27538.8).
India’s GDP per capita in 1960 was 1.5% lower than that of Pakistan ($82.5), which had progressed economically because of greater state capacity, investments in infrastructure and heavy industry and the agricultural revolution which started in Pakistan before it did in India, according to this September 2016 LiveMint article by economist Ankit Mital. But the situation has now reversed and India’s GDP per capita is 16.4% higher than its western neighbour.
Greater progress in improving life expectancy than Brazil, South Korea
In 55 years, India’s life expectancy at birth–the average number of years a person is expected to survive if existing patterns of mortality stayed the same throughout their life–an indicator of the strength of the health system throughout the lifecycle of a citizen, rose by 65.8% or 27 years.
Source: World Bank
From 41 years in 1960, the average life expectancy at birth is now 68 years in 2015, the latest year for which data are available, according to the World Bank.
Among the five countries used for comparison, India’s progress in raising the average life expectancy at birth comes second to that of only China. In 1960, with an average life expectancy of 43 years, China’s position was close to that of India. However, in the same period the average life expectancy in China rose 76.7% or by 33 years to an average expectancy of 76 years in 2015.
Pakistan’s progress was on a par with India’s; life expectancy there increased by 65% to