India is Comparitively a Young Country

India is the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.21 billion people (2011 census). Already it has 17.5% of the world's population which is more than a sixth of the world's population. Indian population reached the billion mark in 2000. India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2025, surpassing China, its population reaching 1.6 billion by 2050. Its population growth rate is 1.41%.  

As per this last census, the median ages of the various States/UTs of India are given below:

S. No.	State/Union Territory	Median Age	Population Below 14 Years (%)
1	Bihar	19	40.1
2	Meghalaya	19	39.7
3	Uttar Pradesh	20	35.7
4	Arunanchal Pradesh	20	35.7
5	Rajasthan	21	34.6
6	Jharkhand	21	36.0
7	Nagaland	21	34.3
8	Jammu & Kashmir	22	33.8
9	Dadara & Nagar Haveli	22	31.4
10	Madhya Pradesh	22	33.5
11	Uttarakhand	23	31
12	Chhattisgarh	23	32
13	Assam	23	32.8
14	Mizoram	23	32.4
15	Haryana	24	29.7
16	Daman &  Diu	24	31.4
17	Manipur	24	29.9
18	Sikkim	24	27.2
19	NCT of Delhi	25	27.2
20	Chandigarh	25	25.3
21	Gujarat	25	28.9
22	Orissa	25	28.8
23	Tripura	25	27.7
24	Punjab	26	25.5
25	Karnataka	26	26.2
26	Andhra Pradesh	26	25.8
27	Maharashtra	26	26.6
28	West Bengal	26	27.1
29	Himachal Pradesh	27	25.9
30	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	27	24.4
31	Lakshadweep	28	25.5
32	Tamil Nadu	29	23.6
33	Pondicherry	29	23.9
34	Goa	30	21.8
35	Kerala	31	23.4
36	All-India	24	30.8

It can be seen from the above table that the median age of the various states varies from 19 years to 31 years.  The median age of fast aging Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu as well as Pondicherry, registering the highest median age of 31, 30 and 29 years respectively, at higher end and Bihar and Meghalaya recording the lowest median age of 19 years.    

For India, the proportion of children (0-14 years) is about 31%. In low fertility states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, children constitute just 23% and 24% of the population and for high fertility states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the children constitute over 40% (highest among various states) and 36% respectively.

In general, among the larger states, the list of states with a low proportion of children (0-14 years) overlaps thickly with the list of states generally considered among the comparatively more developed and vice versa as working population increases. This is good to witness as they are better placed to make the ‘demographic dividend’ pay than others.
In most cases, states with a higher median age also register a higher proportion of working age population, such as Himachal (27 years) and Punjab (26 years), whose proportion of working age population is 68% and 68.8% respectively. Goa and Kerala too had working age people constituting as much as 72% and 69.2% of their population.

India has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35. The median age for India, in 2011 is 24 years and that is quite less than many developed countries.  Thus, India is comparatively a young country.