India's population will pass China's soon, but when exactly?

India should surpass China’s population midway through this year, according to the latest projection from the United Nations.

That’s of course unless it’s happened already – or happens later in the year.

Demographers are unsure exactly when India will take the title as the most populous nation in the world because they're relying on estimates to make their best guess. The latest projection from the United Nations this week put it at midyear, though that remains an estimate.

China has had the most people in the world since at least 1950, the year United Nations population data began. Both China and India have more than 1.4 billion people, and combined they make up more than a third of the world's 8 billion people.