'Data Speed Has Led To Decline In Birth Rate': CRED Founder Kunal Shah States A 'Conjecture'

India's fertility rate, which is a measure of the number of offspring birthed by a woman, currently sits at 2.01 children per woman. This is behind the ideal replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman. Although, as of 2024, India is the most populous country with over 1.45 billion people, its fertility rate and rate at which babies are born have declined gradually.

Internet Speed Leads To Birthrate Decline?

As India looks to make the most of the demographic dividend amid the visible decline, CRED founder Kunal Shah has hypothesised and cited a growing phenomenon as a factor to a decline in the birth rate.

In a post, Shah pointed the figure at the country's internet speed, which according to him could be the reason for the decline in the birth rate.

In his post Shah said, "Conjecture : data speed in a community is correlated to decline in birth rate."

India's Population on Decline

Now, when we look at the country's population, as mentioned before, is the biggest nation, in terms of the sheer number. According to World-o-meter, the Indian population stands at around 1,456,100,990 people, making up 17.78 per cent of the world population.

But, the country's growth rate has seen a decline in it as well. As seen in the graph above, there has been a steady decline in the overall growth rate of population of the country. In most times, the difference is even more stark. From 1.27 per cent in 2014, the population growth dropped to 0.89 per cent in 2024.

In addition, India's fertility rate also dropped from 2.31 children per woman in 2014, which is much higher than the ideal replacement rate to 2.01 in 2024.

Internet Penetration In India

Now, when we look at India's internet penetration rate, that has seen a gradual rise over a period of time, as a part of technological diffusion. As per Statista, the internet penetration in the most populous country went from a meagrely 13.5 per cent in 2014 to 52.4 per cent in 2024.

When we look at the internet speed in India, that factor has also witnessed sizeable growth in the past 10 years. In early 2023, the internet speed improved by 18 per cent. And, the introduction of the 5G services has allowed the speed to take off, with an increase of 81 per cent, according to some reports.

At the Speed of Light

In fact, India has only improved its standing in the global ranking over the years. As per Ookla, the internet speed experienced while using mobile data stands at 95.67 Mbps for download and 8.48 Mbps for upload, with a latency of 31 minutes.

These numbers put India on the 26th position globally. Meanwhile, when it comes to fixed broadband, the standing is a little weak, with a ranking of 89. Here, the download speed is at 63.43 Mbps and the upload speed is at 56.54 Mbps, with a latency of 7 minutes.

Whether or not one causes the other or the causality of the developments can only be determined through rigorous research, but, however, one cannot deny the visible progression of the two factor, in the opposite direction or the inversely proportional nature of the both.