Focus

Highlights

From April to December 2017, India’s exports were around US$223 billion, imports were roughly. $338 billion, and the trade balance was around $114 billion.

In 2016-2017, fuel constituted 26.7 per cent of the country’s major imports, while food and allied products (tea, sugar, milk and cream, spices, and fruits and nuts) constituted 5.6 per cent, fertilisers 1.3 per cent, and iron and steel 2.1 per cent.

In 2016, India’s share in the global export of rice was 24.5 per cent; its share in the global export of spices was 17.1 per cent. Between 2015 and 2016, the country’s share in the world exports of iron ore and concentrates went up from 0.3 per cent to 1.4 per cent.

The all-India gross enrolment ratio (provisional) in 2015-2016 was 96.9 per cent for Classes I-VIII. The ratio was 94.5 per cent for boys and 99.6 per cent for girls.

In 2015-2016, there were around 1.12 lakh intermediate or senior secondary schools in India, 1.39 lakh high/secondary schools, 4.29 lakh upper primary schools and 8.4 lakh primary schools. In the same year, there were 799 universities and university-level institutes, 39,071 colleges, 3,867 polytechnics, 435 institutes for postgraduate management diplomas, 3,060 nursing institutes, 4,403 teacher-training institutes and 158 institutes under the ministries.

The national literacy rate was 73 per cent in 2011. Kerala recorded the highest literacy rate at 94 per cent. Bihar showed the greatest increase in literacy between 2001 and 2011, from 47 per cent to 61.8 per cent; however, it still ranked the lowest in the country in 2011.

82.7 per cent of rural households and 91.4 per cent of urban households had access to safe drinking water from a tap, handpump or tubewell in 2011. Kerala had the lowest number of rural households with access to safe drinking water (28.3 per cent), while Puducherry had the highest (99.6 per cent).

India’s population was 1.21 billion in 2011, up from 1.02 billion in 2001. Uttar Pradesh was the most densely populated state (around199.8 million), while Goa was the most sprasely populated (roughly 1.45 million).

In 2011, around 372 million people were below the age of 14, 421 million were between 15-34,  308 million were between 35-59 and 103 million were 60 or above. The age of 4.4 million people was not known.

The national child sex ratio (0-6 years) was 918 girls per 1,000 boys in 2011, down from 927 girls per 1,000 boys in 2001. The poorest performing state in 2011 was Haryana (834 girls per 1,000 boys) and the best performing state was Arunachal Pradesh (972 girls per 1,000 boys).

Between 2011 and 2015, life expectancy at birth for men was 66.9 years and for women, it was 70 years. The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in 2016 was 34 deaths per 1,000 live births. In the same year, the birth rate and the death rate per 1,000 of the population were 20.4 and 6.4 respectively. 

In 2015-16, the unemployment rate among people 15 years and above was 3.4 per cent in rural areas and 4.4 percent in urban areas.



Focus and Factoids by Ragini Rao Munjuluri.