WSJ on the Indian economy

A few points from today's WSJ article PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS: India's Surging Economy Lifts Hopes and Ambitions

1. About one-third of India's population is under the age of 15. Over the next five years, India will be responsible for nearly 25% of the increase in the world's working-age population, according to an October World Bank report. China's population, in contrast, is rapidly aging; its working-age population is expected to fall to 57% of the total in 2050 from 67% in 2000, according to a separate World Bank report issued in September.

2. In 2004, 83% of rural Indian wage earners aged 18-59 were in the lowest-earning section of society, making less than 61,125 rupees a year, roughly $1,540, according to a new study by IIMS Dataworks, a New Delhi-based market-research firm. By mid-2007, that number had increased to 86.4%, the survey found. In contrast, the ranks of the lowest-paid workers in India's urban areas fell to 73.2% of the working population from 79.5% three years earlier. Lowest rural earners were defined as making less than 71,700 rupees a year (roughly $1,800) in 2007. Lowest urban earners were defined as making less than 99,612 rupees a year ($2,500).

3. For 2005-06, Asia accounted for 56% of all academic enrollments in US Higher Education institutions. India sent 76,503 students, China 62,582, Korea 58,847, Japan 38,712, and Canada 28,202. Only 17% of Indians in their mid-20s and older have a secondary education. However, for the sixth consecutive school year in 2006-07, India was the leading place of origin for international students in the U.S., with 83,833 students enrolled.

4. India's economic growth has averaged about 8.6% a year for the past four years, tantalizingly close to rival China’s 10.4% pace. If sustained, India's rate would double average incomes in a decade.

5. Overall, accounting for inflation, people in India have become more solvent, are earning more and are better off in money terms than in 2004. In 2007 mid-year, 321.4 million Indians 18 to 59 years old had direct cash earnings. Of these, 258.1 million were in the lowest income bracket, 43.1 million in the lower-middle bracket, 7.7 million in the upper-middle bracket and 12.5 million in the highest bracket.

More statistics in an interactive guide, Indian Dream.