Photo/Illutration Polling officials in the Bikaner district of Rajasthan in India on April 19 seal an electronic voting machine (EVM) after the end of the first phase of the country’s general election. (REUTERS)

I am reeling from the sheer scale of the “largest election in the world” that started in India on April 19 and will continue until June 1.

The numbers associated with the 2024 event are simply staggering.

Approximately 970 million voters are casting ballots in seven phases at more than 1 million polling stations overseen by 15 million election supervisors.

Last year, India surpassed China to become the world’s most populated country.

According to the State of the World Population 2024 released earlier this week by the United Nations Population Fund, the global population stands at approximately 8.12 billion, with India accounting for about 1.44 billion or nearly 18 percent of the total.

India’s enviably youthful population and enormous market spell a bright future.

In “The Human Tide: How Population Shaped the Modern World,” leading British demographer and author Paul Morland notes that the primary factor that determines the strength of a nation, aside from its military might, is the size of its economy, which is closely tied to its population.

The book offers an interesting take on modern world history from the demographic perspective.

Declining birthrates and aging populations are a global trend today, Morland continues. I fully agree with his analysis of the growing burden of keeping up the pension system and providing senior care.

And because the Japanese population is aging at a historically unprecedented speed, Morland suggests that other nations could perhaps learn a few things from Japan.

But being in the eye of the storm, so to speak, Japan is unable to offer ready solutions.

According to the latest population projection released by the internal affairs ministry on April 12, Japan’s population decreased by 590,000 from one year ago.

The population figure has been dwindling for 13 years in a row, while the number of people aged 75 and older exceeded 20 million for the first time since 1950.

The image of a densely populated Japan is a thing of the past, and the birthrate is hardly likely to rebound in the foreseeable future.

Pessimistic as the situation appears, can’t we nevertheless try to think anew why our population is shrinking?

Life is difficult not because of those discouraging numbers, but because society refuses to change for the better.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 20

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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