India is projected to become the most populated nation in the world in 2023 as China’s population growth is expected to decrease sharply, according to the United Nation’s World Population Prospects 2022 report. Bloomberg is reporting that this is four years ahead of an earlier estimate forecasting India to surpass China by 2027.
China, currently the world’s most populous nation, is expected to experience a sharp decline in its population as early as next year. In March, Cai Fang, a member of the People’s Bank of China’s monetary policy committee, said it’s “entirely possible” for the country’s population to peak this year, as its population of 1.41 billion grew at the slowest pace since the 1950s.
The UN expects the global population to reach 8 billion in November and grow to 8.5 billion by 2030. More than half the projected rise between now and 2050 is expected to be in just eight countries: Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Tanzania.
Over the next decade, India will have nearly 700 million people born between 1980 and the 2000s enter their peak consumption years, fueling a massive wave of domestic demand. The country also already has the second-largest smartphone market globally, with only a 50% penetration rate.
The introduction of low-cost smartphones and data plans has led to high demand. India has 7 million new smartphone users going online for the first time every month, which is roughly the entire populations of Los Angeles and Chicago combined.
Investors seeking exposure to India’s rapidly growing digital and e-commerce sectors may want to consider EMQQ Global’s Next Frontier Internet & Ecommerce ETF (FMQQ) and India Internet and Ecommerce ETF (NYSE Arca: INQQ). The country is the second-largest exposure in FMQQ and the entire focus of INQQ.
“India is a significant part of our strategies. It’s our second largest exposure in FMQQ with a weighting over 16%,” said Kevin T. Carter, founder and CIO of EMQQ Global. “That is expected to grow in our upcoming rebalance and for the foreseeable future.”
Carter added that India is also “one of the most exciting pockets in global equity landscape when you consider the size of the market, the growth in the economy, and the very low penetrations rates. It’s tech ecosystem today is where China was 10 years ago, and where the U.S. was two decades before.”
FMQQ is designed to provide investors with exposure to the internet and e-commerce sectors of the developing world. FMQQ seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the Next Frontier Internet and Ecommerce Index.
Meanwhile, INQQ seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the India Internet and Ecommerce Index.
Both funds have an expense ratio of 0.86%.
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