India is poised to overtake China as the world’s most populous nation, with almost 3 million more people than its neighbor by the middle of this year, data released by the United Nations showed.

India’s population by mid-year is estimated at 1.4286 billion, against 1.4257 billion for China - 2.9 million fewer - in the United Nations Population Fund’s “State of World Population Report” for this year.

The United States is a distant third, with an estimated population of 340 million as of the end of June, the data showed in a report that reflects information available until February.

Although the top two most populous nations will account for more than a third of the estimated global population of 8.045 billion, population growth in both has been slowing, albeit much faster in China than India. (Reuters)