The world's population will increase inexorably, swelling from 6.89 billion to 9.49 billion, and India is expected to hit 1.75 billion becoming the largest country in the world by overtaking China by 2050, according to the Population Reference Bureau, a US body which supplies data to governments and institutions around the world.

According to The Telegraph, India, which hit 1 billion just a decade ago and now has a population of 1.19 billion, is expected to hit 1.75 billion, adding the equivalent of the entire population of the European Union in a mere 40 years.

China's population is expected to increase modestly from 1.34 billion to 1.48 billion.

The Population Reference Bureau also predicted that Britain would be the biggest country in Europe by 2050, overtaking both France and Germany as its population will swell by 15 million from today's 62.2 million to 77 million.

The predicted population of Britain would be higher than that of France, projected to be 70 million and Germany, which is predicted to have 71.5 million citizens by 2050.

The population of France will increase at half the rate, adding 7 million to its 63 million, while Germany's population is expected to fall sharply from 81.6 million to 71.5 million because of a lack of immigration and a far lower birth rate than that in Britain.

Europe, in total, will see its population dip from 739 million to 720 million, because of its low birth rate. (ANI)