{"id":880434,"date":"2026-10-13T04:16:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T04:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/880434\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T04:16:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T04:16:23","slug":"indias-economy-is-on-the-cusp-of-its-demographic-golden-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/880434\/","title":{"rendered":"India’s economy is on the cusp of its demographic golden age"},"content":{"rendered":"

In our series \u201cThe Age of Work<\/a>,\u201d Marketplace is looking at how changing demographics are reshaping the global economy. <\/p>\n

While the United States and many other wealthy nations \u2014 like the United Kingdom<\/a> \u2014 are getting older, other developing countries are benefitting economically from their young labor forces. \u201cMarketplace\u201d host Kai Ryssdal and ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson, our project partner for the series, traveled to Vietnam<\/a> earlier this year to look at a country at its demographic peak. <\/p>\n

Last month, Ryssdal and Richardson traveled to Mumbai, India, to explore an economy a few years away from that demographic golden age. <\/p>\n

\u201cI would call India Vietnam\u2019s little sister,\u201d Richardson said. \u201cIt\u2019s about six years behind demographically.\u201d <\/p>\n

The median age in India is 29<\/a> years old, about ten years younger than it is in the United States. India\u2019s economy, which is growing at a rate of nearly 8%<\/a>, also benefits from its scale \u2014 it\u2019s home to around 1 billion<\/a> people of working age. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s growing with its own playbook,\u201d Richardson said about India\u2019s economy. \u201cIt\u2019s not replicating any other country\u2019s development path, and that\u2019s what makes it so strong.\u201d <\/p>\n

Returning to Mumbai after 11 years in the United States<\/p>\n

In May of 2025, Ryssdal and Richardson met a video game and software developer named Aqeel Tapia while reporting an earlier installment of The Age of Work in Utah<\/a>. However, their interview never aired on \u201cMarketplace,\u201d because before the Utah series aired, American immigration policy turned upside down. <\/p>\n

Tapia moved to the United States in 2014 to get a masters degree from the University of Utah. He stayed in Utah for nearly 11 years, working a series of tech and video game jobs. After a layoff, Tapia couldn\u2019t find a new job before his visa ran out. When he met Ryssdal and Richardson last year, he was preparing to move back to Mumbai. <\/p>\n

He told them he\u2019d never lived in India as a working adult. <\/p>\n

\u201cI often think about that, and I think it would be interesting to get the experiences I\u2019ve had here and then apply them to about as diametrically opposite of a culture as I can find,\u201d Tapia said in 2025. \u201cUtah is kind of quiet, and I come from Mumbai, which is one of the densest, busiest cities in the world.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ryssdal and Richardson visited Tapia at his home in Mumbai last month. He\u2019s been living in Mumbai for just over a year. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been quite an eventful year in some ways, and then somewhat uneventful in other ways,\u201d Tapia said. \u201cThe change was very big, and I don\u2019t think I\u2019m fully used to it yet.\u201d <\/p>\n

After doing some engineering work in Mumbai, Tapia is currently working on a new video game with some former professors from the University of Utah. <\/p>\n

Small businesses adapt to a changing economy at a historic jewelry market<\/p>\n

Ryssdal and Richardson visited Zaveri Bazaar, a jewelry market in Mumbai. Thousands of small gold, gemstone, and other jewelry businesses, some of which are hundreds of years old, span blocks of a commercial district. <\/p>\n

\u201cBusiness is not bad,\u201d said Anil Jain, the owner of R. Pukrhaj Jewellers. \u201cSince our prime minister has given us a call that for a year all the Indians are not supposed to buy gold, we have taken a hit of around 50 to 60% of our business.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Father<\/p>\n

Anil Jain has been working in jewelry in Mumbai for about 35 years. His son, Dishank, is now working at the family store and will “keep up the legacy.” <\/p>\n

Andie Corban\/Marketplace<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked<\/a> Indians not to buy gold for one year. He also requested they not travel abroad and work from home when they can. These calls came as India\u2019s economy, which is the third largest importer of crude oil in the world, adjusted to rising prices from the Iran war. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not complaining, because country first,\u201d Jain said. <\/p>\n

Jain has been running the shop for 35 years. His 24-year-old son Dishank Jain was also at the store. In his father\u2019s words, Dishank will \u201ckeep up the legacy\u201d of the Jain family in jewelry, which his father also worked in. <\/p>\n

Click the audio player above to hear more.<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In our series \u201cThe Age of Work,\u201d Marketplace is looking at how changing demographics are reshaping the global…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":880435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28,12464,101,2344,24749,2453,10356,334000],"class_list":["post-880434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-demographics","tag-economy","tag-india","tag-jewelry","tag-population-growth","tag-tech-jobs","tag-working-age-population"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}