In this episode, journalist and author Puja Mehra speaks with economist Arjun Jayadev, Director at the Centre for the Study of the Indian Economy (CSIE) at Azim Premji University and co-author of a major new study on how India’s demographic dividend has actually contributed to economic growth across states. Jayadev explains why India’s per-capita growth has diverged sharply across regions, how GDP per capita can be decomposed into productivity, employment, and demographic effects, and what this reveals about the three distinct phases of India’s post-liberalisation growth story. He outlines why the 2004–2017 period saw East Asian–level productivity surges in states such as Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka, why employment ratios simultaneously collapsed, and how the years since 2017 have been defined by a worrying fall in labour productivity despite a rise in employment.

Jayadev also highlights the structural risks ahead: young states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh that are unable to generate high-productivity jobs; ageing states like Kerala and Himachal Pradesh that are losing demographic tailwinds; and the national challenge of absorbing millions into productive work before the demographic dividend fully fades. Drawing on granular state-level data and labour force trends, he argues that India is at risk of “growing old before it grows rich,” and that the next decade must focus on expanding high-productivity employment, enabling migration, and designing state-specific strategies rather than uniform national prescriptions. Tune in for insights on what India must prioritise now to convert its demographic window into sustained and inclusive economic growth.

(00:00) Introduction

(00:14) What the demographic dividend really means

(01:36) How the study decomposes GDP per capita

(01:58) The three components of growth explained

(05:55) Why early job absorption lagged

(07:14) Phase 2 (2004–2017): jobless growth and soaring productivity

(10:47) Phase 3 (post-2017): collapsing labour productivity

(11:02) Rise of low-productivity, agriculture-heavy employment

(12:21) What the findings mean for policymakers

(13:55) Young vs ageing states: diverging economic futures

(15:38) India vs Japan: productivity and demographics

(17:26) East Asian–level productivity in Indian states

(19:52) What states must do now to create productive jobs

(22:04) How India squandered its demographic dividend

(23:22) Why lagging states must urgently generate high-productivity work

(24:01) The warning signs ahead

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