How Many People in India Have a PhD?

This is a question I encounter regularly from researchers, students, and professionals navigating India's academic landscape. It sounds like a simple question, but a clean answer requires combining a few public data points rather than pulling one official national headcount. The short answer: India likely has approximately 680,000 people with a PhD or equivalent doctoral degree, based on the most recent World Bank and UNFPA population data.

Here is how that figure is derived — and what it actually measures. For a global comparison, see our full breakdown of what percent of people have a PhD worldwide.

The Attainment Rate: What the World Bank Data Says

The strongest public benchmark is the World Bank's UNESCO-backed indicator for "educational attainment, doctoral or equivalent, population 25+, total (%)" — a measure of the share of adults age 25 and older who have completed doctoral-level education.

For India, the most recent value reported is approximately 0.08% in 2023 (the raw API value is 0.0799999982118607%, which rounds to 0.1% at one decimal place but is more accurately expressed as 0.08%).

That is a notably low figure even by global standards, though it is consistent with the fact that doctoral programs remain highly selective and relatively few in number relative to India's overall population size.

India's Adult Population: The Denominator

To convert that percentage into a headcount, you need the size of India's adult population — specifically the 25-and-older cohort, since that is the base the World Bank indicator uses.

Using UNFPA's India population data:

• India's total population (2025): 1,463,900,000
• Ages 0–14: 24.2% of total population
• Ages 15–64: 68.7% of total population
• Ages 15–24: approximately 257 million (per UNFPA India)

Working from those figures:

• Population ages 0–14: ~354,263,800
• Population ages 15–24: ~257,000,000
• Population ages 25 and older: 1,463,900,000 − 354,263,800 − 257,000,000 = ~852,636,200

The Estimate: About 680,000 PhD Holders

Applying the World Bank's 0.08% doctoral attainment rate to India's population age 25 and older:

$$852{,}636{,}200 \times 0.0008 \approx 682{,}109$$

Rounded for readability, India likely has approximately 680,000 people with a PhD or equivalent doctoral degree.

What the Estimate Does and Does Not Measure

The World Bank indicator is for "doctoral or equivalent" attainment, which is slightly broader than the everyday phrase "PhD." It includes equivalent research doctorates and professional doctorates recognised at ISCED Level 8 (the International Standard Classification of Education's highest category). It is also an attainment-based estimate, not a public registry of every living doctorate holder in the country — so it reflects reported survey and census data aggregated from official sources, not a direct count.

It is also worth noting that estimates across sources vary. Our broader post on global PhD attainment rates cites India at approximately 0.3% — a figure drawn from OECD and national statistics that uses the narrower 25–64 age cohort and an earlier reference year. The World Bank's 2023 figure of approximately 0.08% covers the full 25+ population and is the more precisely sourced of the two; the difference illustrates how attainment rates shift depending on the age band and data vintage used.

These caveats aside, the World Bank 2023 indicator is the most defensible single figure for answering this question with recent public data.

PhD Enrolment: How Fast Is the Pipeline Growing?

It also helps to separate people who already hold doctorates from people currently enrolled in PhD programs.

India's Ministry of Education reported through the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) that Ph.D. enrolment reached 2.12 lakh (212,000) in 2021–22, up 81.2% from 1.17 lakh (117,000) in 2014–15.

That figure does not mean India has only 2.12 lakh PhD holders. It means more than two hundred thousand people were enrolled in doctoral study in that academic year. The sharp increase in enrolments since 2014–15 suggests the number of new PhD graduates each year is rising steadily, and the total attainment figure will likely grow over the coming decade.

Summary

Metric	Value
India's total population (2025)	~1.46 billion
India's population age 25+	~853 million
World Bank doctoral attainment rate (2023)	~0.08%
Estimated PhD holders	~680,000
PhD enrolment (AISHE 2021–22)	~212,000 students

The most useful one-line answer: India likely has approximately 680,000 people with a PhD or equivalent doctoral degree, based on the latest World Bank attainment data and UNFPA population figures.

Sources

• World Bank / UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Educational attainment, at least doctoral or equivalent, population 25+, total (%) — India. 2023.
• UNFPA. India Population Data Dashboard. Age distribution figures based on UN World Population Prospects 2022 Revision (United Nations Population Division). Accessed 2025.
• Ministry of Education, Government of India. All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2021–22. New Delhi: Department of Higher Education.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many PhD holders are there in India?

Based on the World Bank's 2023 doctoral attainment figure of approximately 0.08%, applied to India's population of approximately 853 million adults aged 25 and older, India likely has approximately 680,000 PhD holders — or more precisely, about 682,000 people with a doctoral or equivalent degree at ISCED Level 8.

What percentage of India's population has a PhD?

The World Bank's most recent data (2023) places doctoral attainment at approximately 0.08% of India's adult population aged 25 and older. That is a notably low rate, consistent with doctoral programs remaining highly selective relative to India's population size.

How many PhD students are currently enrolled in India?

According to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), approximately 212,000 students were enrolled in PhD programs in 2021–22, up from 117,000 in 2014–15 — an 81% increase in seven years.

Is a PhD rare in India?

Yes. With an attainment rate of approximately 0.08% among adults, a PhD is rare in India in proportional terms. India produces a growing number of new doctoral graduates each year, but relative to its 1.4 billion population it remains a very small share of the adult population.