According to the US Census Bureau forecast, India is on course to top China as the world's most populous country in 2025. The latest Census Bureau estimates predicted that India would have 1.396 billion people in 2025, surpassing China, whose population growth is more modest. Since 1980 China has allowed most women to bear only one child, in a controversial policy aimed at creating a more sustainable population. The average Chinese woman now has 1.5 children in her lifetime, compared with 2.7 children for the average Indian woman, although the so-called fertility rate has also been declining in India due to rising education and urbanization. The demographic shift could affect the Asian powers' economies, which are now among the world's fastest.The US Census Bureau forecast that the ranking of the largest countries would otherwise remain the same in the coming 15 years. The United States will remain the third largest nation, followed by Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria. Countries expected to fall in population rank include Japan, Russia and Germany, whose birth rates have been low for years.