Pakistan’s population has reached 207.8 million, latest census data shows. These are preliminary estimates though. The results are exclusive of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. The final results will be available next year. T
The census exercise was carried out in two phases across Pakistan under the supervision of the military.
Going by the summary results of the 6th Population and Housing Census-2017 released in Islamabad on Aug 25, 2017, Pak population increased by 146.6 per cent in the past three decades. While a declining trend was observed in the growth rate in the two bigger provinces – Punjab and Sindh, the smaller provinces – (KP, Balochistan) and FATA saw increase in population growth.
The available breakup reveals that majority of Pakistanis, 63.6 per cent (132.189 million) live in rural areas. This ratio was over 65 per cent as per the last census results in 1998.
Women
The female population against the general impression comparatively saw reduction with 101.314 million, which was 48.8 per cent of the total headcount.
Men
The male population increased to 106.44 million or 51.2 per cent of the total population.
The province-wise figures show Punjab at top with 2.40 per cent average annual growth rate, KP 2.89 per cent, FATA 2.41 per cent, Sindh 2.41 per cent, Balochistan 3.37 per cent and ICT 4.91 per cent.
Punjab
Punjab remains the most populated province, as its population stood at 110.1 million (52.94 per cent) of the total population. The province’s population in past 19 years increased by 36.4 million, which was 49.4 per cent higher than 1998 statistics.
Sindh
Sindh stood second with 47.886 million people, which is 23 per cent of the total population. Its population grew by 57.3 per cent during past 19 years.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)
The population of KP stood at 30.523 million that was 14.69 per cent of the total population. Its population grew by 72 per cent.
Balochistan
Balochistan’s headcount was recorded at 12.344 million of the total population. In past 19 years, the population of this province grew by 5.8 million.
FATA
The population of Federally Administrated Tribal Areas stood at 5.1 million. There was 1.8 million increase in the population of the autonomous region.
ICT
Islamabad Capital Territory population (ICT) stood at two million, which was 1.2 million higher than the 1998 census.
The Census data shows that the trend of urbanisation in Pakistan as 36.38 per cent of the population living in urban areas. The comparative position of provinces and areas shows similar trend in urban population with a slight higher increase in Punjab.
On the other hand, a significant decrease has been observed in the percentage of urban population in ICT which went down from 65.72 per cent to 50.58 per cent, indicating growth occurred in the rural areas of Islamabad.
Amongst the provinces, Sindh is the most urbanised province, where 52.02 per cent population lives in.
Pakistan conducted its first census in 1951, second in 1961, third in 1972, fourth census in 1981 and fifth census was conducted in March 1998. According to the Constitution, it is mandatory to conduct census after every 10 years.
20pc of Pakistanis live in 10 cities
Ten cities have witnessed a 71 per cent growth in their population, and today account for 20 per cent of Pakistan’s total urban population.
With 14.9m people, Karachi retains the title of the most populated city, registering an increase of over 57 pc from the 9.4m people that lived there in 1998.
Lahore comes in a close second, with 11.13m residents in 2017 — over 75pc increase from the 6.3m figure in 1998. Faisalabad moves into third place with a population of around 3.2m.
Rawalpindi, the garrison city, ranks fourth in the top ten with 2.1m residents, up from 1.4m in 1998. Gujranwala emerged as the fifth most populated city in the country, housing 2.03m people as opposed to 1.1m in 1998.
The population of Peshawar, the largest city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, doubled over the past 19 years, reaching nearly 2m in 2017.
Multan, the fifth largest city in Punjab and the only major urban centre in South Punjab, currently houses 1.9m people, compared to the 1.2m who lived there three decades ago.
Hyderabad, the second major metropolis in Sindh, housed 1.7m people, an increase of over 48pc from the previous census, which was 1.2m in 1998
The capital city, Islamabad, occupies the penultimate spot in the top ten, with a population of just over 1m people, nearly double from the 1998 level.
The population of Quetta, the only major town in Balochistan, registered a population increase of 77 pc, going from 565,137 residents in 1998 to just over 1m in 2017.
In the sparsely populated Balochistan, Quetta division, which includes Chagai, Pishin, Nushki and Killa Abdullah districts, emerged as the most populous division with 4.1m residents. This represents a 144 per cent jump.
Kalat, which includes Mustang, Awaran, Kharan, Khuzdar and Lasbela, was the second most populated division in the province with a population of 2.5m (1.4m in 1998) showing an increase of 73.8pc.
The population of Nasirabad division rose from 988,109 to 1.60m; Makran division from 832,753 to 1.5m; Zhob division from 956,443 to 1.5m; while the population of Sibi division more than doubled from 630,901 in 1998 to just over 1m.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Malakand division — which includes Buner, Chitral, Shangla, Swat, lower and upper Dir — emerged as the most populous division, witnessing a 76.3pc increase from 4.3m to 7.5m. Peshawar division was a close second, with its 7.4m against 3.9m in 2008, showing an increase of 88.7pc.
Hazara, which includes Manshera, Battagram, Abbotabad, Kohistan and Haripur, has a population of 5.3m, a 52pc increase from the 3.5m in 1998. Mardan division has a population of nearly 4m, up nearly 61pc from the 2.5m in 1998; Kohat division rose from 1.3m to 2.2m people; the Bannu population swelled to just over 2m from 1.1m in 1998; while in Dera Ismail Khan, the population was declared to be 2m in 2017, against 1.1m in the previous census.