Pakistan's population has surged to 207.8 million, a 57 per cent spike since the last census in 1998, according to provisional census data released today.
Pakistan has 106.45 million males, 101.31 million females and 10,418 transgenders, the provisional data presented to the Council of Common Interest (CCI) shows.
Compared with the results of the fifth census, there was a 57 per cent increase in the population at an annual rate of 2.4 per cent. The 1998 census found that Pakistan had a population of over 132 million.
Pakistan's population has risen to 207.8 million with an increase of 75.4 million people within 19 years, according to provisional summary results of the 6th Population and Housing Census 2017, the Express Tribune reported.
The CCI -the constitutional body headed by the prime minister with four chief ministers in the chair, approved the provisional summary results today. However, the final results will be available next year, the report said.
The sixth population census in Pakistan, conducted by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) earlier this year after a gap of nearly two decades, reveals an acceleration in the population growth rate of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Balochistan and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), even as growth in Punjab and Sindh has slowed compared to previous results.
The results show that 30.5 million people reside in KP, 5 million in Fata, 47.9 million in Sindh, 12.3 million in Balochistan, 2 million in Islamabad, while Punjab - the largest province in terms of population - houses 110 million people, Dawn newspaper reported.
An increase in the urban-rural ratio has been observed in all administrative units except Islamabad, which remains the second most urbanised unit in the Muslim nation.
Over 52 per cent of Sindh's residents live in urban areas, which has surpassed the capital territory as the most urbanised territory of Pakistan.
Close to 36.4 per cent of Pakistanis live in urban areas, the provisional results reveal.
Balochistan, the least urbanised of Pakistan's provinces, has experienced the fastest average annual growth rate since 1998 of 3.37 per cent.
Punjab's average annual growth rate remained the slowest at 2.13 per cent, slightly below the national average of 2.4 per cent.
The provisional results exclude data from Gilgit Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which is likely to be included in the final report, the report said.
The census is likely to have important implications for the general elections, as constituencies are expected to be redrawn according to the newly-compiled results, it said.
The PBS had conducted the exercise in two phases across Pakistan under the supervision of the military.
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