Karachi most populated city as govt issues controversial Census-2017 report

ISLAMABAD: Karachi, Sindh’s capital, remained the most populated city of Pakistan, with a total population of 16,024,894, as the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics issued the Census-2017 report.

The PBS, in the sixth census of Pakistan, revealed that the country’s population had risen to 207.68 million — 106.3 million male and 101.3 million female — with an annual growth rate of 2.40%, reports Ashraf Malkham for the Geo News. The total population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stands at 30.51 million, erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) 4.99 million, Punjab 109.99 million, Sindh 47.85 million, Balochistan 12.34 million, and Islamabad 2 million. People between 15-64 years of age form 55.98% of the population, while the youth — 15-24 years of age — constitute 19.19% of the population, the census report said.

The population breakdown:

• Less than a year — 2.44%

• Less than 5 years — 14.04%

• Less than 10 years — 28.50%

• Less than 15 years — 40.31%

• 15-24 years (youth) — 19.19%

• 18 and above — 53.40%

• 15-64 years — 55.98%

• 65 and above — 3.71%

The literacy rate in the country has reached 58.92% as compared to 43.92% in 1998, with 87.48 million people in the country being literate, according to the statics bureau.

The Census-2017 was conducted in two phases, with each phase having a duration of 30 days. Phase-I started from March 15 and ended on April, 14, 2017 in which 61 admin districts comprising of 79,773 blocks were enumerated. Phase-II started with a gap of 10 days from April 25 till May 24, 2017. Eighty-Nine (89) admin districts comprising of 89,170 blocks were enumerated during this period. Last month, the federal government had approved the official release of the Census-2017 results which had been withheld for the last couple of years.

The decision was taken during a virtual meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair. Following the meeting, federal minister Asad Umar held a press conference and said majority of the provinces have agreed to accept the results of Census 2017 and officially publish them. “Since elections are held on the basis of the census, we will begin preparations for the next census in September or October this year,” Umar said, adding that work on the basic structure of carrying out census will be completed within six to eight weeks.