Pakistan has released comprehensive findings from its seventh and inaugural digital census. According to the results, Pakistan is now the fifth most populous country in the world with a population of 241.49 million.
Population growth rate
Pakistan’s annual population growth rate stands at 2.55%, marking it as one of the fastest growing countries in the region and catapulting it into the top 30 countries in the world in terms of population growth.
Only 27 countries in the world are experiencing a higher population growth rate than Pakistan.
If current trends continue, Pakistan’s population is projected to double by 2050.
Demographic profile of youth
79% of Pakistan’s population is under the age of 40, making Pakistan the largest country in terms of the number of young people in the world.
Pakistan is currently ranked 191st in the world population rankings.
Regional population growth rate
Balochistan has the highest annual population growth rate of 3.2%.
Punjab is seeing a population growth of 2.53%.
The population growth rate of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is 2.38%.
Breakdown by religion
35% of Pakistan’s population is Muslim.
The minority population in Pakistan consists of 8.7 million people, the rate is 3.65%.
44% of the minority population are Hindus and 37.63% are Christians.
Literacy rates
More than 104.1 million people aged 10 years and older are reported as literate.
Punjab secures the second position with 66% literacy rate.
Sindh follows closely with a 58% literacy rate.
Balochistan, while showing progress, records a 51% literacy rate.
Energy sources for cooking and lighting
The report highlights that 52.72% of Pakistan’s population relies on wood for cooking.
More than 42% use gas, while the rest use kerosene, electricity, biogas and manure.
84% of the population uses electricity for lighting.
Solar panels use only 7.74% and kerosene 1.23%.
The remaining population relies on gas lamps, generators and other resources.
