61% of Pakistan’s Population Literate: Digital Census Results

The Bureau of Statistics on Thursday announced Pakistan’s seventh and ‘first digital’ census. census has released a report containing the detailed results of which 61 percent of the country’s population is literate.

According to the census report released in a ceremony in Islamabad, the total population of Pakistan is 241.4 million 90 thousand, in which 51.5% are men and 48.5% are women.

Similarly, in Pakistan, the fifth largest country in the world, the rural population is 61% while the urban population is 39%.

According to the report, Pakistan’s annual population growth rate is 2.5 percent, which is the highest level in the region. According to the report, if this growth rate continues, Pakistan’s population will double by 2050.

Mohammad Sarwar Gondal, the spokesperson of the Statistics Authority, said in his statement that the detailed results of the census include gender, age, nationality, language, marital status, EducationIncludes national, provincial, district and tehsil level information on disability, urban-rural population ratio, housing, water and sanitation.

According to the results of the census, there are 8.7 million non-Muslims living in Pakistan, and the number of foreigners is 2.12 million, of which more than 90 percent are Afghan citizens. Most Afghan citizens are living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to the census, Karachi is the largest city in the country with a population of more than 20 million, Lahore is the second largest city with a population of 1.3 million and Peshawar is the third largest city with a population of 4.76 million. The population is 25 lakh 90 thousand.

Literacy rate

According to the first digital census, Pakistan recorded a literacy rate of 61%, with 68% male and 53% female literate.

According to the report, 10.41 million people aged 10 years and above are literate. Islamabad tops the list with 84 percent literate population.

Punjab ranks second with 66 literate population, Sindh ranks third with 58 percent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ranks fourth with 51 percent and Balochistan ranks last with 42 percent literate population.

The report stated that 36 percent of children in the country are out of school, while 253,700,000 children between the ages of five and 16 are out of school.

In Punjab, the number of out-of-school children is 9.6 million, in Sindh it is up to 7.8 million. 49 lakh children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and more than 50 lakh children in Balochistan are unable to go to school.

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According to the rate of out-of-school children, the highest number of out-of-school children in Balochistan is 58%. The out-of-school rate in Sindh is 46 percent and 37 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Similarly, in Punjab, the least 27% children do not go to school. The literacy rate among women in Balochistan was recorded at only 33%.

Basic facilities data

In Balochistan, 18.4 percent of the population uses wells for drinking water. 10.2% of the population in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 3.5% in Sindh and 0.97% in Punjab use well water.

More than half of the population in Pakistan, 52%, cooks food by burning wood. Animal dung is still burned as fuel in 1.4 lakh households.

Across the country, 42 percent of households have access to gas for cooking, 43,000 households cook with electricity, while 45,000 households use kerosene for cooking.

The first digital census in Pakistan was launched on March 1, 2023. In this first-of-its-kind census, tablets and online applications were used instead of the traditional use of paper and pen.

The results of this digital census were supposed to be released on April 30, 2023, but the results were released on Friday following a delay of almost one year and three months.