ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has issued the official report of the 7th Population and Housing Census-2023, which is dubbed as the country’s first digital census.
The results show Pakistan registered highest population growth rate in region, as well as in the world as its total population grew above 241 million (241,499,431) with growth rate of 2.55 percent as it stood at 207,684,626 in 2017.
The average household size in Pakistan stands at 6.30, showed the report. It is feared that Pakistan’s population may double by 2050 if the growth rate is not controlled.
According to the statistics, the total number of Afghan residents in Pakistan stands at 1,923,453, out of which 939,878 reside in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 310,832 in Punjab, and 145,875 in Sindh. Additionally, there are 474,812 Afghan residents in Balochistan and 52,056 in Islamabad.
In Pakistan, there are 3,568 Chinese and 26,009 Bengali residents, along with 172,158 foreign nationals of other countries.
There are 8,700,000 residents of Hindu, Christian, Ahmadiyya, and other religions in the country.
The report pointed that that 25,370,000 children aged between 5 and 16 years old are out of school in the country.
The statistics department reports that the highest literacy rate was recorded in 2023 after 2017, as it currently stands at 61 percent – 68 percent for males, and 53 percent for females.
