ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s population has reached 234 million, marking an increase of 8.06% compared to the last census in 2017, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The PBS spokesperson also announced on Saturday that fieldwork for the country’s first-ever digital census had been extended by five more days until April 20. The spokesperson noted that the country’s population has increased by 10.71 million since 2017.
The PBS spokesperson also provided updates on the progress of the census, revealing that 100% of the census work has been completed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Kashmir, 99% in Punjab, 98% in Sindh, 90% in Islamabad, and 82% in Balochistan.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal chaired the eleventh meeting of the Census Monitoring Committee to review the progress of the digital census field operation and other related matters.
Chief Census Commissioner Dr. Naeem uz Zafar shared the progress of the census operation during the meeting, stating that out of 156 districts, 100% of the work has been completed in 122 districts, while over 90% has been completed in the remaining districts.
Extension in deadline for digital census
The commissioner also revealed that the census had enumerated 230 million people and geo-tagged 40 million households. The recent five-day extension of the census operation was successful, enumerating an additional 5 million people in 80,000 households.
During the meeting, Ahsan Iqbal praised the efforts that have been made to detect the causes of undercount and for the work that has been done to improve the population count, especially after the extension.
He emphasized that the census operation must be concluded with mutual consensus and the assurance that no controversy should be left behind.
Meanwhile, IT Minister Ameen ul Haq appreciated the work done by the PBS team and all stakeholders in conducting this national exercise and identifying abnormalities timely for rectification to avoid any controversy on the results of the census.
He proposed to extend the census operations until April 20, 2023, in big cities for complete coverage.
Based on the provinces’ recommendations, the 7th Population and Housing Census field operation have been extended until April 20, 2023, by the Census Monitoring Committee to ensure complete coverage.
