• CENSUS OF 1998

The population and housing census, 1998 was the fifth in

the series for Pakistan. The first being in 1951, followed by
1961, 1972 and 1981. the fifth census was actual due in
march , 1991 which could not be held till march, 1998
mainly because of apprehensions about its accuracy
irrespective of serious efforts made in that regard.
Ultimately 2nd March 1998 saw the light of day and census
was completed through out the country in a most
supervised manner up to 18th March, 1998. Few areas
having bad weather conditions were completed later.
Estimates have also been made for census blocks remained
uncovered due to local feud in Balochistan Province, the
percentage wise population of such blocks is only 0.36 in
Pakistan.

• THE MAIN FINDINGS OF 1998 CENSUS

POPULATION
The total population of Pakistan as emerged in the
provisional results of the 1998 census is 130.580 million as
against 84.254 million in last census 1981 showing a
percentage increase of 54.98 or an average annual growth
rate of 2.61 percent. There is a welcome decline in the
average annual growth rate observed during 1972-81 i.e.
3.06 percent.

Table 1: population of Pakistan

Province / 1981 1998

region
PAKISTAN 84,253,6 132,352,2
44 79
Rural 60,412,1 89,315,8
73 75
Urban 23,841,4 43,036,
71 40
N.W.F.P 11,061,3 17,743,6
28 45
Rural 9,395,6 14,749,5
75 61
Urban 1,665,6 2,994,0
 53 84
FATA 2,198,5 3,176,3
47 31
Rural 2,198,5 3,090,8
47 58
Urban - 85,47
3
PUNJAB 47,292,4 73,621,2
41 90
Rural 34,240,7 50,602,2
95 65
Urban 13,051,6 23,019,0
46 25
SINDH 19,028,6 30,439,8
66 93
Rural 10,785,6 15,600,0
30 31
Urban 8,243,0 14,839,8
36 62
BALOCHISTA 4,332,3 6,565,8
N 76 85
Rural 3,655,6 4,997,10
04 5
Urban 676,7 1,568,78
72 0
ISLAMABAD 340,2 805,23
86 5
Rural 135,9 276,05
22 5
Urban 204,3 529,18
64 0

GROWTH RATE
The growth rate of Pakistan is 2.61. The annual growth rate
of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan is 2.55, 2.71 and 2.42
respectively.

POPULATION DENSITY
The population density (persons per sq. km.) was 164. The
population density that is persons per square kilometers of
Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab is 212.8, 18.8 and 353.5
respectively. Punjab is highly populous province and
Islamabad is most thickly populated area.
URBAN AND RURAL POPULATION
The over all urban population at national level is 43,036,404
in 1998 as compared to 23,841,471 in 1972 and rural
population is 89,315,875 in 1998 as compared to
60,412,173 in 1972. The ratio of urban population at
national level is 32.5% and rural population is 77.5%. The
rural and population in 1998 is slightly more than the rural
and urban population in 1981 census.

SEX RATIO
The sex ratio i.e. males over 100 females in the country is 108.1, the sex ratio
of Sindh and Balochistan have however 111.7 and 114.9 respectively.

Table 2: sex ratio of Pakistan

Administration Sex ratio Sex ratio (1998)

units (1981)
Pakistan 110.6 108.1
NWFP 108.7 104.3
Fata 108.3 108.8
Punjab 110.8 106.9
Sindh 110.7 111.7
Balochistan 111.5 114.9
Islamabad 118.9 116.2

HOUSEHOLD SIZE
According to the data of national population and housing
censuses and selected household sample surveys, there
were 12.6 million household units in 1980, which increased
to 6.7 million in 1998. The average household size is 6.7,
the highest household size of 8.8 was observed in FATA
followed by 7.6 in NWFP and 6.8 in Punjab.

Table 3: population density, annual growth , population

and sex ratio

Administrati Populatio Annual Populatio Sex ratio

on units n growth n density
rate
Pakistan 132,352, 2.61 164 108.1
279
NWFP 17,743,6 2.75 235.6 104.3
45
FATA 3,176,331 2.11 115.3 108.8
Punjab 73,621,2 2.55 353.5 106.9
90
Sindh 30,439,8 2.71 212.8 111.7
93
Balochistan 6,565,8 2.4 18.8 114.9
85
Islamabad 805,2 5.15 882 116.2
35