Population surpasses 240m, new census shows

The country’s population has crossed 240 million and the growth rate stands at 2.55 per cent, according to the 2023 national census, whose results were approved by the Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Saturday. And as the government has reiterated that the general election, due to take place later this year will be held using the new census findings, it indicates polls could be delayed by several months. The latest census shows the country’s population has jumped to 241.49m in 2023, an increase of around 33.8 million people compared to 2017, when the last census was conducted, and over around 110m compared to the 1998 census. The growth rate has jumped to 2.55pc from 2.4pc in 2017 but was lower than 2.69pc in 1998. Sarwar Gondal, focal person of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), told Dawn that all structures of Pakistan have been geotagged during the latest census. The CCI’s approval of the census has set the stage for new countrywide delimitations of the constituencies — an exercise that may need about four to six months, a senior government official told Dawn. Besides, a constitutional quandary arises if changes are made to the constituencies by reallocating seats from one province to another based on the new census results, he said, adding that in the previous census, seats were transferred from Punjab to Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.