Meaning of Demography
The term demography refers to the study of population but such studies is basically centered around the number of population on different basis. Demography deals with the birth, death and migration and impacts on the number of population or structural composition of population in society. According to W.G. Berkeley, “Demography does not deal with the behavior of individuals but only the aggregates of people. The numerical picture of human population is known as demography.” It dealt with the distribution and composition of population on the basis of characteristics of population and such characters are sex, age, education, religion, occupations, and others.
In Nepal, though the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) already conducted ten decennial censuses since 1911 (1968 BS), the taking of census considering the social components of population such as language, religion and ethnic/ caste groups is relatively a recent phenomenon. The inclusion of these social components in the Nepali census gradually started along with the advent of democratic revolutions in Nepal. The democratic revolution in Nepal in 2007 BS motivated to include two important social components in the census taking; the 1952/54 census provided information on language (on the basis of mother tongue) and religion. The other important social component such as caste/ethnicity was included only in the 2048 BS census after the restoration of multiparty democracy in Nepal in 2046 BS.
Population and Households: Population of Nepal as of the census day (June 22, 2011) stands at 2, 64, 94,504 showing population growth rate of 1.35 per annum. Similarly, Total number of households in the country is 5,427,302 with 5,423,297 individual households and 4,005 institutional households (Barracks, Hostels, and Monasteries etc.). Altogether, 85.26 percent of the households reside in their own house whereas 12.81 percent in rented, 0.63 percent in institutional and 1.30 percent in other arrangements. In urban areas, 40.22 percent live in rented house. Kathmandu district has the highest percentage (58.65) of households living in rented house.
Piped water is the main source of drinking water for 47.78 percent of the total households. For about 35 percent of the total households, Tube well/hand pump is the main source of drinking water while spout, uncovered well/ kuwa and covered well/ kuwa is the main source of drinking water for 5.74 percent, 4.71 percent and 2.45 percent of the total households respectively. Population of Nepal as of the census day (June 22, 2011) stands at 26,494,504. The increment of population during the last decade is recorded as 3,343,081 with an annual average growth rate of 1.35 percent. Terai constitutes 50.27 percent (13,318,705) of the total population while Hill and Mountain constitutes 43 percent (11,394,007) and 6.73 percent (1,781,792) respectively. Among the five development regions, Central development region has the highest population (36.45 percent) and far western region records the lowest (9.63 percent).
Distribution of Population on the Basis of age and Gender
Populations differ by sex, age, race/ethnicity, marital status, and a host of other characteristics.
Sex and age the most important factors for demography and are essential for analyzing the demographic processes of fertility, mortality and migration. The demographic processes are all affected directly by sex and age, and these influences occur via biological, psychological, cultural, and social variables. The age sex structure is the product of past trends of population components i.e. fertility, mortality and migration. The age sex composition of a population has significant implications for the reproductive potential, human resources supply, school attendance, household formation, child-mother health care and family planning service delivery, and ageing. Mortality and other socio- demographic characteristics, for example marriage and birth.
Sex composition
Age sex composition directly affects the fertility, one of the most common variables that we should consider is the sex, whether a person is male or female, of an individual within a given area. Many types of planning, such as construction and services, particularly health services, require separate population data for males and females. The ratio of sexes affects social and economic relationships within a community. There are three main measures of sex structure, and they are inter related with one another. They are :
- The masculinity proportion,
- The ratio of the excess or deficit of males to the total population, and
- The sex ratio
Age group |
2001 |
2001 |
2011 |
2011 |
0-4 |
12.3 |
11.9 |
10.2 |
9.2 |
05-09 |
14.4 |
13.9 |
12.7 |
11.5 |
09-14 |
13.5 |
12.7 |
13.7 |
12.5 |
15-19 |
10.4 |
10.6 |
11.2 |
10.9 |
20-24 |
8.3 |
9.4 |
8.1 |
9.6 |
50-54 |
3.5 |
3.3 |
3.9 |
3.7 |
55-59 |
2.8 |
2.5 |
3.2 |
3.0 |
60-64 |
2.3 |
2.3 |
2.9 |
2.8 |
65+ |
4.2 |
4.2 |
5.4 |
5.1 |
All ages |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
Total No. |
11,359,378 |
11,377,556 |
12,849,041 |
13,645,463 |
The Age sex Composition at National Level
Sex Ratio
- Sex ratio (number of males per 100 females) at the national level has decreased from 99.8 in 2001 to 91.6 in 2011. In abstract number, there are 7, 96,422 more females than males in the country. Sex ratio is highest (127) in Manang district and lowest (76) in Gulmi district.
- The male to female sex ratio at birth is approximately 105. Generally male infant mortality rates are higher than female infant mortality rates. Since mortality is usually higher for males than females, all populations have more male than female births.
- Above table shows that the sex ratio in the age group 0-4 was less than hundred until the 1971 census. This could be due to higher female mortality compared to male mortality in previous years in childhood.
- The sex ratio is greater than 100 in the age group 0-4 after the 1971 census. This would seem to indicate that there were more male births than female due to a male preference for male births.
- It should be noted that Nepal is a patriarchal society and male births are more valued than female births.
- Sex ratio in the 10-14 age group is consistently high in all the censuses of Nepal except that of 2011. Since 1991, the sex ratio for the 10–14 age group has been decreasing and by 2011 it was reported at 103. The sex ratio for the population between the ages of 20 to 34 is low, and ranges from 79 to 96 for all censuses. This is consistent with the prevalence of male migration in these age groups.
- From 1991, the sex ratio was low for the age group 15-19 and remained low until the age group 40-44, as reported in the 2001 census.
- In 2011 the low sex ratio moved to the age group 45-49. It may be that male migration started earlier (15-19 age group) than previous years (20-24 age group) and males remain away from home longer, which would explain the low ratio in the age group 45-49.
- The higher sex ratios after the age of 49 may reflect male migrants returning home to join their families during retired life. However this trend is found to reverse after the age of 60. This indicates a lower mortality in the female population in this age group, as the life expectancy of females is higher than males in Nepal
Caste composition of Nepal
Caste group |
No of Population |
% |
Chhetri |
4,398,053 |
16.6 |
Brahman-Hill |
3,226,903 |
12.2 |
Thakuri |
425,623 |
1.6 |
Sanyasi (Dasnami) |
227,822 |
0.8 |
Population of Hill Low caste group
Caste group |
No of Pop. |
% |
Kami |
1,258,554 |
4.8 |
Damai/Dholi |
472,862 |
1.8 |
Sarki |
374,816 |
1.4 |
Badi |
38,603 |
0.1 |
Gaine |
6,791 |
0.02 |
Population of Terai high caste group
Caste – Origin: Madhesi groups
Caste group |
No of Population |
% |
1. Brahman-Terai |
134,106 |
0.5 |
2. Rajput |
41,972 |
0.2 |
3. Kayastha |
44,304 |
0.2 |
Caste – Origin: Madhesi groups
Cate group |
No of Population |
% |
Yadav |
1,054,458 |
4.0 |
Teli |
369,688 |
1.4 |
Koiri/Kushhawa |
306,393 |
1.2 |
Kurmi |
231,129 |
0.9 |
Dhanuk |
219,808 |
0.8 |
Mallaha |
173,261 |
0.7 |
Kewat |
153,772 |
0.6 |
Kathbaniya |
138,637 |
0.5 |
Population Madhesi low caste
Madhesi (Dalit) or low caste
Caste group |
No of Pop. |
% |
Chamar/Harijan |
335,893 1.3 |
|
Musahar |
234,490 |
0.9 |
Dushad/Paswan |
208,910 |
0.8 |
Dhobi |
109,079 |
0.4 |
Tatma/Tatwa |
104,865 |
0.4 |
Khatwe |
100,921 |
0.4 |
Ethnic Composition of Nepal
Ethnic Group |
% |
1. Magar |
7.1 |
2. Tamang |
5.8 |
3. Newar |
5.0 |
4. Rai |
2.3 |
5. Gurung |
2.0 |
6. Limbu |
1.5 |
7. Kumal |
0.5 |
8. Bhujel |
0.4 |
9. Majhi |
0 .3 |
10. Sherpa |
0.4 |
11. Danuwar |
0.3 |
12. Sunuwar |
0.2 |
13. Chepang/Praja |
0.3 |
14. Thami |
0.1 |
15. Kulung |
0.1 |
16. Yakkha |
0.1 |
17. Ghale |
0.08 |
18. Khawas |
0.07 |
19. Darai |
0.06 |
20. Pahari |
0.05 |
21. Thakali |
0.05 |
22. Bhote |
0.05 |
23. Chantyal |
0.04 |
24. Hyolmo |
0.04 |
25. Bote |
0.04 |
26. Brahmu |
0.03 |
27. Nachhring |
0.03 |
28. Yamphu |
0.03 |
29. Chamling |
0.03 |
30. Athpahariya |
0.02 |
31. Jirel |
0.02 |
32. Dura |
0.02 |
Population distribution on the basis of Language
There have been several attempts to enumerate the languages spoken in the country as mother tongues, including the decennial censuses. Nepal is country of linguistic diversity and several languages are recorded in this country. There has been a steady increase in language enumeration from the 1991 to 2011 census. 91 languages were recorded in 2001 and 123 Languages are recorded in the census of 2011. The existing rise in languages since the 1991 census may be attributed to a number of factors. Since the restoration of democracy in 1990, there has been a drastic increase in ethno-linguistic awareness among linguistic minorities (including indigenous peoples) about their mother tongues. Subsequently, linguists and other social scientists have been consulted for a precise identification of Nepal’s languages enumerated in different censuses.
Provinces |
Total Languages |
Number of mother tounges spoken by above 1 % |
1 |
104 |
14 |
2 |
88 |
7 |
3 |
111 |
6 |
4 |
84 |
6 |
5 |
83 |
7 |
6 |
53 |
2 |
7 |
84 |
6 |
Population distribution on the basis of Religion
Major Religion |
Followers (%) |
Hinduism |
81.3 % |
Buddhism |
9 |
Islam |
4.4 |
Kirat |
3.1 |
Christianity |
1.4 |
Prakriti |
0.5 |
Bon |
13,006 |
Jainism |
3,214 |
Bahai |
1,283 |
Sikhism |
609 |
Literacy status
- Overall, the literacy rate is 65.9% in Nepal based on the 2011 census.
- The gender gap is wider in literacy, which is 75.1% for males and 57.4% for females with a difference of about 18 percentage points.
- Literacy is highest among Madhesi (82.1%), followed by Hill Brahman (81.9%) and Newar (80.1%).
- Literacy among Marwadi/Panjabi/Bangali is also considerably high (79.5%). It is lowest among Madhesi Dalit (34.5%) Madhesi other caste (41.3%) and Musalman (43.6%).
- These three groups have far less than half of the population that is literate. Madhesi dalit, Hill Dalit and Janajati and Tarai Janajatis are also below the national average of literacy.
On the basis of economic activity
The economically active population has decreased over the years. It was 63.4% in the 2001 census, decreasing to 54.8% in the 2011 census. This decline may be due to increased school enrolment and increased out-migration for work. The economically active population is highest among M/H Janajatis (61.6%), followed by Hill Dalit (60%).