First digital census: Pakistan’s population officially surpasses 240 million

ISLAMABAD: The Council of Common Interest (CCI) unanimously approved the first-ever digital Population and Housing Census 2023 on Saturday.

According to the census data, Pakistan’s total population is 241.49 million, with a population growth rate of 2.55 pe rcent.

The provincial populations are as follows:

Punjab: 127.68 million
Sindh: 55.69 million
KHyber Pukhtunkhwa: 40.85 million
Balochistan: 14.89 million

Earlier today, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a CCI meeting to discuss the fate of the 2023 census, in light of reports of disagreements among coalition partners.

If the upcoming elections are to take place under the new census, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) might need additional time to redo the delimitation exercise. This will also require approval through a constitutional amendment at a time when the lower house doesn’t have the numbers to achieve a two-thirds majority.

Hum News English explored the options that are available to the federal government here in light of the new developments but there is a high chance that it might cause a further delay in holding the general elections on time.

The meeting saw attendance from the chief ministers of all four provinces, as well as federal ministers.