The population of Hindus in Pakistan increased from 3.5 million in 2017 to 3.8 million in 2023 to make it the largest minority community in the Islamic nation, according to the official data of last year’s census.
The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) released results of the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023 on Thursday, the Dawn newspaper reported.
The country’s total population in 2023 stood at 240,458,089.
It showed that the share of Muslims in the total population decreased slightly from 96.47 per cent in 2017 to 96.35 per cent in 2023, while the population of all major religious minorities increased in the past six years. However, their share in the percentage of the total population gives a mixed picture.
The population of Hindus increased from 3.5 million in 2017 to 3.8 million in 2023, but their share in the total population went down from 1.73 to 1.61 per cent, which showed other minority communities increased at a faster rate.
The population of Christians, also increased from 2.6 million to 3.3 million, with their share in the total population also going up from 1.27 to 1.37 per cent.
Ahmadis witnessed a decline in their real population as well as their share in the total population. The size of their community was reduced by 29,053, from 191,737 (0.09 per cent) in 2017 to 162,684 (0.07 per cent).
The population of the Sikh community stood at 15,998 and Parsi at 2,348.
The data showed that the country’s population increased from 207.68 million in 2017 to 241.49 million in 2023 at a growth rate of 2.55 per cent. At this rate, the data showed that Pakistan’s population is expected to double by 2050.
According to the population breakdown, the total number of males stood at 124.32 million, compared to 117.15 million females, with a gender ratio of 1.06. The population of transgender has been reported at 20,331.
Data showed that 67 per cent of the total population in 2023 was below the age of 30 and 80 per cent below 40. Those of 67 years or above constituted only 3.55 per cent of the total population. In 2017, 66.12 per cent of the total population was married, compared to 64.79 in 2023.
The percentage of the divorced population has reduced from 0.42 per cent in 2017 to 0.35 per cent in 2023.
The data also revealed a stark difference in the growth of rural and urban populations, with the former going up at the rate of 1.88 per cent and the latter 3.67 per cent