Thursday Dec 12, 2024
Thursday Dec 12, 2024
Monday, 15 December 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Waruni Paranagamage
Even though Sri Lanka has showed remarkable demographic achievements among South Asian countries, the need for district level demographic stability should be identified by policymakers to develop Sri Lanka as the ‘Wonder of Asia,’ according to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Country Representative Alain Sibenaler.
UNFPA Country Representative Alain Sibenaler (right) address the launch of ‘Key Findings of Census of Population and Housing 2012’ whilst Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Department of Census and Statistics Director General D. C. A. Gunawardena look on – Pic by Lasantha Kumara
Addressing a seminar last Week on census findings, parallel to the launch of a book titled ‘Key Findings of Census of Population and Housing 2012,’ the Country Representative expressed the key findings of the book would be a guideline for policymakers to formulate policies as well as carry out discussions and generation-to-generation dialogues on economic policies in Sri Lanka.
The book, published by the Department of Population and Statistics, Ministry of Finance and Planning in collaboration with UNFPA, is aimed to provide insights into the importance of demographic findings to economic policymakers and the corporate sector as well as the general public.
The book is an overview of population and housing censuses in Sri Lanka, population size, growth and distribution in Sri Lanka, marital status and fertility in Sri Lanka, international migration patterns and dynamics in Sri Lanka, level of linguistic literacy and computer literacy in Sri Lanka, findings on populations and housing censuses and housing conditions in Sri Lanka.
The 2012 Census reported the overall total population at 20.3 million while the annual growth rate of the population has been 1.1% over the past 30 years. The majority of the population (28.7%) is concentrated in the Western Province, making its population density 1,621 persons per km2 as against the national average of 323 persons per km2.
Colombo District reported the highest population amount in 2012 while the Mullaitivu and Mannar Districts reported minimum population counts. The annual growth rate of the country’s population has varied from 2.0% to -0.7% in the last 30 years while Jaffna and Mannar reported -0.7% and -0.2% annual growth rates respectively in 2012.
Sri Lanka reported 95.7% overall literacy rate in 2012, the best achievement in South Asian countries, but Colombo District is 8% higher than Batticaloa District.
The report showed facility distribution of health, education and other social factors differs in each districts.
The Country Representative said that in order to achieve the ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ economic development goals, the country should develop the potential of its human capital while paying the same attention to all districts throughout the country.
