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The Census 2012 results on population based on 5% sample covers the following areas: Population by districts, age, sex, marital status, physical and mental difficulties, economic activities, migration, fertility, education and literacy.
According to the 5% sample, the population of Sri Lanka is recorded as 20,271,464. Of this 18.3% lives in the urban sector, 77.3% lives in the rural sector and the balance 4.4% living in the estate sector.
36% growth rate
Average annual growth rate of the population was computed from 1981 to 2012 as there was no complete enumeration in between. The average annual growth rate from 1981 to 2012 is 1.0%. The population increase from 1981 to 2012 in terms of numbers is 5,424,714, which amounts to a 36% increase.
Population density of Sri Lanka works out to be 323 in 2012. Colombo (3,417) turns out to be the most densely inhabited district, followed by Gampaha (1,711). The lowest densities are reported from Mulliativu (38) and Mannar (53) Districts.
The overall sex ratio in the country of 94 males per 100 females indicates that there are more females in Sri Lanka’s population than males. However, sex ratio among children below 18 years is reported as 102, which indicate more males among the child population while the corresponding figure for 60 or more population is 79, indicating more females among older population.
According to the 5% sample estimates, population in the age group 0-17 stands at 30% and 70% consists of 18 years or more population.
Economy and family
Overall dependency ratio of the country in 2012 was 60.2%. Child (under 15 years) dependency shows how many people in the working age group (15-59 years) support children in the population. The child dependency ratio was 40.4%. Old age dependency shows how many people in the working age group to support people in the old age group (60 years or more) in the population. The old age dependency ratio was 19.8%. While 75.8% of households are headed by males, 24.2% are headed by females.
Out of the population aged 15 years or more, 25.5% of the population was never married at the time of the Census while 67.8% were reported as married. The widowed percent was reported as 5.4% while divorced or separated percentage of population was 1.3%.
Economically active population who were 15 years or more stands at 51.9%. The corresponding figure for males and females is 75.8% and 30% respectively.
The total employment rate stands at 93.1%. The employment rate for males and females is 94.3% and 90.3% respectively. The total unemployment rate stands at 6.9%. The unemployment rate for males and females is 5.7% and 9.7% respectively.
Results of the 5% sample revealed that the average number of children born to married women in Sri Lanka is 2.6.
Migration
Migration is defined as change of a person’s residence other than her/his place of birth (i.e. district). Information on district of birth, district of usual residence, duration of residence and district of previous residence were collected from the Census 2012 to study the movement of the population between districts. Results of the 5% sample revealed that 19% of the population (3,861,787) has migrated to another district from their district of birth.
Majority of females migrate due to marriage (43.5%) while majority of males migrate due to employment (30.6%).
Literacy
Results of the 5% sample indicate that out of the population who were 10 years or more at the time of Census, 95.6% of Sri Lankans are literate. In the same age group, percentage of literate people in urban sector is 97.6% while the corresponding figure for rural and estate sectors are 95.7% and 85.8% respectively. The literacy rate among males is 96.8% while the corresponding value for females is 94.6%.
On an average 24.2% of 10 years or more aged population reported that they have ability to use computers. The corresponding figures for males and females are reported as 26.5% and 22.1% respectively. The percentage of young people showed higher percentage of using computers than people in the old age groups. For example, ability to use a computer among the 15-19 age group is 49% whereas the corresponding figure for people aged 60-64 years is 6%.
For the full report please visit: http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/CPH2011/index.php?fileName=Document5&gp=Activities&tpl=3
