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and all low coverage and under coverage areas were covered by the enumerators during
Reminder Phase.
A specialized campaign was also launched in areas with low response rate in which UAN
number was repeatedly announced to complain if enumerator had not visited. This campaign
remained active on different FM and MW frequencies for three days before the end of Field
Enumeration.
2.6.7 Sixth Phase: Thank-You Phase (June 23-Aug 23)
After completion of Field Operation, PBS expressed its gratitude to all collaborating partners,
stakeholders and General Public. Thank you messages were circulated through social media
just after completion of Field activities. After approval of final results of Census 2023, Thank
you message was circulated through Print and Social Media all over Pakistan.
I. Issuance of Commemorative Postage Stamp In order to commemorate the historic milestone of the successful completion of 1st ever Digital Census, PBS issued special postage stamp with Census logo in collaboration with Pakistan Post Office Department (PPOD). The Postage Stamp symbolizes pride and recognition for the remarkable achievement of transitioning from paper based to digital census. The postage Stamp was unveiled in a ceremony held on 8 th June, 2023 at PBS Head office, Islamabad. The ceremony was attended by representatives from Pakistan Post, NADRA, NTC, SUPARCO and senior officers of PBS. The stamp was unveiled by Chief Census Commissioner, Dr. Naeem uz Zafar. PPOD arranged a purchase stall for the audience for walk-in purchase of Postage Stamp issued.
Figure 2.42: Thankyou message on print and social media
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II. Brand Building of PBS
The Campaign on Social Media handles of PBS remained active in all Phases of Digital Census
2023. The Campaign started from making pages on six platforms during Phase’.
Afterwards, during ٔefforts were made to gain followers and engage
audiences, then introductory posts about PBS and Digital Census were started during
Phase’ before the Census, followed by an extensive campaign during
Enumeration in ‘ Motivation Phase ’ and finally ended with thanking the audience and
stakeholders for their support during the whole activity during ‘Thank-Phase’.
2.6.8 Major Highlights of Social Media Campaign.
To run an effective Social Media Campaign following tasks were performed:
I. Media Management, Digital PR, Audience and Media Engagement, Shout-outs etc.
Total of 21052 static, animated and videos were created and disseminated around the census
through social media handles of PBS.Using a bell curve marketing strategy 8 social and digital
media ads were produced and advertising campaigns were run, resulting in over 1.4 million
landings through social media on the self-enumeration portal in the first week alone.
Three top 3 trends, two national songs, an online song competition, influencer marketing
and metaverse marketing Trending (#2) and Narrative Building, Twitter Space
Discussions added more value to the campaign.
Figure 2.43: Issuance of Commemorative Postage Stamp
Figure 5.39 b: Commemorative Postage
Stamp
Commemorative
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II. Thematic Campaigns on Awareness, Motivation & Action to highlight PBS
Digital Census, Updates, Capturing Work, Facts, Data, Debunking, News, Announcements etc.
were designed.
39830 Twitter
7 Youtubers
5417 Facebook (Groups & pages)
305 Podcasts, 3636 On forums
1914 Instagram, 100+ Instagram Content
12680 News
355 Tiktok,
5125 Videos
2388 Blogs
14907 Web
1 Twitter Trend - #DigitalCensusPk
1 Twitter Space Discussion
295 Articles
11 International News Coverage Reuters, AP & Al Jazeera 200 Instagram Placements through 10 Releases, 4 Podcasts Conversationsٔgeneratedٔaroundٔcensus Figure 2.44: Thematic Campaign in Awareness, Motivation & Action
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i. Motivational Videos for Census staff and Enumerators especially females involved in Digital Census encouraged the staff to work dedicatedly for the National task.
III. Page Management & Reporting
The comments and responses on Social Media Pages were regularly monitored. Responded to
over 1000 comments and messages daily with a total of over 300,000 overall with a 100%
response rate.
Figure 2.45: Motivational Videos for Census Staff and Enumerators
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IV.
News and Announcements about Digital Census
All important updates, information and announcements were regularly posted on social media
handles.
V. Crisis Communication, Risk Management and Media Management
Crises were mitigated through direct alternate
and counter narratives and indirect counter
narratives using influencers. Through Social
Media handles during CEnsus, PBS:
• Mitigated 15 Trolls
• Generated Counter-Narratives on 4
Themes
(MQM,
NADRA,
Enumerators, Sindh Government)
• Mitigated 4 Account Attacks
• Managed 121 DM Conversations to
Mitigate Negative Conversations On
Twitter and Facebook
Figure 2.46: Announcement on Social Media about digital census Figure 2.47: Crisis, Risk & Media Management
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VI.
Selected Post from Social Media handles
2.6.9 Data Dissemination Phase
I.
Data Producers and Data Users Dialogue Workshops.
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) in collaboration with UNFPA Pakistan hosted series of
Dialogue Workshops between Data Users and Data Producers at Federal and Provincial levels
from 20th November, 2023 to Dec, 2023. The workshops were attended by Stakeholders and
Development partners i.e., Public organizations, Provincial Bureau of Statistics, researchers,
data users and representatives from International Organizations etc. The workshop were
Figure 2.48: Posts on Social Media during Digital Census - 2023
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helpful in devising strategy for dissemination of Census 2023 data by gathering diverse perspectives, identifying needs, and addressing any existing gaps in the data dissemination process.
Figure 2.50: Data Users and Data Producers Dialogue Workshop Lahore (27th November,2023) Figure 2.52: Data Users and Data Producers Dialogue Workshop Karachi (7th December,2023) Figure 2.49: Data Users and Data Producers Dialogue Workshop Islamabad (20th November, 2023) Figure 2.51: Data Users and Data Producers Dialogue Workshop Peshawar (18th December,2023)
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II. Launching ceremony of Key Finding Report of Census 2023 The launching ceremony of Key Finding Report of Census 2023 was held on 19th July 2024. The event was attended by Federal minister PD & SI, Mr. Ahsan Iqbal. All stakeholders were present at the occasion. The announcement of Census results was made through all Media Channels. This communication effort encouraged audience to use the data and to continue interacting with PBS after completion of Census.
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Figure 2.53: Launching Ceremony of Key Findings Report of Census 2023-19th July, 2024
Chapter-3
KEY CENSUS RESULTS AND INSIGHTS
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3 Key Census Results and Insights
This chapter highlights key insights from the 7 th Population and Housing Census -2023. Detailed results are presented in Chapter 4 “Demographic Characteristics” and Chapter 5 “Housing Characteristics.” 3.1 Average Annual Growth Rates The final results of the Digital Census -2023 were officially announced on August 7, 2023, through a gazette notification. Figure 3.1 illustrates the average annual growth rates for Pakistan, its four provinces—Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan—and the Islamabad Capital Territory as recorded in the Digital Census -2023. Additionally, Table 3.1 provides province-wise breakdown of the total population and average annual growth rates observed during the last three censuses. As can be seen, Pakistan's population has reached to 241.49 million up from 207.68 million in 2017. This reflects an average annual growth rate of 2.55% from 2017 to 2023. The growth rates observed for Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Balochistan, and ICT are 2.53%, 2.38%, 2.57%, 3.20%, and 2.81%, respectively.
Figure 3.1: Growth Rates observed in the Digital Census
KEY CENSUS RESULTS AND INSIGHTS
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Table 3.1: Total Population and AAGRs in Census-1998, -2017 and -2023 Region/ Province Population (Million Nos.) Annual Growth Rate (%) 1998 2017 2023 1998 2017 2023 Pakistan 132.35 207.68 241.49 2.69 2.40 2.55 Punjab 73.62 109.98 127.68 2.64 2.13 2.53 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 20.92 35.50 40.85 2.72 2.82 2.38 Sindh 30.44 47.85 55.69 2.80 2.41 2.57 Balochistan 6.57 12.34 14.89 2.47 3.37 3.20 Islamabad 0.81 2.01 2.36 5.19 4.91 2.81 Figure 3.2 provides a further comparative analysis by highlighting the average annual growth rates recorded in the last six censuses conducted in the country. A concerning observation is the rise in Pakistan's population growth rate to 2.55% in the Digital Census-2023, which comes after a steady decline since the 3rd Population and Housing Census held in 1972. This increase poses significant challenges for the policymakers, as it is expected to place added pressure on already limited resources—such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure—and intensify the strain on job markets as the labor force rapidly expands. Rising population growth threatens sustainable development, making it harder to reduce poverty and improve living standards. Therefore, the trend underscores the urgent need for effective population control measures, enhanced family planning initiatives, and substantial investments in social services. These actions are essential to addressing the challenges posed by a growing population and to promoting sustainable economic development.
Figure 3.2: Growth Rates observed during the Last Six Censuses
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3.2 District-level Population Dynamics At the disaggregated level, the total population count, as recorded in the 7th Population and Housing Census-2023, at the district level, is shown in Figure 3.3. As can be seen, the districts with relatively high population across the four provinces include Lahore and Faisalabad in Punjab; Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Karachi East and Karachi Central in Sindh; and Quetta in Balochistan. Additionally, Figures 3.4&3.5 illustrate district-level average annual growth rates across the four provinces, revealing notable variations both within and between provinces. Some districts show relatively low growth rates, while others exhibit unexpectedly high increases. Districts with growth rates near or above 4% include: • In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Lower Kohistan (9.05%), Orakzai (7.3%), Upper Kohistan (5.48%), South Waziristan (4.7%), North Waziristan (4.25%), and Kurram (4.16%).
• In Sindh: Karachi East (5.32%), Karachi South (4.71%), Karachi West (4.35%), Karachi Central (4.3%), and Malir (3.99%).
• In Balochistan: Washuk (9.51%), Panjgur (8.36%), Kharan (8.17%), Awaran (6.64%), Kachhi (6.25%), Jhal Magsi (5.35%), Duki (5.02%), Surab (4.99%), Kalat (4.93%) and Harnai (4.68%).
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Figure 3.3: Population Count by District
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Figure 3.4: Average Annual Growth Rates by District
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Figure 3.5: Map Showing AAGRs by District 3.3 Provincial Population Shares Figure 3.6 portrays population share trends at the provincial level and for Islamabad Capital Territory during all the Population and Housing censuses conducted in the country. It is evident that the share of Punjab has consistently declined over the years. For instance, in the 1951 census, Punjab accounted for 60.9% of the population, but this figure decreased to 52.9% during the Digital Census-2023. The decline in Punjab's share can be attributed mainly to the higher population growth observed in Sindh and Balochistan provinces. During this period, the population share of Sindh increased from 17.9% to 23.1%, while Balochistan's share grew from 3.5% to 6.2%. On the other hand, Islamabad Capital Territory experienced a moderate increase in its share, approximately 0.7% during the same period. (Figure 3.7 shows population shares for the provinces and ICT observed during the 7th Population and Housing Census-2023.)
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Figure 3.6: Trends observed in Provincial Shares
Figure 3.7: Provincial Shares in Census-2023
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3.4 Leading Cities by Population Size According to the 7 th Population and Housing Census -2023, the top twenty most populated cities27 in Pakistan account for nearly 24% of the country’s total population and over 60% of its urban population. These cities, in order of population size, are: Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, Hyderabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Islamabad, Sargodha, Sialkot, Bahawalpur, Jhang, Shekhupura, Gujrat, Sukkur, Larkana, Sahiwal, and Okara. Among these, ten cities have population exceeding one million: Karachi (18.87M), Lahore (13M), Faisalabad (3.69M), Rawalpindi (3.36M), Gujranwala (2.67M), Multan (2.22M), Hyderabad (1.92M), Peshawar (1.91M), Quetta (1.57M), and Islamabad (1.11M). These cities collectively account for over 20% of Pakistan’s total population and 54% of its urban population —the two mega urban centers, Karachi and Lahore together comprise nearly 34% of Pakistan's total urban population. In the 6 th Population and Housing Census -2017, Karachi and Lahore recorded population of 14.88M and 11.12M, respectively, reflecting average annual growth rates of 4.05% for Karachi and 2.65% for Lahore by 2023. Notably, among the next ten cities, with population between half a million and one million —the cities represented by small grey dots
Figure 3.8: Top 20 Most Populated Urban Centers in Pakistan
27 A citiy is an urban locality or agglomeration of more than one urban localities.