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| Sunday, 20 October 2002 |
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Population soars by 28% : Women outnumber men by Carol Aloysius The population of eighteen districts that include seventeen in the Western, Central, Southern, North Western, North Central, Uva and Sabaragamuwa districts, has shown a significant increase over the past two decades, the preliminary results of the Census of Population and Housing 2001 has revealed. The total population enumerated in the 18 districts on the final census night of last year stood at 16,864,687. This represents a 28% increase since the last census in 1981, and a 1.2% average annual growth rate for the 18 districts surveyed, Mr. A.G.W. Nanayakkara, Superintendent of Census and Director General of Census and Statistics states in his preliminary report of the 2001 census. According to the provisional figures cited in the preliminary report the total number of females has also increased by 176,616 in the 18 districts surveyed. The sex ratio (i.e. the number of males per 100 females), on the other hand has decreased from 103.9 in 1981 to 97.9 in 20001. According to the provisional figures cited by him, out of these 18 districts, the growth rate was highest in the Ampara district (0.2%) and lowest in Kegalle district (0.6%). Gampaha district has shown the second highest growth rate. The high growth rate in Ampara has been attributed to new settlements coming under the Mahaweli Scheme. The increase of population in the Gampaha district (1.9%) has been attributed to the internal migration of a large number of persons from adjoining districts to mainly the export processing zone. The report further reveals a drop in the under 18 years population from 41.6% in 1981 to 32.9% in 2001. This has been attributed to a decline in fertility in the districts surveyed. "For example, the total number of birth in the mid 80's was around 4,000,000 per year. It has now decreased to around 320,000 per year. The average number of births a woman would have during the reproductive age from 15 years to 49 years has decreased from 2.8% in the period from 1982 to 2000", states the Census and Statistics Dept Chief. Both the Preliminary and the Final Census were carried out completely in the 18 districts surveyed, notes Mr. Nanayakkara. "Unfortunately it was not possible to conduct these surveys in Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts." He adds however, that more than 96% of the population of the Vavuniya district was covered in the census. In Batticaloa district out of 12 divisions, 5 were enumerated completely while in the Trincomalee district out of 11 divisions, 7 were completely enumerated. The total population enumerated throughout the country including Northern and Eastern Provinces was thus 17.56 million which accounts for 94% of the total population. The total population of Sri Lanka as on July 17, 2001 was thus estimated to be 18.73 million. "This mean the average annual growth rate during 1981 - 2001 for the country as a whole is around 1.14", Mr. Nanayakkara states. |
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