Population and housing data collection begins tomorrow: Census and Statistics Department

The collection of information about the population in Sri Lanka and their residences will begin tomorrow, Census and Statistics Department Director General Ms. Anoja Seneviratne said.

While issuing a mid-year web release of the department, she said births, deaths and migration are the main factors that affect the population change of a country. As births, deaths and migrations are a continuous process, the population of a country or any territory is constantly changing over time. Therefore, every country conducts a population census to count the population at any specific moment of time. 

Accordingly, the last Census of Population and Housing in Sri Lanka was conducted in 2012. During the inter-census period the mid-year population is estimated annually based on administrative data on births, deaths and migration in the country and it is estimated as at July 1 every year. 

The mid-year population estimate for a respective year is calculated by adding the difference between registered births and deaths from July 1 of the previous year to June 30 of the respective year (Natural Increase) and net migration, to the mid-year population count of the previous year.

Between July 2012 and June 2013, there were 352,450 registered births. In the following year, from July 2013 to June 2014, this number increased to 361,800.

However, in the periods from July 2014 to June 2015 and July 2016 to June 2017, registered births showed a gradual decline. 

A rise in registered births was observed during the periods from July 2017 to June 2018 and July 2018 to June 2019 compared to the previous years.

From July 2019 to June 2020 and continuing through to July 2023 to June 2024, there was a consistent decrease in the number of registered births.

Most recently, between July 2023 and June 2024, the number of registered births was reported as 228,091.

There has been a gradual increase in the number of registered deaths from July 2012 to June 2024. However, compared to the period from July 2022 to June 2023, the number of registered deaths decreased in the period from July 2023 to June 2024.

According to data from the Department of Immigration and Emigration, during the periods from July 2015 to June 2018 and July 2020 to June 2021, arrivals exceeded departures (positive net migration). In the remaining periods, departures were higher than arrivals (negative net migration).

The net migration was negative 222,715 from July 2022 to June 2023, and negative 176,932 from July 2023 to June 2024.

As a result, the mid-year population in 2024 decreased by 120,555 compared to the previous year, due to fewer births and an increase in departures from the country.