• WP has the highest population, NP the lowest; Gampaha and Col. have 4 m+, followed by K’gala, Kandy, Kalutara, Ratnapura and Galle with 5 m+; highest growth rate in Mullaitivu, lowest in Vavuniya

Sri Lanka’s population has been recorded as 21,763,170, according to the 15th Population and Housing Census conducted this year.

The enumeration phase of the ‘Population and Housing Census last year (2024)’ was carried out from October 2024 to the second week of February this year. The census officially began on 19 December 2024 at 00:00 hours.

Compared to the total population recorded in the 2012 Census, new data suggests an increase of 1,403,731 people in the country. During the inter-census period 2001-2012, the average annual population growth rate was 0.7%. For the current inter-census period 2012-2024, the average annual population growth rate is 0.5%. This indicates that while the population growth rate has slowed, Sri Lanka’s population continues to increase.

By Province, the Western Province (WP) has the highest share of the population, with 28.1%, while the Northern Province (NP) has the lowest, with 5.3%. At the district level, the most populous district is Gampaha, with a population of 2,433,685, followed by Colombo, with 2,374,461. These are the only two districts that have populations exceeding two million. 

Excluding Gampaha and Colombo, the districts with the next highest populations are: Kurunegala (1,760,829), Kandy (1,461,269), Kalutara (1,305,552), Ratnapura (1,145,138) and Galle (1,096,585). Each of these districts has a population exceeding one million. As in the previous censuses, the districts with the lowest populations are in the NP: Mullaitivu (122,542), Mannar (123,674), Kilinochchi (136,434) and Vavuniya (172,257). The highest average annual growth rate of 2.23% was reported in Mullaitivu while the lowest, 0.01%, was recorded in Vavuniya, according to the Department of Census and Statistics.