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Karachi’s population has surged to over 17.87 million, confirmed Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) Sindh Director Munawar Munawar Ghanghro on Monday. In an interview with Geo News, Ghanghro shared that the population in the city has increased by 1.8 million compared to the numbers of the 2017 census. He further shared that the overall population in Sindh has jumped to 54.9 million. The PBS official also disclosed that the digital census has been completed in 21 districts of the province so far, while the census is underway in seven districts and two tehsils of the province.
The ongoing seventh population census has witnessed several objections from various political parties, resulting in the deadline for the enumeration being extended five times. The latest extension has pushed the deadline from the initial date of April 4 to May 15. Several political parties, including the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), have raised objections to the census, particularly regarding overcounting and undercounting in some areas.
The MQM-P, a key ally of the ruling coalition in the Centre, had even asked its parliamentarians to resign over the census issue. Subsequently, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal to address the objections, and a committee was also formed to look into the issues. The ongoing digital population census has reportedly witnessed “abnormal results,” particularly in Balochistan and Sindh. The initial results suggest that Karachi, the country’s biggest city, witnessed a population growth of just 0.4%, while rural Sindh saw a phenomenal growth of close to 9%. Similarly, the population of Karachi and Lahore stood close to each other, around 16 million.
