Sri Lanka’s population has been recorded as 21,763,170 with 51.7% females and 48.3% females, according to the 15th Population and Housing Census conducted this year.
The enumeration phase of the “Population and Housing Census 2024” was carried out from October 2024 to the second week of February 2025.
The census officially began on December 19, 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 has the highest share of the population, with 28.1%, while the Northern Province 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 have populations exceeding 2 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
- Galle: 1,096,585
Each of these districts has a population exceeding 1 million.
As in previous censuses, the districts with the lowest populations are in the Northern Province:
- Mullaitivu: 122,542
- Mannar: 123,674
- Kilinochchi: 136,434
- 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.
According to the latest Census of Population and Housing – 2024, the religious composition of Sri Lanka is as follows:
- Buddhism – 69.8%
- Hinduism – 12.6%
- Islam – 10.7%
- Roman Catholic – 5.6%
- Other Christians – 1.3%
