Women constitute 51% of Sri Lanka’s 21.7 million population

Women constitute over 51 per cent of Sri Lanka’s 21.7 million population according to the results of the 2024 Census of Population and Housing released on Thursday.

“The total population was reported to be 21,781,800 of which 51.7 per cent is female and 48.3 per cent is male,” the Department of Census and Statistics said.

“In the urban sector, 51.9 per cent of the population is female, while 48.1 per cent is male. In the rural and estate rural sectors, the percentages of females are 51.7 per cent and 51.4 per cent, and the percentages of males are 48.3 per cent and 48.6 per cent.” “The population under 15 years of age in the country decreased by 4.5 percentage units, from 25.2 per cent to 20.7 per cent, during the census period from 2012 to 2024. Further, the population aged 65 and above increased from 7.9 per cent to 12.6 per cent, and shows an increase of 4.7 percentage points during this period,” it said.

In 2024, the population aged 15-64 was 66.7 per cent of the total population compared to 66.9 per cent in 2012.

On the ethnic composition, 74.1 per cent of the population are Sinhalese, 12.3 per cent Sri Lankan Tamils, 10.5 per cent Muslim, and 2.8 per cent Indian-origin Tamil.

The Burgher, Malay, Sri Lankan Chetty, Bharatha and the indigenous Veddah represent 0.3 per cent.

Buddhists are the religious majority with 69.8 per cent followed by 12.6 per cent Hindu, 10.7 Muslim, 5.6 Roman Catholic, and 1.3 per cent Christians.