NEW DELHI: The first phase of the Census 2027 exercise in Delhi, which concluded on June 14, covered nearly 76 lakh houses and around 55 lakh households, with enumerators recording that more than 2.3 crore people are residing in the city. The exercise was carried out through 45,863 House Listing Blocks (HLBs). One HLB consists of around 180 houses.
Based on the first phase of the census, sources said that the population figure is provisional. The final population count can be ascertained only after the second phase of population enumeration, scheduled for February 2027.
Among the districts, the northeast recorded the highest population of more than 28 lakh residents, followed by the southwest at 25 lakh. The west recorded 24,42,346 residents and the southeast 22,70,778.
The New Delhi district had the lowest population of about 2 lakh residents.
The data also showed wide variations in the number of households across districts. Southwest topped the list with 6,25,453 households, followed by northeast with 6,13,828. West recorded 5,89,210 houses and east had 5,47,461 households.
The southeast district recorded about 5.4 lakh households, closely followed by south with around 5.3 lakh. Northwest had nearly 4.7 lakh households, while outer north accounted for about 4.4 lakh. North district recorded around 4 lakh households, central nearly 2.4 lakh, Old Delhi around 1.6 lakh, and New Delhi had the fewest at about 63,000 households.
In terms of housing stock, the southwest district topped the list with over 8.2 lakh census houses, followed by northeast with over 8 lakh and west with about 8 lakh. New Delhi district had the fewest, with nearly 1 lakh census houses.
In the New Delhi district, where houselisting was conducted from April 16 to May 15, around 63,000 households and 2.5 lakh persons were listed, officials said.
Officials said the House Listing Operations, the first phase of the census, involves preparing an inventory of buildings and houses and collecting information on household amenities and assets.
The second phase of the exercise—Population Enumeration, will gather detailed demographic and socio-economic information and determine the final population figures for Delhi and the country.
While the first phase indicates that over 2.3 crore people are ordinarily living in Delhi, officials said the definitive population figure will be available only after the completion of population enumeration in February 2027.
The 16th Indian census is being conducted in two phases: the House Listing and Housing Census, which commenced on April 1, 2026, and will continue until September, followed by the Population Enumeration phase, scheduled for February 2027.