THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala’s population has increased by 15.46 lakh people since 2001 to touch 3.33 crore, but the decadal growth has been slow and the total population in 2011 is lower than projected, Census officials said on Friday.
According to Census 2011 provisional figures released here, the state has a total population of 3,33,87,677 with 1,60,21,290 men and 1,73,66,387 women.
In 2001, the population stood at 3,18,41,374 with 1,54,68,614 men and 1,63,72,760 women. The population has grown by only 4.86 percent during the last decade compared to 9.43 percent during 1991-2001.
According to projections, the state’s population should have touched 3.45 crore this year, Director of Census Operations, Kerala, V M Gopala Menon said.
‘’Kerala stands first in the country in sex ratio, general literacy and female literacy rates and is also in the front in sex ratio of those aged between 0 and 6,’’ Gopala Menon said. Kerala is second only to Nagaland in the matter of slow growth rate.
Malappuram is the most populated district with 41,10,956 people (12.31 percent of the total population of the state).
Wayanad has the lowest - 8,16,558 people (2.45 percent). During the last decade, the population of Malappuram has scooted up by 13.39 percent, the highest in the state, while Pathanamthitta registered negative growth (-3.12 percent).
The male-female proportion in the state is 1084, which means that for every 1000 males, there are 1084 females. Kannur has the highest ratio - 1133 and Idukki has the lowest - 1006. In 2001, the ratio was 1058. At the national level, the male-female proportion is 940. There has been a 12.41 percent decrease in the population of children. There are 33.22 lakh children between the ages of 0 and 6 in the state. The sex ratio for this group is 959.
LITERACY: Literacy rates have registered a 3.05 percent increase since 2001. 93.91 percent of the state’s population are literate. 96.02 percent men and 91.98 percent women are literate. A detailed report on the 2011 Census will be out by April 15.
