Population Monograph 2003 PDF

FOREWORD
It is with pleasure, I wish to congratulate the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS),

particularly its team of professionals and staff involved in conducting the census of
population 2001 and in bringing out the “Population Monograph of Nepal” (in two
volumes) on the analysis of the results of the said census 2001.
These volumes contain several topics related to population and its social and economic
aspects. Those interrelationships are analysed comprehensively and patterns and trends
are established. I hope, these publications would prove of great help to all those who
want a thorough knowledge of the socio-economic and demographic situation of the
country. On this occasion, I would like to extend our sincere thanks to all those agencies
and individuals, particularly the general people of the country without whose cooperation
the census 2001 would not have been possible.
Any valuable comments from the readers would help in improving the future census.
December, 2003 Shanker P. Sharma

Kathmandu Vice Chairman
National Planning Commission
Kathmandu, Nepal
PREFACE
The wealth of information that is generally collected in a Census of Population, provides an

unparalleled opportunity to understand the various socio-economic and demographic changes
that has occurred in the country during the intervening period of the two censuses. Hence, this
analytical report of the 2001 census of population in Nepal, presented in two volumes contain
indepth analyses of twenty one different topics related to the population of the country by
eminent persons dealing with such issues in their daily work. The topics included in this volume
are : A Perspective on Census 2001; Population Growth, age and sex structure; Caste, Ethnicity
and Religion; Mother Tongue and Second Language; Household Composition and Family
Structure; Literacy and Educational Attainment; Nuptiality; Conceptual Framework for the
Measurement of Economic Activity of the Population in the Census; Age-Sex Pattern of
Economic Activity of the Population; Urbanization and Development. Whereas, population
policy and issues related with the policy are included in the second volume. The topics included
in the second volume are : Fertility; Mortality; Internal Migration; Citizenship and International
Migration; Population Policy; Quality of Data in Census 2001; Population and Environment;
Ageing of the Population; Gender Status and Changes in the Population; Status of Children and
Adolescents and Youth in the Population. The rationale for dividing these highly interrelated
topics is simply the ease of handling these analysis in the form of a book, that is, their size, rather
than anything else.
On behalf of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) and on my own behalf, I am grateful to all
those authors who have contributed a chapter in these volumes. One of our contributor of the
topics on Mortality, Dr. Gokarna Regmi, passed away even before completing his assignment.
This topic was supplemented by Mr. B.D.S. Dongol with whom late Dr. Regmi had frequent
exchanges of views as well as relevant data while Mr. Dongol and Dr. P.L. Joshi were working
for the preparation of Population Projection. It is with profound sorrow, we wish to place on
record, our appreciation of the work rendered by Dr. Regmi in writing the chapter.
Similarly, Dr. R.H. Chaudhury of UNFPA, CST, Kathmandu, and Dr. Bhanu Niroula, of UNFPA
Country Office, deserve our special thanks not only for their active involvement and
encouragement in bringing these volumes to light, but also for their contribution of the chapter on
Nuptiality presented in Volume I.
We are thankful to UNFPA for their technical and financial assistances, particularly for providing
us with the services of Mr. Keshav Raj Sharma who helped considerably in shaping these
volumes to its present form. I would like to extend my special thanks to Mr. Sharma for his active
involvement and guidance in preparing the Monograph.
All the officers and staff members of the Population Section of the Bureau, particularly, Deputy
Director R.K. G.C. deserve our special thanks for providing support and guidance at each stage of
the work.
Computer Assistance, Mr. Dol Narayan Shrestha must also be thanked for painstakingly preparing
manuscript of these volumes.
Last, but not the least, I wish to thank the myriad organizations and people who, contributed in
every way possible, in making the census, the analysis of which is presented in these volumes, a
success.
December, 2003 Tunga S. Bastola

Kathmandu, Nepal. Director General
CHAPTER 1
A PERSPECTIVE ON POPULATION CENSUS 2001
- Tunga S. Bastola*
- Radha Krishna GC**
1.1 Introduction
Population censuses are taken to obtain information on the "state of the population” at a given
time. In other words, a national population census is a nation-wide counting of people at a specific
point of time. A population census is believed, in general, to be the best method of counting the
total number of inhabitants for an area at a certain point of time. In addition to the count of all
people in a specified area at a given time, a present day census also collects “other demographic,
social and economic” information. It is a complex, large-scale and major statistical activity of a
country that requires a considerable amount of resources. This might be one of the reasons that
many countries take censuses at intervals “of no less than five years or often of ten years”. In
Nepal, like in many other countries, population censuses have been taken every ten years or so.
It is said that the "techniques for taking census" have steadily improved over the years.
Technological advances in sampling methods and data processing have greatly changed the
modern census taking operation. Nepali censuses also have been influenced by these world wide
changes. More than ninety years have passed since the first census was taken in Nepal. During
these years, a lot of changes that have taken place within and outside the country have affected
our census operation. Nepal in 1911, when the first population count was undertaken, "was
different in many respects" to Nepal at present. In 1911, most of the country, for example, was
inaccessible. At present, the transport and communication in the country have improved
significantly as compared to the situation in 1911. Besides, the last population census of Nepal
relied heavily on modern computer facilities as well as other information technologies as
compared with the first census of the country.
The modern censuses of Nepal are becoming more and more popular. The Constitution of the
Kingdom of Nepal, 2047 (1990) has further increased the importance of the Nepalese Population
*
Tunga S. Bastola is the Director General of Central Bureau of Statistics.
**
Radha Krishna GC is a Deputy Director of Central Bureau of Statistics.
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Census. According to the Constitution, the number of seats in the “House of Representatives”
from each of the 75 administrative districts is determined on the basis of the population census.
"…the ratio of the number of seats allocated to any district shall be, so far as practicable, equal
to the ratio of the population of that district to the national population, as determined by the last
census preceding the concerned election…" (Sub-article (2) of Article 45, Part 8 of the
Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 2047)
Although, for the purpose of the Constitution it might seem that head count is sufficient, the
modern population censuses of Nepal are more than the head counts. They have provided a wealth
of information on the state of the population in the country.
As mentioned earlier, a population census is a complex operation consisting of “a series of closely

related” steps. This chapter presents some of the major steps of the 2001 Population Census of
Nepal. The major positive aspects which helped and benefited the census and those that adversely
affected the census are also briefly mentioned in the chapter.
1.2 Population Censuses of Nepal
Since the first population count of 1911, nine more censuses have been conducted in Nepal. The
earlier censuses of Nepal were not that precise as compared to the modern censuses. Four
censuses taken before the 1952/54 census are known as “head counts”. The 1952/54 census was
taken in two parts of the country in two different years. Then a synchronized census was taken in
1961. After 1961, a census has been taken in every ten years.
During the last 90 years, Nepal, like many other countries in the world, experienced many
demographic changes; the population of the country grew phenomenally. In terms of numbers, the
population of Nepal was 5,638,749 in 1911 which reached 23,151,423 in 2001; an increase of
more than four times during a period of 90 years. In other words, on the average, the population of
Nepal grew at a rate 2.00 percent per annum during this 90-year period. The population of Nepal
took 60 years to double from 5.6 million in 1911 to 11.6 million in 1971. It then took only 30
years to double from 11.6 million to 23.2 million, and at the present rate of growth it will double
again in another 31 years.
In 1911, the population density of the country was less than 40 persons per square kilometer
(taking the area of the country to be 147,181 sq. km.). By, 2001 the figure had risen to 157
persons for the same area. The population of Nepal has been increasing very rapidly in the
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western part of the country; specifically in the western Tarai region. Table 1.1 provides a
summary of the population changes in the country during a period of 90-year.
Table 1.1 : Population changes during the 90-year period, 1911-2001
Inter-Censal Change in
Census Exponential Persons
Population Population
Year Growth Rate per sq. km.
Number Percent
1911 5,638,749 ... ... - 38.31
1920 5,573,788 -64,961 -1.15 -0.13 37.87
1930 5,532,574 -41,214 -0.74 -0.07 37.59
1941 6,283,649 751,075 13.58 1.16 42.69
1952/54 8,256,625 1,972,976 31.40 2.27 56.10
1961 9,412,996 1,156,371 14.01 1.64 63.96
1971 11,555,983 2,142,987 22.77 2.05 78.52
1981 15,022,839 3,466,856 30.00 2.62 102.07
1991 18,491,097 3,468,258 23.09 2.08 125.64
2001 23,151,423 4,660,326 25.20 2.25 157.30
Source : CBS, 1995, Table 1, (p. 2),

CBS, 2002, Table 1.
1.3 Population Census 2001
National Population Census 2001 is the tenth in a series of the population enumeration in Nepal.
This is the largest statistical operation in the country undertaken at the beginning of the 21st
century. The number of households counted in this census was 4,253,220 spread over in more
than 36 thousand wards (which are the lowest administrative divisions in the country).
The 2001 Population Census is also the first census of the third millennium. It was taken at a
juncture which marks the transition from one century and millennium to the next. In this way this
census can be termed as the “opening stock” of the state of the population in the country for the
new century and the new millennium.
Population census, in general, furnishes current population data with many other demographic,
social and economic variables. The objectives of the 2001 population census were:
a. to develop a set of benchmark data for different purposes,
b. to provide data for small administrative areas of the country on population, housing and
household facilities,
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c. to provide reliable frames for different types of sample surveys,
d. to provide sex disaggregated data of the population and other variables related to households,
demographic, social and economic conditions of the country, and
e. to provide detailed information on women, children, the aged and the disabled.
1.3.1 New Features of The 2001 Census
Population census being a regular decennial event with standard international practices for
comparability, there is not much departure from one census to the other. However, compared with
the 1991 census, there were notable differences in the questionnaire as well as the methodology of
data collection in the 2001 census. In the 2001 census, special attention was given to the issues
related to gender, women, children and the disabled. Similarly, on economic aspects, the
household work and the extended economic activity were redefined and emphasized to overcome
the under reporting and under coverage of both male and female participation in the national
economy. In addition to this, mass media campaign had been extensively used for census
publicity and special attention was also given on gender sensitization during the training of field
staff.
The main features of the 2001 census were as follows.
(i) Mainstreaming and sensitization of gender issues: The census collected all the individual
information by sex-disaggregation. Some questions related to women's empowerment were
also added in the census questionnaire. Sensitization on gender issues were done at various
levels and to different census staffs by means of workshop seminars and training. In addition
to this, gender sensitization in the census was also applied through various modes of
campaigning, training and mass media propaganda.
(ii) Complete and sample enumeration: The census collected data on a combined way- complete
enumeration for a few items and sample enumeration for other items. The complete
enumeration involved obtaining information from all households in the country whereas
sample enumeration involved collecting information from only a predetermined number of
households.
(iii) Census publicity with multi-media approach: For the first time census publicity in a multi-
media approach was adopted. Various UN-agencies (like the UNIFEM, the UNICEF and the
UNDP) took part in this endeavor to make the census a success. Wide coverage of census
messages in the prime time of various media channels were used to reach the general public.
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(iv) For providing the users with wide range of demographic, socio-economic and other statistics,
information on household facilities, on female ownership of house and land, on disability,
and on status of living arrangements of children were included in this census. The list of
items included in the 2001 census with annotation is given in Annex 1.1.
(v) Wider Dissemination of Census Results – For the first time just after publishing the final
results of the census, various modes of quick dissemination strategy were taken to
disseminate the census results and reach the users. In addition to printed hard copies data
were made available to users in diskettes, CD's and through Websites. One of the prominent
aspects is the release of the sample raw data of the census in CD. Regional data
dissemination seminars have been also conducted regularly.
1.4 Planning, Administration and Organization
1.4.1 Census Planning
As mentioned earlier, the national population census is one of the largest statistical operations
carried out by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) of His Majesty's Government of Nepal. In
order to conduct a reliable census by covering the whole country within a specified duration, a
large number of skilled manpower is needed. It is very essential to build an appropriate census
organization and it also needs advance preparation.
Planning for the 2001 census started from 1996; almost about five years ahead of the census year.
As the proper planning of the census is fundamental for its successful implementation, a detailed
calendar of operation was prepared and each activity was constantly monitored. The various
activities considered and performed at the time of the planning stage were – estimates of costs for
all census activities, estimates of timing, check list for all the census activities, preparatory works
including design of the questionnaires and manuals, stakeholders meetings and technical
committee meetings, and plans for census field organization, manpower recruitment, training of
field staffs, census listing and census enumeration, data processing, printing of census results,
analysis, evaluation and dissemination of census results. In other words, the stepwise planning of
the census played a very important role in the overall census operation.
1.4.2 Notification in the Nepal Gazette
The legal provision of the census is one of the important aspects for empowering the census
operation. The Statistics Act, 2015 has mandated the Central Bureau of Statistics for the
"collection, consolidation, publication and analysis of statistics". In accordance with the Act, the
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Government may by notified order issue direction for the collection of statistics "concerning any
matter". Notified order means an order published in the Nepal Gazette.
A notified order in accordance with the existing Statistics Act was issued almost a year before the
2001 Census (in 2057 B.S.). By this notice, the Central Bureau of Statistics was empowered to
collect the demographic, socio- and economic information of the population of the country as of
the census schedule 1 and 2 within the period specified by the Bureau. The recruitment of the
staffs along with their duties and responsibilities were clearly provided in the notification. In
addition, the duty of the general public to help and to co-operate the census work was also
mentioned. Besides, the Bureau's liability for the preparation of the final report of the census after
data processing was also stated in the notification.
1.4.3 Census Administration, Organization and Manpower
As census is a decennial activity requiring huge resources, most of the census activities have to be
carried out on an adhoc basis. For this, it is very important to have a strong organization for the
smooth running of the population census. The 2001 Population Census organization was
visualized and set up, so as to conduct the census within a specified time frame covering 75
districts, 3914 VDCs and 58 municipalities in the country. 76 District Census Offices were
established in all the 75 districts including 2 in Kathmandu district. Among these 76 offices, the
33 Branch Statistics Offices of the CBS were designated as the district census offices. Each
district was further divided into one to three Area Census Offices depending upon the population
of the district. All the District Census Offices were eventually supervised and controlled by the
Population Census Section of the Bureau at Kathmandu.
Regarding the manpower a total of 19,370 enumerators were recruited for a period of one month.
These enumerators were mainly primary school teachers and the remaining were fresh recruits. In
a similar manner 4,926 supervisors recruited in the census came from the high school teachers,
fresh recruits and the university students from Population, Statistics and other faculties. CBS
staffs were also deputed as area supervisors and some more staff from other government agencies
worked on secondment. One accountant was deputed in each of the census offices from the
Accountant General's Office. About 350 peons were recruited all over the country to work in the
district and sub-district census offices. Special emphasis was given for the recruitment of female
enumerators for the first time in this census. This largely helped for the recruitment of female
enumerators and achieved as targeted 20 percent of the total enumerators. This was one of the key
achievements in the 2001 population census of Nepal. In total around 26,000 staffs were involved
in the census for fulltime and part-time.
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As in the past population censuses, a lot of logistics and other materials were required for the
2001 Census. A list of materials prepared/used for the census is reported in Annex 1.3.
1.4.4 Training
Various levels of training were organized for different levels of staffs in the census at different
points of time. These included the training of the master trainers, district census officers, area
supervisors, field supervisors and the enumerators. To start with, a group of master trainers were
trained in the Bureau. The master trainers together with the Mainstreaming Gender Equity
Programme (MGEP, an UN-agency) staffs, and the Sahavbagi, a leading NGO, also participated
and facilitated the central and district level training of the census field staffs. These training were
mainly focused for maintaining uniformity on the census procedures, terms and definitions used
in the census questionnaires and developed understanding among all the trainees. A summary of
the persons trained for the census along with the number of training groups and the number of
training days is presented in Table 1.2.
Table 1.2 : Training of census field personnel
Number of Trainees Number of Training

Female Male Total Groups Days
District Census Officer 1 75 76 3 15
*
Area Census Supervisor 7 83 90 3 9
**
n.a. n.a. 204 70 7
Census Supervisor n.a. n.a. 4,926 184 7
Enumerator 3,967 15,403 19,370 624 5
Total 24,666 884 -
Source : CBS, Training Section.
*
Training in Kathmandu
**
Training in Districts
n.a. = not available
1.5 Census Mapping
In the absence of the good enumeration area (EA) maps, it is very difficult to conduct the census
and achieve the complete coverage and enumeration of the whole country. For this, Population
Census Mapping Project (which started in 1998) prepared base maps including Aerial
photographs for the northern part of the country. The Project also prepared the maps up to the
VDC and Municipality level with ward boundary delineation. It was an improvement in the part
of census mapping compared to the previous censuses. For large wards of the VDC the maps were
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further divided into sub-wards of about equal sizes so as to make the enumerator's workload more
homogeneous.
In total the Census Mapping Project prepared 3971 maps. Out of this 3561 VDC/Municipalities
(VDC/Municipality wise maps) were compiled by digital techniques from the database. The
scales of maps ranged between 1:10,000 and 1:60,000 depending upon the size of the area. 410
VDC wise maps were completed by the project using conventional mapping methods due to
incomplete database for VDCs. In addition to this 75 district maps showing the
VDC/Municipality boundary and other features were prepared. Zonal planning maps were also
prepared for 14 zones of the country.
In the second phase of the mapping project urban area orthophoto maps were prepared for the
dense urban areas and semi dense urban areas. Altogether 2200 orthophoto maps were prepared in
each of which areas are represented in 1:5,000 and 1:10,000 scale.
The Census Mapping Project is working with the post-census cartographic activities on thematic
map production using a National Geographic Information System (N-GIS). These activities
consist more in spatial analysis of the Population Census Data, integration/storage of spatial and
demographic data, and dissemination of these data through Web and preparation of socio-
economic atlas of the country in soft and hard copy medium.
1.6 Assistance in the Census
For the first time multi-donors have contributed in the 2001 census. In the previous censuses, the
UNFPA used to be the sole UN-agency helping the census in the form of technical as well as
financial assistance. In the 2001 census, the UNFPA supported in the following provisions and
activities: printing of census questionnaires and other materials, enumerators bags and kits,
vehicles ( pick up and motor bikes), computers, photocopy machine, training, study tour and short
term international consultant on sampling and long term national consultant for data processing.
Besides, other UN Inter-Agency were involved in supporting various activities of the census.
Among the UN Inter-Agencies, the UNIFEM supported in census publicity and advocacy and
gender specific tabulations of the census results. A study tour was also organized through
UNIFEM before the census. The UNDP supported in the gender training, training of all census
field staffs and preparing census tele-film. For part of the training, census communication and
other census advertisements in newspapers (daily, weekly and others), support was received from
the UNICEF.
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In a similar manner, for the census mapping, support was received from the Finnish and the
Danish Government and from the European Union. This support was mainly used for preparing
the census base maps and census enumeration maps including GIS for census data dissemination.
The type of output generated through the Mapping Project under their support is also explained
above in Section 1.5.
1.7 Census Publicity
The census publicity programme started with an aim to plan "an effective publicity campaign for
the census against the prevailing social and economic background". Publicity programmes were
targeted to increase the willingness of the respondents to cooperate the enumeration. The
programmes aimed to inform the public about the uses of and importance of census data. The
campaign aimed to encourage the respondents to correctly answer the questions asked in the
census.
Main objective of the publicity programme was "to create awareness for all respondents on the
population census 2001". While most of the techniques and procedures used for the 1991
Population Census were repeated in the 2001 Census, a number of changes were made in the light
of lessons learned and the media available in the country. The total public information campaign
was a multimedia effort, involving radio, newspapers, television, posters, pamphlets and bulletins.
Radio, television, newspapers, cinema, postal stamps, public places campaigning, alternative
media (like Gaine) were identified as the media vehicles for the 2001 census.
A programme on "Development of Media Strategy and Campaigning for Population Census

2001" was organized jointly by the CBS, and the UNIFEM and the UNICEF.
The theme message used for the publicity campaign was - æafnaflnsf, dlxnf k'?if, a[¢ a[¢f, sf]xL
g5'6'g\, sf]xL gbf]xf]l/pg\Æ (Let non of the children, adults and old age people be left out and non of
them be repeated in the census counting). Besides, some short jingles also were prepared for the
census publicity.
Census publicity was extensively done through all types of available means. However, print and
audio visual media was profoundly used all over the country. In the print media: newspapers,
posters, pamphlets, calendars, stamps, stickers with census logo were used for making census
publicity. Radio spots, theme song, TV spots and Teleflex were publicized through radio and
television. A 35 minute Tele-film revised and renamed as 'Tathya Chetana' from 'Adrishya Shram'
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(Invisible Work) based on the procedural aspect of the census enumeration with focus on women's
economic activities prepared with the support of the UNDP (MGEP) was telecast from Nepal
Television several times during the prime time of the census field enumeration. In addition to
these regional seminars, local level seminars and meetings were also organized before the census.
In this manner census publicity was one of the major event in the process of conducting the
census.
On the Census day (June 22, 2001), the Prime Minister gave a message in the name of the nation
which highlighted the importance of the National Population Census 2001. The message worked
as an encouragement to the enumerators and other field staff who were working on a difficult
situation present at that time. Besides, the Census day was observed as a national holiday.
1.8 Census Enumeration and Quality Control
The individual enumeration was taken during Jestha 28 to Ashadh 12, 2058 (June 10-26, 2001).
The reference date of the census (or the census day) was the sunrise of 8th Ashadh 2058, that is,
22nd June 2001. The homeless persons were counted on the day before the census day.
The supervisors and district census officers were already appointed and trained. District census
office in each district was established for the census management purpose. The enumerators had
been recruited and their training was about to commence in all of the 75 districts. In the mean
time, the Narayanhiti Royal Palace Massacre occurred on 1st June 2001. Members of the royal
family and royal relatives were killed which included the King, the Queen and the Crown Prince.
The nation as a whole was extremely shocked and the national mourning was announced for 10
days. All Government offices were closed. In such an unexpected moment, it was but natural that
the district census officers were at a fix to decide whether to go on with the scheduled time or to
delay the work. The Central Office at Kathmandu (i.e., the Central Bureau of Statistics) was also
closed for the mourning. So, the official communication was not easy. Despite the very sad and
difficult situation, the Bureau decided to carry on and accomplish the census enumeration work
on the scheduled time. However, the training of enumerators and other staffs was delayed for a
week. This had a direct impact on the timeliness of the census enumeration. The enumeration
period was extended in some of the districts up to June 26. This meant that the enumeration was
carried out beyond the Census Day i.e., June 22, 2001.
As mentioned earlier, the census supervisors and enumerators were mainly employed on
secondment from among school teachers. On the average, one enumerator had to visit the
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designated enumeration area(s) covering on average about 220 households and about 1,200
population. One supervisor was appointed for every 4 enumerators, on the average. The overall
supervision of the district was assigned to the district census officer. The enumerator's workload
distribution, on the average, was as reported in Table 1.3.
Table1.3 : Workload distribution to the census enumerators by geographic regions
Area Sample Enumeration Complete Enumeration

Mountain 280 households 200 households
Hill 220 households 160 households
Terai 160 households 130 households
Source: CBS, Population Section.
At the time of census there were 3,914 VDC's and 58 municipalities. VDC's contained a total of
35,226 wards while urban areas contained 806 wards. Thus total numbers of wards in the country
were 36,032. Out of these wards, 957 wards (including 2 urban wards) were affected due to the
political disturbances in the country. Works in 83 VDC’s of 12 districts were completely affected.
747 wards were completely affected. 2 wards of 2 municipalities and some wards of 37 VDC's
were partially affected. In Salyan and Kalikot even listing was disturbed in some areas. In these
districts population was estimated on the basis of listing sheet and following other estimation
procedures. Table 1.4 presents the number of missing wards in the census for which the total
population only could be estimated.
Table 1.4 : Missing wards and estimated population.

No. of Estimates
District
Missing Wards Households Total Popn. Male Female
Jhapa 45 11,354 55,067 27,048 28,019
Siraha 4 1,256 2,519 1,254 1,265
Sindhuli 4 1,048 2,562 1,243 1,319
Dolakha 57 5,873 28,317 13,853 14,464
Sindhupalchok 31 2,803 12,138 5,671 6,467
Salyan 309 27,158 152,857 75,876 76,981
Surkhet 47 3,356 18,657 8,876 9,781
Dolpa 58 1,398 7,474 3,598 3,876
Jumla 63 3,703 20,201 10,089 10,112
Kalikot 252 16,461 94,070 46,898 47,172
Mugu 60 2,417 12,472 6,116 6,356
Bajura 27 2,019 8,155 4,021 4,134
Total 957 78,846 414,489 204,543 209,946
Source: CBS, Population Census 2001 (4/17/2002).
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1.9 Dispatching and Collection of Census Questionnaires
In order to store the large volume of census questionnaires and forms and keep them
systematically for distribution before the census and store the census returns (filled in
questionnaires and other forms) properly, large space is needed. As there were not enough space
available in the Bureau and its premises, a separate building was rented in for this purpose.
Dispatching the census questionnaires to the districts offices was a big job. However, it was
accomplished with the help of the private transport companies, courier services and the staffs of
the CBS. Airlifting was done in the remote districts of the country with the help of the Royal
Nepal Army's aircrafts. After the completion of the census, the same process was repeated for
dispatching the questionnaires from the districts to Bureau's Census office at Kathmandu.
It was a very tedious work to store and manage the questionnaires collected from 75 districts.
Collection of questionnaires and verifying the numbers with district, VDC and wards was very
time consuming. Missing questionnaires created another problem. It was necessary to verify data
carefully. Similarly, proper inventory of outgoing and incoming questionnaires during the data
processing was an important job. However, this was well managed with the staffs of the Bureau
who had enough knowledge and skills on questionnaires and other materials management.
Altogether approximately 100 tones of census materials were prepared and used for the 2001
census.
1.10 Data Processing
Data processing, in general, involved the following steps: collection and management of filled in
questionnaires at the CBS, manual data editing and coding, data entry and verification, computer
data editing, processing and tabulations.
Due to the limited physical facilities like space, computers and personnel that were available at
the CBS, data entry along with coding and editing works of the census questionnaires was
contracted out to private agencies. For the selection of private parties criteria were prepared by the
Bureau. The bidder parties were visited for checking physical capacity like number of micro-
computers and space available and the parties were short listed. Financial proposal was called
from the short listed (or pre-qualified) parties and finally two parties were selected for the job.
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Due to bureaucratic processes the data entry work was delayed for about 45 days from the
originally planned schedule.
Two parties contracted out for the data coding, editing and entry work of the two different census
forms were responsible for the short and the long form questionnaires respectively. The data entry
work was completed within a period of 5 months. Two Statistical Officers were deputed in each
of the data entry centres to supervise and monitor the data entry work and report to the data
processing expert stationed in the Bureau. In this manner the data entry progress was regularly
updated and briefed to the Population Census Section Chief who ultimately briefed the Director
General of the Bureau with all the latest updates. Data were transmitted daily from data entry
points to the CBS. Data entry programmes were provided by the CBS. The data verification was
done by the contractor first and then re-verified and supervised by the CBS. Nearly 400 micro-
computers (Pentium III) were used for the data entry work.
Data editing and coding manuals were developed in the CBS and given to the parties doing the
data entry work. Due to the large volume of editing and coding to be done, skipping of editing
rules and miscoding of data field was found frequently. So the CBS had to seriously monitor the
editing and coding work. Such type of errors was discouraged by the central supervision. One
party worked in three shifts while the other one worked in two shifts. Both the parties worked 12
to 14 hours per day. Nearly 400 coding and data entry operators were hired and trained by private
parties for the job.
For the data entry programme, the CBS personnel provided training for the supervisors and
supervisors later gave training to the operators. Data were entered in the networking environment.
All terminals were linked to file servers and access security was maintained. It was found in some
cases that some operators tend to skip field to increase the number of records entered. Such
operators were fired and the programme was modified to minimize this type of error.
A census data processing unit was established at the Population Section of the CBS with one data
processing expert, two statistical officers and two subordinate staffs in system design and
programming under the supervision of the Deputy Director of the Section. For data processing
and tabulations, the CBS used one Pentium IV, four Pentium III along with two high speed laser
printers and one dot matrix printer in Windows NT under Local Area Network environment. The
data processing expert was made available by the UNFPA for all these purposes.
13
Data from private parties were transferred to the CBS through dial modem and later on through
CD-ROM also. At the CBS basically two types of check were done: completeness of data and
accuracy and consistency of data. The number of missing wards was determined after a thorough
check of the questionnaire for each ward. It was a time consuming and laborious work. Data edit
program was prepared by the CBS. Using this programme a summary list of errors for each
district was prepared and if the error rate was found outside the acceptance limit the data entry
was re-verified. Such re-verification was done in about 60 wards.
Nearly two percent of the entry completed questionnaires were verified. During verification, if the
percentage of error found was higher than the tolerance limit then the data entry work was
repeated in such wards. In this process, supervisors had to physically check the questionnaires.
Integrated Microcomputer Processing System (IMPS) prepared by the U.S. Census Bureau was
used for data entry, editing, verification and management of census data. STATA and SPSS
Software Packages were used for the tabulation of the census results.
1.11 Data Dissemination
The function of the publication phase of the 2001 Population Census was to make data available
to data users as quickly as possible after collection, while maintaining the Bureau's standards of
statistical quality, reliability, and comparability. The plan for the 2001 publication was similar to
the previous census except for the addition of some new dissemination strategies.
Apart from the traditional methods of data dissemination, other modern methods were used in the
2001 census. These included: workshops at the centre as well as at the regional levels. CBS also
disseminated data in the present-day popular electronic media. Census results first published in
hard copies were also made available in compact disks (CD's).
Wide range of information has been collected in 2001 Population Census. In order to meet the
demand of the users, attempts have been made for providing these data to the users by various
modes. The Bureau has planned and progressed in publishing the census results both in the
printed hard copies as well as in electronic format in diskettes and CD's. Special considerations
were taken to produce the data output tables useful for studying gender problems and age-sex
disaggregated data was generated where ever possible. About 12 percent of the census data (called
sample data) has been released in CD to facilitate the analyses according to user's needs.
Moreover, population census results have been planned to be disseminated through GIS and
census Atlases under the Census Mapping Project.
14
For the first time after releasing the provisional results of the Population Census 2001 just after
two months of the census, a preliminary analysis of the census was produced in a report form in
December 2001. The published preliminary figures of the Population Census 2001 were based on
the quick count of information registered on the cover page of each book of census Schedule 1.
This report being the first in the series of census publication of 2001, preliminary count of the
household and population was presented at the district, regional and national level and for rural
urban areas. This preliminary analysis very much helped the users and researchers to use
population totals within a very short period after the census.
A list of census publications is shown in Table 1.5.
Table 1.5 : List of the 2001 population census publications
S.N. Title Contents

1 Population Census 2001 of Nepal, Provisional Provisional counts of
Population Report, (December 2001)1 population and household by
different area
2 Population Census 2001 of Nepal, National Report, Population by socio-economic
(June 2002) 1 variables
3 Population of Nepal, Village Development Household and population by
Committees/ Municipalities, Population Census 2001, sex
(June 2002) 1
4 Population of Nepal, Village Development VDC/Municipality level
Committees/ Municipalities, Population Census 2001- information on selected
Selected Tables (Eastern Development Region), (June characteristics
2002) 1
5 Population of Nepal, Village Development
Committees/ Municipalities, Population Census 2001-
"
Selected Tables (Central Development Region), (June
2002) 1
"
Selected Tables (Western Development Region), (June
2002) 1
"
Selected Tables (Mid-Western Development Region),
(June 2002) 1
15
S.N. Title Contents
8 Population of Nepal, Village Development VDC/Municipality level
Committees/ Municipalities, Population Census 2001- information on selected
Selected Tables (Far-Western Development Region), characteristics.
1
(June 2002)
Committees/ Municipalities, Population Census 2001- VDC/Municipality level
Selected Tables on Caste/Ethnicity, Mother Tongue & information on caste/ethnicity,
Religion (Eastern Development Region), (November mother tongue and religion.
1
2002)
Selected Tables on Caste/Ethnicity, Mother Tongue & "
Religion (Central Development Region), (November
2002) 1
Religion (Western Development Region), (November
2002) 1
Religion (Mid-Western Development Region),
(November 2002) 1
Religion (Far-Western Development Region),
(November 2002) 1
14 Population Census Results in Gender Perspective Gender related data on: gender
2
(Population Census 2001) – Vol. I, (December 2002) & social well being; gender
and household headship
15 Population Census Results in Gender Perspective Gender related data on:
2
(Population Census 2001) – Vol. II, (December 2002) education, awareness & media
exposure; work and work
burden
16
S.N. Title Contents
16 Population Census Results in Gender Perspective Gender related data on:
(Population Census 2001) – Vol. III, (December reproductive health and
2
2002) internal migration
17 Nepal Standard Classification of Occupation (NSCO) Detailed occupation
2
– 2000, (2001) classification based on the
ISCO up to 4 digits
18 Nepal Standard Classification of Industry (NSIC) – Detailed industry classification
2
2000, (2001 ) based on the ISIC up to 4
digits
19 Gender Disaggregated Indicators, Nepal, 2002, (Wall Selected data and indicators on
Chart) 3 gender
20 Gender Statistics at a Glance, A Fact Sheet (Population Gender statistics and indicators
2
Census 2001), (December 2002) of census
21 Population Projection for Nepal 2001 – 2021, National and sub-national level
4
(December 2003) population projection by age
and sex up to 2021
22 Population Monograph of Nepal, 2003 , (December Detailed analysis of the 2001
2003)1 Population Census
23 Population Census 2001 Sample Data in CD, (August Sample data of the 2001
2003) 1 Population Census
24 Population Census 2001, National Report in CD, (July National report in CD
2002) 1
25 Population Census 2001, VDC/ Municipality with Reports at the VDC/
Selected Tables in CD, (August 2003) 1 Municipality level
26 Socio-Economic Atlas of the 2001 Population Census, Socio Economic Atlas of
(Forthcoming) 5 Nepal (District, VDC &
Municipality)
1
Note : Published under the aegis of the CBS and the UNFPA
2
Published under the aegis of the CBS and the UNIFEM
3
Published under the aegis of the CBS, the MGEP and the UNDP
4
Published under the aegis of the CBS, the MOPE and the UNFPA
5
Published under the aegis of the CBS, the DS and the EU
Source : CBS, Population Section.
17
1.12 Concepts and Definitions
For the first time, new concepts were introduced in the 2001 Census. In this context, there have
been some modifications in the concept of household work and extended economic activity.
Previously such activities were not conceptualized and had been included and confined within the
domestic activities. The extended economic activity concept included the activities of fuel wood
collection, fetching of water and production of goods for household consumption as economic
activities. It is very important to note that it is for the first time that such concepts were developed
and the activities were counted as economic activities.
Various terms and definitions used in the population census have been improved and
standardized. One of such aspect is the use of standard classification of occupation and industry.
In this context, the Nepal Standard Classification of Occupation and Industry 2000 were prepared
and used in the data processing and tabulation. While preparing these classifications, attempts
were made to include enough categories of work to suit types of work in Nepalese context and
adequate examples with due consideration on women's work were provided. This helped in the
study of prevailing gender disparity in the field of economic activity of the population, especially
women's participation in economic work. Other standard classifications used and adopted were in
the caste/ethnicity, mother tongue and religion groupings. These new groupings were much
improved than in the 1991 census. Concepts and definitions used in the 2001 census are
summarised in Annex 1.2.
1.12.1 Census Questionnaire
In the modern context there is increasing demand for more information and this is not an
exception for the census as well. A census being a huge national undertaking incurring substantial
amount of money, the resources are always constrained and limited. In order to cope with the
increasing demand of the population data, for the first time sampling was introduced in the 2001
census. One of the major objectives of the introduction of sampling in the census was to save cost
as well as time. This has led to the design of two different types of questionnaires, the short form
(Schedule 1) and the long form (Schedule 2). The short form represented the complete count of
the basic information on household and individual relating to the population. While, the long form
represented the sample enumeration of other detailed demographic, social and economic variables
at the individual level as well as at the household level. As a cross cutting issues the census have
focused on gender issues and the issues of women, men, children and the disabled. The Schedule
1 was meant for all households while a sample of approximately one-in-five households were
selected for the Schedule 2. Schedule 1 and 2 and comparison with the items included in the 1991
census is given in Annex 1.1.
18
Short Form : Schedule 1
This schedule included both the household and individual questions and the questionnaire was
completely canvassed. The household part of the questionnaire consisting of household
information was as follows: type of housing unit, ownership of house, agricultural land operated
and area of operated land, livestock/poultry raised for agriculture purpose, female ownership of
house, land and livestock, small scale economic activities (other than agriculture) operated by
household and the type of activity, population absent from the household (and gone abroad) by
sex, age, duration of absence, reason of absence and country of destination.
The individual information included in the questionnaire were: name, sex, age, caste/ethnicity,
relationship, religion, language, citizenship, and disability. A list of the items included in the short
form is presented in Table 1.6.
Table 1.6 : Items covered in the schedule 1 of the 2001 population census questionnaire
Schedule 1
Household Information Individual Information
1. Type of housing unit occupied by the household 1. Serial number of household member
2. Tenure of housing unit 2. Full name of the household member
3. Whether any land operated for agriculture 3. Male/Female
4. Area of agricultural land operated 4. Age
5. Whether any livestock/ poultry raised 5. Caste/Ethnicity
6. Number of livestock/ poultry on the holding 6. Relationship of the household head
7. Whether any female member owned any 7. Religion
house/land
- Area of land owned 8. Language spoken
8. Whether any female member owned any - Mother tongue
livestock - Second language
- Number of livestock (big and small head)
9. Whether household was engaged in small scale 9. Citizenship
non-agricultural activities
10. Main type of small scale activity (other than 10. Type of disability
agriculture)
11. Whether any person absent from household and
living abroad
12. Information on the absentee
- Sex, age, duration, reason and destination
Source: CBS, 2003.
19
Long Form : Schedule 2
The household part of this schedule collected information on the main source of drinking water,
fuel for cooking, lighting source, toilet facility, and other household conveniences available.
Death occurred (if any) in the last 12 months in the household and the sex, age, date of the
deceased and the cause of death were also asked. The items included in the individual part were:
place of birth, duration of stay in the current place of residence, main reason for staying here,
residence five years ago, literacy, level of education, current school attendance, marital status, age
at first marriage, children ever born, children born in the last 12 months, usual work during last 12
months, duration and type of work done during last 12 months, occupation and industry,
employment status, reason for not working and living arrangement of children below 16 years of
age. A list of these items is presented in Table 1.7.
Table 1.7 : Items covered in the schedule 2 of the 2001 population census questionnaire
Schedule 2
Household Information Individual Information
1. Main source of drinking water 1. Serial number of household member

2. Main fuel used for cooking 2. Full name and sex of the household member
3. Main source of light 3. Age
4. Toilet facility 4. Place of birth
5. Household conveniences 5. Duration of stay at the present place
6. Whether any death in the household 6. Reason for staying in this district
7. Information on the deceased person(s) 7. Residence five years ago
- Sex, age, date, and cause 8. Whether able to read and write
9. Level of education
10. Whether currently attending any school
11. Marital status
12. Age at first marriage
13. No. of children ever born
14. Any live births during last 12 months
15. Work usually done during the last 12 months
16. No. of months worked during the last 12 months
17. Occupation (type of usual work)
18. Industry (place of usual work)
19. Employment Status
20. Reasons for usually not working
21. Living arrangements of children below 16 years
Source: CBS, 2003.
An English version of the 2001 Population Census questionnaire along with the household listing
form is presented in Annex 1.4.
20
1.13 Sampling Scheme
As mentioned earlier, the 2001 census collected data based on short form for the complete
enumeration of the benchmark information and the long form for the sample enumeration of other
socio-economic and demographic information. As mentioned earlier, the long form was
administered for population dwelling in about 20 percent of the total housing units. Based on
these sample enumeration estimates were generated at the district level with reliable degree of
precision.
Two visits were made for the sample enumeration. The first one was the listing; during the first
visit house numbering was carried out by the census supervisors. After the housing list thus
prepared, housing units were sampled by the supervisors.
The enumerators made the second visit for census enumeration. Short questionnaire was used for
every household in each EA and the long questionnaire was filled in for the sample housing units
selected by the supervisor.
Sampling was adopted in all rural areas of 69 districts. The 6 districts in which sampling were not
adopted are listed in Table 1.8. Out of the 58 municipalities, sampling scheme was followed in 6
municipalities and the remaining municipalities were completely enumerated.
Table 1.8 : Districts and municipalities enumerated in the 2001 population census
District Municipality
Rasuwa
Complete enumeration: Mugu
Schedule 1 as well as Humla All municipalities except those
Schedule 2 filled in for all Dolpa listed below
housing units. Mustang
Manang
Biratnagar
Sample enumeration: Dharan
Schedule 1 filled in for all Lalitpur
All districts except those
households and Schedule 2
listed above Kathmandu
filled in for sample
housing units. Birganj
Pokhara
21
Sample selection was carried out in each census EA. The sampling frame for each EA was created
during the initial listing operation. The listing form, among other items, contained serial number
of the housing units and the serial number of households found within the housing units. This
listing form of housing units formed the sampling frame for selecting the housing units, which
constituted the sampling unit, and all households and persons found in the selected units were
enumerated using both the short and long questionnaires. The sample of households and persons
in each EA was thus a one-stage cluster sample, the cluster being the housing unit.
Sample selection of housing units in each EA was carried by systematic sampling. It was decided
to sample one housing unit out of 8 housing units; every 8th household was selected. So, the
sampling interval was 8.
The main control variables for the majority of tabulations for persons are the age and sex. The
main tabulation group was formed for these two variables. Weights were calculated mainly on the
basis of age and sex of the population. The sampling fraction of the households selected for the
Schedule 2 is presented in Table 1.9.
Table 1.9 : Sampling fraction in the 2001 population census
Complete Enumeration Sample Enumeration Sampling Fraction

Households Population Households Population Households Population
Rural 3,509,867 19,509,055 457,791 2,532,944 13.04 12.98
(84.08) (85.80) (53.31) (55.57)
Urban 664,507 3,227,879 400,934 2,024,848 60.34 62.73
(15.92) (14.20) (46.69) (44.43)
Nepal 4,174,374 22,736,934 858,725 4,557,792 20.57 20.05
(100) (100) (100) (100)
In total the urban population is seen to be around 14 per cent of the total population. It is
interesting to note that in the sample the urban population and households are represented by
more than 60 percent of the total count. Since the ratio method was used for the estimation, the
weights have been calculated accordingly.
22
The sampling scheme of the 2001 Population Census is summarized in the following box.
1. The sampling covered the private households only. For the institutional population,
Schedule-1 only was administered.
2. For the sampling, 75 administrative districts formed the main strata and VDC's and
municipalities within the district formed the domains.
3. There were around 36,000 wards in the country at the time of the census. For the purpose of
the census enumeration some of the large wards were further divided into sub-wards. These
wards and sub-wards formed the EA's for sampling. The total number of EAs thus formed
were around 40,000.
4. Sampling was carried out in each EA; housing unit being the sampling unit.
5. The list of housing units and households served as the sampling frame for the EA. The
housing units were selected by systematic sampling method. The sampling interval taken was
8.
6. The list of selected housing units was made available to the enumerator for the enumeration.
All households and persons found in the selected units were enumerated.
7. The ratio method was used in making estimates for the sample. The formula used for the
purpose was:
yhij
yhi" = ∑ X hij
j xhij
where,
y"hi = the ratio estimator for the population with a certain characteristic in the ith domain and
in the hth district,
yhij = number of persons with a certain characteristic in the jth tabulation group, in the ith
domain and in the hth district,
xhij = total number of persons found in the sample in the jth tabulation group, in the ith
domain and in the hth district, and
Xhij = total number of persons in the 100 percent count, found in the jth tabulation group, in
the ith domain and in the hth district.
8. Tabulation groups were created separately for tabulation of persons and those for households.
The main control variables for the majority of tabulations for persons were two variables: age
sex. Tabulation groups for household tabulations were formed in a different manner: taking
households as a tabulation group in the domain.
9. To implement the ratio estimation, first weights were calculated. The weights for sample data
were computed by dividing the 100 percent counts for the same tabulation groups in the
domain by sample counts for the same tabulation groups in the domain. To avoid
inconsistency due to rounding, the figures were converted to whole numbers.
Source: Kit, 2000.
23
1.14 The Post Enumeration Survey
Post enumeration surveys (PES) are generally conducted for the evaluation of the census coverage
error. In Nepal, PES has been conducted since the 1981 Population Census. Post Enumeration
Survey of the 2001 Population Census (PES 2001) was the third in this series to assess the quality
of population census data.
The PES 2001 was conducted with the assistance of the UNFPA. A short term international
consultant and a national consultant were hired for the design and overall supervision of the
survey. The PES 2001 followed the census enumeration. The survey was, however, made
independent of the census enumeration. The staff of the Bureau were trained for the purpose and
were fielded for the work. The staff were again sent to the field for the reconciliation of the
unmatched cases found in the first round. The staff were, however, interchanged during the
reconciliation phase.
After a detailed analysis, the PES revealed a gross coverage error of 6.2 percent and after
considering the erroneous counting in the census the net omission rate in the 2001 Population
Census was found to be 5.3 percent.
1.15 Problems Faced in the 2001 Census
In a census large amount of resources and manpower is to be mobilized within a short period of
time. The 2001 Population Census was not an exception to this. However, this census was slightly
different from the earlier censuses as some additional problems were faced in this census. Main
problems faced in this census (some of which have been already mentioned) are summarized in
the following.
1. Census budget : Originally Rs. 280 million was allocated for the census by the Government.
But later on, the Government went on the austerity programme, tight fiscal measures were
observed, priorities were changed and there was a budget cut. Finally, Rs. 180 million only
was made available for the field work. So the Bureau had to work under budgetary constraint.
2. Transport of census materials: Transportation of census materials in respective districts and

collection after the census was also a difficult task for the Bureau. Even having improved
24
transport and communication facilities, the material transportation in remote districts was still
a problem and this was further compounded by the Maoist movement.
3. Matching of census questionnaires: In the census 2001, enumeration was carried out using
two separate forms: schedule 1and schedule 2. While processing, problem was encountered
in matching the two different questionnaires for the same household. To avoid such problems
in the future both the form should be printed as a single questionnaire and canvassed as per
the sampling scheme decided for the enumeration of the households. This would
tremendously help in improving the quality of data in the future censuses.
4. Royal Palace incident: All census activities completely stopped and came to a coma due to the
1st June, 2001 Royal Palace Massacre. Specially, communication was completely disturbed
and this delayed the enumerators' training and actual field enumeration at least for a period of
one week in most part of the country. This also affected the quality of the training in some
parts of the country.
5. Maoist insurgency: From the beginning of the census field operation there was the Maoist
insurgency movement in different parts of the country. At the time of the household listing the
movement did not affect much but the census enumeration was disturbed in 957 wards of 12
districts of the country. This problem has been also stated above in Section 1.8.
1.16 Conclusion
As census is an outcome of the collective efforts of the producers and users, its quality mainly
depends upon the awareness, general level of education and the attitude of the general people.
Again the cooperation of the respondent and the quality work and dedication from the part of
enumerators and supervisors are also equally important for producing a good census.
In the conduct of a population census there are chances of error in every step of its operation.
Collection of quality data (with the minimum possible error) is not possible without the
cooperation of the general public and the respondents in particular.
Fortunately, the population censuses of Nepal are becoming more and more popular. The public
support for the census has been increasing. The users are taking increasing interests in taking part
in the operation. In this way, there were lots of concern on the census from all sections of the
society and this turned out to be very fruitful at all stages of the 2001 census.
25
In this context, there was a very good initiation from different groups of people representing
different social organizations in the 2001 census. During the 2001 Census, the NGO's, the
INGO's, different caste and ethnic groups, religious groups and other interest groups came up to
help in the census publicity. They wanted to be a part in the census taking itself, and not only in
the use of the final data. However, these groups of people were mainly concerned and focused on
the number that is in the quantity rather than on the quality of the census. Such type of advocacy
should be directed towards increasing the quality of censuses in future.
In spite of the lack of trained and qualified manpower and other hindrances during the field
operation, and above all the resource constraint, the tenth decennial Population Census of Nepal
conducted in 2001 turned out to be a successful endeavor. An attempt, however brief, has been
made here to highlight the census from different perspectives. It is hoped that this will help the
users and researchers in their independent evaluation and understanding of the 2001 Population
Census of Nepal and also provide guide to future census planners as well.
26
References
Banthia, J. K. (2002). Census of India 2001, Series 1: Provisional Population Totals,

Paper 1 of 2001, New Delhi: Government of India.
Bryant, R. (1989). Two Hundred Years and Counting: The 1990 Census, Population Bulletin, Vol.
44, No. 1, Washington D. C., Population Reference Bureau, Inc.
Central Bureau of Statistics (1987). Population Monograph of Nepal, Kathmandu: HMG/Nepal,

National Planning Commission, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Central Bureau of Statistics (1995). Population Monograph of Nepal, Kathmandu: HMG/Nepal,

Central Bureau of Statistics (2001). Population Census 2001 of Nepal: Provisional Population
Report, Kathmandu: HMG/Nepal, National Planning Commission, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census 2001: National Report, Kathmandu:
HMG/Nepal, National Planning Commission, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Central Bureau of Statistics and UNFPA (2003). Handbook of Regional Training/Workshop,

Training Workshop Materials, Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics and UNFPA.
GC, R. K. (2001). Population Census 2001. Central Bureau of Statistics, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Haupt, A. & Thomas T. K. (1998). Population Reference Bureau’s Population Handbook, Fourth
International Edition, Washington, D. C.: Population Reference Bureau.
HMG/Nepal (1992). The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 2047 (1990), Kathmandu:
HMG/Nepal, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Law Books Management
Board.
Kit, K. K. (2000). Sample Design for the 2001 Census of Housing and Population, Katmandu,
Nepal.
Sharma, K. R. (2000), Population Census 2001, Nepal, (Lecture Notes), Kathmandu : COSMOS.
Singh, S. and Bastola, T. S. (1999). National Population Census of Nepal, 2001: The First Census
of the Next Millenium, Nepal Population Journal, Volume 8, No. 7, Kathmandu:
Population Association of Nepal (PAN)
27
Annex 1.1 : Census items included in the 2001 census as compared to the 1991 census
Q.N. Census Items Remarks
Schedule 1
Identification Expanded, modified and combined
Household Information
1 Type of housing unit Sequence of answer categories slightly
rearranged
2 Tenure of housing unit Similar to 1991
3 Whether any land operated for New screening question
agriculture
4 Area of land operated Unit of area measurement modified; write in
space for answer elaborated
5 Whether any livestock/poultry raised New screening question
6 Number of livestock/ poultry Question on poultry added
7 Whether any female members of the New screening question
household own any house and/or land
Total area of land owned by the female New question
8 Whether any female members of the New question
household own any livestock
Number of livestock owned New question
9 Whether household has any small scale New screening question
economic activity other than
agriculture
10 Type of small scale economic activity Two new answer categories included
11 Whether any individual absent in the New screening question
household is living outside the country
12 Information about the absentee Some answer categories expanded while some
others are modified
Individual Information
1 Serial number of the household member Similar to 1991
2 Full name of the member Similar to 1991
3 Male/Female Same as in 1991
4 Age Same as in 1991
5 Caste/Ethnicity Question slightly modified
6 Relationship of the household head New answer categories added and some
categories modified
7 Religion Same as in 1991
8 Language spoken Similar to 1991
9 Citizenship Same as in 1991
10 Type of disability New question
28
Q.N. Census Items Remarks
Schedule 2
Identification Expanded, modified and combined
Household Information
1 Main source of drinking water New question
2 Main fuel used for cooking New question
3 Kind of lighting used New question
4 Toilet facility New question
5 Presence of household conveniences Answer categories expanded
6 Whether any deaths in the household New screening question
7 Information of the deceased person(s) Date and cause of death added
Individual Information
1 Serial number of the household Similar to 1991
member
2 Full name and sex of the member Similar to 1991
3 Age Same as in 1991
4 Place of birth Same as in 1991
5 Duration of stay at the present place Question modified
6 Reason for staying in this district New question
7 Residence five years ago Question modified
8 Whether able to read and write Question modified
9 Level of education Same as in 1991
10 Whether currently attending school Same as in 1991
11 Marital status Answer categories expanded
12 Age at first marriage New question
13 No. of children ever born Same as in 1991
14 Any live births in the past 12 months Question modified
15 Work usually done during the last 12 Answer categories expanded
months
16 No. of months worked Answer categories added and modified
17 Occupation (type of usual work) Same as in 1991
18 Industry (place of work) Same as in 1991
19 Employment status Same as in 1991
20 Reasons for not usually working Answer categories rearranged and re-sequenced
21 Living arrangements of children below New question
16 years
Source : CBS, Population Section.

Note : In the 1991 census, Schedule 1 and 2 contained "Household Information" and "Individual
Information" separately.
29
Annex 1.2 : Concepts and definitions of key items used in the 2001 population census of
Nepal
Concepts and definitions of key items
Usual place of It refers to the place of residence of members of household where they
residence usually come back for spending their night. It also means that they have no
other place to reside at the time of enumeration other than the usual place
they report.
Household Household refers to a group of people who normally live together and share
a common kitchen.
Type of Type of house/housing unit is determined on the basis of main construction

house/housing materials of outer walls and roof of the house.
unit
Land operated for It refers to the agricultural land which includes all land used wholly or
agriculture partly for agricultural production purposes.
Absentee An individual absent from the household and gone abroad for more than six
population months before the census date.
Age Age is the time interval between birth date and census date, expressed in
completed years.
Head of the The person whether male or female reported by the household as being
household mainly responsible for the maintenance and well-being of the household.
Source of This refers to the household's main source of drinking water. If there are
drinking water two or more sources, the one that was used most of the time during the past
twelve months is considered as the main source.
Fuel used for This refers to the kind of fuel the household used for most of the cooking
cooking for most of the time in the household.
Household These are durable and conveniences available to the household.

conveniences Conveniences exclusively used for business purposes are excluded.
Place of birth This refers to the mothers usual place of residence at the person's birth.
Literacy Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write in any language with
understanding and ability to do simple arithmetic. Literacy pertains to
persons at ages 6 years and above.
Level of education Level of education refers to the highest grade or year completed in school,
college or university.
30
Concepts and definitions of key items
Marital status Marital status refers to the personal status of each individual in reference to
the marriage laws or socio-religious customs of the country. All persons
except the single are ever-married persons. Information on marital status is
to be gathered from all persons at ages 10 years and above.
Children ever Information on the number of children borne alive pertains to all females 15
born to 49 years of age. The number includes all live-borne children during the
lifetime of the women up to the census date. Fetal deaths or stillbirths are to
be excluded. Children living together in the household, living elsewhere,
dead, and total children ever born are to be recorded separately by sex.
Work Work refers to the kinds of activity carried out by an individual aged 10
years or above during the past twelve months. Kinds of activity which count
as "work" include the activities outside the home as well as the home-based
activities. Production of goods for own use, for example, are considered as
"work" while the production of own-account household services are
considered as "non-work" activities for the census purposes.
Occupation Type of work done determines the occupation. Occupation of an individual

refers to the kind of work done during the past 12 months irrespective of
industry and employment status. For a person who had more than one
works, occupation is determined based on the time spent. If time is equal
then the highest income generating work determines the occupation.
Industry The place of work intends to determine the industry. Industry for the census
purpose refers to the principal type of economic activity of the
establishment (goods and services produced by the establishment) in which
an individual worked during the reference period.
Living It refers to the presence or absence of parent(s) of the children below 16

arrangements of years of age in the household.
children
31
Annex 1.3 : List of materials prepared for and used in the 2001 population census
S. N. Materials
1 Census Questionnaire: Schedule 1
2 Census Questionnaire: Schedule 2
3 House/Household Listing Form
4 Questionnaire Instruction Manual
5 Enumerators' Manual
6 Supervisors' Manual
7 Household and Agricultural Holding Transcription Sheet
8 Control Forms for Schedule 1 and Schedule 2
9 Census Note Pads
10 Census Dot-pens (Blue and Red)
11 Census Enumerators' Bag
12 Census Supervisors' Bag
13 Census Officers' Bag
14 Census Logo Stickers
15 Office Stamp and Pads
16 Census Staff Identity Card
17 Staff Recruitment Letter
18 Record Files
19 Account Ledger Files and Other Documents
20 Letter Pads
21 Main Census Publicity Posters (2 Types)
22 Census Pamphlets
23 Census Folders
24 Census Postcard
25 Census Administration and Accounts' Manual
26 Census Maps (District & VDC/Municipality)
27 Map Reading Instruction Manual
28 Gender Manual, Manual about the Disability.
32
33
34
35
CHAPTER 2
POPULATION SIZE, GROWTH AND DISTRIBUTION
- Ritu Pantha∗
- Bharat Raj Sharma∗∗
2.1 Introduction
Nepal has a long history of census taking dating back to the early 19th century. Periodic censuses
have been undertaken since 1911 at roughly ten years interval up to 1961 and thereafter at every
ten years interval. The census conducted up to 1941 did not explain details of the census
methodology. The information collected in these earlier censuses are very limited and information
obtained seem only head counts although it is seen that the questionnaire included other socio-
economic and demographic characteristics also. In 1952/54, the census was conducted using
internationally acceptable definition and concepts. Because of various reasons, the census was
carried out at two phases i.e. eastern part of the country (except Mahhotari) was enumerated in
1952 and rest of the country was enumerated in 1954. In the modern sense of the term the census
started with 1952/54 census. However due to the time reference problem in the census of 1952/54,
the 1961 census is generally accepted as the first scientific census in terms of international
standard and comparisons. Then the subsequent censuses were all conducted at one point of time
and are of international standard.
In the absence of complete vital registration and the other representative regular population
surveys the main source of population statistics in Nepal is the decennial population censuses.
The size of the population is usually the first demographic fact that a government tries to obtain.
However, for many purposes information’s on size and characteristics of the total population is
not sufficient. Population data are often needed for geographic sub divisions of a country and for
other classifications of areas in which people live. The census results are used for diverse
purposes such as updating population estimates, developing and updating sampling frames,
correcting and updating population registers, delimitations of electoral districts etc. For adequate
planning on the national and regional levels, a nation requires detailed information about the
characteristics of the society and specific goals of government programs to improve living
conditions. This chapter deals with the size, growth, age sex composition and spatial distribution
of the population.
∗
Ritu Pantha is a Statistical Officer of Central Bureau of Statistics
∗∗
Bharat Raj Sharma is a Statistical Officer of Central Bureau of Statistics
37
2.2 Population Size and Growth Rate
The total population at various censuses since 1911, corresponding annual growth rates and time
to double the population is presented in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1 : Population size, growth rate and doubling time, Nepal, 1911 – 2001
Population Annual Growth Doubling

Census year Total Population
Change Rate (Exponential) Time
1911 5,638,749 - -
1920 5,573,788 - 64,961 -0.13 -
1930 5,532,574 41,214 -0.07 -
1941 6,283,649 7,51,075 1.16 60
1952-54 8,256,625 19,72,976 2.27 31
1961 9,412,996 11,56,371 1.64 42
1971 11,555,983 21,42,987 2.05 34
1981 15,022,839 34,66,856 2.62 26
1991 18,491,097 34,68,258 2.08 33
2001 23,151,423 46,60,326 2.25 31
Source : CBS, 1958, Table 2

CBS, 1968 Vol. III, Part II Table 2
CBS, 1975 Vol. I, Table 2
CBS, 2002 National Report Vol. I, Table 1
Table 2.1 shows that the population of Nepal declined up to 1930 and then after population started
to grow. However, the population of the country did not grow at a uniform rate. At the time of
the latest census of 2001, Nepal’s population reached 23.1 million with annual average growth
rate of 2.25 percent during the last decade 1991-2001. In less than a century, the population of the
country has more than quadrupled itself. In 1911 Nepal’s total population yielded 5.6 million. The
main reasons of population decline in the period 1911 to 1930 are not known but may be
attributed to the effect of worldwide influenza epidemic and the heavy casualties suffered by
Nepalese army in the First World War (CBS, 1987, CBS, 1995). In the other hand it is argued that
there may also have been problems of undercounting of these censuses. The censuses of 1920,
1930 and 1941 were conducted in abnormal periods i.e. the census of 1920 was conducted
immediately after the first world war and the 1941 census was taken during the mid period of
second world war in which about 1,80,000 to 2,00,000 Nepalese soldiers participated respectively
in Allied side (Singh, 1983). Also the census of 1930 was taken at the time when Nepal was
38
preparing for war with Tibet (now China). Though the population, which suffered heavy
casualties in war, were mostly males, the sex ratio was found to be high (Singh, 1983) i.e. there
were more males than females. Particularly, in pre-modern times, the emphasis in census taking
was upon fiscal and military potentials. Hence, women, children, aliens, slaves or aborigines were
usually relatively undercounted or omitted altogether. It is therefore natural to expect that up to
1941, censuses of Nepal were not complete.
The rate of increase in the period 1941 to 1952/54 was improbably high in comparison with the
earlier period. Prior to the 1952/54 censuses, the overall coverage of the censuses was poor so this
may have led the population growth rate to be high in 1952/54. In the other hand, in 1951, Nepal
became a democratic country and after this change attempted the improvement in the
management of census taking. Census contents were designed in accordance to international
convention, people felt real purpose and usefulness of census and census officers were sent
abroad for training. This could have led to an overall improvement in the census coverage. The
other explanation is that the census was taken at two points of time and this could lead to the over
counting of some people due to the long time gap between the two enumerations.
Although population of Nepal grew at 1.64 percent per annum, the population growth rate was
found lower during 1952/54 to 1961 than that of 1941 to 1952/54. However, since 1971 census to
2001 census population growth rates have crossed 2 percent per annum even though growth rates
do not follow unidirectional trend. The population growth rate observed during the period 1971 to
1981 is found very high compared to 1981 to 1991 period. This may be attributed to the rapid fall
in mortality without any corresponding fall in fertility. Again, analysis of population growth rate
during the period 1981 to 1991 shows some decline while population growth rate during 1991 to
2001 is again high than during the period 1981 to 1991. The annual growth rates of population
mostly relate to the quality of data obtained in the census notably the coverage and undercount
and possibly over-count in different censuses. In 1981 over-enumeration was possible because of
the highest monetary incentive given to field workers compared to all other censuses (Karki,
1992). A fluctuation in the annual growth rate is also reflected in the doubling time of Nepal’s
populations (Table 2.1).
The Post Enumeration Survey (PES), designed to evaluate the 1991 and 2001 census data quality
with respect to completeness of coverage, was delayed by 4 months while in 1991 it was delayed
by 6 months. Although in 1991 census about 11 percent undercount was estimated, the results of
the PES was not accepted for a number of reasons including the timing of the conduct of PES (for
more see Population Monograph, Nepal, 1995, p.3). However the net omission is estimated to be
5.3% for 2001 census.
39
2.3 Spatial Distribution of Population
Spatial distribution of Population represents the relationship of human habitat to the physical
boundaries. In the past, human were being interested to settle in the areas conducive to
agriculture and thus began to be attracted towards developed areas or in the favorable physical
environment. The spatial distribution of human population is a fundamental determinant of both
the societal impacts and anthropogenic drives of global change (Pozzi et al, 2002). Moreover, the
spatial distribution of a country may be affected by socio cultural, economic, environmental,
historical and developmental factors. The population growth and the spatial distribution will lead
to the extension of urbanization which impacts on natural resources and the environment (Pozzi et
al, 2002). Thus, the environment implications associated with population growth are not only
related to the total number of people, but also to their spatial distribution. The concern with
population distribution was also highlighted in the 1994 ICPD program of action, where the
emphasis is placed on the issues of population distribution and sustainable development.
Nepal’s political geography has undergone a great change since the ancient time. In the rana
regime, Nepal was divided into 20 Hill Districts, 9 Terai Districts and 3 inner Terai (Bhitri
Madesh) Districts (Pandey, 2042). However, the geographical administrative division of Nepal,
which was based on Rana Regime, was cancelled in 1961 and then the country was divided into
75 Districts and 14 zones. Each District is further divided into Village Development Committees
and Municipalities. At present there are 3915 Village Development Committees and 58
Municipalities in the country. Again the 14 Zones were grouped in into four development regions
in 1972. Later it was increased to five development regions in 1980. Five development regions
are Eastern, Central, Western, Mid Western and Far Western. After the resolution of multiparty
system the zones are not seen to be functional administrative units. Thus, in this chapter the
spatial distribution of population is focused on Ecological Zone, Eco-development Regions,
Districts and Village Development Committee/Municipality.
2.3.1 Population Distribution by Ecological Zone
Geographically the country is divided into three regions called Ecological Zones. They are
Mountain, Hill and Terai. Ecological Zones reflect the climatic condition and the variation of
agricultural land and others resources. The population distribution of Nepal by Ecological Zones
for the census year 1952/54 to 2001 is shown in Table 2.2. The table reveals that the population
40
of the Terai has been increasing rapidly year by year. The Terai had enumerated 35 percent of the
total population in the census year 1952/54 and has increased to 48 percent in the census year
2001. There has been a marked decrease in the share of population in Mountain and Hill from 65
percent in 1952/54 to 52 percent in 2001. Interestingly, the declining trend is observed in both
the Mountain and the Hill.
Initially, Terai region was covered with dense forest and highly infested with malaria and other
transmissible diseases. Later the diseases were controlled and the deforestation increased day by
day for the human settlement and the pattern of population distribution by Ecological Zone is
changing (CBS, 1995). According to latest census 2001, Terai region alone shared about fifty
percent of the total population, Hill and Mountains shared about 44 and 7 percentage of total
population respectively.
Table 2.2 : Distribution of population by ecological zone, Nepal, 1952/54-2001.

Census Mountain
Mountain Hill Terai Total
Year & Hill
1952/54 - - 5349988 2906637 8256625

- - (64.8) (35.2)
1961 - - 5991297 3421699 9412996
- - (63.6) (36.4)
1971 1138610 6071407 7210017 4345966 11555983
(9.9) (52.5) (62.4) (37.6)
1981 1302896 7163115 8466011 6556828 15022839
(8.7) (47.7) (56.4) (43.6)
1991 1443130 8419889 9863019 8628078 18491097
(7.8) (45.5) (53.3) (46.7)
2001 1687859 10251111 11938970 11212453 23151423
(7.3) (44.3) (51.6) (48.4)
Sources : CBS, 1958, Vol. I

CBS, 1966, Vol. I
CBS, 1975, Vol. I
CBS, 1984, Vol. Part I
CBS, 1993, Vol. Part I
CBS, 2002, National Report
Note : Figures in the parenthesis indicates percentage of the total population.
41
2.3.2 Population Distribution by Development Regions
The distribution of the Population by development regions in Nepal is shown in Table 2.3. The
Central and Far Western Development Region has observed slightly increasing trend in the
distribution of population. The Central and Far Western Development regions have accounted
about 33 and 9 percent of total population in 1981 and these respective figures increased to 35 and
10 percent in 2001. However, slightly decreasing trend is seen in Eastern and Western
Development Regions. About 25 and 21 percentage of the total population have been counted in
Eastern and Western Development Regions in 1981, whereas the respective percentage decreased
to 23 and 20 percentage in 2001. The Mid Western Development Region has been steadily
increasing the size of population. According to latest census of 2001 it is found that more than
one third of Nepal’s population live in the Central Development Regions and less than 10 percent
in the Far Western Development Region. Similarly Eastern and Western region shared 23 and 20
percent of total population. On the other hand Mid Western Region's share is only 13 percent of
total population.
Table 2.3 : Population distribution by development regions, Nepal, 1981-2001.
Development Population Percentage

Region 1981 1991 2001 1981 1991 2001
Eastern 3708923 4446749 5344476 24.69 24.05 23.09
Central 4909357 6183955 8031629 32.68 33.44 34.69
Western 3128859 3770678 4571013 20.83 20.39 19.74
Mid Western 1955611 2410414 3012975 13.02 13.04 13.01
Far western 1320089 1679301 2191330 8.78 9.08 9.47
Total 15022839 18491097 23151423 100 100 100
Source : CBS, 1984, Vol I Part I

CBS, 1993, Vol I part I
2.3.3 Population Distribution by Ecological Zones & Development

Regions
The percentage distributions of population by Ecological Zones and Development Regions for
1981 to 2001 are shown in Table 2.4. The table reveals that percentage share of population in
Mountain region is decreasing however the share of total population varied in different sub-
regions. In Mountain, the percentage varied from a maximum of 2.4 percent in Central Mountain
to a minimum of 0.1 percent in Western Mountain for the census year 2001.
42
The Hill represents the very interesting pattern of Population distribution. The share of total
population is decreasing from 48 percent in 1981 to 44 in 2001, however the Central Hill has
showed slightly increasing trend in the share of population distribution from 14 percent in 1981 to
15 percent in 2001. This may be partly due to the inclusion of Kathmandu District in this sub-
region, which is the capital city of kingdom and experiencing continuous growth of its population
from one census to another.
On the other hand, compared with the previous census all the sub-regions in the Terai increased
their share of total population and also considerable variation is observed among the sub regions.
In the Eastern Terai, small fluctuation is observed in the share of total population. Central Terai
experienced slight increase in the share of Total population from 15.9 percent in 1981 to 17
percent in 2001 and followed by Western and Midwestern Terai. Compared with other sub-
regions of Terai, the variation in the share of total population is high in the Far Western Terai
from 2.8 percent in 1981 to 4.3 percent in 2001.
Table 2.4 : Percentage distribution of total population in different ecological &

development regions of Nepal, 1981-2001.
Ecological Zones and Percentage Distribution of Population
Development Regions 1981 1991 2001
Mountain 8.7 7.8 7.3
Eastern 2.3 1.9 1.7
Central 2.8 2.5 2.4
Western 0.1 0.1 0.1
Mid western 1.6 1.4 1.3
Far western 1.9 1.8 1.7
Hill 47.7 45.5 44.3
Eastern 8.4 7.7 7.1
Central 14.0 14.5 15.3
Western 14.3 13.1 12.1
Terai 43.6 46.7 48.4
Eastern 14.1 14.4 14.2
Central 15.9 16.4 17.0
Western 6.4 7.2 7.6
Source : CBS, 1995 p. 29

CBS, 1993 Vol. Part I
43
2.3.4 Population Distribution by District
Although the Village Development Committees/Municipalities is the lowest administrative unit in

the country, the District is functioning as a coordinating administrative unit to formulate, execute
and evaluate the plans and also for administrative work. Therefore it is appropriate to examine
the population distribution by District and also the distribution of District according to population
size.
The number of Districts remained constant at 75 since 1971 census; however there had been great
changes in area of the District between 1971 and 1981 and also for some Districts the boundary
changes took place in 1982. Thus the population distributions by Districts were not strictly
comparable till 1991. The share of population distribution by Districts and region are shown in
Table 2.5 for the census year 1991 and 2001. The average annual growth rates for the inter
censal period 1991 to 2001 are shown for the same period.
In 1991, the five Districts having the share of highest population size were Kathmandu (675341),
Morang (674823), Jhapa (593737), Dhanusa (543672) and Sarlahi (492798). In 2001 also, all of
the above Districts retained their positions as districts with large size population. Among the five,
Kathmandu belongs to Central Hill, Jhapa and Morang belongs to Eastern Terai, Dhanusa and
Sarlahi belongs to Central Terai (see Table 2.5).
On the other hand, Manang (5363), Mustang (14292), Dolpa (25013), Humla (34383) and Mugu
(36364) were the five least populated Districts in 1991. In 2001 also, all of those Districts were
the least populated Districts in the same rank as in 1991, though Manang almost doubled its
population in 2001. The Table 2.5 also reveals that though, there is reduction in the share of total
population for some Districts, slight growth in the population is observed in all Districts.
Table 2.5 : Distribution of population by district and population growth rates, 1991-2001.
Population 1991 Population 2001 Average Annual
Area Growth Rates
Number Percent Number Percent
(%)
Nepal 18491097 100 23151423 100 2.25
Eastern Dev. Reg. 4446749 24.05 5344476 23.09 1.84

Eastern mountain 359156 1.94 401587 1.73 1.12
Taplejung 120053 0.65 134698 0.58 1.15
Sankhuwasabha 141903 0.77 159203 0.69 1.15
Solukhumbu 97200 0.53 107686 0.47 1.02
44
Area Growth Rates
(%)
Eastern Hill 1429138 7.73 1643246 7.10 1.40
Panchthar 175206 0.95 202056 0.87 1.43
Ilam 229214 1.24 282806 1.22 2.10
Dhankuta 146386 0.79 166479 0.72 1.29
Terhathum 102870 0.56 113111 0.49 0.95
Bhojpur 198784 1.08 203018 0.88 0.21
Okhaldhunga 139457 0.75 156702 0.68 1.17
Khotang 215965 1.17 231385 1.00 0.69
Udayapur 221256 1.20 287689 1.24 2.63
Eastern Terai 2658455 14.38 3299643 14.25 2.16
Jhapa * 593737 3.21 688109 2.97 1.48
Morang 674823 3.65 843220 3.64 2.23
Sunsari 463481 2.51 625633 2.70 3.00
Saptari 465668 2.52 570282 2.46 2.03
Siraha 460746 2.49 572399 2.47 2.17
Central Dev.Reg. 6183955 33.44 8031629 34.69 2.61

Central Mountain 471005 2.55 554817 2.40 1.64
Dolakha 173236 0.94 204229 0.88 1.65
Sindhupalchok* 261025 1.41 305857 1.32 1.59
Rasuwa 36744 0.20 44731 0.19 1.97
Central Hill 2679599 14.49 3542732 15.30 2.79
Kavrepalanchok 324329 1.75 385672 1.67 1.73
Lalitpur 257086 1.39 337785 1.46 2.73
Bhaktapur 172952 0.94 225461 0.97 2.65
Kathmandu 675341 3.65 1081845 4.67 4.71
Nuwakot 245260 1.33 288478 1.25 1.62
Sindhuli* 223900 1.21 279821 1.21 2.23
Ramechhap 188064 1.02 212408 0.92 1.22
Dhading 278068 1.50 338658 1.46 1.97
Makwanpur 314599 1.70 392604 1.70 2.22
Central Terai 3033351 16.40 3934080 16.99 2.60
Dhanusa 543672 2.94 671364 2.90 2.11
Mahottari 440146 2.38 553481 2.39 2.29
Sarlahi 492798 2.67 635701 2.75 2.55
Rautahat 414005 2.24 545132 2.35 2.75
Bara 415718 2.25 559135 2.42 2.96
Parsa 372524 2.01 497219 2.15 2.89
Chitawan 354488 1.92 472048 2.04 2.86
Western Dev.Reg. 3770678 20.39 4571013 19.74 1.92

Western Mountain 19655 0.11 24568 0.11 2.23
Manang 5363 0.03 9587 0.04 5.81
Mustang 14292 0.08 14981 0.06 0.47
Western Hill 2420878 13.09 2793180 12.06 1.43
Gorkha 252524 1.37 288134 1.24 1.32
Lamjung 153697 0.83 177149 0.77 1.42
Tanahu 268073 1.45 315237 1.36 1.62
Syangja 293526 1.59 317320 1.37 0.78
Kaski 292945 1.58 380527 1.64 2.62
45
Area Growth Rates
(%)
Myagdi 100552 0.54 114447 0.49 1.29
Parbat 143547 0.78 157826 0.68 0.95
Baglung 232486 1.26 268937 1.16 1.46
Gulmi 266331 1.44 296654 1.28 1.08
Palpa 236313 1.28 268558 1.16 1.28
Arghakhanchi 180884 0.98 208391 0.90 1.42
Western Terai 1330145 7.19 1753265 7.57 2.76
Nawalparasi 436217 2.36 562870 2.43 2.55
Rupandehi 522150 2.82 708419 3.06 3.05
Kapilbastu 371778 2.01 481976 2.08 2.60
Mid-West.Dev.Reg. 2410414 13.04 3012975 13.01 2.26
Mid-Western
Mountain 260529 1.41 309084 1.34 1.71
Dolpa* 25013 0.14 29545 0.13 1.67
Jumla* 75964 0.41 89427 0.39 1.63
Kalikot* 88805 0.48 105580 0.46 1.73
Mugu* 36364 0.20 43937 0.19 1.89
Humla 34383 0.19 40595 0.18 1.66
Mid-Western Hill 1219555 6.60 1473022 6.36 1.89
Pyuthan 175469 0.95 212484 0.92 1.91
Rolpa 179621 0.97 210004 0.91 1.56
Rukum 155554 0.84 188438 0.81 1.92
Salyan * 181785 0.98 213500 0.92 1.61
Surkhet * 225768 1.22 288527 1.25 2.45
Dailekh 187400 1.01 225201 0.97 1.84
Jajarkot 113958 0.62 134868 0.58 1.68
Mid-Western Terai 930330 5.03 1230869 5.32 2.80
Dang 354413 1.92 462380 2.00 2.66
Banke 285604 1.54 385840 1.67 3.01
Bardiya 290313 1.57 382649 1.65 2.76
Far-West. Dev.Reg. 1679301 9.08 2191330 9.47 2.26
Far-Western
Mountain 332785 1.80 397803 1.72 1.78
Bajura 92010 0.50 108781 0.47 1.67
Bajhang 139092 0.75 167026 0.72 1.83
Darchula 101683 0.55 121996 0.53 1.82
Far-Western Hill 670719 3.63 798931 3.45 1.75
Achham 198188 1.07 231285 1.00 1.54
Doti 167168 0.90 207066 0.89 2.14
Dadeldhura 104647 0.57 126162 0.54 1.87
Baitadi 200716 1.09 234418 1.01 1.55
Far-Western Terai 675797 3.65 994596 4.30 3.86
Kailali 417891 2.26 616697 2.66 3.89
Kanchanpur 257906 1.39 377899 1.63 3.82
Source : CBS, 1993, Vol. Part I

CBS, 2002, National report
Note : * Indicates the affected Districts in 2001 Population Census.
46
The distribution of Districts according to unadjusted population size (due to change in the District
boundaries) is shown in Table 2.6 for the Census years 1971-2001. This table shows that there
was no District at the population size group 500,000 or more in 1971, but the number of District
reached one in 1981, five in 1991 and 14 in 2001. Though there is a decrease in the number of
Districts in the population size group 4,00,000-4,99,999 from nine in 1991 to 4 in 2001, the
increase in the number of Districts is observed in the population size group 3,00,000-3,99,999 and
2,00,000-2,99,999 from 1971 census to 2001. This reveals that the Districts are shifting towards
higher population size group.
Interestingly, Table 2.6 also demonstrates that the modal population size of the District (the size
with the maximum number of District) is same i.e. 1,00,000-1,99,999. At the lower side, having
the population size less than 10,000, there is only one District from 19971 to 2001. On the other
hand there were three Districts in the second lowest population size group i.e. 20,000-29,000 in
1971 whereas they decreased to only one District in 2001.
2.3.5 Distribution of Village Development Committees/Municipalities by

Size of Population
The distribution of VDC/Municipalities (settlements) according to size of population is shown in

Table 2.7. The classification starts from “less than 500 persons” and end up with “1,00,000 or
more”. There has been a continuous change in the number of VDC/Municipalities due to either
breaking up or combining to form new VDCs. However the table shows the direction of
population distribution by VDC/Municipalities by size of population. In 1971, high share of
population was in the 2,000-2,999 Population size group (33.98 %) but it increased to 5,000-5,999
population size groups in 2001 (31.44 %). The table also shows the increase in the share of
population in the high size group and decrease in the proportion of the population residing in
small settlements. There is marked decrease in the population size group of less than 4, 000
people, which are the settlement of “C” categories according to Local Governance Act 2056.
Mostly high group of settlement includes municipalities and less populated settlements are
Village Development Committees located in the mountains.
47
Table 2.6 : Distribution of district by size of population, Nepal, 1970-2001.
Size of Population Number of District Population Percentage Cumulative Percentage
1971 1981 1991 2001 1971 1981 1991 2001 1971 1981 1991 2001 1971 1981 1991 2001
5,00,000 or more -- 1 5 14 -- 534692 3009723 9234287 -- 3.56 16.28 18.20 100 100 100 100
400,000-499999 -- 3 9 4 -- 1,334,549 4006670 1913623 -- 8.88 21.67 7.10 100 96.44 83.72 81.80
300000-399999 7 10 6 11 2,245,707 3,505,384 2092131 3920048 19.43 23.33 11.31 18.40 100 87.56 62.06 74.70
200000-299999 12 18 20 23 2,752,028 4,293,871 5034279 5570510 23.82 28.58 27.23 33.95 80.57 64.22 50.74 56.30
100000-199999 41 28 25 16 5,802,698 4,433,030 3842156 2240152 50.22 29.51 20.78 14.09 56.75 35.64 23.52 22.35
90000-99999 2 4 2 -- 190,986 378,888 189210 -- 1.65 2.52 1.02 -- 6.53 6.13 2.74 8.26
80000-89999 2 3 -- 1 171,279 262,736 88805 89427 1.48 1.75 0.48 0.53 4.88 3.61 1.71 8.26
70000-79999 -- 1 1 -- -- 74,649 75964 -- -- 0.50 0.41 -- 3.39 1.86 1.23 7.73
60000-69999 3 1 1 -- 199,073 68,797 - -- 1.72 0.46 -- -- 3.39 1.36 0.82 7.73
50000-59999 1 -- -- -- 57,946 -- - -- 0.50 -- -- -- 1.67 0.91 0.82 7.73
40000-49999 -- 1 -- 3 -- 43,705 - 129263 -- 0.29 -- 2.43 1.17 0.91 0.82 7.73
30000-39999 -- 1 3 -- -- 30,241 107491 -- -- 0.20 0.58 -- 1.17 0.62 0.82 5.30
20000-29999 3 2 1 1 82,186 42,346 25013 29545 0.71 0.28 0.14 1.01 1.17 0.41 0.24 5.30
10000-19999 3 1 1 1 45,644 12,930 14292 14981 0.40 0.09 0.08 2.66 0.46 0.13 0.11 4.29
Below 10000 1 1 1 1 7,436 7,021 5363 9587 0.06 0.05 0.03 1.63 0.06 0.05 0.03 1.63
Total 75 75 75 75 11554983 15022839 18491097 23151423 100 100 100 100
Source : CBS, 1987 p. 25; CBS, 1995 p. 36-37, CBS, 2002, National Report.
48
Table 2.7: Distribution of VDC and municipalities by size of Population, Nepal, 1970-2001.
Number of Localities Population Percentage Cumulative Percentage

Size of
Population
1971 1981 1991 2001* 1971 1981 1991 2001 1971 1981 1991 2001 1971 1981 1991 2001
1,00,000 and more 1 1 3 5 150402 235160 666511 1270307 1.30 1.57 3.60 5.59 100 100 100 100
50,000-99,999 1 2 8 11 59049 173419 517419 788937 0.51 1.15 2.80 3.47 98.70 98.43 96.40 94.41
20,000-49,999 5 22 16 55 149849 666439 479590 1532143 1.30 4.44 2.59 6.74 98.19 97.28 93.60 90.94
10,000-19,999 17 101 165 285 223136 1250428 2115401 3868363 1.93 8.32 11.44 17.01 96.89 92.84 91.01 84.20
5,000-9,999 229 1016 761 1067 1387840 6604790 5070998 7147792 12.01 43.96 27.42 31.44 94.96 84.52 79.57 67.19
4,000-4,999 327 569 661 701 1442740 2540533 2943691 3130844 12.48 16.91 15.92 13.77 82.95 40.56 52.15 35.75
3,000-3,999 790 634 1033 802 2701908 2231148 3594054 2822915 23.38 14.85 19.43 12.42 70.47 23.64 36.24 21.98
2,000-2,999 1584 432 964 662 3926758 1119768 2455590 1676754 33.98 7.45 13.28 7.37 47.08 8.79 16.81 9.57
1,000-1,999 974 105 365 231 1437103 162808 602845 371769 12.44 1.08 3.26 1.64 13.10 1.34 3.53 2.19
500-999 91 44 56 59 72263 34773 44318 123133 0.63 0.23 0.24 0.54 0.67 0.26 0.27 0.56
Less than 500 12 9 16 11 4935 3573 5680 3977 0.04 0.02 0.03 0.02 0.04 0.02 0.03 0.02
Total 4031 2935 4048 3889 11555983 15022839 18496097 22736934 100 100 100 100
Source : CBS, 1987 p. 26; CBS, 1995 p. 38-39, CBS, 2002 National Report.
Note : * Affected 58 VDCs are excluded from the total.
49
2.4 Population Growth Variation
2.4.1 Population Growth by Ecological Zone
The intercensal population growth rates by Ecological Zones from the census year 1961-2001 are
presented in Table 2.8. From the table it can be noted that the population of Terai is growing up at a
rapid rate of growth. The table also reveals that the population growth rate for the Mountain and Hill
was decreasing until 1991 and increased for the period 1991-2001, however the increment rate is low.
On the other hand, the growth for the Terai highly increased from 2.39 per annum in 1961-71 to 4.11
per annum in 1971-1981 periods, whereas marked decrease is observed for the period 1981-91 (2.75
per annum) and also decreased to 2.62 per annum for the period 1991-2001. This indicates that the
flow of people from Mountains and Hill to Terai has slowed down in later period compared to the
earlier period. Mainly two pull factors; agricultural land and employment opportunities are the
reasons behind the high rate of flow of people from Mountain and Hill to Terai.
Table 2.8: Population growth rates by ecological zones, Nepal, 1961-2001.

Average Annual Growth Rate of Population 1961-2001
Period
Mountain Hill Mountain + Hill Terai Total
1961-1971 - - 1.85 2.39 2.05
1971-1981 1.35 1.65 1.61 4.11 2.62
1981-1991 1.02 1.61 1.52 2.75 2.08
1991-2001 1.57 1.97 1.91 2.62 2.25
Source : CBS, 1995 p 27

Note : Growth rates are exponential rate of growth
2.4.2 Population Growth by Ecological Zone and Development Regions
The population growth rate by Ecological and Development Regions for the period 1991-2001 is
shown in Table 2.9. The population growth rate per annum seems least in Eastern Development
Region (1.84) and highest in Central Development Region (2.61). The population growth rate is also
observed less than two per annum in Western Development Region.
50
The Table 2.9 shows that all the Eco-development regions in the Mountains has the population
growth rates less than two percent except in Western Mountain. Western mountain has reported 2.23
percent per annum growth rate for the period 1991-2001 whereas it was negative (-0.15) for the
period 1981-91. The population growth rate may have been affected by Manang District, which has
enumerated nearly double the population in 2001 than that in 1991 Census.
For Hill, also all the Eco-development Regions has less than two percent population growth rates
except the Central Hill, which includes Kathmandu District and has second highest population growth
rates among the Districts.
On the other hand, all the Eco-development Regions in Terai have reported more than two percent
population growth rates and the highest is in the Far western Terai (3.86%).
Table 2.9 : Population growth rates by ecological & development regions, Nepal, 1991-2001.
Average Annual Growth Rate of Population

Development Regions
Mountain Hill Terai Total
Eastern 1.12 1.40 2.16 1.84
Central 1.64 2.79 2.60 2.61
Western 2.23 1.43 2.76 1.92
Mid-western 1.71 1.89 2.80 2.26
Far western 1.78 1.75 3.86 2.26
Source : Same as in Table 2.5
2.4.3 Population Growth by District
Population growth rates by District are shown in Table 2.5 for the period 1991-2001. From the table
it can be noted that human settlements are spread throughout the District, however wide variation is
observed in the population growth rates among the Districts. The population growth rate is highest in
Manang (5.81 % per annum) and followed by Kathmandu (4.71% per annum), whereas Manang was
the lowest in the rank of population growth for the period 1981-1991. Also, the population growth
rate is observed least in Bhojpur (0.21% per annum) and is followed by Mustang (0.47%).
51
Table 2.10: Ranking of district population growth rates by ecological zones
Growth rate % per annum Mountains Hill Terai

Less than 1.00 1 5 --
1.00 -1.99 14 24 1
2.00 - 2.99 -- 8 14
3.00 - 3.99 -- -- 5
4.00 - 4.99 -- 1 --
5.00 and above 1 -- --
Total Districts 16 39 20
Table 2.10 reveals that population growth rates of the mountainous Districts varied between 1 to 1.99
percent per annum except in Mustang and Manang. Mustang has less than one percent (0.47%)
growth rate whereas Manang has more than 5 percent per annum (5.81) population growth rate. This
indicates wide variation of the population growth for the Mountainous District.
Similarly in the Hill, most of the District’s population growth rates is varied between 1 to 1.99
percent per annum, however the population growth is less than one percent and more than two percent
per annum in some Districts. In Hill, one District has reported population growth rate in the range of
4 to 4.99 percent per annum i.e. Kathmandu (4.71%).
In Terai, no District has the population growth rates less than one percent and most of the District's
population rate varies between 2 to 2.99 percent per annum (see Table 2.10), however one district has
accounted population growth rate of less than two percent i.e. Jhapa (1.48%) and five Districts have
reported population growth rate in the range of 3 to 3.99 percent per annum.
Table 2.11: Ranking of district wise population growth rates by development regions
Growth Rate % per
EDR CDR WDR MWDR FWDR
Annum
Less than 1.00 3 -- 3 -- --
1.00 - 1.99 7 7 8 11 6
2.00 - 2.99 5 11 3 3 1
3.00 - 3.99 1 -- 1 1 2
4.00 - 4.99 -- 1 -- -- --
5.00 and above -- -- 1 -- --
Total Districts 16 19 16 15 9
52
From the table it can be noted that more than the fifty percent of the Districts have population growth
rates in the range of 1 to 1.99 percent and about one third of Districts have population growth rates in
the range of 2-2.99 percent per annum. Very few Districts have observed less than one and more
than three percentage population growth rates (see Table 2.11). More Districts in the Central
Development Regions have population growth rates in the range of 2 to 2.99 percent per annum.
2.5 Population Density
Population density is an effective index to measure the pressure of population on Land. The
population per square kilometer of total area measures the population density. The population density
by Ecological Zones, Development Regions and Districts are presented here.
2.5.1 Population Density by Ecological Zones
The pressure of population is increasing in all increased the Ecological Zones, the high increasing
pattern is observed in Terai as density in Terai by 71 percent during the last 20 years from 1981 to
2001. As discussed earlier it is mainly due to the flow of people from Mountain and Hill to Terai.
The population pressure is reported very high in Terai and is followed by Hill and Mountain (see
Table 2.12).
2.5.2 Population Density by Development Regions
From the Table 2.12 it may be noted that the population density is highest in Central Development
Region and lowest in the Far Western Development Region. However, compared to 1981 2001, the
increasing rate of population pressure is high in Far Western Development Regions (66 %) followed
by Central Development Region (63.6%). Moreover, the lowest increasing rate is observed in Eastern
Development Region (44%) followed by Western Development Region (46%). However, the national
increment rate is 54 percent (102.01 in 1981 to 157.30 in 2001) during the same 20 years period.
53
Table 2.12: Population density by ecological zones & development regions, Nepal, 1981-2001.
Mid Far
Zones/Regions Eastern Central Western Total
Western Western
Mountain Area sq.km. 10438 6277 5819 21351 7932 51817
Density Person 1981 32.41 65.82 3.43 11.35 36.42 25.14
per sq.km. 1991 34.40 75.03 3.37 12.20 41.95 27.85
2001 38.47 88.39 4.22 14.48 50.15 32.57
Hill Area sq.km. 10749 11805 18319 13710 6762 61345

Density Person 1981 116.94 178.60 117.41 76.03 89.37 116.76
per sq.km. 1991 132.95 226.98 132.15 88.95 99.18 137.25
2001 152.87 300.10 152.47 107.44 118.15 167.11
Terai Area sq.km. 7269 9328 5260 7317 4845 34024

Density Person 1981 290.70 255.97 182.11 91.67 88.23 192.71
per sq.km. 1991 365.72 325.18 252.87 127.14 139.62 253.58
2001 453.93 421.75 333.32 168.22 205.28 329.59
Total Area sq.km. 28456 27410 29398 42378 19539 147181

Density Person 1981 130.32 179.10 106.43 46.14 67.56 102.01
per sq.km. 1991 156.25 225.61 128.26 56.87 85.95 125.63
2001 187.82 293.02 155.49 71.10 112.15 157.30
2.5.3 Population Density by Ecological Zones and Development Regions
The population Density of each Region in Terai is observed higher than that of the each Region of
Hill and Mountain in 1991 and 2001. Interestingly, the population density of the Far-western Region
in the Terai (88.23) was slightly lower than the density of Hill areas of the corresponding Region
(89.37) in 1981 (see Table 2.12). This table also reveals that, in terms of population pressure Western
Mountain was the least populated region of Nepal followed by Mid Western Mountain. On the other
hand, highest population density is observed in Eastern Terai followed by Central Terai. Although,
Western Mountain has seen slight decline in population density from 3.43 in 1981 to 3.37 in 1991, no
region has reported decline in population density in 2001. During the last 20 years period, the
increment rate in the population density is high in Far western Terai (123%) and least in Western
Mountain (23%).
54
2.5.4 Population Density by Districts
Kathmandu was the most densely populated District followed by Bhaktapur and Lalitpur in 1991 and
2001, whereas Kathmandu was only in the second position in 1981. Dhanusa and Mahottari occupied
the fourth and fifth positions in 1981 and they also retained their position in 1991 and 2001.
The Districts with least population pressure are Manang, Dolpa, Mustang and Humla. However, slight
change in the rank is observed during the 20 years' period. Compared to 1981, Manang reported
slightly decreased population density in 1991, however it increased again in 2001. Only one District,
namely Mustang has reported almost same population density during the 20 years period (see Table
2.13).
Table 2.13 : Population densities by districts, Nepal, 1981-2001

Population Density (Person/Sq. Km.)
District Area in sq. Km.
1981 1991 2001
Eastern Mountain 10,438 32 34 38

Taplejung 3,646 33 33 37
Sankhuwasabha 3,480 37 41 46
Solukhumbu 3,312 27 29 33
Eastern Hill 10,749 117 133 153

Panchthar 1,241 126 141 163
Ilam 1,703 105 135 166
Dhankuta 891 146 164 187
Terhathum 679 136 152 167
Bhojpur 1,507 128 132 135
Okhaldhunga 1,074 128 130 146
Khotang 1,591 134 136 145
Udayapur 2,063 77 107 139
EasternTarai 7,269 291 366 454

Jhapa* 1,606 299 370 428
Morang 1,855 288 364 455
Sunsari 1,257 274 369 498
Saptari 1,363 278 342 418
Siraha* 1,188 316 388 482
Central Mountain 6,277 66 75 88

Dolakha* 2,191 69 79 93
55
1981 1991 2001
Sindhupalchok* 2,542 91 103 120

Rasuwa 1,544 20 24 29
Central Hill 11,805 179 227 300

Sindhuli* 2,491 74 90 112
Ramechhap 1,546 104 122 137
Kavrepalanchok 1,396 220 232 276
Lalitpur 385 479 670 877
Bhaktapur 119 1343 1453 1,895
Kathmandu 395 1069 1710 2,739
Nuwakot 1,121 181 219 257
Dhading 1,926 126 144 176
Makwanpur 2,426 100 130 162
CentralTarai 9,328 256 325 422

Dhanusa 1,180 367 461 569
Mahottari 1,002 360 439 552
Sarlahi 1,259 317 291 505
Rautahat 1,126 295 368 484
Bara 1,190 268 349 470
Parsa 1,353 210 275 367
Chitawan 2,218 117 160 213
Western Mountain 5,819 3 3 4

Manang 2,246 3 2 4
Mustang 3,573 4 4 4
Western Hill 18,319 117 132 152

Gorkha 3,610 64 70 80
Lamjung 1,692 90 91 105
Tanahu 1,546 145 173 204
Syangja 1,164 234 252 273
Kaski 2,017 110 145 189
Myagdi 2,297 42 44 50
Parbat 494 260 291 319
Baglung 1,784 121 130 151
Gulmi 1,149 207 232 258
Palpa 1,373 156 172 196
Arghakhanchi 1,193 132 152 175
56
1981 1991 2001
WesternTarai 5,260 182 253 333

Nawalparasi 2,162 143 282 260
Rupandehi 1,360 279 284 521
Kapilbastu 1,738 155 214 277
Mid-westernMountain 21,351 11 12 14
Dolpa* 7,889 3 3 4
Jumla* 2,531 27 30 35
Kalikot* 1,741 50 51 61
Mugu* 3,535 12 10 12
Humla 5,655 4 6 7
Mid-westernHill 13,710 76 89 107

Pyuthan 1,309 120 134 162
Rolpa 1,879 89 96 112
Rukum 2,877 46 54 65
Salyan* 1,462 104 124 146
Surkhet* 2,451 68 92 118
Dailekh 1,502 111 125 150
Jajarkot 2,230 45 57 60
Mid-westernTarai 7,317 92 127 168

Dang 2,955 68 120 156
Banke 2,337 88 122 165
Bardiya 2,025 98 143 189
Far-westernMountain 7,932 36 42 50
Bajura* 2,188 34 42 50
Bajhang 3,422 36 41 49
Darchula 2,322 39 44 53
Far-westernHill 6,762 89 99 118

Achham 1,680 110 118 138
Doti 2,025 76 83 102
Dadeldhura 1,538 56 68 82
Baitadi 1,519 118 132 154
Far-westernTarai 4,845 88 140 205

Kailali 3,235 80 129 191
Kanchanpur 1,610 105 160 235

57
2.6 Age and Sex Composition
The two characteristics of the population that receive the most attention in demographic analysis are
age and sex. Although, sex is a personal characteristic of a person, information on sex can normally
be obtained without difficulty. Questions on age, however, may be subject to different interpretations
in different cultures. The age-sex composition of a population is important in demographic analysis
for various reasons. Age-sex structure is the product of past trends in fertility, mortality and migration
and influences in turn the current levels of birth, death and migration rates. Moreover, the age-sex
composition of a population has significant implications for the reproductive potential, manpower
supply, school attendance, household formation, child-mother health care and family planning service
delivery, ageing etc. This chapter deals with this topic in two sections. The first section analyses sex
composition and the second section analyses age composition.
2.6.1 Sex Composition
The personal characteristics of sex hold a position of prime importance in demographic studies. Many
types of planning, such as military, community constitutions and services, particularly health services
require separate population data for males and females. The balance of sexes affects social and
economic relationships within a community. Social roles and cultural patterns may be affected. The
tabulations by sex are useful in the evaluation of census and survey data particularly with respect to
the coverage of the population by sex and age.
The numerical measures of sex composition are few and simple to calculate. In this analysis two basic
measures are taken into consideration.
• Sex ratio or masculinity ratio

• The percentage of males in the population or masculinity proportion.
The sex ratio and masculinity proportion for the various censuses is shown in Table 2.14.
58
Table 2.14: Sex ratio of total population in censuses, Nepal , 1952/54-2001.
Masculinity
Sex Ratio
Year Proportion
(M/F)*100
(M/T)*100
1952/54 96.8 49.19
1961 97.3 49.25
1971 101.4 50.34
1981 105.0 51.22
1991 99.5 49.87
2001 99.8 49.95
Source : CBS, 1958, Table 2, p.60,

CBS, 2002 National Report Vol. I, Table 1
The sex ratio is usually expressed as the number of males per hundred females. It can also be
expressed as number of females per 100 males. However, in this analysis the first measure has been
used.
Figure 2.1: Sex ratio Trend by Urban/Rural, Nepal,

1952/54-2001
150.0
Sex ratio
100.0
50.0
0.0
1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Urban 104.1 112.4 116.6 115.2 108.3 106.4
Rural 96.6 96.5 100.8 104.4 98.6 98.8
Census year
Source : CBS (1995); CBS, National Report, 2002.

Note * For 1952/54 urban sex ratios are based on three towns of Kathmandu valley only.
59
Table 2.14 shows that sex ratios are found low in 1952/54, 1961,1991 and 2001 censuses while in
1971 and 1981 censuses sex ratio are found higher. This indicates that most of the time females in
Nepal are more in number than males. This low sex ratio might be because of the males used to go
abroad for seeking jobs and female lived in Nepal. This is supported partially when we analyze the
urban and rural sex ratios. Figure 2.1 shows that sex ratios are always more than hundred in urban
areas but in rural areas lower than hundred except 1971 and 1981 censuses. But in these two censuses
both in urban as well as rural areas male population was more than female population.
The sex ratios by age groups obtained in various censuses may further be analyzed and differentiated
by age groups. Sex ratio by age groups in various censuses is presented in Table 2.15.
Table 2.15 : Sex ratios by five-year age groups, Nepal, 1952/54 – 2001.
Age Census Year

Group 1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
0-4 98 98 94 106 103 103
5-9 103 103 103 104 104 103
10-14 114 114 118 117 108 106
15-19 102 102 110 110 96 99
20-24 88 86 93 91 85 88
25-29 89 90 96 96 89 91
30-34 89 91 91 92 92 95
35-39 100 104 108 107 101 99
40-44 89 89 98 100 95 99
45-49 102 101 114 114 104 104
50-54 92 92 104 115 106 105
55-59 102 100 107 119 116 112
60+ 76 80 89 109 100 101
Source : Same as Table 2.14 and

CBS, 2002, National Report Vol. I, Table 10
Table 2.15 shows that the sex ratio in the age group 0-4 was less than hundred until 1971 census then
greater than hundred. The sex ratio at birth is the number of male births per 100 female births. It is
normally around 105, that is, 105 boys are born for every 100 girls, but do vary somewhat between
populations and sub-groups. It would appear, that the sex-ratio pattern by age group in Nepal differs
from that in other countries. However, it is not surprising, Karki (2002) pointed about studies of
Vaidhyanathan and Gauge (1973), Guvaju (1974), Krotki and Thakur, (1971); CBS (1976 and 1978)
and Thapa and Retherford, (1982) all these studies indicated that male infant mortality rate is higher
60
than female infant mortality rate. However, since mortality is usually higher for males than females,
all populations have more male than female births, so the sex ratio at the early ages is expected to be
slightly over 100 (Arriga, 1994). This would seem to indicate that there is more accurate age
reporting of infants, as well as reduction in male infant-mortality in 2001.
Sex ratio in the 10 -14-age groups is consistently high in all the censuses. Only since 1991 the sex
ratio for 10 – 14 has been increasingly lowering and by 2001 it has become 106. The sex ratio for the
population between the ages 25 to 34 is low throughout. This is quite consistent with Nepal's long
tradition of male migration. In 2001, sex ratio becomes low from age group 15-19 and remains so
until age group 40-44. It may be that male out migration started earlier than usual in recent years and
their return home takes longer time than in the past. The higher sex ratios after ages 45 reflect male
migrants generally returning home to join their families during retired life. This also indicates lower
mortality in male and higher mortality in female population in the age group.
2.6.1.1 Sex Ratios of Population by Ecological Zone
Sex ratios by ecological zones are presented in Table 2.19 for the period 1952/54-2001. In Nepal,
overall sex ratio is balanced with slightly more female than male in 1952/54, 1961, 1991, 2001 and
slightly more male in 1971. However, marked dominance of male on sex ratio is observed in 1981.
There are some variations in the sex ratios by Ecological Zone in Nepal. In 1981, all the Ecological
Zones reported male dominance in sex ratios, whereas in 1991 and 2001 only Terai has male
dominance in sex ratios. Table 2.19 also shows the increasing trend of male dominance in the sex
ratios till 1981 for Terai, however compared to 1981, it slowed down in later years. On the other
hand, Mountain and Hill also reported increasing male dominance till 1981; however female
dominance in sex ratios is observed in 1991 and 2001 with slightly more female dominance in Hill.
On of the reason of this may be sex selective out migration from Hill and Mountains, with probably
more male than female net migrants in the Hill.
Table 2.16 : Sex ratios of population by ecological zones, 1952/54-2001
Zone\Year 1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001

Mountain - - 100.79 104.71 98.43 98.39
Hill 95.95 94.26 98.02 102.14 95.34 95.84
Terai 100.1 102.14 106.39 108.33 103.85 103.77
Nepal 96.8 97.05 101.37 105.02 99.47 99.80
Source : CBS, 1995, p. 46
CBS, 2002 National Report
61
2.6.1.2 Sex Ratios of Population by Ecological Zones and Development Regions
Sex ratios by Ecological and Development Regions are presented in Table 2.17 for the period 1981-
2001. Table shows the dramatic changes in the sex ratios by Development Regions in the Census
years. In 1981, all the Development Regions had reported male dominance in the sex ratios, whereas
in 1991 and 2001, Western, Mid-western and Far Western Development Regions observed female
dominance with more females in Western Development Region.
The table also reveals that all Eco-development in the Terai has male dominance in sex ratios. In
1991, either male dominance or sex balance is observed except in Far western Hill, whereas female
dominance is reported except in Central Hill in 1991 and 2001. It may be due to inclusion of
Kathmandu in Central Hill, where more male are counted than female. In Western Hill, high female
dominance in sex ratios is observed. In the case of Mountain, the entire eco development region has
reported male dominance in 1981; interestingly the situation changed in 1991 and 2001. The male
dominance is observed in Western and mid Western Mountains in 1991 and 2001, with very high
male dominance in Western Mountain
Table 2.17: Sex ratio of population by ecological & development regions, Nepal, 1981-2001.
Development Regions
Ecological Zones Year
Eastern Central Western Mid Western Far-western Total
Mountain 1981 102 107 108 107 102 105
1991 96 100 109 103 94 98
2001 97 99 116 103 96 98
Hill 1981 101 106 100 100 92 102

1991 97 102 88 96 92 95
2001 97 103 87 97 94 96
Terai 1981 108 107 109 107 116 108

1991 103 106 103 102 101 104
2001 102 107 102 101 103 104
Nepal 1981 105 107 103 103 105 105

1991 100 104 93 99 96 99
2001 100 105 93 99 98 100
Source : CBS, 1995, p. 47
CBS, 2002 National Report
62
2.6.1.3 Sex Ratios of Population by District
The Sex ratios of Population by District are presented in Table 2.18. The table reveals that the sex
ratios by district are varied according to Census years. In 1981, the sex ratio of population was
reported least in Lamgung (90) followed by Shyangja (91) and Ramechap (93), whereas it was
highest in Kanchanpur (123) and followed by Arghakhachi (122). Similarly in 1991, the sex ratios
were lowest in Gulmi (83) followed by Shyangja (90), whereas it was Highest in Mustang (109)
followed by Manang (108), Parsa (108) and Kathmandu (108). On the other hand in 2001, least sex
ratio was reported in Gulmi (82) followed by Kaski (83) and highest was in Mustang (120) and
followed by Kathmandu (114).
Table 2.18 : Sex ratios of population by districts, Nepal, 1981-2001.

Sex Ratio
District
1981 1991 2001
Eastern mountain
Taplejung 101 95 97
Sankhuwasabha 102 96 96
Solukhumbu 102 97 98
Eastern Hill
Panchthar 99 97 96
Ilam 107 101 101
Dhankuta 104 97 97
Terhathum 98 95 94
Bhojpur 102 93 93
Okhaldhunga 96 95 93
Khotang 101 94 95
Udayapur 105 98 100
Eastern Terai
Jhapa * 111 102 99
Morang 108 103 101
Sunsari 107 102 102
Saptari 105 103 104
Siraha 108 105 106
Central Mountain
Dolakha 99 96 96
Sindhupalchok* 112 101 99
Rasuwa 108 107 109
Central Hill
Kavrepalanchok 103 97 96
Lalitpur 113 103 104
Bhaktapur 105 100 104
Kathmandu 117 108 114
63
Sex Ratio
District
1981 1991 2001
Nuwakot 106 99 98
Sindhuli* 103 99 99
Ramechhap 93 93 90
Dhading 105 98 96
Makwanpur 106 103 103
Central Terai
Dhanusa 108 107 109
Mahottari 107 107 108
Sarlahi 107 107 107
Rautahat 108 107 107
Bara 107 107 107
Parsa 106 108 110
Chitawan 106 98 99
Western Mountain
Manang 102 108 111
Mustang 112 109 120
Western Hill
Gorkha 98 92 87
Lamjung 90 90 89
Tanahu 103 90 87
Syangja 91 86 83
Kaski 102 93 95
Myagdi 115 90 87
Parbat 94 86 86
Baglung 99 87 85
Gulmi 94 83 82
Palpa 103 87 87
Arghakhanchi 122 87 86
Western Terai
Nawalparasi 106 99 98
Rupandehi 108 103 104
Kapilbastu 113 106 106
Mid-Western Mountain
Dolpa* 108 103 99
Jumla* 109 103 105
Kalikot* 106 101 102
Mugu* 108 104 103
Humla 109 106 107
Mid-Western Hill
Pyuthan 96 87 86
Rolpa 96 92 94
Rukum 103 98 103
64
Sex Ratio
District
1981 1991 2001
Salyan * 100 98 100
Surkhet * 101 98 98
Dailekh 100 99 96
Jajarkot 109 101 103
Mid-Western Terai
Dang 104 98 98
Banke 109 107 106
Bardiya 109 102 101
Far-Western Mountain
Bajura 102 96 98
Bajhang 101 92 93
Darchula 105 97 96
Far-Western Hill
Achham 94 89 89
Doti 96 93 100
Dadeldhura 106 93 94
Baitadi 103 92 94
Far-Western Terai
Kailali 112 101 103
Kanchanpur 123 102 103

Table 2.19 : Ranking of sex ratios by number of districts, 1981-2001.
Group 1981 1991 2001

Less than 100 15 43 44
100 and more 60 32 31
Total 75 75 75
Source : Same as Table 2.18
Almost all Districts in the Terai are observed of having Male dominance in the sex ratios (Table
2.20). Female dominance in sex ratios is seen only in few Districts in 1991 and 2001, with slight
increase in such Districts in 2001. Interestingly in the Hill, female dominance in the sex ratios are
observed in large number of Districts in 1991 and 2001, however the District number has decreased in
2001. In Mountain, however female dominance in the sex ratios has been increasing, there is no
variation in the number of Districts in 1991 and 2001.
65
Table 2.20 : Ranking of sex ratios by ecological zones and number of districts.
Mountain Hill Terai
Sex ratios
1981 1991 2001 1981 1991 2001 1981 1991 2001
Less than 100 1 7 9 14 33 29 -- 3 4
100 and more 15 9 7 25 6 10 20 17 16
Total 16 16 16 39 39 39 20 20 20
Source: Same as Table 2.18
2.6.2 Age Composition
A significant feature of any population is the distribution of its members according to age, which
facilitate the planners and policy makers in formulating effective socio-economic development plans
for the population of different age groups. The percentage distribution of the population by sex and
five-year age groups for the various censuses from 1971 to 2001 censuses of Nepal is presented in
Table 2.21.
Table 2.21: Percent distribution of population by five year age groups, Nepal, 1971-2001.
1971 1981 1991 2001*
Age group
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
00-04 13.6 14.7 15.5 15.3 14.9 14.4 12.3 11.9
05-09 15.2 14.9 14.5 14.6 15.5 14.8 14.4 13.9
09-14 12.1 10.4 11.9 10.8 13.1 12.1 13.5 12.7
15-19 9.4 8.7 9.0 8.6 9.5 9.9 10.4 10.6
20-24 8.0 8.8 8.3 9.5 7.9 9.3 8.3 9.4
25-29 7.8 8.3 7.4 8.1 7.0 7.8 7.2 7.9
30-34 6.6 7.4 6.1 6.9 6.0 6.5 6.4 6.7
35-39 6.6 6.2 6.0 5.9 5.6 5.5 5.7 5.8
40-44 5.2 5.4 4.9 5.1 4.5 4.7 4.8 4.8
45-49 4.2 3.8 4.3 3.9 4.1 3.9 4.1 4.0
50-54 3.5 3.4 3.8 3.4 3.3 3.1 3.5 3.3
55-59 2.3 2.2 2.4 2.2 2.7 2.3 2.8 2.5
60-64 2.4 2.7 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3
65+ 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.1 3.6 3.4 4.2 4.2
All ages 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Total No. 5817203 5738780 7695336 7327503 9220974 9270123 11359378 11377556

* Enumerated Population
66
Table 2.21 shows that in most cases except in 1981 census, the proportion of population of the age
group 0-4 is relatively less than that of the age group 5-9. In general, a normal population, age
distribution tends to be a smooth one in the sense that the proportions of the persons in each
successive age group are less than in the proceeding one. However, data shown in Table 2.21 and
figure 2.2 is in contradicting this statement.
A population’s age structure may be considered as a map of its demographic history. Population
researchers often graphically illustrate the age composition of a population by use of the population
pyramid. Graphical analysis of age-sex distribution (age-sex pyramid) technique has become a
standard method in the evaluation of all population censuses (Shryock et al., 1976; US Bureau of the
Census, 1985). Age sex pyramids graphically display demographic characteristics to improve
understanding and easy comparison.
The population pyramid shown in figure 2.2 is constructed by computing a percentage distribution of
a population simultaneously cross-classified by sex and age.
Figure 2.2: Population pyramids for 1971-2001 censuses.
65+
60-64
55-59
50-54
Male Female
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
15-19
10-14
5-9
0-4
0
10
12
14
16
16
14
12
10
Percent
1971
67
65+
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
Male Female
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
15-19
10-14
5-9
0-4
0
10
12
14
16
18
18
16
14
12
10
Percent
1981
65+
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
Male Female
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
15-19
10-14
5-9
0-4
0
10
12
14
16
18
16
14
12
10
Percent
1991
68
75+
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-59
Male 50-54 Female

45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
15-19
10-14
5-9
0-4
0
10
12
14
16
16
14
12
10
Percent
2001
Source: Same as Table 2.21.
Figure 2.2 indicates Nepal’s population growing rapidly. The overall shape of the pyramid indicates
the potential for future growth. Four representations of population age-sex structure shown in figure
2.3 provide an overall example of what a pyramid for different levels of population growth would
look like. Figure 2.3 presents pyramids for population with rapid growth, slow growth, zero growth,
and negative growth.
Figure 2.3: Patterns of population change.
69
In the comparison if figure 2.2 and 2.3-population pyramid constructed for census data of Nepal look
likes the first example of figure 2.3 i.e. rapid growth. This shape is the result of high birth rates that
feed more and more people into the lowest bars and in turn shrink the relative proportion at the oldest
ages. As the death rate declines, more people survive to the reproductive ages and beyond, and the
births they have further widen the base of the pyramid. It reflects both a history of rapid population
growth and the potential for future rapid growth.
2.6.2.1 Age Composition of Population for Urban/Rural Residence
The percentage distribution of the population by sex and five-year age groups for urban/rural areas of
population census 2001 is presented in Table 2.22.
Percent distribution by age groups is shown in Table 2.22, for males as well as females. It is clearly
seen that in the early age groups, There is a higher proportion of the population in the rural areas than
in the urban areas. However in the working age group, a higher proportion of population, in the urban
areas than in the rural areas have been reported. Similarly significant differences in proportion of
population in the old age group can also be noted, with a higher proportion in the rural areas than in
the urban areas. This indicates younger people (15-49) of rural areas might have gone to urban areas
for work or study. In general, urban areas have facilities and many opportunities like schools, offices
and industries etc. It is also noticed in Table 2.22, the population in age group 0-4 years is lower than
the age group 5-9 and 10-14 years. This could be the effect of fertility and this is not surprising
nowadays because fertility is declining. Although, both urban and rural areas have less population for
age groups 0-4 years, in urban areas it is much less than in the rural areas, this reveals urban fertility
is rapidly declining than the rural fertility.
70
Table 2.22 : Age distribution of population by sex and five years age groups for rural and
urban, Nepal, 2001 Census.
Urban Rural
Age Group
Male Female Male Female
00-04 9.42 9.55 12.78 12.33
05-09 11.58 11.52 14.86 14.25
10-14 12.03 12.02 13.76 12.84
15-19 11.56 11.29 10.25 10.46
20-24 10.96 11.31 7.88 9.10
25-29 9.12 9.60 6.90 7.69
30-34 7.95 7.85 6.12 6.53
35-39 6.61 6.53 5.58 5.68
40-44 5.30 4.94 4.66 4.80
45-49 4.23 3.90 4.12 4.00
50-54 3.32 3.13 3.48 3.31
55-59 2.56 2.29 2.85 2.52
60-64 1.87 2.00 2.38 2.32
65-69 1.39 1.57 1.78 1.70
70-74 0.99 1.09 1.29 1.17
75+ 1.11 1.40 1.30 1.31
All ages 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Total No.* 1664362 1563517 9695016 9814039
Source : CBS 2002

2.6.2.2 Age Composition of Population for Development Regions
The percentage distribution of the population by sex and five-year age groups for development
regions of population census 2001 is presented in Table 2.23.
The Table 2.23 shows that the highest proportion of population has been found in the age group 5-9
years followed by a systematic decline in the subsequent age groups except in male population of mid
western and far western regions, which is more or less the expected pattern. Like national and
urban/distribution of population, the population in age group 0-4 years is lower than in the age group
5-9 years, this indicates the onset of fertility decline may have started. On the other hand one possible
reason may be the under enumeration of 0-4 age group, which is discussed earlier in this chapter. In
Table 2.23, it is also noticed that in proportion of the population in working age groups, the highest
proportion of population is found in central development region. One reason for this may be because
of the capital city, which lies in this region and many opportunities are obtained for work and study in
this region.
71
Table 2.23 : Age distribution of population by sex and five years age groups for development
regions, Nepal, 2001 Census.
Age Eastern Central Western Mid Western Far Western

Group Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
00-04 11.71 11.38 11.54 11.76 12.65 11.36 13.63 13.42 14.10 13.44
05-09 14.25 13.77 13.72 13.78 14.85 13.37 15.03 14.64 15.38 14.59
10-14 13.26 12.59 12.69 12.18 14.59 13.11 14.14 13.42 14.17 13.31
15-19 10.66 10.71 10.25 10.05 10.74 10.98 10.20 11.07 10.28 10.63
20-24 8.23 9.43 8.98 9.60 7.29 9.05 8.29 9.49 8.33 9.30
25-29 7.17 8.00 7.99 8.38 6.03 7.44 7.22 7.75 6.95 7.66
30-34 6.46 6.87 7.06 7.15 5.43 6.35 6.14 6.26 5.93 6.12
35-39 6.00 5.99 6.13 5.97 5.05 5.68 5.52 5.47 5.26 5.36
40-44 5.01 4.97 4.98 4.89 4.47 4.89 4.46 4.52 4.18 4.41
45-49 4.34 4.08 4.18 3.93 4.08 4.16 3.97 3.81 3.77 3.82
50-54 3.53 3.33 3.41 3.19 3.62 3.52 3.36 3.12 3.24 3.18
55-59 2.81 2.49 2.71 2.48 3.05 2.72 2.76 2.26 2.72 2.33
60-64 2.30 2.19 2.24 2.29 2.67 2.49 2.09 1.98 2.16 2.30
65-69 1.74 1.68 1.68 1.75 2.13 1.88 1.40 1.24 1.47 1.52
70-74 1.24 1.16 1.20 1.22 1.64 1.37 0.94 0.80 1.02 0.96
75+ 1.30 1.37 1.24 1.38 1.69 1.61 0.84 0.77 1.03 1.07
All ages 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Total
2642320 2644570 4088292 3900320 2198170 2372843 1349073 1358171 1081523 1101652
No.*
Source : CBS 2002

2.6.2.3 Age Composition of Population for Ecological Zones
The percentage distribution of the population by sex and five-year age groups for ecological zones of
population census 2001 is presented in Table 2.24.
Percent distribution by age groups shown in Table 2.24, reveals, as discussed earlier, the lower
proportion of population in age group 0-4 years in all regions and this shows in the onset of fertility
decline in all regions of the country. After age group 5-9 years the percentage decreases more or less
with increasing age in the expected pattern.
72
Table 2.24 : Age distribution of population by sex and five years age groups for ecological
zones, Nepal, 2001 census.
Mountain Hill Terai

Age Group
Male Female Male Female Male Female
00-04 12.69 12.40 12.10 11.32 12.39 12.48
05-09 14.49 14.00 13.98 13.16 14.71 14.52
10-14 13.68 13.10 14.00 13.11 13.05 12.32
15-19 10.18 10.44 10.82 11.14 10.14 10.06
20-24 7.87 8.74 8.45 9.57 8.29 9.34
25-29 6.64 7.26 6.88 7.76 7.61 8.22
30-34 6.23 6.23 6.29 6.50 6.50 6.97
35-39 5.52 5.58 5.40 5.68 6.05 5.94
40-44 4.79 4.89 4.65 4.79 4.84 4.84
45-49 4.19 4.02 3.94 3.98 4.29 3.99
50-54 3.61 3.57 3.49 3.45 3.41 3.08
55-59 2.93 2.67 2.90 2.61 2.71 2.35
60-64 2.60 2.65 2.40 2.39 2.19 2.11
65-69 1.88 1.83 1.88 1.81 1.58 1.54
70-74 1.35 1.26 1.36 1.24 1.14 1.08
75+ 1.37 1.36 1.46 1.50 1.10 1.16
All ages 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Total No.* 746814 758218 4930807 5146228 5681757 5473110
Source : CBS 2002

2.7 Age Data and its Accuracy
One of the basic but vital information provided by a census is the age profile of the population. It is
therefore important to evaluate the accuracy of the age distribution. Age misreporting, in particular,
digit preference for ages ending in 0 or 5, is common in censuses and surveys in most developing
countries. It is also very common for one person to become the main respondent and to supply all the
information on all the members of the households. This is also evident in the censuses of Nepal.
Experience shows that proxy respondents contribute a large part of age misreporting. In other hand, in
many developing countries exact knowledge of one’s age is not important and registration of births is
uncommon, so it is difficult to obtain correct information on age.
73
The single year age distribution by sex of population in census 2001 is shown in figure 2.4.
Figure 2.4: Single year age distribution by

sex of population census 2001
450,000
400,000
350,000
300,000
Population
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Age
Male Female
Source: CBS, National Report, Volume I, Table 9
Figure 2.4 shows that the age distribution of both male and female clearly suggests heaping of ages
ending in certain digits. It is also observed that age heaping before 20 in both sexes are not clearly
seen in figure but after age 20 age heaping is found in ages ending in 0 and 5 digit. So, for analysis
before age 20, age distribution of single age up to age 20 is shown Table 2.25.
74
Table 2.25 : Percent total population by single years up to age 20, by sex, Nepal 1971-2001.
2001 1991 1981 1971
Age
0 2.22 2.13 3.12 3.00 2.3 2.67 2.48 2.55
1 2.11 1.99 2.55 2.43 3.42 3.06 2.26 2.39
2 2.51 2.46 2.92 2.85 3.21 3.3 2.87 3.17
3 2.69 2.68 3.16 3.15 3.06 3.24 3.12 3.56
4 2.76 2.68 3.13 2.98 3.08 3.07 2.86 3.03
5 3.25 3.10 3.54 3.34 3.53 3.51 4.04 4.06
6 2.95 2.85 3.16 3.02 2.93 3.04 2.73 2.74
7 2.72 2.71 3.02 2.95 2.72 2.87 2.76 2.88
8 3.25 3.05 3.18 2.98 3.01 2.89 3.03 2.73
9 2.21 2.15 2.61 2.55 2.32 2.35 2.66 2.54
10 3.43 3.20 3.27 2.97 3.2 2.85 3.26 2.69
11 2.10 2.01 2.24 2.04 1.83 1.69 1.87 1.7
12 3.27 2.98 3.12 2.02 3 2.61 3.12 2.48
13 2.27 2.20 2.24 2.11 1.84 1.7 1.82 1.63
14 2.42 2.34 2.23 2.12 2.09 1.91 2.02 1.85
15 2.36 2.25 2.21 2.12 2.03 1.84 2.42 2.06
16 2.25 2.26 2.04 2.06 2.12 1.95 2.06 1.86
17 1.79 1.85 1.57 1.67 1.36 1.34 1.32 1.32
18 2.59 2.67 2.31 2.49 2.29 2.26 2.44 2.33
19 1.46 1.55 1.39 1.48 1.25 1.24 1.18 1.14
20 2.24 2.66 1.97 2.43 2.13 2.69 1.97 2.32
Source : Same as Table 2.15 and
CBS, 2002, National Report Vol. I, Table 10
Table 2.25 shows age 15 in both sexes are not found more reported than the ages 14 and 16 although
age 5, 10 and 20 have been found to be reported more than the preceding and succeeding ages. The
ages of infants and children are probably reported more accurately than the ages of adults. There are
two important reasons for this. First, the ages of children are generally reported by parents and the
second is the ability to guess a child’s age with reasonable accuracy (UNFPA, 1993).
It is of some interest to measure age accuracy by an index for comparative purposes to establish, for
example, whether the age statistics of one census are more accurate than that of another census. In
this analysis, Whipple’s, Myer’s ‘Blended’ and ‘Digit Preference’ and United Nations age-sex
accuracy indices are carried out for checking age data and comparison between the various censuses.
75
2.7.1 Whipple’s Index
An indicator of the degree of age heaping is the Whipple’s index, which ranges from 100 when there
is no preference for 0 and 5 and up to 500, when only ages ending in 0 and 5 are reported (Newell,
1988). Between these extremes, the following scale for estimating the reliability of the age data has
been suggested by the United Nations:
Quality of the Data Whipple's Index

Highly accurate Less than 105
Fairly accurate 105-109.9
Approximate 110-124.9
Rough 125-174.9
Very rough 175 and over
The Whipple's indices calculated for Nepal census data are presented in figure 2.3
Figure 2.5: Whipple's Index for Nepal 1971-2001
300
250
200
Index
150
100
50
0
1971 1981 1991 2001
Male 240 248 196 206
Female 253 255 209 207
Both Sexes 247 251 202 206
Source: Same as figure 2.4
The Whipple’s indices in all censuses indicate a high case of digit preference. In all censuses both
male and female (figure 2.3) shows that Whipple’s indices are more than 175. United Nation’s
describes data with an index of this magnitude as very rough.
76
2.7.2 Myers' Blended Index
Another method of measuring age heaping is `Myers' Blended Index' developed by Myers (Myers, R.
J. 1940). Myer has developed a ‘Blended’ method to yield an index of preference for each terminal
digit representing the deviation from 10 percent of proportion of the total population reporting the
given digit. A summary index of preference for all terminal digits is derived as one half the sum of
the deviation from ten percent each taken without regard to sign. The `Myers' Blended Index'
calculated for Nepal census data are presented in figure 2.6 and Myer's index of digit preference is
shown in Table 2.26.
Figure 2.6: Trend of Myer's Index, 1971-2001
30.0
25.0
20.0
Index
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
1971 1981 1991 2001
BOTH SEXES 24.3 24.7 16.9 18.7
MALE 24.3 23.8 15.8 18.3
FEMALE 25.3 25.6 18.1 19.1
Source: Same as figure 2.4
Figure 2.6 shows there is no improvement in age reporting between 1971 and 1981 although in 1991
and 2001, the situation looks better Myers' index does not appear to have improved. If age heaping
were non-existent, the index would approximate to zero. The theoretical range of the index is 0
representing no heaping and 90 indicating as if all ages are reported at a single digit.
77
Table 2.26: Myer's index of digit preference by sex for census years, Nepal, 1971-2001.
Male Female
Digits
1971 1981 1991 2001 1971 1981 1991 2001
0 10.7 12.7 7.5 8.6 13.8 14.8 9.6 9.5

1 -3.7 -4.0 -2.5 -3.5 -4.0 -4.3 -3.4 -3.9
2 1.2 0.7 0.8 0.9 0.7 0.6 1.0 0.8
3 -4.8 -4.5 -3.1 -3.2 -5.0 -4.6 -3.5 -3.2
4 -3.8 -3.8 -2.4 -2.7 -3.7 -3.8 -2.6 -2.7
5 10.2 9.9 7.2 7.5 9.6 9.6 7.3 7.3
6 -1.9 -2.1 -1.6 -1.6 -2.7 -2.8 -2.0 -1.8
7 -4.2 -4.2 -2.5 -3.0 -4.6 -4.7 -3.1 -3.1
8 1.3 0.5 0.7 1.2 1.2 0.7 0.7 1.5
9 -5.1 -5.1 -3.8 -4.1 -5.3 -5.4 -4.0 -4.3
Table 2.26 shows that in all censuses, there was a tendency both among males and females to
overstate their ages ending in digits 0 and 5 and understate ages ending in digits 1,3,4, 6, 7 and 9.
There is also some overstating in digits 2 and 8. However, all censuses found age heaping in certain
digits. However 1991 and 2001 censuses found comparatively better age reporting of both males and
females.
2.7.3 United Nations Age-Sex Accuracy Index
The UN age-sex accuracy index or UN joint scores combines indices or accuracy of the distribution
and accuracy in sex ratio to come up with single index measuring the accuracy of age-sex distribution
of a census. The following scale for estimating the reliability of the age data has been suggested by
the United Nations:
Quality of the Data UN Age sex Accuracy Index

Accurate under 20
Inaccurate 20-40
Highly inaccurate over 40
The UN Age sex Accuracy Index calculated for Nepal census data are presented in figure 2.7.
78
Figure 2.7: United Nations Age-Sex Accuracy
Index, Nepal 1971-2001
60
40
Index
20
0
1971 1981 1991 2001
Index 51.9 43.5 41.9 21.1
Year
Source: Same as Table 2.21
Figure 2.7 shows that in 2001, there is sharp decline in index eventhough the quality of data rated is
inaccurate. The UN Age Sex Indices found very high prior to the census 2001 which all are rated
highly inaccurate are found to have declined sharply in 2001. Although, in 2001 census the UN Age
Sex Index found the value 21.1 is in boarder line i.e. below 20 considered as accurate. When single
year data are grouped into five-year age groups, some of the peaks and troughs are eliminated. This is
the advantage of UN Age Sex Index over the Whipple and Myer’s Index. This may be the one reason,
however, there is not much difference in Whipple and Myer’s index in various censuses but UN Age
Sex Index is found to have sharply declined.
There are many types of errors and biases in the censuses age data. However, the trend has been
toward greater accuracy and reliability.
2.8 Index of Ageing and Median Age of Population
Computing index of ageing or aged-child ratio and median age of the population may further carry
out the analysis of age composition. The index of ageing is defined as the ratio of population over 60
79
to the children under age 14 multiplied by hundred. The index of ageing and median age of
population are calculated by sex and presented in Table 2.27.
Table 2.27 : Index of ageing and median age by sex, Nepal, 1971-2001.
Index of Ageing Median Age

Census Year
Male Female Total Male Female Total
1971 13.20 14.75 13.86 19.80 20.70 20.30
1981 14.08 13.51 13.81 19.50 20.30 19.90
1991 13.56 13.80 13.58 18.41 19.40 18.92
2001 16.51 16.32 16.70 19.00 20.00 20.00
Source: Source: Same as 2.21
Note : Median of age is calculated based on age- grouped data prior to 2001 census data. In 2001 census
data median age is calculated based on single year data. If we calculate from grouped data median
age found for male = 19.71, female = 20.47 and total = 20.08 for 2001.
Table 2.27 shows that index of ageing was lower than 15 per cent prior to the census 2001 and in
2001 census it is around 16 percent. This indicates most of the times Nepal’s population have young
generations, although it is slightly shifting to the old. The population may be described as young if
the index of ageing is under 15 percent and old if its value is over 30 percent (Singh and Syami,
1990).
For analysis of age composition median age is also calculated and this measure also indicated that
Nepal’s population was always young. Median age of the population is defined as that age of the
population, which divides the total population below the median as younger and above the median as
older. A population may be described as young, intermediate and old if the median age lies under 20,
between20 to 29 and over or equal to 30 years respectively. The median age for most of the countries
lie in the limit 16 to 36 years.
2.9 Age Smoothing
Census data on age distribution of population, as analyzed earlier are found to have errors due to
inaccurate reporting of ages and some of the errors may be due to under enumeration. The UN Age
Sex Accuracy Index, is improved in census 2001 than prior censuses. This indicates these errors are
80
less pronounced in five-year age distribution rather than in single year age distribution. When the age
structures of the population are not correct, a decision has to be made to adjust the age distribution.
Smoothing techniques have frequently been made for correcting data for age misreporting. Mainly
two techniques, without modifying the total population size and slightly modifying total population
size are used for age smoothing. In both techniques, light smoothing and strong smoothing to be used
depends on the errors in the age and sex distribution. In this analysis, Carrier-Farrag, Karup-King
Newton, Arriga, United Nations and strong smoothing techniques were carried out for age smoothing
in 2001 census data by using software program AGESMTH and is presented in Table 2.28.
Table 2.28 : Reported and smoothed population by age and sex, Nepal, 2001.
Sex and Carrier K.-King United

Reported Arriaga*** Strong****
Age Farrag* Newton** Nations
Male
Total, 0-79 11,296,859 11,296,859 11,296,859
Total, 10-69 8,044,044 8,044,044 8,044,044 8,044,044 8,050,591 8,044,044
0-4 1,395,715 1,526,268 1,566,644
5-9 1,633,087 1,502,534 1,462,158
10-14 1,533,806 1,451,203 1,438,631 1,452,021 1,516,953 1,350,441
15-19 1,185,826 1,268,429 1,281,001 1,267,611 1,207,897 1,202,574
20-24 946,742 958,861 967,768 956,070 952,183 1,022,562
25-29 821,014 808,895 799,988 811,686 816,506 881,142
30-34 726,040 736,832 736,075 735,603 728,945 741,352
35-39 651,351 640,559 641,316 641,788 642,933 638,494
40-44 539,993 546,456 546,477 545,033 547,838 552,419
45-49 469,695 463,232 463,211 464,655 466,100 472,206
50-54 392,659 390,633 390,096 389,149 392,348 394,719
55-59 318,610 320,636 321,173 322,120 321,251 326,237
60-64 262,255 262,020 259,608 259,219 259,179 261,568
65-69 196,053 196,288 198,701 199,089 198,457 200,332
70-74 141,678 140,516 140,860
75-79 82,335 83,497 83,153
80+ 62,519
81
Table 2.28: Reported and smoothed population by age and sex, Nepal, 2001(cont.)
Sex and Carrier K.-King United
Reported Arriaga*** Strong****
Age Farrag* Newton** Nations
Female
Total, 0-79 11,310,380 11,310,380 11,310,380
Total, 10-69 8,156,987 8,156,987 8,156,987 8,156,987 8,171,513 8,156,987
0-4 1,359,498 1,488,485 1,510,831

5-9 1,578,355 1,449,369 1,427,022
10-14 1,448,126 1,391,443 1,385,861 1,393,992 1,448,616 1,336,592
15-19 1,203,176 1,259,859 1,265,441 1,257,310 1,226,347 1,213,060
20-24 1,070,026 1,063,904 1,064,029 1,061,423 1,057,452 1,069,860
25-29 904,464 910,586 910,461 913,067 907,257 932,694
30-34 763,463 771,580 772,180 769,457 766,976 785,612
35-39 659,302 651,185 650,585 653,308 655,058 667,497
40-44 548,051 549,102 548,732 547,145 549,723 555,064
45-49 453,678 452,627 452,997 454,584 454,986 464,079
50-54 373,395 361,199 362,933 360,062 367,243 379,475
55-59 283,483 295,679 293,945 296,816 294,886 310,746
60-64 258,653 256,039 252,495 253,062 248,727 250,380
65-69 191,170 193,784 197,328 196,761 194,240 191,927
70-74 132,111 138,190 135,235
75-79 83,429 77,350 80,305
80+ 67,176
Source : CBS, National Report 2002, Volume I, Table 9

Note: * The Carrier –Farrag technique is based on the assumption that the relationship of a 5- year age group
to its constituent 10-year age group is an average of similar relationships in three consecutive 10-
year age groups.
** The Karup-King Newton formula assumes a quadratic relationship among each three consecutive 10-
year age groups.
*** Arriga Formula assumes that a second-degree polynomial passes by the midpoint of each three
consecutive 10- year age groups and then integrates a five-year age group.
**** Strong smoothing procedure follows in the first step smooth the results in ten years age groups then
adjusts the results in smooth ages then separates the smoothed 10- year age groups into 5- year age
groups. For detail please see Ariga, 1994.
An attempt was made for population projection to smooth the age data of 2001 population census by
employing the Hill Technique. The use of the Hill Technique in leveling out the inconsistencies in the
age structure was satisfactory everywhere, except at ages between 20 and 29 for females (CBS,
1987). The reported and smoothed age distribution calculated by using Hill Technique is presented in
Table 2.29.
82
Table 2.29 : Reported and adjusted 5 -year age distribution by Hill technique, Nepal, 2001.
Reported Adjusted
Age Groups
Total Male Female Total Male Female
0-4 2805432 1420848 1384585 3168560 1629110 1539450
5-9 3269974 1662494 1607480 3038060 1545440 1492620
10-14 3036274 1561425 1474848 2891580 1463450 1428130
15-19 2432557 1207179 1225378 2483820 1218870 1264950
20-24 2053561 963790 1089771 2119350 1014630 1104720
25-29 1756952 835798 921154 1806373 860346 946027
30-34 1516665 739114 777551 1544853 750970 793883
35-39 1334548 663080 671468 1309530 648741 660789
40-44 1107881 549717 558164 1098296 549778 548518
45-49 940203 478153 462050 913668 463030 450638
50-54 780015 399730 380285 755015 388062 366953
55-59 613061 324347 288714 619807 319610 300197
60-64 530403 266977 263426 496652 253824 242828
65-69 394281 199583 194698 374473 190162 184311
70-74 278778 144229 134549 250738 127864 122874
75-79 168786 83818 84969 161578 82007 79571
80+ 132051 63639 68412 119070 58027 61043
Total 23151423 11563921 11587502 23151423 11563921 11587502
Source : CBS, National Report 2002, Volume I.
2.10 Conclusion
This chapter examined the size, growth, distribution and age sex structure of the Nepalese population.
Nepal's population of 23.1 million in 2001 census was around 4.6 million greater than in 1991 census
and over 17.5 million more than the 1911 population census of 5.6 million. The main component of
Nepal's population growth has been natural increase. Although, Nepal’s population is small compared
to neighboring countries China and India, both having more than billion people, looking at the growth
rate and other resources of the country, this is the proper time for thinking about population policies.
The population size, growth and density vary according to geographical and administrative divisions.
For many purposes information on the size and characteristics of the total population of a nation is not
sufficient. Population data are often needed for geographic divisions of a country and urban and rural
83
areas. In Nepal, the geographic distribution of the population is not even but is dense in some places
and sparse in others. There are urban centers where thousands of people live within a few square
kilometers, and there are also vast stretches of mountains where the population averages only one or
two persons per square kilometer The share of total population in Terai is increasing year by year. It
is true that fertility, mortality and also boundaries changes are the contributing factors in the
population size, growth and distribution by geographical and administrative divisions, variations in
the net migration is also responsible for spatial changes in the population of the country. . Although,
human being live in some of the remote places, the places where people live are strongly correlated
with climate, soil quality and availability of local resources. Considering these wide varieties of
reasons, population policies need to be addressed about population redistribution and planned
urbanization in a systematic manner. Moreover, proper attention should be given in resource
distribution and mobilization also respecting the right of individuals to live and work in the
community of their choice.
Aside from the total size, the most important demographic characteristic of a population is its age and
sex structure, or the proportion of people at each age, by sex. The analysis of age sex composition of
various census data indicates there was a tendency both among males and females to overstate their
ages ending in digits 0 and 5. Although, there are many types of errors, when single year data are
grouped into five-year age groups, the trend has been toward greater accuracy and reliability. Since,
the age-sex composition of a population is important in demographic analysis for various reasons, the
quality of population data needs to be improved. Concerted efforts at several levels such as, improved
training of the collectors, enlightening or educating the people about the importance and accuracy of
their responses in census and survey operations are only few among them that need to be stressed
before any improvement in the data quality can be expected.
84
References
Arriage, E.A., Johnson, P.D. & Jamisons, E. (1994). Population Analysis with Micro-Computers,
Volumes I and II. Washington D.C.
Central Bureau of Statistics (1958). Population Census 1952/54, Vol. I. National Planning
Commission (NPC), Kathmandu, Nepal.
Central Bureau of Statistics (1966) Population Census 1961, Vol. I. National Planning Commission
(NPC), Kathmandu, Nepal.
Central Bureau of Statistics (1975). Population Census 1971, Vol. I. National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (1984). Population Census 1981, Vol. I Part I. National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (1987). Population Monograph of Nepal. National Planning

Central Bureau of Statistics (1993). Population Census 1991, Vol. I Part I. National Planning

Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census 2001, National Report. National Planning
Gubhaju, B.B. (1974). An Abridged Life Table Construction for Nepal for the Period 1961 – 70.
(Mimeo). Nepal FP/MCH Project, Kathmandu.
Karki, Y.B. (2002). Assesment of the 2001 Population Census of Nepal and Establishment of
Demographic Bases for New Population Projections, Report, CBS, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Karki, Y.B. (1992). Estimates and Projections of Population, Nepal : 1981 – 2031. Central
Department of Population Studies, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu Nepal.
Myers, R. J. (1941). Errors and Bias in the Reporting of Ages in Census Data. Transactions of the
Actuarial Society of America, 41.
Pandey, B. B. (2042 B.S.). Tees Bakhat Ko Nepal Part 5, P.131. Kathmandu, Nepal.
85
Pozzi, F; Small, C; Yetman, G. (2002). Modeling the distribution of Human Population with Night
Time Satellite Imagery and Grilled Population of the world. Columbia University. USA
Shryock H.S., Siegel, J.S., Associates (1976). The Methods and Materials of Demography. No. 81.
Sales No. E83. XIII. 2.
Singh, M.L. & Saymi, S.B. (1990). An Introduction to Mathematical Demography. Kathmandu,
Nepal.
Singh, M.L. (1983). Official Statistics (with special reference to Nepal). Tribhuvan University.
Institute of Science and Technology.
Thapa, S. & Retherford, R.D. (1982). Infant Mortality Estimates Based on the 1967, Nepal Fertility
Survey. Population Studies, 36 (1).
United States Bureau of the Census (1985). Evaluating Censuses of Population and Houseing,
Statistical Training Document, ISP-TR-5. Washington, D.C. : US Bureau of the Census.
86
CHAPTER 3
SOCIAL COMPOSITION OF THE POPULATION:
CASTE/ETHNICITY AND RELIGION IN NEPAL
- Dr.Dilli Ram Dahal*
3.1 Introduction
In Nepal, though the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) already conducted ten decennial censuses
since 1911, the taking of census considering the social components of population such as
language, religion and ethnic/ caste groups is relatively a recent phenomenon. The inclusion of
these social components in the Nepali census gradually started along with the advent of
democratic revolutions in Nepal. The democratic revolution in Nepal in 1950(which threw the
autocratic Rana regime) motivated to include two important social components in the census
taking; the 1952/54 census provided information on language (on the basis of mother tongue) and
religion. The other important social component such as caste/ethnicity was included only in the
1991 census after the onset of democracy in Nepal in 1990 (the king became the constitutional
monarch). There could be several reasons why the CBS has remained little skeptical throughout
its history in providing such important data on language, religion and caste/ethnicity.
• Sensitive Nature of the Data: The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) is a government
organization. Before 1950, the Rana government wanted to show Nepal as a homogenous
country in terms of language, religion and ethnic/caste structure. The government advocated
the single language and religion policy within the framework of larger Hindu nationalism and
ideals. Considering the sensitive nature of the data, which could harm the larger Hindu
nationalist sentiments, the government did not encourage the CBS to publish such sensitive
data, though the CBS started collecting such data since the 1911 census in different formats.
The CBS continued collecting the caste/ethnicity data up to the 1952/54 census but they never
published them officially. Not only that the CBS simply deleted the question column on
caste/ethnicity in the 1961 , 1971 and 1981 censuses, considering such data are not very
useful for planning purposes.
• Politically Unstable Government: After 1950, the frequent changes in the government
structure and the short- life of the elected democratic government in 1959-60 could not
provide enough space for the people. The Panchayat regime (1960-1990) absolutely
maintained Hindu supremacy and values and did not provide space for the participatory
*
Dr. Dahal is Professor of Anthropology at Center for Nepal and Asian Studies (CENAS), Tribhuvan
University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
87
political culture of people considering their language, religion and culture. So it is natural that
the democratic government formed after 1990 encouraged the CBS to provide information on
caste / ethnicity in Nepal.
• Macro policy and lack of vision in understanding Nepali society and culture: Even today,
many politicians, planners and academics think that the development of Nepal is possible only
from the macro perspective. Many of them believe that detailed information on various
groups of people could lead towards disintegration than integration of Nepal. Because of this
kind of pungent feeling of national integration and vision of development, there is still a
strong tendency in Nepal to provide information on macro framework, particularly about the
Nepali society and culture or present development model as if all cultural groups are the
same.
In Nepal, every census is considered an improvement of the previous census in terms of providing
scientific information to the people. But the census of 2001 has to face some serious problem in
collecting the household- level individual data in many areas of Nepal. The CBS could not collect
the household- level individual data in 80 villages of eight Maoist insurgency affected districts:
Salyan, Kalikot, Jhapa, Surkhet, Mugu, Humla, Jumla , Dolpa and Sindhupalchok. The most
affected district was Salyan where the CBS could provide the detailed household-level
information only on 28 Village Development Committees (VDCs) (out of total 47 VDCs). In,
brief, though 4,253,220 households and 23,151,423 populations were recorded in the 2001-
census, detailed household-level individual characteristics (such as religion, caste/ethnicity,
literacy, language and so on) are available only for 4,174,374 households and 22,736,934
populations.
Keeping such background information in mind, this chapter attempts to provide a systematic
overview of the social composition of population of Nepal. Three sets of data are discussed for
this purpose: ethnic/caste composition, language and religion. As language has been covered in
another chapter, this chapter brings language only for reference or cross-tabulation.
3.2 Ethnic /Caste Composition of Nepal
Historically, it is difficult to provide the reliable information on ethnic /caste groups of Nepal for
two reasons: i) History of unified Nepal begins only after 1768, and ii) No anthropological/
linguistic survey has been carried out in Nepal to date to note the various ethnic/caste groups and
their mother tongues.
Before the conquest of Kathmandu Valley by King Prthivinarayan Shah in 1768, the history of
Nepal was the history of small kingdoms and principalities ruled by different kings and chiefs. In
88
the east, there were three major kingdoms- Bijaypur, Chaudandi and Makwanpur. In the kingdom
like Bijayapur, there were various groups of peoples such as the Rai, Limbu, Sunuwar, Lepcha
and others. To the west of Kathmandu, there were the Chaubise (twenty-four) kingdoms and in
the far west across the Kanali river, there were the Baise (twenty two) kingdoms( see Acharya
1968). If the Khas and other groups were living in the far- western Hills, Magar, Gurung and
others were living in the western Hill regions. Tharus, Dhimals, Rajbansi and others were living
in the Tarai. Similarly, the Kathmandu Valley, which included three small kingdoms,was
inhabited mostly by the Newars. In brief, Nepal became a multi-cultural, multi-religious and
multi-lingual state only after the unification of Nepal in 1768 and subsequent consolidation of the
state thereafter.
As no anthropological/linguistic survey has been carried out in Nepal to date to note the various
ethnic/caste groups, their distribution and population size, the exact number of ethnic/caste groups
and their population size is somewhat imprecise in Nepal even today. In this kind of uncertain
situation, the CBS has remained the single most important reliable source in providing the
national- level information on caste/ethnicity and their various socioeconomic characteristics. The
CBS provided data on 59 ethnic/caste groups in the 1991 census, whereas it provided data on 100
ethnic /caste groups in the 2001 census (see Annex 3.1 for details regarding the ethnic/caste
composition of Nepal in the 1991 and 2001 censuses). Despite these available information, many
agencies provide their own information on ethnic/caste groups and thus the number of
ethnic/caste groups and their population size differ from one source to another. For example, the
National Committee of Nationalities (2002) listed 59 distinct cultural groups within Janajati and
Dalit Commission (Ayog) (2002) noted 28 cultural groups within Dalits1.
The focus of this paper, however, is to provide information on caste/ ethnicity and religion on the
basis of the 2001 census and to assess its quality of the data, scope and limitation. Before
discussing the basic features of ethnic/ caste composition of population on the basis of 2001
census, let me briefly discuss the distinct cultural characteristics of various groups of people
living in Nepal, so that these census data on ethnic/caste groups could be discussed in a proper
anthropological/sociological perspective.
In Nepal, though there are more than 100 ethnic/caste groups with distinct language and culture,
these diverse ethnic/caste groups can be arranged into five broad cultural groups: i) the caste-
origin Hindu groups; ii) the Newar, iii) the Janajati or nationalities, iv) Muslim or Musalman and
v) Other (see Dahal 1995).
89
3.2.1 Caste Origin Hindu Groups
The caste-origin Hindu groups have some distinct cultural features: i) hierarchical structure (one
group is placed at the top and the other is placed at the bottom; ii) hereditary basis of the
membership; iii) endogamy (marrying within one’s own cultural group) and, iv) purity and
pollution, which govern the day- to- day life of people. There are three distinct caste-origin Hindu
groups in Nepal: i) Caste origin Hill Hindus, ii) Caste origin Tarai Hindus, and, iii) Caste-origin
Hindu Newar.
3.2.1.1 Caste - Origin Hill Hindu groups
The social structure of caste-origin Hill Hindu groups is simple, reflecting only three groups in
hierarchy and there is no four Varna (color) within this category.
i) High caste Hindu groups: Brahmin, Thakuri and Chhetri

ii) Middle caste Hindu group: Sanyasi
iii) Low caste Hindu groups or Dalits: Kami , Sarki, Damai, Badi and Gaine
The mother tongue of these groups is the Nepali language. The CBS, 2001 recorded only 9 groups
in the caste-origin Hill Hindu groups.
3.2.1.2 Caste - Origin Tarai Hindu Groups
The social structure of the caste-origin Tarai Hindu groups is complex, reflecting four Varna
groups with distinct hierarchical structure within them: Brahmin (Maithil Brahmin, Bhumihar),
Chhetri(Rajput), Vaisya ( Yadav, Kayastha, , Halwaii, Hajam, Sonar, Lohar, Rajbhar and others)
and Sudra or untouchable( Tatma, Bantar, Mushahar,Chamar, Dom and others). These various
cultural groups belong to four distinct language groups: Maithili, Bajika, Bhojpuri, and Awadhi.
The CBS, 2001 recorded 43 caste- origin Hindu groups in the Tarai.
3.2.2 Newar
The case of Newar is exceptional. This group not only presents the complicated social structure
among all groups in Nepal, truly reflecting the model of four Hindu Varna categories and is
clearly divided into two distinct religious groups: the Hindu and the Buddhist. Newars are
divided internally into more than 40 distinct cultural groups with different occupational
categories, though they share a common language (mother-tongue) Newari. The CBS recorded
Newar only as one cultural group.
90
3.2.3 Janajati (Ethnic Groups /Nationalities)
A Janajti group or nationality as defined by the National Committee for Development of

Nationalities (1996) is as follows:
“Nationality (Janajati) is that community which has its own mother tongue and traditional culture
and yet do not fall under the conventional four fold Varna of Hindu or Hindu hierarchical caste
structure. A Janajati group has the following characteristics:
• A distinct collective identity

• Own language, religion, tradition, culture and civilization; own traditional egalitarian social
structure
• Traditional homeland or geographical area
• Written or oral history
• Having “ we-feeling”;
• Have had no decisive role in politics and government in modern Nepal;
• Who declare themselves as Janajati
Historically, many of these Janajati groups used to occupy a particular habitat or territory, and
thus many of them claim that they are the true “ First Settlers” (Adivasi) of Nepal. Like the caste
Hindus, the Janajati can also be divided into two distinct regional groups: Hill Janajati and Tarai
Janajati.
Some of the Hill Janajati groups are: Magar, Gurung, Rai, Limbu, Sherpa, Sunuwar, Bhote, Raji,
Raute and others.
Some of the Tarai Janajati groups are: Tharu, Dhimal, Gangain, Satar/Santhal, Dahngar/Jhangar,
Koche, Meche and others.
The National Committee of Nationalities which noted 59 distinct cultural groups as Janajati
(published in Nepal Rajpatra, February 2,2002) also identified them in different ecological
regions: 18 groups from the Mountain, 23 groups from the Hill and 7 groups from the Inner Tarai
and 11 groups from the Tarai. Of them, the CBS could record only 42 Janajati groups with their
population size and the population size of other 17 groups (13 from the Mountain, 3 from the
Hills and 1 from the Tarai) is not available. According to Grurung (2002: 12), of the total 18
Janajati groups listed in the Mountain (or Himal), the CBS recorded only five groups (Bhote,
Byanshi, Sherpa, Thakali and Walung) and the rest other groups are labeled as Bhote or they are
simply the identification of the group through Tibetan language. Likewise, Gurung (2002: 13)
claims that “Free” is the group related with Pahari, Surel with Jirel and Bankariya with Chepang.
The Newar group, whose Hindu population is more than 84% according to the 2001 census (see
91
Annex 3.4), and who are strictly hierarchical in their structure, is also labeled as Janajati.
Similarly, 97.6 percent of the Tharu populations follow Hindu religion, according to the 2001
census.
The above list of Janajati suggests that identity of Janajati is extremely elusive and often arbitrary
in the context of Nepal.
3.2.4 Musalman
The CBS recorded two cultural groups within Musalman: i) Musalman and ii) Churoute. If the
big Musalman populations live in the Tarai, the small Hill Musalman group, popularly known as
Churoute, lives in the Western hill districts.
3.2.5 Other
In addition, a small number of religious and social groups such as Sikh/Punjabi, Bangali,
Marwari, and Jain(reported as Jaine by the CBS) live mostly in the urban areas of Nepal. Only
four such groups are recorded by the CBS.
Table 3.1 below shows the number of ethnic/ caste groups with their percentage of total
population based on five broad cultural categories as mentioned above.
Table 3.1 : Five broad cultural groups, and number of ethnic/caste groups included in
each cultural category with their percentage of total population, 2001 census.
Total % of Total
Broad Cultural Groups Ethnic/Caste Population, 2001
Groups * Census
Caste-origin Hill Hindu groups (including Hill Dalit) 9 38.00
Caste-origin Tarai Hindu groups (including Tarai Dalit) 43 20.97
Newar 1 5.48
Janajati(both the Hill and Tarai Janajati) 41 31.01
Musalman(including Churoute) 2 4.29
Other 4 0.25
Total 100 100.00
Source : CBS 2001 census; also see Dahal (1995)
*As there is some confusion in identifying the cultural groups within Janajati(for example, the group
Munda has appeared only in the 2001 census and not in the list of Nationalities of Nepal) and Tarai origin
Hindu groups(such as Dhanuk), the percentage of total population in each of the broad cultural category
could increase/decrease by 0 .01 percent
92
Table 3.1 clearly indicates that that the Hindu- origin caste groups (excluding Newar and other
category) account for close to 59% of the total population.
3.3 Some Distinct Ethnic/Caste Features Reported in the 1991 and

2001 Censuses
3.3.1 Ethnic/Caste Features Included/Excluded in the 1991 and 2001

Censuses
Table 3.2 below presents some distinct ethnic/caste features included/excluded in the 1991 and
2001 censuses.
Table 3.2 : Some ethnic/caste features included/excluded in the 1991 and 2001 censuses .
Census and Region 1991 Census 2001 Census
Total ethnic/caste groups recorded 59 100

Mountain 3 5
Hill 27 45
Tarai 29 50
Addition of ethnic/caste groups Not applicable 41
Omission of groups included in the 1991 census Not applicable 1
Ethnic/caste groups’ population counted in other 4.44 1.80
category (in %)
Number of ethnic/caste groups whose population Not applicable 9

size has declined in the 2001 census
Source : Population Census 1991 and Population Census2001, National Report, CBS, 2002.
Though the 2001 census listed 103 groups, technically only 100 groups are identified
(see Annex 3.1). The three unidentified groups listed are: i) Adibasi/Janajati, ii)
Dalit/Unidentified Dalit, and iii) Unidentified caste/ethnic. The increased number of ethnic/caste
groups in the 2001 census is not only due to the efforts of the CBS but also the rising ethnic
awareness and identity among various groups of people in Nepal after 1990. Fourty-one
ethnic/caste groups added in different ecological regions in the 2001 census are: 2 from the
Mountain, 10 from the Hills and 29 from the Tarai. The name of these various cultural groups
added in the 2001 census by ecological regions is as follows:
93
Mountain: Byanshi, Walung.
Hill: Gharti/Bhujel, Yakha, Pahari, Chantel, Dura, Hayu, Kusunda(?), Nurang(?),

Brahmu/Baramu, Yehlmo.
Tarai: Koiri, Sonar, Kalwar, Hajam/Thakur, Lohar, Tatma, Nuniya, Badahi, Santhal/Satar,
Dahnger/Jhanger, Bantar, Barae, Kahar, Lodha, Bind/Binda, Bhediya/Gaderi, Tajpuriya,
Chidimar, Mali, Dom, Kamar, Meche, Halkhor, Kisan, Koche, Dhuniya, Munda,
Patharkatha/Kushwadia and Jaine (Jain) (?).
As usual, the CBS put the same four distinct cultural groups in both the 1991 and 2001 censuses,
without understanding their own internal complexity within the structure. These groups are:
Churoute (A hill Muslim group who sells bangles, beads, etc), Bangali (a group originally came
from West Bengal and within them there is a caste hierarchy), Marwari (Originally from Marwar,
India and within them there is a strict caste hierarchy) and Punjabi/Sikh (a religious group). The
Jain (written as Jaine), a religious group, has been added as an ethnic/caste category in the 2001
census.
The only caste group whose population figure was given in the 1991 census but not included in
the 2001 census was Kushwaha. The population size of Kushwaha was 205,797 in the 1991
census and this group has been recorded under the name of Koiri (Kushwaha is, in fact, a clan
name of the Koiri ) and thus not included in the 2001 census. The population figure of Kalwar
was not given separately in the 1991 census as the Kalwar and Sudhi were treated as one cultural
group and thus their population size was lumped together in the 1991 census. In the 2001 census,
this was corrected and they were put in two separate cultural groups with their population size.
In a normal situation, the population size of an ethnic/caste group does not decline over a period
of time, unless some natural calamities, war or deadly diseases occur during the period. In Nepal,
without any such event, the population size of some groups has substantially declined between the
1991 and the 2001 census periods. The ethnic/caste group whose population size has declined
between 1991 to 2001 censuses is given in Table 3.3.
94
Table 3.3 : Ethnic/caste groups whose population size has declined in the 2001 census.
Number and %
Ethnic/caste group Population 1991 Population 2001
Declined
Kami 963655 895594 68061(7.1)
BrahminTarai 162886 134496 28390(17.4)
Sudhi(Kalwar) 162046 89846 72200(45.6)
Rajbhar 33433 24263 9170(27.4)
Thakali 13731 12973 758(5.5)
Badi 7082 4442 2640(37.3)
Lepcha 4826 3660 1166(24.2)
Punjabi/Sikh 9292 3054 6238(67.1)
Raute 2878 658 2220(77.1)
Kumhar 72008 54413 17595(24.4)
Total 1431837 1223399 208438(14.6%)
Source : Population Census, 1991 and Population Census 2001, National Report, CBS, 2002.
In total, the population size of ten ethnic/caste groups has declined 14.6 % between the 1991-2001
censuses. The substantial decline of the population is noted among Raute, Punjabi/Sikh and
Sudi/Kalwar. Except four cultural groups (Kami, Sudhi/Kalwar, Badi and Raute) where some
specific reasons could be given for the decline of populations, the decline of population of other
groups is little known. In the case of Kami, many of them hided their own caste identity, either
putting the surname of the high caste Hindu groups or simply reported themselves as Dalit
without identifying one’s own caste. The case of the Badi is also the same. Many of them simply
put their family name "Nepali", which later the CBS labeled them as Dalit or unidentified Dalit.
As Sudhi and Kalwar are separated into two distinct cultural groups in the 2001 census, it is
natural that the population size of Sudi has declined in the 2001 census. The Chhetri group whose
clan name is Raut may have been labeled as Raute in the 1991 census and thus the population size
of Raute was simply inflated during the 1991 census. Kumhar is popularly known as potters in the
Nepal Tarai (like Kumhals in the Hills). It is possible that many Kumhars are converted into
Kumhal category by the enumerators in the field itself (without understanding the basic
differences between Kumhal and Kumhar) or they are simply written as Kumhal by the computer
experts in Kathmandu (while converting Devanagari into English language).
95
Ethnic/caste groups whose ethnic identity is given but not known fully in the sociological term in
the 2001 census are: Nurang, Jaine and Lodha. Jaine could be the typological error of the religious
group known as Jain in Nepal and India. As Jains are a trading - prosperous community of Nepal,
their literacy rate is highest among all ethnic/caste groups in the 2001 census (Literacy rate of
Jain: 93.94%). According to Schwartzberg (1965,p.481), Lodhs are found in good numbers in the
northern Indian Plain, and their traditional occupation is cultivators with medium social status.
The same Lodh group could have been addressed as Lodha in the Nepal Tarai. They are farmers,
and a Hindu caste- origin Vaisya group. The social status of Nurang is still unknown.
On the other hand, the improvement in the data quality on ethnic/caste groups is also reflected in
the 2001 census. In the 1991 census, 821,280 populations or 4.44% of the total populations were
recorded as “others” (Tarai others: 627,514, Hill others: 184,216, Mountain others: 1,741, no
caste or foreigners: 2,951 and not stated: 4,858). In other words, readers do not know a large
chunk of people labeled in these various “other categories”. There is “ no other category” in the
2001 census per se and only 410,301 populations (1.80% of the total populations) are unidentified
in the particular ethnic/caste category and thus they are noted as Adibasi/Janajati(population:
5,259), Dalit/Unidentified Dalit( population: 173,401) and unidentified caste/ethnic(population:
231,641).In fact, the 2001 census attempted to identify all groups but the recorded data were so
imprecise that it was difficult to put them on a particular ethnic/caste category. For example, in
the 2001 census, a large number of Dalit populations simply recorded themselves as “Dalit”
without identifying their ethnic identity. Similarly, many Jannajati and caste group populations
identified themselves as / Janajati/ Adibasi or caste group without identifying their own specific
cultural group or caste/ethnic name and so on. If the CBS supervisors would have been little
careful at the time of census taking (simply checking the filled in form properly by the
enumerators), such problems would have been easily minimized.
3.3.2 Major/Minor Groups by Number
The term, major or minor, is little tricky as it connotes different meanings in different contexts.
Myron Weiner (1989) writes, “ What is a majority from one perspective is minority from
another”. So, while discussing the number of various cultural groups of people in terms of major
or minor category, it becomes meaningful only when the population size of a particular cultural
group is discussed with special reference to the national, district or village-level data. For
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example, though Thakali is a minority group in Nepal by number, they are the second largest
group in Mustang district by number. Table 3.4 shows ten major groups by number based on the
1991 and 2001 censuses.
Table 3.4 : Ten major groups by number based on the 1991 and 2001 censuses.
Ethnic /Caste 1991 Census % of Total 2001 Census % of Total

Groups Population Population
Chhetri 2,968,082 16.1 3,593,496 15.8

Hill Brahmin 2,388,456 12.9 2896477 12.7
Magar 1,339,308 7.2 1622421 7.1
Tharu 1,194,224 6.5 1533879 6.8
Tamang 1081,252 5.8 1282304 5.6
Newar 1041,090 5.6 1245232 5.6
Kami 963656 5.2 895954 4.0
Yadav 765,137 4.1 895,423 4.0
Musalman 653,055 3.5 971056 4.3
Rai Kiranti 525,557 2.8 635151 2.8
Total 12,919,815 69.7 14,675,439 68.7
Source : CBS, 1991 Census and Population Census 2001 National Report, CBS, 2002.
The above table clearly indicates that despite its diversity in ethnic/caste composition, 10 major
groups represent close to 70 percent of the total population in both censuses. In other words, there
is little change in the overall share of these groups in the total population size of the country. The
rest 90 ethnic/caste groups represent only about 30% of the total population. Only the ranking of
Kami has changed in the 2001 census. The Kami ranked 7th in population size in the 1991 census
but fell to 8th in the 2001 census. On the other hand, Musalman upgraded them from 8th to 7th
position in the 2001 census.
Ten minor groups by number according to the 1991 and 2001 censuses are given in Table 3.5
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Table 3. 5 : Ten minor groups by number 1991 and 2001 censuses .
5 Minor Population % of Total 10 Minor Group, Population %of Total

Groups in the (1991 Population 2001 Census (2001 Census) Population
1991 Census* Census)
Gaine 4484 0.02 Kusunda 164 0.0
Lepcha 4826 0.02 Patharkath/kushwadia 552 0.0
Raji 3274 0.01 Yehlmo 579 0.01
Raute 2878 0.01 Raute 658 0.01
Churoute 1778 Munda 660 0.01
Jain 1015 0.01
Walung 1148 0.01
Dhuniya 1231 0.01
Koche 1429 0.01
Hayu 1821 0.01
Source : Population Census, 2001 National Report, CBS, 2002.
* Only five groups are included here because of the relatively large size of population of a
particular group.
On the other hand, ten minor groups in the 2001 census represent only 0.08 percent of the total
population. The above data further suggest that there is an improvement in the 2001 census. Even
the smallest group by number is recorded. The population size of five distinct cultural groups is
really low; they number between 164-660 and the rest other five groups number between 661-
1821. But this was not the case in the 1991census. This census did not provide figures of the
ethnic/caste group whose number was lower than 1778 and such groups were lumped in “other”
category. Only the Raute group appears common in both censuses.
The above data further suggest that the ethnic/caste diversity is the basic feature of Nepali society.
Even the smallest group by number find the space in the 2001 census to reflect one’s own
separate and distinct cultural identity.
3.3.3 Four Major Ethnic/Caste Groups in the District by Number
Based on the 2001 census, Annex 3.2 provides the population figure of four major ethnic/caste
groups whose number is highest in the respective district. Table 3.6 below lists only the single
ethnic /caste group whose number is highest in the respective district.
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Table 3.6 : Ethnic/caste group highest in number by district.
Number of districts where
Ethnic/Caste the population size of the Name of the respective districts
Group particular ethnic/caste
group is highest
Jhapa, Morang,Chitwan, Syanza, Kaski, Parbat, Gulmi,
Hill Brahmin 10
Rupendehi, Arghkhanchi and Kalikot
Okhaldhunga, Udaypur,Ramechap,Dolakha, Rukum,
Salyan, Surkhet, Dailekh, Jajarkot, Jumla, Mugu, Humla,
Chhetri 21
Dolpa, Bajura, Bajhyang, Acham, Doti, Kanchanpur,
Dadeldhura, Biatadi and Darchula
Newar 3 Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur
Limbu 3 Taplejung, Panchthar and Terathum
Ilam, Dhankuta, Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur, Solukhumbu
Rai 6
and Khotang
Gurung 4 Gorkha, Lamjung Manang and Mustang
Tanahu, Myagdi, Baglung, Palpa, Nawalparasi, Pyuthan
Magar 7
and Rolpa
Sindhuli, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Dhading, Makwanpur,
Tamang 7
Sindhupalchok and Kavrepalanchok
Tharu 4 Sunsari, Dang, Bardia and Kailali
Yadav 5 Saptari, Siraha, Dhanusa,Mahottari and Sarlahi
Musalman 5 Rautahat, Bara,Parsa, Kapilbastu and Banke
Source : Population Census 2001, National Report, CBS, 2002.
Numerically, only 11 groups are dominant in certain districts of Nepal. The Bahuns and Chhetris
are not only the largest group numerically, but also highest in number in 10 and 21 districts,
respectively. In other words, Brahmin and Chhetri alone comprising the largest single cluster in
31 districts (41.3%) of Nepal. Except three districts such as Manang (Pop. 239), Dolpa
(Pop.579) and Mustang (Pop. 597), where the population of Brahmin group is relatively low,
Brahmins are found in good numbers in all other districts of Nepal. The Newars stand numerically
highest in three districts of the Kathmandu Valley (Kathmandu, Lalitpur and
Bhaktapur).Bhaktapur district has the highest percentage of Newar population (55.9%) throughout
the kingdom. As usual, Rais are numerically highest in the Manjh Kirat and the Wallo Kirant
Region( Ilam,Dhankuta, Sankhuwasabha, Khotang, Bhojpur and Solukmhumbu ). Though Tharus
rank 4th numerically in Nepal, their number is highest only in 4 districts of the Nepal Tarai
(mostly in the far- western Tarai). This suggests that Tharus are spread over in good numbers
from the west to the east of the Nepal Tarai districts. The numerically dominant Hindu origin
caste group of the Tarai is Yadav; they rank 9th in Nepal by number, but are highest in number
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in five districts of the Eastern and Central Tarai regions. The Muslim population is found highest
in number in five districts in the 2001 census though their number was highest only in 4 districts
in the 1991 census (Rautahat district is added in the 2001 census). Though Kami ranked 8th in
population size in the 2001census, they do not stand on number 1 position in population size in
any district of Nepal; they numbered second in Jajarkot and Bajura districts. This further suggests
that Kamis are distributed in good numbers in most of the districts of Nepal.
The other interesting finding of Annex 3.2 is the nature of homogeneity/heterogeneity of the
population in terms of ethnic/caste groups in various districts of Nepal. Most of the Hill and
Mountain districts are relatively homogenous composition in their group representation compared
to the Tarai districts. In other words, there is not much diversity in ethnicity in the districts of the
Hills and Mountain regions. Looking at the four most represented groups within a given district,
the population of four represented groups fluctuates between 57.9 percent (lowest in
Sankhuwasabha district) to 91.0 Percent (highest in Bhaktapur district). Similarly, there are a
number of Mountain and Hill districts whose population size of four most represented ethnic/caste
groups exceeds more than 88% of the total population. Such districts are: Rolpa (90.9%),
Sindhupalchok (90.8%), Rukum (90.6%), Darchula (89.6%), Rasuwa (89.6%), and Bajhyang
(88.2%).
The Nepal Tarai is more heterogeneous in terms of ethnic/caste composition. Except the far
western two Tarai districts such as Kailali (78.0 %) and Kanchanpur (70.8%) and the eastern
Tarai district such as Jhapa (55.6%), rest other districts of the Tarai have hardly 44% of the total
population if the population size of four most representative ethnic /caste groups is combined. The
three Tarai districts where more homogenous nature of the ethnic/caste composition of population
is observed because of the large number of Tharu populations in the far west(Kailali and
Kanchanpur) and mostly the Hill populations in Jhapa district.
Considering the four most represented groups within a given district, the most heterogeneous
districts in Tarai are: Sarlahi (36.0%), Dhanusa (37.3), Morang (37.2%), Parsa (38.2%), and Bara
(40.15%). Based on the 1991 census data, Subedi (2002) also lists 14 districts of the Tarai, which
have the most heterogeneous population in terms of ethnic/ caste structure.
There are several reasons why the Tarai is relatively heterogeneous in terms of ethnic/caste
composition: i) the Tarai caste- groups as a whole are more stratified in social structure than the
Hill caste groups; ii) the heavy migration of population in the Tarai from the Hill districts and
India over the last 40 years further increased the ethnic/caste diversity in the Tarai. The malaria
eradication program and development of markets and roads in the Tarai after the 1960s motivated
a large number of the hill and Indian populations to settle in the Tarai.
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3.3.4 Rural/Urban Population by Ethnic/Caste Groups
According to the 2001 census, only 13.9% of the total populations are urban in Nepal. While
considering the urban/ rural population by ethnic/ caste groups, it is interesting to note that some
number of every ethnic/caste group is found in almost all the urban areas of Nepal. This is simply
because of the amalgamation of many rural areas to declare an urban area in Nepal (see Sharma
1989, Bastola 1995). Ten most urban ethnic/caste groups in Nepal are as follows (Table 3.7).
Table 3.7: Some most urban population by ethnic/caste groups, 2001 census.
Ethnic/Caste Groups % of Population in Urban Areas
Jain or Jaine 88.2
Marwari 72.5
Halkhor 69.0
Munda 56.5
Bangali 56.3
Newar 46.5
Kayastha 41.0
Thakali 39.6
Chidimar 38.3
Baniya 29.6
Tarai Brahmin 24.4
Gaine 22.0
Hill Brahmin 20.2
Source: Population Census 2001 National Report, CBS, 2002.
It is obvious that cultural groups such as Jain, Marwari, Newar, Bangali and Thakali are the
established business communities in Nepal. They live mostly in the urban centers and thus their
percentage in urban is higher. But the other interesting fact is that certain ethnic/caste groups
whose social, economic and political situations are lower compared to other groups (such as
Brahmin and Chhetri ), their percentage of being urban people is higher than them. Such urban
groups reported by the census are: Halkhor (a sweeper community of the Tarai), Munda (a
Janajati group recently migrated from India; they are farmers and make a living by farming and
doing wage labor), Chidimar (make a living by killing/selling birds) and Gaine (a low caste Hindu
group who makes a living by playing musical instruments and singing songs). Some plausible
explanation for this could be as follows. As many hinterlands between the urban and rural area
are converted into the urban area by the government in recent years, people living in such areas
automatically became urban. The economically marginal groups such as Chidimar, Gaine,
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Halkhor and Munda live in such hinterlands as they build relationships with people in both the
rural and the urban area. The higher percentage of urban population in the Chidimar and Gaine
groups could be due to their profession as well. As Chidimar, by profession, trap or kill birds and
sell them in the market area (urban area) they stay mostly in the market area for livelihood. Many
Munda people also confine themselves in the market areas as laborers to make a living. Similarly,
the Gaine sing songs with their traditional musical instruments (known as Sarangi) and confine
themselves in the urban area to make a living. Halkhor, a low caste untouchable community of
the Nepal Tarai, do the sweeping and cleaning jobs in the urban and city areas of the Nepal Tarai
and live there as well. The other reason could be their number itself. As their number is relatively
low, their low number in the city area could inflate the percentage.
Likewise, the least urban ethnic/caste groups in Nepal are: Gangain (1.1%), Chepang (1.5%).
Tajpuria (1.6%), Yelhmo (1.6%) and Koche (1.8%). All of them belong to the Janajati groups and
do farming confining themselves mostly in the rural area.
3.3.5 Literacy by Ethnic/Caste groups
According to the 2001 census, the literacy rate of Nepal is 53.8 percent; the male and female
literacy rate is 65 percent and 42.5 percent, respectively. No doubt, the literacy rate of Nepal is
improving gradually over the years by sex. At the same time, the literacy rate as a whole differs
significantly by ethnic/ caste groups and sex. As the literacy and other related components are
covered in other chapter, this chapter briefly highlights the level of literacy of people by
ethnic/caste groups only (see Annex 3.3). Tables 3.8 and 3.9 below provide the ten highest
literate groups in Nepal by ethnic/caste groups.
Table 3.8 : Highest literacy rate of ten ethnic/caste groups, 2001 Census.
Ethnic/Caste Groups Literacy Rate, 2001(%)

Jaine (Jain) 93.94
Marwadi 89.31
Kayastha 82.05
Thakali 75.66
Hill Brahmin 74.90
Bangali 72.51
Newar 71.22
Maithil Brahmin 71.21
Yehlmo 70.70
Rajput 70.33
Source : CBS, Nepal, 2001 census.
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Table 3. 9 : Lowest literacy rate of ten ethnic/caste groups, 2001 Census.
Ethnic/Caste Groups Literacy Rate, 2001 (%)

Mushahar 7.28
Dom 9.39
Patharkata/Kushwadia 13.22
Binga/Binda 14.80
Kamar 15.15
Chamar/Harijan/Ram 19.24
Dushad/Pasi/Paswan 19.59
Dhuniya 21.86
Tatma 23.12
Nuniya 23.20
Source : CBS, Nepal, 2001 Census
As usual, the literacy rate is highest among the Indian origin migrant Nepali populations such as
Jain, Marwari and Bangali. As in the 1991 census, the Thakali and Hill Brahmin rank fourth and
fifth, respectively in the 2001 census as well. All three highest caste ranking Hindu groups of the
Tarai such as the Maithil Brahmin, Kayastha and Rajput have the highest literacy rate. But the so
called politically dominant high caste Hill Hindu groups such as Thakuri (63.39%) and Chhetri
(60.11%) rank 13 and 15 in terms of literacy rate, respectively.
The most deprived groups in terms of education are the Tarai Dalits or untouchables. Of them, the
lowest literacy rate is that of Mushahar, followed by Dom. Following them are groups such as
Patharkata/Kushwadia (Janajati) and Bing/Binda (Hindu group, water acceptable community of
the Tarai). This is again followed by the Tarai untouchable groups such as Chamar, Paswan and
Tatma.
The highest literate groups among the Janajatis are: Thakali (75.66%), Newar (71.22%),
Yehlmo(70.70%), and Dura (63.26%). The literacy rate of some of the numerically and
politically dominant Hill and Tarai Janajatis groups is as follows: Limbu (59.79%), Gurung
(59.79%), Rai (58.19%), Magar(55.90%), Tharu(47.12%). and Tamang (45.04%) . Despite living
close to the Kathmandu Valley throughout centuries, Tamangs’ social, economic and political
conditions in Nepal are relatively poor compared to similar other cultural groups. Their literacy
rate is one of the lowest among the numerically dominant janajati groups of Nepal.
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3.4 Religion: The Nepali Context
In recent years, particularly after the onset of multi-party democracy in Nepal in 1990, religion
has become a sensitive topic in ethnically diverse Nepali society. A lot of people of different
ethnic/caste backgrounds claim that they are simply written as “Hindu” by the census enumerators
without even asking them about their religion? But this seems to be only partially true while
looking at the quality of data on religion collected by the CBS during the 2001 census. Table 3.10
below provides the distribution of population of Nepal by religion over the last 50 years.
Table 3.10 : Distribution of population by religion, 1952/54-2001 censuses.

Religion 1952/54 % 1961 % 1971 % 1981 % 1991 % 2001 %
Hindu 7318392 88.87 8254403 87.69 10330009 89.39 13445787 89.50 15996653 86.51 18330121 80.62
Buddhist 707104 8.59 870991 9.25 866411 7.50 799081 5.32 1439142 7.78 2442520 10.74
Islam 208899 2.54 280597 2.98 351186 3.04 399197 2.66 653218 3.53 954023 4.20
Kirat - - - - - - - - 318389 1.72 818106 3.60
Jain - - 831 0.01 5836 0.05 9438 0.06 7561 0.04 4108 0.02
Christian - - 458 - 2541 0.02 3891 0.03 31280 0.17 101976 0.45
Sikh - - - - - - - - - - 5890 0.02
Bahai - - - - - - - - - - 1211 0.01
Other 684 0.01 - - - - 365446 2.43 26416 0.14 78994 0.34
Unstated - - 5716 0.06 - - - - 18138 0.10 - -
Total 8235079 100.00 9412996 100.00 1155983 100.00 15022839 100.00 18491097 100.00 22736934 100.00
Sources : DOS, 1958 Population Census 1952/54,Pat II. Table 5

CBS, 1968 Population Census 1961, Vol. II, Table 7.
CBS , 1975 Population Census 1971,Vol. II, Table 13.
CBS, 1984 Population Census 1981, Vol I, Part III 13
CBS, 1993 Population Census 1991.
CBS, 2002, Population Census ,2001(National Report), Table 18.p.80
The above table clearly suggests that the absolute number of people has increased in all religions
over the last 50 years. But the fact is that the percentage of Hindu population is gradually
declining after the 1981 census. If the percentage points decline of Hindu population was 2.99
between the 1981-1991 censuses, this decreased further by 5.89 percentage points between the
1991-2001 censuses. On the other hand, the Buddhist populations have been increasing
substantially after 1981; almost 100 per cent increase between the 1981 to 1991 censuses and
close to 70% increase between the 1991 –2001 censuses. Likewise, the Kirat religion has been
included since the 1991 census and the followers of Kirat religion have increased 157% over the
period of one decade, i.e. between the 1991-2001 censuses. Buddhism and Kirat religions appear
to be increasingly invoked in the ethnic identity politics in Nepal after 1990.
104
On the other hand, Christianity is becoming popular in Nepal, particularly after democracy in
Nepal in 1990. The number of Christian Church and Christian population is increasing every year.
The Christian populations, who were not even reported in the 1952/54 census, numbered only 458
in the 1961 census, and reached at 101,976 in the 2001 census. Between the 1991- 2001 censuses,
the followers of Christianity have increased more than 226 percent. Conversion of religion is not
an easy task in Nepal. One could be jailed for converting to Christianity and more certainly for
proselytizing. But the fact is that Christian populations are increasing dramatically in Nepal and
not only Hindus (particularly the low caste Hindus) but also Buddhist populations (such as
Tamang) are converting themselves into Christianity over the years.
By simply considering the data on religion of the 2001 census, Table 3.10 above shows that out of
the total 22,736,934 enumerated populations in the 2001 census, 18,330,121 (80.6%) are Hindu,
2,442,520 are Buddhist (10.74%), 954,023 (4.2%) are Islam and 818,106 (3.60) are Kirat. Only
78,994 (0.34%) populations reported that they practice “other” religions. The number of people
following different kind of religion by ethnic/caste category is given in Annex 3.4.
3.4.1 Major Ethnic/Caste Groups Following Hinduism
Almost all ethnic/caste groups in Nepal follow Hinduism to an extent, though the number differs
from one group to another. Table 3.11 below lists major ethnic/caste groups following Hinduism
by number and percentage.
Table 3.11 : Ten major ethnic/caste groups following Hinduism by number and
percentage, 2001 census.
Population Following
Ethnic/Caste Group Total Population
Hinduism (with %)
Chhetri 3,593,496 3,574,976 (99.5%)
Hill Brahmin 2,896,477 2,887,317 (99.7%)
Tharu 1,533,879 1,497,516 (97.6%)
Magar 1,622,421 1,210,276 (74.6%)
Newar 1,245,232 1,047,561 (84.1%)
Yadav 895,423 893,427 (99.8%)
Kami 895,954 866,296 (96.7%)
Damai/Dholi 390,305 381,739 (97.8%)
Thakuri 334,120 332,107 (99.4%)
Sarki 318,989 312,277 (97.9%)
Total 13,726,296 13,003,492 (94.7%)
Total followers of Hindu religion 183,301,201 13,003,492 (70.94%)
Source : CBS, Nepal, 2001 Census, Nepal.
105
The above table clearly shows that of the total 100 ethnic/caste groups, ten groups combined
represent 70.94 percent of the total Hindu populations. Most of the high caste Hill Hindu groups
represent more than 99.5% of Hindu populations in their respective group (for example, Brahmin
and Chhetri). Similarly, the Hindu origin caste groups of the Tarai have more than 99% Hindu
population in their respective group (see Annex 3.4).
3.4.2 Major Ethnic/Caste Groups Following Buddhism
After multiparty democratic government in Nepal in 1990, the populations following Buddhism
have increased substantially. Between the 1991 to 2001 censuses, the number has increased by
1,003,378 or 69.7% increase over the period of one decade. According to the 2001 census, the
following groups have the highest number following Buddhism (Table 3.12).
Table 3.12 : Ten major ethnic/caste groups following Buddhism by number and
percentage, 2001 census.
Population (with %)
Ethnic Group Total Population
Following Buddhism
Tamang 1,282,304 1,157,461 (90.3 %)
Magar 1,622,421 397,036 (24.5%)
Gurung 543,571 375,252 (69.0%)
Newar 1,242,232 190,629 (15.3%)
Sherpa 154,622 143,528 (92.8%)
Bhote 19,621 11,655 (60.5%)
Thakali 12,973 8,434 (65%)
Chantel 9,814 6,301 (64.2%)
Jirel 5,316 4,625 (87.0%)
Lepcha 3,660 3,250 (88.8%)
Yehlmo 579 570 (98.4%)
Total 4,896,753 2,298,741 (46.9%)
Total followers of Buddhism 2,442,520 2,298,741 (94.1%)
Source : CBS, Nepal, 2001 Census
Table 3.12 shows that these eleven groups combined represent 94.1% of the total population
following Buddhism. But while considering the total population size of these eleven groups, the
Buddhist populations account only 46.9%. This is simply because a large number of Magar and
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Newar populations are not Buddhist by their religion. The traditionally Buddhist groups in Nepal
are Yehlmo, Sherpa, Tamang, Lepcha, Jirel, Gurung, Thakali, Bhote and Newar (only selected
cultural groups within Newar are Buddhist). Within the Newar group, Bajracharya, Shakya,
Tuladhar, Manandhar and some others are traditionally Buddhist. In recent years, a few groups
such as Magar, Tharu, Chepang and Dalit groups (such as Kami, Damai and Chamar) are
gradually switching over themselves to Buddhism . They find that the Hindu social structure and
values are more rigid in day- to- day life than the Buddhist values per se.
3.4.3 Major Ethnic/Caste Groups Following Kirat Religion.
The major dominant groups following the Kirat religion are as follows (Table 3.13).
Table 3.13 : Major ethnic groups following Kirat religion by number and percentage, 2001
census.
Ethnic Group Total Population Kirat Religion Followers

Rai 635,157 450,283 (70.9%)
Limbu 359,379 310,108 (86.3%)
Sunuwar 95,254 16,553 (17.4%)
Yakha 17,003 13,846 (81.4%)
Total 1,106,793 790,790 (71.4%)
Total followers of Kirat religion 818,106 790,790 (96.7%)
Source : CBS, Nepal, 2001 Census.
Though Rais, Limbus, Sunuwars and Yakhas collectively call themselves as Kirati or declare their
religion as Kirat, Table3.13 shows that only 17.4% of Sunuwar populations follow Kirat religion.
According to the 2001 census, 79.5% of Sunuwars are Hindus. Nevertheless, these four groups
together represent 96.7% of the total Kirat religion followers. In addition, 29.10% of Hayu, 14.6%
of Thami and 7.64% of Dhimal population stated that they follow Kirat religion. Kirat religion is
some form of animistic tradition, a faith closely tied with supernaturals.
3.4.4 Major Ethnic/Caste Groups Following Christianity
One of the interesting features in Hindu Nepal is the increasing number of Christians over the last
one decade. In fact, 70,696 Christian populations have increased between 1991-2001, an increase
of 226% over the period of one decade. Table 3.14 below lists the dominant groups in Nepal
following Christianity by number.
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Table 3.14 : Major ethnic/caste groups following Christianity by number and percentage,
2001 census.
Followers of Christianity
Ethnic/Caste Group Total Population
(number and %)
Tamang 1,282,304 24,235 (1.9%)
Rai 635,151 13,069 (2.1%)
Magar 1,622,421 8,314 (0.5%)
Chepang 52,237 4,589 (8.8%)
Limbu 359,379 4,228 (1.2%)
Sarki 318,989 3,229 (1.0%)
Damai/Dholi 390,305 2,483 (0.6%)
Santhal/Satar 42,698 2,466 (5.8%)
Total 4,703,484 62,613 (1.3%)
Total followers of Christianity 101,976 62,613 (61.4%)
Source : Population Census 2001, CBS, Nepal
Table 3.14 suggests that only eight ethnic/caste groups combined account 61.4% of the total
Christian population. Though Tamangs follow Buddhism and Chepangs are animist by tradition
(see Rai 1985), they are gradually converting themselves into Christianity as they find more
"attraction" in Christianity than their respective religion. It is already mentioned above that lower
Hindu caste groups such as Sarki, Damai and Kami find Christianity more congenial in their day-
today life than the Hindu religion. In the British Raj in India, a large number of ethnic/tribal
populations were converted into Christianity and Santhal/Satar was one of them. A large number
of these Santhal/Satar populations entered into Nepal as Christians from the Santhal Parganna,
India.
3.4.5 Islam as Religion
The only religion whose number and percentage is constantly increasing over the last 50 years is
Islam. Only 2.54% of total people in Nepal were recorded as Islam during the 1952/54 census
which increased to 4.20 percent in the 2001 census. In Nepal only the Musalman follows Islam as
their religion. According to the 2001 census, the total Musalman population (including the Hill
Muslim, Churoute) is 975,949 and the population of Islam religious followers is 954,023 or
97.8% of the total Musalman population. It is difficult to think a Muslim without having Islam as
108
their religious faith. It is not known why the other 2.2% of Musalman population did not mention
Islam as their religion.
3.4.6 Population Size of the Respective Group vs. Number of Religious

Followers
In addition, the 2001 census has identified more population in their respective religious group
than their actual population size . Two such groups noted are: Jain and Punjabi/Sikh (see Table
3.15).
Table 3.15 : The population size of ethnic /caste group and the number of religious
followers, 2001 census.
Total Population Number of Religious
Ethnic/Caste Groups (2001 census) Followers
Jain 1,015 4,180
Panjabi/Sikh 3,054 5,890
Source : Population Census, 2001, CBS, Nepal.
Though one can understand that a person of particular ethnic/caste group can switch over to
another religion, the case of Jain or Punjabi/Sikh is special. Only a real Punjabi or Sikh or Jain
person could follow their particular religion. The people who follow Sikhism, they have their own
priest (Granthi) and Gurudwara (the house of worship). A Khalsa Sikh (followers of Guru
Gobinda Singh) will always have at least five "K" symbol with them such as Kanga (comb),
Karna (the waistband), Kes (unnshorn hair), Keski (turban) and Kirpan (sword). Likewise, a pure
Jain person has many restrictions in his day- to- day life. The most important one is that a Jain
person should be a pure vegetarian. It is likely that some members of these groups must have
concealed their own ethnic identity or enumerators must have reported them in some other
ethnic/caste category.
3.5 Ethnic/Caste Groups vs. Mother-Tongue Speakers
Technically, a member of particular ethnic/caste group can switch over to another language
because of the continuous interaction with members of other language groups. Typical example
is the increasing number of speakers in the Nepali language. A significant population of many
109
distinct cultural groups (such as Newar, Magar and others) reported Nepali language as their
mother tongue because of their continuous interaction with the Hill Nepali language speakers. In
addition, migration of a person to a new place always motivated him to speak the local language
of people. Over the generations, some groups may not even speak their own mother tongue and it
is likely that such language may die sooner or little latter. But the ethnicity of the group will not
normally die while switching over to another language unless the number of the group is very
small. One of the serious problems in the data collection and reporting is that the total population
size of the particular ethnic/caste group is lower than that of the mother tongue speakers (see
Table 3.16) . For example, a large number of Yehlmo population lives in the Helambu areas of
Sindhupalchok district and these populations must have recorded as Sherpas. Two explanations
can be forwarded. First, the CBS enumerators, without even asking the ethnic identity of people,
simply labeled Yehlmo as Sherpa as they look physically and culturally similar with the Sherpa,
and ii) Many of these Yehlmo populations simply wanted to record themselves as Sherpa
instead of Yehlmo. The reason is obvious. A Sherpa name is more popular and prestigious in
Nepal and outside world than the Yehlmo. But it is not known why the Yehlmo wanted to record
their language as Yehlmo. Likewise, the ethnic Bangali population is quite large and many of
them live in Jhapa, Morang and Parsa districts. It is likely that many of them wanted to identify
themselves as Nepali (politically they do not want to label them as Bangali) but at the same time
speak Bengali as their mother tongue at home.
Table 3.16 : Population size of the ethnic/caste group and the number of mother-tongue
speakers.
Total Population Number of

Ethnic/ Caste Group Size Mother-Tongue Speakers
Yehlmo 579 3,986
Bangali 9,860 23,602
Source: Population Census, 2001, CBS, Nepal
In Nepal, any Rai person knows that there are several distinct cultural groups within the Rai with
different languages and cultural traditions. Normally, there are more than 20 distinct cultural
groups within Rai. But ethnically, the Rai is treated as one cultural group in the 2001 census
whereas they are treated differently in terms of their mother-tongue. For example, the CBS
identified 8 separate mother-tongue groups within the Rai (Bantawa, Thulung, Sampang, Khaling,
Nachring, Yamphu, Lhorung and Mewahang). Again, there is an ambiguity in terms of Ghale
mother-tongue. Although often claiming separate status, Ghale also can appear as a clan name
110
associated with either the Gurung or Tamang. In these cases, their status as a cultural group is
generally folded into the larger ethnic category. Among the Tamang, the Ghale clan is considered
superior to others (see Fricke et al. 1991).
3.6 Conclusion
• Historically, Nepal is a multi-ethnic nation with diverse languages, religions and cultural
traditions. The democratic movements of 1950 and 1990 motivated a change in the status
quo of the CBS by encouraging them to document that diversity by collecting and
publishing data on caste/ethnicity, language, and religion in Nepal. Here, the 1991 and
2001 censuses deserve special attention as the primary sources in providing basic figures on
the population size and socioeconmic characteristics of the various ethnic/caste groups.
• In spite of the clear diversity in ethnic/caste composition of Nepal's population, the 1991
and 2001 census data demonstrate that nearly 70% of the population total belongs to just
ten major groups. The Hill Brahmin, Chhetri and Thakuri by themselves account for 30%
of the total population, with Chhetri and Brahmin alone comprising the largest single
cluster in 31 districts (41.3%) of Nepal. Within the whole country, the Chhetri group is the
largest in size while at the other extreme the Kusunda group ranks as the 100th in
population. The 2001 census allows a count of these smallest groups. The thirty-two
smallest ethnic/caste groups (from Kusunda to Chidimar, see Annex 3.1) altogether account
for just 0.71% of Nepal's total population. There are ten distinct cultural groups whose
population size is less than 0.1 percent of the whole population. Some of these smallest
cultural groups by number include Kusunda, Patharkata/ Kushwadia, Munda, Raute, and
Yehlmo.
• Most of the Hill and Mountain districts are relatively homogenous in their group
representation compared to the Nepal Tarai districts as a whole. Looking at the four most
represented groups within a given district, the hill district of Bhaktapur has the highest level
of such homogeneity with 91% of its population restricted to four caste/ethnic groups while
Sarlahi district on the Tarai has the least homogeneity with its four largest groups
comprising just 36% of its total population. The diversity of population in terms of
111
ethnic/caste structure in the Nepal Tarai could be due to the heavy migration of hill people
as well as an uncontrolled flow of Indian people over the last 40 years.
• The Hindu religion still represents more than 80% of the total population in the census
reports, though other religions are carving a substantial place in Nepali society since 1990.
Buddhism, Kirat, and Christianity have become increasingly reported religious affiliations
among various caste/ethnic groups in Nepal. A special feature of the 2001 census is its
provision of figures for religion by ethnic/caste category, allowing a much more detailed
accounting of the relationship between caste/ethnic and religious identities in Nepal.
• Basic facts as represented in these figures are an essential foundation to our understanding
of larger societal and compositional trends. In recent years, the CBS data on
caste/ethnicity, language and religion have become extremely useful for planners, teachers,
students and the people working in INGOs/NGOs for many reasons: i) they establish basic
facts and figures (crucially including socioeconomic charactersitics) about the various
ethnic/caste groups living in different parts of Nepal; ii) these data draw attention to the
specific development needs of particular social and cultural groups and aid the formulation
of relevant programs; iii) basic data on caste/ethnicity aid the targetting of specific groups
for development by placing them withint the multi-ethnic context and suggesting groups
who might profit through empowerment and changed structures; and iv) the recent
availability of data for even the smallest groups allows policy-makers to discover those
cultural entities who may require special state-sponsored protection for such things as
language and culture. Far from being considered a detriment, these elements of Nepal's
historic cultural diversity should be considered as an inherent source of cultural and social
wealth.
• Finally, it must be recorded that there will always remain room for improved data quality
on ethnic/caste groups and religion. Enumerators and supervisors who are responsible for
collecting data in the field need extensive training programs in both Kathmandu and in the
field sites themselves. In the ideal programs, trainers will have a sound background in the
anthropology and sociology of Nepal, particularly in those critical areas such as
caste/ethnicity, language, and religion which can become volatile when ignored, but are
rightly celebrated when respected. Among the topics essential to such training might be
112
foundational topics such as the concept of caste/ethnicity and its changing role in national
society and a familiarity with how particular groups use such devices as family and clan
names or the titles put after names (such as Sharma, Choudhary, Mandal, Rai, Subba and so
on) to indicate their identities and their position within Nepal's multi-ethnic mosaic.
Because Nepal's Tarai captures a large part of the country's ethnic/caste diversity and its
complex structuring, special attention should be given to the history and contemporary
organization of that region. Similarly, the understanding of the extremely complex manner
in which religious identity is claimed and how it relates to actual practice is crucial. Our
received categories are likely far too simple and yet faith and belief seem our best window
into the spirit of a people, certainly one which will enhance our appreciation of Nepal's true
treasures.
113
Foot Notes
1. The Dalit groups as identified by the Dalit Ayog (May 2002) are as follows:
Hill Dalit:
Kami, Sarki, Damai, Lohar, Sunar, Gaine, Badi, Parki, Chunara, Kuche(?) and Kadara(?)
Newar Dalit:
Kusule, Kasai, Chyame, Pode, Dhaier (Dyahla).
Tarai Dalits:
Tatma, Paswan, Dushad, Batar, Mushahar, Khatway, Chamar, Dom, Halkhor, Badimar(?),
Gothi(?), and Jhangar.
2. The groups listed as the Nationalities of Nepal by the National Committee (May 2002) based
on ecological regions are as folows:
Mountain:
1.Baragaunle 2. Bhotia 3. Byanshi 4. Chairrotan, 5. Chimtan 6. Larke 7. Lhomi (Shingsawa)
8.Lhopa 9. Manange 10. Marphali 11. Mugali 12. Siya 13. Sherpa 14. Sayangtan 15. Tangbe
16. Thakali 17. Thintan 18 Walung.
Hill:
1. Bankaria, 2. Baramo 3. Bhujel/Gharti 4. Chepang, 5 Chhantyal, 6. Dura 7. Fri 8. Gurung
9. Hayu 10. Hyolmo 11. Jirel 12. Kushbadia/Patharkatta 13. Kusunda 14. Lepcha 15. Limbu
16. Magar 17. Newar 18. Pahari 19. Rai 20. Sunuwar 21. Surel 22. Tamang 23 Thami
Inner Tarai and Tarai:

1. Bote 2. Kumal 3. Raji 4. Danuwar 5. Majhi 6. Raute, 7. Darai 8. Dhanuk 9. Rajbanshi
10. Dhimal 11. Gangain 12. Jhangad 13. Kisan 14. Meche 15. Satar/Santhal 16. Tajpuria
17. Tharu.
114
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116
Annex 3.1 : Population by ethnic/caste groups, 1991 and 2001 censuses.
Ethnic/Caste Group 1991 % 2001 %

1.Chhetri 2,968,082 16.05 3,593,496 15.80
2. Brahmin-Hill 2,388,455 12.92 2,896,477 12.74
3. Magar 1,339,308 7.24 1,622,421 7.14
4. Tharu 1,194,224 6.46 1,533,879 6.75
5. Tamang 1,018,252 5.51 1,282,304 5.64
6. Newar 1,041,090 5.63 1,245,232 5.48
7. Muslim 653,055 3.53 971,056 4.27
8. Kami 963,655 5.21 895,954 3.94
9. Yadav 765,137 4.14 895,423 3.94
10. Rai 525,551 2.84 635,151 2.79
11.Gurung 449,189 2.43 543,571 2.39
12.Damai/Dholi 367,989 1.99 390,305 1.72
13. Limbu 297,186 1.63 359,379 1.58
14.Thakuri 299,473 1.62 334,120 1.47
15. Sarki 276,224 1.49 318,989 1.40
16. Teli 250,732 1.36 304,536 1.34
17. Chamar/Harijan/Ram 203,919 1.10 269,661 1.19
18. Koiri 251,274 1.11
19. Kurmi 166,718 0.90 212,842 0.94
20. Sanyasi 181,726 0.98 199,127 0.88
21. Dhanuk 136,944 0.74 188,150 0.83
22. Mushahar 141,980 0.77 172,434 0.76
23. Dushad/Paswan/Pasi 93,242 0.50 158,525 0.70
24. Sherpa 110,358 0.60 172,434 0.76
25. Sonar 145,088 0.64
26. Kewat 101,482 0.55 136,953 0.60
27. Brahmin Tarai 162,886 0.88 134,496 0.59
28. Baniya 126,971 0.
29. Gharti/Bhujel 117,568 0.52
30. Mallaha 110,413 0.60 115,968 0.51
31. Kalwar 115,606 0.51
32. Kumal 76,635 0.41 93,389 0.44
33. Hajam/Thakur 98,169 0.43
34. Kanu 70,634 0.38 95,826 0.42
35. Rajbansi 82,177 0.44 95,812 0.42
36. Sunuwar 40,943 0.22 95,,524 0.42
37. Sudhi 162,046 0.88 89,846 0.40
38. Lohar 82,367 0.36
117
39. Tatma 76,512 0.34
40. Khatwe 66,612 0.36 74,972 0.33
41. Dhobi 76,594 0.41 73,413 0.32
42. Majhi 55,050 0.30 72,614 0.32
43. Nuniya 66,873 0.29
44. Kumhar 72,008 0.39 54,413 0.24
45. Danuwar 50,754 0.27 53,229 0.23
46. Chepang(Praja) 36,656 0.20 52,,237 0.23
47. Halwai 44,417 0.24 50,585 0.22
48. Rajput 55,712 0.30 48,,454 0.21
49. Kayastha 53,545 0.29 46,,701 0.20
50. Badahi 45,975 0.20
51. Marwadi 29,173 0.16 43,971 0.19
52. Santhal/Satar 42,698 0.19
53. Dhagar/Jhangar 41,764 0.18
54. Bantar 35,839 0.16
55. Barae 35,434 0.16
56. Kahar 34,531 0.15
57. Gangai 22,526 0.12 31,318 0.14
58. Lodha 24,738 0.11
59. Rajbhar 33,433 0.18 24,263 0.11
60. Thami 19,103 0.10 22,999 0.10
61. Dhimal 16,781 0.09 19,537 0.09
62. Bhote 12,463 0.07 19,261 0.08
63. Bind/Binda 18,720 0.08
64. Bhediya/Gaderi 17,729 0.08
65. Nurang 17,522 0.08
66. Yakha 17,003 0.07
67. Darai 10,759 0.06 14,589 0.07
68. Tajpuriya 13,250 0.06
69. Thakali 13,731 0.07 12,973 0.06
70. Chidimar 12,296 0.05
71. Pahari 11,505 0.05
72. Mali 11,390 0.05
73. Bangali 7,909 0.04 9,860 0.04
74. Chantel 9,814 0.04
75. Dom 8,931 0.04
76. Kamar 8,761 0.04
118
77. Bote. 6,718 0.04 7,969 0.04
78. Brahmu/Baramu 7,383 0.03
79. Gaine 4,484 0.04 5,887 0.03
80. Jirel 4,889 0.03 5,316 0.02
81.Adibasi/Janajati 5,259 0.02
82. Dura 5,169 0.02
83. Churaute 1,778 0.01 4,893 0.02
84. Badi 7,082 0.04 4,442 0.02
85. Meche 3,763 0.02
86. Lepcha 4,826 0.03 3,660 0.02
87. Halkhor 3,621 0.02
88.Punjabi/Sikh 9292 0.05 3,054 0.01
89. Kisan 2,876 0.01
90. Raji 3,274 0.02 2,399 0.01
91. Byansi 2,103 0.01
92. Hayu 1,821 0.01
93. Koche 1,429 0.01
94. Dhunia 1,231 0.01
95. Walung 1,148 0.01
96. Jaine 1,015 0.01
97. Munda 660 0.01
98. Raute 2,878 0.02 658 0.01
99. Yehlmo 579 0.01
100.Patharkata/Kushwadia 552 0.01
101. Kusunda 164 0.00
102. Dalit-Unidentified 173,401 0.76
103. Caste/ethnic- 231,641 1.02
unidentified
Source : 1991 census, CBS 2002,Table 16,p.73
119
Annex 3.2 : Four major groups by district, 2001 census.
Mechi Zone
1.Taplejung : 1,34,698 2. Panchthar : 2,02,056
Caste/Ethnic Group Population Percent Caste/Ethnic Group Population Percent
Limbu 56,324 41.8 Limbu 81,408 40.3
Chetri 15,982 11.9 Brahmin (Hill) 25,304 12.5
Brahmin (Hill) 13,974 10.4 Rai 28,157 13.9
Sherpa 12,585 9.3 Chhetri 21,520 10.7
73.4 77.4
3. Ilam : 2,82,806 4. Jhapa : 6,33,042

Rai 68,901 24.4 Brahmin Hill 1,58,699 25.1
Brahmin Hill 42,805 15.1 Chhetri 96,640 15.3
Limbu 40,524 14.3 Rajbanshi 58,024 9.2
Chhetri 38,320 13.5 Limbu 37,646 6.0
67.3 55.6
Koshi Zone
5. Morang : 8,43,220 6. Sunsari : 6,25,633
Brahmin Hill 1,09,982 13.0 Tharu 87,523 14.0
Chhetri 94,638 11.2 Chhetri 52,456 8.4
Tharu 63,673 7.6 Brahmin Hill 49,650 7.9
Rai 44,269 5.2 Muslim 68,481 11.0
37.2 41.3
7. Dhankuta : 1,66,479 8. Terhathum : 1,13,111

Rai 38,257 23.0 Limbu 35.4
Chhetri 33,921 20.4 Chhetri 21,506 19.0
Limbu 22,849 13.7 Brahmin Hill 17,771 15.7
Magar 16,165 9.7 Tamang 6,548 5.8
66.8 75.9
120
9. Sankhuwasabha : 1,59,203 10. Bhojpur : 2,03,018
Rai 35,725 22.4 Rai 69,244 34.1
Chhetri 30,931 19.4 Chhetri 41,535 20.5
Brahmin Hill 10,476 6.6 Tamang 17,246 8.5
Tamang 15,048 9.5 Newar 16,819 8.3
57.9 71.4
Sagarmatha Zone
11. Solukhumbu : 1,07,686 12. Okhaldhunga : 1,56,702
Rai 33,905 31.5 Chhetri 38,488 24.6
Sherpa 19,706 10.3 Brahman Hill 18,623 11.9
Chhetri 16,366 15.2 Rai 18,701 11.9
Tamang 10,153 9.4 Magar 16,252 10.4
66.4 58.8
13. Khotang : 2,31,385 14. Udayapur : 2,87,689

Rai 89,633 38.7 Chhetri 60,578 21.1
Chhetri 51,295 22.2 Rai 47,128 16.4
Brahmin Hill 19,847 8.6 Magar 39,721 13.8
Newar 12,370 5.3 Tharu 22,323 7.8
74.8 59.1
15. Saptari : 5,70,282 16. Siraha : 5,69,880

Yadav 89,865 15.8 Yadav 1,37,622 24.2
Tharu 73,161 12.8 Muslim 41,478 7.3
Muslim 46,964 8.2 Mushahar 31,519 5.5
Teli 41,299 7.2 Koiri 31,453 5.5
44.0 42.5
121
Janakpur Zone
17. Dhanusha : 6,71,364 18. Mahottari : 5,53,481
Yadav 1,17,938 17.6 Yadav 84,836 15.3
Muslim 56,996 8.5 Muslim 74,779 13.5
Kewat 41,570 6.2 Brahmin Tarai 36,270 6.6
Teli 33,851 5.0 Dhanuk 34,660 6.3
37.3 41.7
19. Sarlahi : 6,35,701 20. Sindhuli : 2,77,259

Yadav 96,810 15.2 Tamang 70,968 25.6
Muslim 48,780 7.7 Chhetri 40,294 14.5
Koiri 49,324 7.8 Magar 39,675 14.3
Tamang 33,740 5.3 Brahmin Hill 25,509 9.2
36.0 63.6
21. Ramechap : 2,12,408 22. Dolakha : 1,75,912

Chhetri 56,155 26.4 Chhetri 58,183 33.1
Tamang 43,669 20.6 Tamang 27,619 15.7
Newar 29,931 14.1 Brahmin Hill 18,791 10.7
Magar 23,205 10.9 Thami 13,936 7.9
72.0 67.4
Bagmati Zone
23. Kathmandu : 10,81,845 24. Lalitpur : 3,37,785
Newar 3,20,244 29.6 Newar 1,36,200 40.4
Brahmin Hill 2,21,855 20.5 Chhetri 65,355 19.3
Chhetri 2,03,000 18.8 Brahmin Hill 40,264 11.9
Tamang 92,378 8.5 Tamang 40.059 11.9
77.4 83.5
122
25. Bhaktapur : 2,25,461 26. Sindhupalchok : 2,39,719
Newar 1,25,926 55.9 Tamang 94,614 39.5
Chhetri 41,777 18.5 Chhetri 55,199 23.0
Brahmin Hill 22,852 10.1 Newar 33,924 14.2
Tamang 14,728 6.5 Brahmin Hill 33,724 14.1
91.0 90.8
27. Kavrepalanchok : 3,85,672 28. Nuwakot : 2,88,478

Tamang 1,30,261 33.8 Tamang 1,11,112 38.5
Brahmin Hill 87,897 22.8 Brahmin Hill 59,729 20.7
Chhetri 51,298 13.3 Chhetri 38,738 13.4
Newar 50,263 13.0 Newar 21,927 7.6
82.9 80.2
29. Rasuwa : 44,731 30. Dhading : 3,38,658

Tamang 28,515 63.7 Tamang 72,746 21.5
Brahmin Hill 7,081 15.8 Brahming Hill 57,449 17.0
Gurung 3,008 6.7 Chhetri 52,552 15.5
Chhetri 1,513 3.4 Newar 32,449 9.6
89.6 63.6
Narayani Zone
31. Makawanpur : 3,92,604 32. Rautahat : 5,45,132
Tamang 1,85,874 47.3 Muslim 1,06,142 19.5
Brahmin Hill 58,575 14.9 Yadav 68,082 12.5
Chhetri 41,467 10.6 Teli 30,135 5.5
Newar 26,764 6.8 Kurmi 30,957 5.7
79.6 43.2
123
33. Bara : 5,59,135 34. Parsa : 4,97,219
Muslim 75,096 13.4 Muslim 76,609 15.4
Tharu 63,259 11.3 Tharu 40,970 8.2
Yadav 58,312 10.4 Kurmi 40,797 8.2
Brahmin Hill 29,561 5.3 Yadav 31,690 6.4
40.1 38.2
Gandaki Zone
35. Chitwan : 4,72,048 36. Gorkha : 2,88,134
Brahmin Hill 1,38,374 29.3 Gurung 64,240 22.3
Chhetri 51,685 11.0 Brahmin Hill 51,691 18.0
Tharu 60,121 12.7 Chhetri 34,833 12.1
Tamang 34,737 7.4 Magar 32,678 11.3
60.4 63.7
37. Lamjung : 1,77,149 38. Tanahu : 3,15,237

Gurung 56,140 31.7 Magar 84,332 26.8
Brahmin Hill 26,355 14.9 Gurung 39,418 12.5
Kami 13,159 7.4 Chhetri 37,536 11.9
69.8 64.4
39. Syanga : 317,320 40. Kaski : 380,527

Brahmin Hill 1,04,348 32.9 Brahmin Hill 1,14,899 30.2
Magar 67,245 21.2 Gurung 69,038 18.1
Chhetri 35,452 11.2 Chhetri 55,918 14.7
Gurung 31,687 10.0 Kami 26,280 6.9
75.3 69.9
124
Dhawalagiri Zone
41. Manang : 9,587 42. Mustang : 14,981
Gurung 7,273 75.9 Gurung 6,770 45.2
Sherpa 858 8.9 Thakali 2,478 16.5
Tamang 343 3.6 Magar 914 6.1
Brahmin Hill 239 2.5 Chhetri 878 5.9
90.9 73.3
43. Myagdi : 114,447 44. Parbat : 157,826

Magar 47,820 41.8 Brahmin Hill 60,712 38.5
Chhetri 18,846 16.5 Chhetri 25,267 16.0
Kami 15,273 13.3 Magar 16,924 10.7
Brahmin Hill 8,945 7.8 Kami 11,824 7.5
79.4 72.7
Lumbini Zone
45. Baglung : 268,937 46. Gulmi : 296,654
Brahmin Hill 59,532 22.1 Chhetri 68,653 23.1
Chhetri 51,871 19.3 Magar 59,123 19.9
Kami 35,150 13.1 Kami 28,065 9.5
82.2 81.0
47. Palpa : 268,558 48. Nawalparasi : 562,870

Magar 1,36,750 50.9 Magar 96,881 17.2
Chhetri 51,871 19.3 Tharu 92,779 16.5
Kami 35,150 13.1 Chhetri 32,000 5.7
82.2 56.3
125
49. Rupandehi : 708,419 50. Kapilvastu : 481,976
Brahmin Hill 1,07,643 15.2 Muslim 93,602 19.4
Tharu 70,888 10.6 Tharu 60,574 12.6
Muslim 62,854 8.9 Brahmin Hill 40,438 8.4
Magar 62,248 8.8 Yadav 46,587 9.2
43.5 50.1
Rapti Zone
51. Arghakhanchi : 208,309 52. Pyuthan : 212,484
Brahmin Hill 76,983 36.9 Magar 65,123 30.6
Chhetri 38,155 18.3 Chhetri 57,495 27.1
Kami 18,245 8.3 Kami 23,418 11.0
80.4 80.3
53. Rolpa : 210,004 54. Rukum : 188,438

Magar 91,936 43.8 Chhetri 1,10,075 58.4
Chhetri 70,099 33.4 Magar 43,621 23.1
Kami 22,049 10.5 Thakuri 9,574 5.1
Damai/Dholi 6,777 3.2 Kami 7,505 4.0
90.9 90.6
55. Salyan : 60,643 56. Dang Deokhari : 462,380

Chhetri 30,435 50.2 Tharu 1,47,328 31.9
Magar 10,445 17.2 Chhetri 1,05,146 22.7
Kami 4,520 7.5 Magar 55,711 12.0
79.6 77.4
126
Bheri Zone
57. Banke : 385,840 58. Bardiya : 382,649
Muslim 81,417 21.1 Tharu 2,01,276 52.6
Tharu 63,344 16.4 Chhetri 40,681 10.6
55.8 76.0
59. Surkhet : 269,870 60. Dailekh : 225,201

Chhetri 74,820 27.7 Chhetri 78,306 34.8
Kami 40,382 15.0 Kami 34,534 15.3
Brahmin Hill 33,285 12.3 Thakuri 31,746 14.1
75.6 76.1
Karnali Zone
61. Jajarkot : 134,868 62. Dolpa : 22,071
Chhetri 51,847 38.4 Chhetri 9,687 43.9
Kami 26,603 19.7 Gurung 4,993 22.6
Thakuri 22,928 17.0 Magar 2,902 13.1
Magar 11,721 8.7 Kami 1,288 5.8
83.8 85.4
63. Jumla : 69,226 64. Kalikot : 11,510

Brahmin Hill 6,601 9.5 Thakuri 2,500 21.7
Sarki 4,470 6.5 Kami 2,485 21.6
Thakuri 3,924 5.7 Chhetri 1,743 15.1
84.8 85.9
127
65. Mugu : 31,465 66. Humla : 40,595
Chhetri 13,939 44.3 Chhetri 17,781 43.8
Thakuri 5,348 17.0 Sherpa 5,666 14.0
Sherpa 3,188 10.2 Thakuri 7,955 19.6
75.8 83.7
Seti Zone
67. Bajura : 100,626 68. Bajhyang : 167,026
Chhetri 55,887 55.5 Chhetri 1,06,775 63.9
Kami 9,498 9.4 Brahmin Hill 18,010 10.8
Thakuri 6,451 6.4 Thakuri 9,376 5.6
78.2 88.2
69. Achham : 231,285 70. Doti : 207,066

Chhetri 1,23,086 53.2 Chhetri 1,09,217 52.7
Kami 31,109 13.4 Kami 16,644 8.0
Damai/Dholi 14,709 6.4 Damai/Dholi 10,789 5.2
83.7 75.1
Mahakali Zone
71. Kailali : 616,697 72. Kanchanpur : 377,899
Tharu 2,69,521 43.7 Chhetri 1,02,713 27.2
Chhetri 1,07,398 17.4 Tharu 88,155 23,3
Kami 38,301 6.2 Kami 18,840 5.0
78.0 70.8
128
73. Dadeldhura : 126,162 74. Baitadi : 234,418
Chhetri 64,759 51.3 Chhetri 1,12,794 48.1
Kami 9,646 7.6 Thakuri 19,284 8.2
Sarki 6,632 5.3 Kami 14.360 6.1
82.1 82.6
75. Darchula : 121,966

Caste/Ethnic Group Population Percent
Chhetri 72,254 59.2
Brahmin Hill 22,531 18.5
Thakuri 8,048 6.6
Kami 6,449 5.3
89.6
129
Annex 3.3: Population 6 years of age and over by literacy status and by ethnic/caste
groups.
Total Population
Caste/Ethnicity Literacy Rate
6 Years and Above
Total 19,258,865 53.73
Chhetri 3,084,290 60.11
Brahman- Hill 2,575,341 74.90
Magar 1,375,556 55.90
Tharu 1,289,342 47.12
Tamang 1,067,495 45.04
Newar 1,123,138 71.22
Muslim 770,576 34.72
Yadav 740,480 40.83
Rai 545,208 58.19
Gurung 473,274 59.79
Limbu 308,798 58.12
Thakuri 286,052 63.39
Kami 734,140 41.27
Damai/Dholi 321,999 43.53
Sarki 262,301 38.33
Teli 256,315 51.42
Chamar/Harijan/Ram 213,442 19.24
Koiri 207,159 43.88
Kurmi 174,317 37.52
Sanyasi 170,428 58.96
Dhanuk 152,985 35.70
Musahar 132,389 7.28
Dusadh/Paswan/Pasi 125,571 19.59
Sherpa 133,053 50.43
Sonar 120,570 53.31
Kewat 109,800 36.35
Brahman- Tarai 118,532 71.21
Baniya 109,104 67.50
Gharti/Bhujel 99,956 51.62
Mallah 91,919 25.36
Kalwar 98,311 60.34
Kumal 81,632 43.26
Hajam/Thakur 80,508 42.09
130
Total Population
6 Years and Above
Kanu 78,514 43.18
Rajbansi 80,911 49.98
Sunuwar 77,317 35.25
Sudhi 77,558 59.68
Lohar 67,010 37.71
Tatma 60,421 23.12
Khatwe 58,429 19.28
Dhobi 59,242 34.64
Majhi 59,685 35.29
Nuniya 53,410 23.20
Kumhar 44,398 36.96
Danuwar 44,056 41.20
Chepang (Praja) 38,996 29.20
Haluwai 43,078 58.03
Rajput 42,835 70.33
Kayastha 42,238 82.05
Badhae 37,792 41.52
Marwadi 40,324 89.31
Santhal/Sattar 34,704 25.84
Jhagar/Dhagar 32,735 25.91
Bantar 28,367 22.78
Barae 28,790 42.96
Kahar 27,855 32.71
Gangai 26,177 47.01
Lodha 18,513 30.77
Rajbhar 19,746 49.49
Thami 19,089 34.50
Dhimal 16,814 52.44
Bhote 16,021 42.36
Bing/Binda 15,047 14.80
Bhediyar/Gaderi 14,457 32.25
Nurang 15,396 68.48
Yakkha 14,549 57.86
Darai 12,495 55.44
Tajpuriya 11,137 46.66
Thakali 11,780 75.66
131
Total Population
6 Years and Above
Chidimar 10,018 29.93
Pahari 9,171 29.93
Mali 9,117 36.14
Bangali 8,706 72.51
Chhantel 8,390 56.66
Dom 6,728 9.39
Kamar 6,838 15.15
Bote 6,298 34.90
Brahmu/Baramu 6,116 47.61
Gaine 4,456 46.86
Jirel 4,495 57.44
Adibasi/Janajati 4,058 48.72
Dura 4,325 63.26
Churaute 3,828 58.70
Badi 3,392 33.52
Meche 3,086 54.41
Lepcha 3,099 58.18
Halkhor 2,712 31.27
Punjabi/Sikh 2,449 47.82
Kisan 2,273 34.45
Raji 1,787 32.01
Byangsi 1,827 72.47
Hayu 1,479 39.08
Koche 1,080 32.13
Dhunia 883 21.86
Walung 911 27.22
Jaine 924 93.94
Munda 542 44.46
Raute 406 34.48
Yehlmo 488 70.70
Kuswadiya/Patharkatta 401 13.22
Kusunda 50 58.00
Source : CBS, 2001 Census, Kathmandu
132
Annex 3.4 : Population by caste/ethnic groups and religion.
POPULATION FOLLOWING RELIGION
Caste/ethnic TOTAL HINDU BOUDDHA ISLAM KIRATI JAIN CHRISTIAN SHIKHA BAHAI OTHERS
Group
TOTAL 22736934 183301212 2442520 954023 818106 4108 101976 5890 1211 78979
CHHETRI 3593496 3574976 9389 0 771 92 5435 130 158 2545
BHAHMAN-HILL 2896477 2887317 3758 0 566 61 2436 159 83 2097
MAGAR 1622421 1210276 397036 0 2789 58 8314 253 31 3664
THARU 1533879 1497516 29893 0 241 65 3332 250 287 2295
TAMANG 1282304 98593 1157461 0 1000 101 24235 139 14 761
NEWAR 1245232 1047561 190629 0 828 90 5007 150 68 899
MUSLIM 971056 21265 101 949473 11 0 172 5 0 29
KAMI 895954 866296 19844 0 1302 21 6747 112 12 1620
YADAV 895423 893427 1250 0 44 19 116 64 46 457
RAI 635151 158803 10670 0 450288 52 13069 277 17 1975
GURUNG 543571 156263 375252 0 588 199 3575 646 13 7035
DAMAI/DHOLI 390305 381739 4914 0 626 4 2483 55 3 481
LIMBU 359379 40675 2948 0 310108 47 4228 73 157 1143
THAKURI 334120 332107 1185 0 100 53 501 27 40 107
SARKI 318989 312277 2668 0 469 8 3229 44 7 287
TELI 304536 302056 4148 0 38 5 84 3 12 190
CHAMAR 269661 266568 2898 0 6 15 42 42 9 81

HARIJAN/RAM
KOIRI 251274 250705 231 0 32 21 36 21 18 210
KURMI 212842 212493 148 0 51 6 35 48 7 54
SANYASI 199127 197554 707 0 177 0 326 22 2 339
DHANUK 188150 187680 308 0 9 1 10 7 6 129
MUSAHAR 172434 169884 1462 0 28 1 61 28 3 967
DUSADH/PASW 158525 157682 549 0 5 3 47 7 4 228

AN/PASI
SHERPA 154622 9683 143528 0 305 5 968 77 6 50
SONAR 145088 142482 1059 0 299 3 1107 24 29 85
KEWAT 136953 136371 117 0 14 3 11 7 3 427
BRAHMAN- 134496 133932 311 0 49 14 100 18 9 63

TARAI
BANIYA 126971 126108 260 0 25 50 41 199 6 282
GHARTI/BHUJEL 117568 113458 2799 0 675 0 555 5 1 75
MALLAH 115986 114980 655 0 93 2 101 14 2 139
KALWAR 115606 115252 221 0 53 2 50 6 5 17
KUMAL 99389 97818 1038 0 58 0 269 10 0 196
HAJAM/THAKUR 98169 97768 233 0 31 4 32 8 2 91
KANU 95826 95718 48 0 3 1 10 0 3 43
RAJBANSI 95812 81580 95 0 118 11 247 490 8 13263
133
Group
SUNUWAR 95254 75726 970 0 16553 5 1816 64 4 116
SUDHI 89846 89554 79 0 54 31 30 3 4 91
LOHAR 82637 82454 58 0 2 3 38 0 1 81
TATMA 76512 76351 125 0 5 1 5 0 3 22
KHATWE 74972 74561 189 0 146 1 3 1 1 70
DHOBI 73413 73011 286 0 11 10 43 8 5 39
MAHJI 72614 59302 928 0 655 5 186 209 2 11327
NUNIYA 66873 66433 37 0 10 5 6 1 3 378
KUMHAR 54413 53972 237 0 34 4 40 4 34 88
DANUWAR 53229 52833 141 0 75 0 108 1 3 68
CHEPANG 52237 36685 9796 0 100 2 4589 66 4 995

(PRAJA)
HALUWAI 50583 50268 233 0 14 0 4 0 3 61
RAJPUT 48454 48126 123 0 7 2 65 0 4 127
KAYASTHA 46071 45556 314 0 24 6 64 9 22 76
BADHAE 45975 45756 69 0 3 0 43 10 3 91
MARWADI 43971 41718 143 0 20 1977 34 24 3 52
SANTHAL/SATTAR 42698 35463 156 0 243 1 2466 144 4 4221
JHAGAR/DHAGAR R1764 38752 2128 0 5 3 384 16 1 475
BANTAR 35839 35069 607 0 42 1 2 0 1 117
BARAE 35434 35398 23 0 0 1 3 0 4 5
KAHAR 34531 34491 35 0 1 0 0 4 0 0
GANGAI 31318 30830 357 0 2 3 2 3 1 120
LODHA 24738 24693 35 0 0 6 0 1 0 3
RAJBHAR 24263 24119 83 0 3 0 15 22 1 20
THAMI 22999 12819 2854 0 3357 0 106 5 0 3858
DHIMAL 19537 11216 270 0 1494 3 176 598 3 5777
BHOTE 19261 7300 11665 0 116 0 177 1 0 2
BING/BINDA 18720 18697 3 0 2 0 0 0 1 17
BHEDIYAR/GADERI 17729 17675 1 0 0 0 5 2 2 44
NURANG 17522 17267 216 0 4 5 1 7 4 18
YAKKHA 17003 2410 176 0 13846 3 538 11 1 18
DARAI 14859 14546 210 0 8 0 50 1 0 44
TAJPURIYA 13250 8500 39 0 10 5 46 166 1 4483
THAKALI 12973 4389 8434 0 96 0 50 3 0 1
CHIDIMAR 12296 12209 19 0 1 1 1 2 1 62
PAHARI 11505 9077 1523 0 278 0 219 0 0 408
MALI 11390 11365 18 0 2 0 1 0 1 2
BANGALI 9860 9566 146 0 1 5 57 5 1 79
134
Group
CHANTEL 9814 3021 6301 0 0 1 18 5 0 468
DOM 8931 8863 37 0 9 0 1 0 0 21
KAMAR 8761 8586 99 0 1 0 9 0 1 65
BOTE 7969 7855 48 0 0 0 51 0 0 15
BRAHMU/BARA 7383 5319 1928 0 4 0 130 0 0 2

MU
GAINE 5887 5711 51 0 16 17 90 1 0 1
JIREL 5316 561 4625 0 5 1 106 0 0 18
ADIBASI/JANAJATI 5259 5056 138 0 43 0 21 0 1 0
DURA 5169 979 4164 0 12 0 1 3 0 10
CHURAUTE 4893 292 51 4550 0 0 0 0 0 0
BADI 4442 4390 22 0 1 0 21 0 0 8
MECHE 3763 3021 43 0 329 0 40 99 0 231
LEPCHA 3660 279 3250 0 5 1 122 0 0 3
HALKHOR 3621 3597 12 0 1 0 8 1 0 2
PUNJABI/SIKH 3054 2464 126 0 1 12 4 380 0 67
KISAN 2876 2750 53 0 29 0 6 17 0 21
RAJI 2399 2119 267 0 5 0 1 0 0 7
BYANGSI 2103 2062 8 0 4 25 3 0 0 1
YAYU 1821 1280 8 0 430 1 2 0 0 0
KOCHE 1429 1397 7 0 2 2 4 0 0 17
DHUNIA 1231 1146 70 0 4 1 3 1 0 6
WALUNG 1148 946 84 0 92 0 24 0 0 2
JAINE 1015 357 5 0 0 652 1 0 0 0
MUNDA 660 521 2 0 76 1 55 5 0 0
RAUTE 658 548 1 0 4 0 5 0 0 0
YEHLMO 579 9 570 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
KU8SWADIYA/P 552 551 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

ATHARKATTA
KUSUNDA 164 160 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
UNIDENTIFIED 173401 169662 2206 0 380 14 724 138 3 274

DALIT
UNIDENTIFIED 231641 209499 9801 0 7528 274 2142 429 9 1959

CASTE
Source : CBS, 2001 Census, Kathmandu.
135
CHAPTER 4
LANGUAGE
- Dr. Yogendra P. Yadava*
4.1 Background
Despite its small size, Nepal accommodates an amazing cultural diversity including linguistic
plurality. The 2001 census has identified 92 languages spoken as mother tongues. Besides, a
number of languages have been reported as ‘unknown’ languages (CBS, 2001), which need to be
precisely identified on the basis of field observation and its analysis. This multilingual setting
confers on Nepal a distinctive position on the linguistic map of the world and renders it as one of
the most fascinating areas of linguistic research. It is important that the language situation in
Nepal be analyzed to facilitate linguistic studies and language planning. Such an analysis is also
important to examine the social structure of the country’s population since language constitutes
one of its main indicators.1 This chapter is an attempt to deal with these issues related to the
languages used in Nepal.
Census in Nepal was first introduced in 1911 to carry out a survey of population and its related
aspects including its growth, migration, and social structure. It has, however, been only since the
first modern census in 1952/54 that languages have been regularly reported. There have been
reported varying number of languages in different censuses. Of them the 2001 census has
mentioned their largest number (viz. 92).
Owing to its small area with multiple languages, it is but natural in Nepal that speakers of
different languages are sometimes settled in the same locality, esp. in urban area, and come into
closer contact. As a result, they need a link language to communicate and interact in carrying out
interpersonal and socio-economic activities. Most of non-Nepali speakers are found using Nepali
as a lingua franca. However, educated people from the Terai region often tend to use Hindi as a
lingua franca for inter-community communication in the region.
*
Prof. Dr. Yadava is the Chief of Central Department of Linguistics, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur,
Kathmandu, Nepal.
1
See the various population censuses (1911-2001).
137
In addition to using Nepali as a lingua franca, most of non-Nepali speakers also have to learn
Nepali for its use in education, administration, communication media, etc. Consequently,
bilingualism/multilingualism, i.e. use of two/more languages, has firmly established itself in
Nepalese context. However, there do exist some isolated communities such as Raute which are
confined to their native languages and have remained aloof from other speech communities. In
addition, there are a number of speech communities which have either lost their native languages
or whose languages are threatened with extinction under the pressure of linguistic and socio-
political forces. Such linguistic diversity is not to be looked upon as a barrier to peace and
development. What is required is to analyze and plan it as a social resource to mobilize its full
potential (Eastman, 1983: ix).
From this language situation, there emerges a context in which Nepalese obligatorily use a mother
tongue and optionally a second language. The term ‘mother tongue’ has been defined as “the
language acquired first by children in their childhood from their parents and used in their
households since they start speaking.” In case of an infant, the language ordinarily used in his/her
household is the mother tongue while the mother tongue of inborn deaf persons has been recorded
as the Nepali Sign Language, which makes use of movements of the hands, arms, body, head,
face, eyes, and mouth to communicate meanings. (CBS Guidelines). The ‘second language’ has
been defined as any language other than the mother tongue learned for use while speaking with
neighbours. Thus, a person may have Maithili or Nepal Bhasha as his mother tongue and Nepali
as his second language for inter-community communication. As mentioned above, there also exist
multilingual communities with proficiency in more than two languages. For example, a Newar-
speaking person may use Nepali and English besides his mother tongue Newar, but no provision
has so far been made in any census for the return of a language or languages other than mother
tongues and second languages.
The questionnaire designed for the 2001 census sought to specify one item for mother tongue and
second language each. These items are as follows:
(i) Which language do you speak as a mother tongue?
(ii) Which language do you speak as a second language?
To elicit responses to these and other questions, people were contacted and interviewed
individually. Since enumerators were not provided with a working list of languages/dialects
138
spoken in Nepal2, some vague language names were sometimes reported by various communities.
To resolve this uncertainty a committee of linguists with different linguistic background was
formed at the CBS. This committee tried to keep the returned language names intact unless it was
obvious that the various names belonged to a single language. Finally, 92 languages were
identified pending a number of languages as ‘unknown’ (or unidentified) since it was then not
possible to ascertain their precise identity without doing their on-the-spot observation and study.
This chapter is an attempt to deal mainly with the situation of Nepalese peoples’ mother tongues
and their second languages. It consists of five main sections. Section 4.1 presents an overview of
the language situation in Nepal vis-à-vis the various population censuses. Section 4.2 seeks to
address the mother tongues and their related issues such as their identification, nomenclature,
genetic affiliation, distribution, writing systems, and ethnicity. In section 4.3 second languages
have been discussed. Some languages other than mother tongues and second languages have been
referred to in section 4.4. Section 4.5 briefly deals with the language use, policy and
endangerment existing in the country. Finally, we sum up the major findings concerning the
overall language situation in Nepal based on censuses, esp. the 2001 census and suggest some
measures for improving the language database in Nepal. At the end there are appendices
containing the database on some aspects of language and population.
4.2 Mother Tongues
There have been identified 92 mother tongues (barring some ‘unknown' languages) in the 2001
census. The main aspects of these mother tongues to be discussed in this section include their
identification, nomenclature, genetic affiliation, distribution, writing systems, ethnic relation, and
also their use, policy and endangerment.
4.2.1 Identification
There have been made some attempts to identify the numerous languages spoken in this country
as mother tongues. One of these attempts is the enumeration of languages in the various censuses.
Since the 1952/54 census languages have consistently been reported. However, their number
shows variation in these censuses. Except ‘other’, ‘unknown’ and ‘not stated’ languages, there
2
In the 1961 Census of India Language Handbook on Mother Tongues in Census (Nigam, 1972) was
provided to find out whether or not such a language entry had been returned in an earlier census and to
identify the language family to which it belongs.
139
were recorded 44 (1952/54), 36 (1961), 17 (1971), 18 (1981), and 32 (1991) languages in the last
five censuses (Gurung, 2002:37), but their figures have drastically increased to 92. 3 However,
there still remain quite a few languages (used by as many as 168,340 strong speakers, i.e. 0.74 per
cent of the total population) which are lumped together into an ‘unknown’ slot in the lack of
adequate information4. This increase is due to the fact that a large number of languages used as
mother tongues have been returned for the first time because of the growing awareness of several
ethnic minorities about their distinct cultural and linguistic identity. Such mother tongues include
Bram/Bramu, Bhujel, Chhantyal, Dura, Ghale, Kaike, Kisan, Kusunda, Munda, Raute, Bajjika,
Angika, Yholmo, Khariya, Lhomi, Dungmali, and Sadhani. Deaf’s Nepali Sign Language has also
been reported. Besides, the earlier censuses recorded all the Rai languages under a single heading,
called ‘Rai group of languages’. In the 2001 census, however, there have been enumerated 25
separate languages in this group. Similarly, Angika and Bajjika, which were earlier considered the
dialects of Maithili and Bhojpuri, respectively, have now emerged as distinct languages. In
addition, there have also been reported some foreign languages (mostly spoken in India) for the
first time; they are Hariyanwi, Magahi, Kuki, Mizo, Nagamese, Sindhi, Assamese, Oriya,
Kurmali, Koche, Dzonkha, and Chinese, apart from English.
This considerable rise in the number of languages spoken in Nepal may be ascribed to a number
of reasons. Since the restoration of democracy there has been continual increase in awareness
among linguistic minorities (including indigeneous peoples) about their mother tongues. Their
ethnic organizations had been creating awareness of preserving and promoting their cultural
identity including their languages. Taking cognizance of this reality, the CBS also sought the
cooperation and support of these organizations during the enumeration for the 2001 census.
Following the enumeration, some linguists were also consulted for the precise identification of
Nepal’s languages.
Presented below is the complete list of the languages arranged in order of their number of
speakers reported in the last six censuses (1952/54 – 2001).
3
But this census, unlike some previous ones, has not reported population with ‘not stated’ languages.
4
The speakers of the unidentified languages are sufficiently large in number and cannot be ignored. It is
important to visit the related fields in order to elicit necessary information for their precise
identification.
140
Table 4.1: Distribution of population of Nepal by mother tongue (1952/54-2001).
Population
Mother Tongue
1952/54 % 1961 % 1971 % 1981 % 1991 % 2001 %
A. Indo-European 6351899 77.13 7449604 79.14 9062435 78.42 12417886 82.66 14701283 79.50 17982769 79.1
1. Nepali 4013567 48.74 4796528 50.96 6060758 52.45 8767361 58.36 9302880 50.31 11053255 48.61
2. Maithili 1024780 12.44 1130402 12.01 1327242 11.49 1668309 11.11 2191900 11.85 2797582 12.30
3. Bhojpuri 477281 5.80 577357 6.13 806480 6.98 1142805 7.61 1379717 7.46 1712536 7.53
4. Tharu 359594 4.37 406907 4.32 495881 4.29 545685 3.63 993388 5.37 1331546 5.86
5. Awadhi 328408 3.99 477090 5.07 316950 2.74 234343 1.56 374635 2.03 560744 2.47
6. Rajbansi 35543 0.43 55803 0.59 55124 0.48 59383 0.40 85558 0.46 129829 0.57
7. Hindi 80181 0.97 2867 0.03 – – – – 170997 0.92 105765 0.47
8. Urdu 32545 0.40 2650 0.03 – – – – 202208 1.09 174840 0.77
B.Sino-Tibetan 1795337 21.08 1813083 19.26 1982635 17.16 1811944 12.06 3098698 16.76 4183995 18.4
9. Tamang 494745 6.01 528812 5.62 555056 4.80 522416 3.48 904456 4.89 1179145 5.19
10. Newar 383184 4.65 377721 4.01 454979 3.94 448746 2.99 690007 3.73 825458 3.63
11. Magar 273780 3.32 254675 2.71 288383 2.50 212681 1.42 430264 2.3 770116 3.39
12. Rai, Kirat 236049 2.87 239745 2.55 232264 2.01 221353 1.47 439312 2.38 -
13. Gurung 162192 1.97 157778 1.68 171609 1.49 174464 1.16 227918 1.23 338925 1.49
14. Limbu 145511 1.77 138705 1.47 170787 1.48 129234 0.86 254088 1.37 333633 1.47
15. Bhote, Sherpa 70132 0.85 84229 0.89 79218 0.69 73589 0.49 121819 0.66 129771 0.57
16. Sunuwar 17299 0.21 13362 0.14 20380 0.18 10650 0.07 – – 26611 0.12
17. Danuwar 9138 0.11 11625 0.12 9959 0.09 13522 0.09 23721 0.13 31849 0.14
18. Thakali 3307 0.04 6432 0.07 – – 5289 0.04 7113 0.04 6441 0.03
C. Austro-Asiatic 16751 0.20 29485 0.31 23853 0.21 28208 0.19 33332 0.18 40260 0.2
19. Satar 16751 0.20 18840 0.20 20660 0.18 22403 0.15 25302 0.14 - -
20. Santhali – – 10645 0.11 3193 0.03 5804 0.04 8030 0.04 40260 0.18
D. Dravidian – – – – – – – – 15175 0.1 28615 0.1
E. Other 70340 0.85 114392 1.22 487060 4.21 764802 5.09 648627 3.51 28615 0.13
F. Not Sated/Unknown 752 0.01 6432 0.07 – – – – 9157 0.05 503295 2.2
Total 8235079 100.00 9412996 100.00 11555983 100.00 15022839 100.00 18491097 100.00 22738934 100.00
Source : Population Censuses (1952/54-2001).
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The languages recorded in the 2001 census but not enumerated in the earlier censuses are
presented in Table 4.2.
Table 4.2: Additional languages (2001).
Mother tongues Speakers %

Bajjika 237947 1.05
Angika 15892 0.07
Chhantyal 5912 0.03
Nepali Sign Language 5743 0.03
Meche 3301 0.01
Lepcha 2826 0.01
Khariya 1575 0
Sanskrit 823 0
Raute 518 0
Kisan 489 0
Baram 342 0
Dungmali 221 0
Kusunda 87 0
Sindhi 72 0
Koche 52 0
Hariyanwi 33 0
Magahi 30 0
Kurmali 13 0
Dzonkha 9 0
Kuki 9 0
Mizo 8 0
Nagamese 6 0
Assamese 3 0
Sadhani 2 0
Source : Population Census 2001
In addition to these fresh entries, the Rai/Kirant group of languages, lumped together into a single
entry, have been returned with separate languages. These languages have been presented in
Table 4.3.
142
Table 4.3: Rai languages (2001).
Languages Speakers %
Bantawa 371056 1.63
Chamling 44093 0.19
Sunuwar 26611 0.12
Kulung 18686 0.08
Yakkha 14648 0.06
Thulung 14034 0.06
Sanpang 10810 0.05
Khaling 9288 0.04
Dumi 5271 0.02
Umbule 4471 0.02
Puma 4310 0.02
Nachhering 3553 0.02
Bahing 2765 0.01
Kou/Koi 2641 0.01
Hayu 1743 0.01
Yamphu 1722 0.01
Chhiling 1314 0.01
Lohorung 1207 0.01
Mewahang 904 0
Tilung 310 0
Jerung 271 0
Dungmali 221 0
Lingkhim 97 0
Sam 23 0
Chhintang 8 0
Source : Population Census 2001.
This uncertainty about the number of Nepal’s languages and their reduced enumeration in the last
five censuses may be attributed to their lack of required information and awareness about mother
tongues and also the “one nation – one language” policy adopted during the Panchayat regime.
Setting aside the various censuses, attempts have also been made by some linguists to identify
Nepal’s languages. Malla (1989) and Toba (1992) mention 70 while Grimes (2000) lists 121
languages one of which, called Kusunda, has been claimed to be dead. All these attempts
(including censuses) for identification of languages spoken in Nepal as mother tongues are some
sort of approximation or rationalization of information and cannot be deemed final.
143
4.2.2 Nomenclature
The nomenclature of Nepal’s languages (including Tibeto-Burman (Marrison, 1967; Matisoff,

1996:ix)) is found to be complex. The names for several languages have been derived from the
country or place names (toponyms/loconyms). Such toponyms/loconyms have gradually gained
currency among their users and others. One of such languages is Nepali, which has been
established as the state language of the Kingdom of Nepal since Gurkha conquest in the
eighteenth century. Its main alternative names used earlier include Khas Kuraa, Gurkhaali and
Parbatiyaa. Other languages of Nepal whose nomenclature is based on place names are Maithili (
< Mithilaa), Bhojpuri (< Bhojpur), Awadhi (<Awadh), Hindi (<Hindustaan), Santhali (<Santhal),
Bangala (<Bangaal), Marwadi (Mawraad), Angika (<Ang), Tibetan (<Tibet), Meche (<Mechi),
Punjabi (Punjab), Oriya (<Orissa), Sindhi (<Sindh), Marwari (< Marwar), Hariyanvi
(<Hiwiyana,), Magahi (<Magadh), Assamese (<Assam), etc.
Secondly, there are many examples in Nepal of a language name (glossonym) derived from a
community or tribe name (ethnonym). Such languages include Tharu, Tamang, Newar, Magar,
Kiranti languages, Gurung, Rajbanshi, Sherpa, Chepang, Majhi, Danuwar, Sunuwar, Thami,
Dhimal, Bhujel/Khawas, Darai, Kumal, Thakali, Bhujel, Chhantyal, Pahari, Lepcha/Lapche, Bote,
Raji, Byanshi, Ghale, Khariya Raute, Kisan, Churauti, Baram/Maramu, Kusunda, Dhangar, Dura,
Yolmo, Munda, etc. Some of the tribe names on which their language names are based have been
further derived from place names, e.g. Sunwar (< Sunuwar ‘a tribe’ < Sunkoshi ‘a river’), Jirel
(<Jiri, ‘a place in Dolakha district'), etc.
Thirdly, Churauti is the only language spoken in Nepal named after the profession of its speakers.
Even this name given by Nepali speakers is not palatable to its native speakers; instead, they
prefer to call their speech ‘Muslim Bhasha’.
Fourthly, Urdu, Sanskrit, and Tibetan are the three languages which are very much restricted to
religions. Urdu, originated as Dakshni (the ‘southern’ language) used by the Muslim conquerors
in northern Deccan and later called Urdu, the language of the court, called the Horde, in the main
stronghold of Northern Hindustan, was finally adopted as the language of the Muslim community
in India as well as Nepal (Cf. Breton, 1997:74). Sanskrit, enumerated only with 823 native
speakers, is hardly used as a medium of mass communication but it has been actively used by
Hindus in performing their religious rituals and also by scholars in scholastic study and
deliberations.
Finally, Nepali Sign Language, which has been reported in the 2001 census, has been named after
the medium or ‘signs’ used by the deaf in their communication.
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There are quite a few languages with more than one name (allonyms), e.g. Gorkhali, Khas Kuraa,
and Parbatiyaa for Nepali, Tirhutiya and Dehati for Maithili, and so on5. Etymologically, the
derivation of an Indo-Aryan language name may involve a productive adjectival Nepali suffix –i
attached to a nominal stem (indicating place), e.g. Nepal (noun) + -i = Nepali, Mithila + -i =
Maithili, Bhojpur + -i + = Bhojpuri, Awadh + -i = Awadhi, etc. The Tibeto-Burman languages,
however, do not involve such suffixation.6
4.2.3 Genetic Affiliation
The languages enumerated in the 2001 census belong to the four language families, viz. Indo-
European, Sino-Tibetan7, Austro-Asiatic, and Dravidian.
In Nepalese context, Indo-European family of languages mainly comprise Indo-Aryan group of

languages, which forms the largest group of languages in terms of speakers, viz. nearly 80 per
cent.
The Indo-Aryan languages spoken in Nepal can be genetically subcategorized in the following
diagram:
Diagram 1: Indo-European languages
Indo-Iranian Celltic Italic Slavic Armenian Albanian Greek Germanic Baltic
Iranian Indo-Aryan North West
English
Northwestern Dardic Dardic-Maldives Sinhalese Southern East-Central Northern
Sindhi Punjabi Awadhi Nepali
Eastern Central
Maithili
Bajjika
Angika
Bhojpuri
Majhi
Tharu (Rana)
Magahi
Bangla
Assamese
Oriya
(including Koche)
Rajbanshi
Kurmali
Sadhani/Sadani
Hindi
Urdu
Hariyanwi
Marwari
Gujarati
Tharu
5
See Grimes (2000) for the various names used for a language.
6
The only exception was Newari, which has ceased to be used now.
7
Kusunda, whose genetic affiliation was considered undecided earlier, has been now said to belong to the
Himalayish group of Tibeto-Burman (Sino-Tibetan) languages (Grimes, 2000).
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Some of the Indo-Aryan languages spoken in Nepal are yet to subclassified in the lack of their
adequate description. These languages include Tharu, Bote, Darai ,Kumal, Churauti and Danuwar.
Another important group of Nepal’s languages is the Tibeto-Burman group of Sino-Tibetan

family. Though it is spoken by relatively lesser number of people than the Indo-European family,
it consists of the largest number of languages, viz. about 57 languages. Contrary to speakers of
Indo-Aryan languages, there has been steady decline in speakers of Sino-Tibetan languages from
the 1952/54 to the 1981 censuses, viz. 21.8 (1952/54), 19.26 (1961), 17.16 (1971), and 12.06
(1981) per cent. In the last two censuses, they have, however, increased to 16.76 per cent (1991)
and nearly 19 per cent (2001). Their decline and increase may also be due to the reasons ascribed
to those of Indo-European languages.
The Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Nepal can be subcategorized as follows:
Diagram 2: Sino-Tibetan languages

Sino-Tibetan Languages
Sinitic Tibeto-Burman Karen
Chinese Bodic Others
Bodish Himalayish
Tibetan TGTh West Himalayish Central

Himalayish
Gurung Thakali Tamang

Chantel Thami Kham Magar Chepang Raute Newar East Himalayish
Bhujhel Raji (Kiranti languages)
Byangshi Baram
Hayu Sunuwar Khaling Thulung Dumi Sangpang Athpare Mewahang Tilung Chathare
Koyu Bantawa Belhare Lohorong Limbu
Bahing Kulung Dungmali Chintang Yambhu
Umbule
Jerung Nachhiring Chamling Yakkha
Puma
Adapted from Bradeley (2002) and David Watters (personal communication)
In addition to these two major language families, there also exist a few languages belonging to
two minor language families. They are Austric branch of the Austro-Asiatic family and Dravidian
family of languages. The Austic languages comprise Santhali of the northern Munda group and
Kharia of the southern Munda group. It is to be noted that Satar has been reported in all the
146
censuses but Santhal has been wrongly reported as a separate language except in the 1952/54
census. The 2001 census lumps both Satar and Santhal together into a single language, called
Santhali. It is suggested that Munda (with 67 speakers) should also be included within Santhali, in
that it is just a variant name of the same language. According to the 2001 census, Santhali
speakers are 40, 193 in number, i.e. 0.18% of Nepal’s total population, as compared to 0.20%
(1952/54), 0.31% (1961), 0.21% (1971), 0.19 (1981), and 0.18% (1991). Another Austric
language of Munda branch is Kharia, which has been introduced in the 2001 census for the first
time. This language is spoken by 1575, i.e. 0.01%. All the Austric languages are spoken by
groups of tribal peoples from the eastern Terai and make up approximately 0.19 per cent of the
total population. The genetic affiliation of the Austric languages spoken in Nepal is shown in the
following diagram:
Diagram 3: Austo-Asiatic languages
Austo-Asiatic languages
Munda Mon-Khmer
North South
Kherwari Other North Kharia
Santhali Munda
Dravidian language family includes the two languages spoken in Nepal. One of them is called
Jhangar in the region east of Kosi river but Dhangar in the region west of Kosi river. It constitutes
the northernmost part of Dravidian family of languages. It is said to be a regional variant of Kurux
spoken in Jharkhand State of India though it shows divergence in its vocabulary and grammar
(Gordon, 176; Yadava, 2002). According to the 2001 census, it is spoken by 28,615, i.e. 0.13% of
the total population of the country. Its speakers have been reported to be 4832 (1952/54), 9140
(1961), and 15175 (1991). But it was not listed in the 1971 and 1981 censuses. Another Dravidian
language is Kisan with 489 speakers settled in Jhapa district. It has been returned first time in
population censuses. The genetic affiliation of Dhangar/Jhangar and Kisan is presented in the
following diagram:
Diagram 4: Dravidian languages

Dravidian languages
Central Northern South-Central Southern
Kisan Dhangar/Jhangar
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4.2.4 Distribution
The Indo-Aryan languages are spoken by the majority of Nepal’s total population and thus
constitute the largest group of Nepal’s languages in terms of their speakers. In the last six
censuses, their speakers constituted 77.13 per cent (1952/54), 79.14 per cent (1961), 78.42 per
cent (1971), 82. 66 per cent (1981), 79.50 per cent (1991), and nearly 80 per cent (2001) of the
total population. These figures show increase in the speakers of Indo-Aryan languages except
their slight decline in the 1971 and 1991 censuses. Of the Indo-Aryan languages, there had been
steady increase in the percentage of Nepali speakers from the 1952/54 till the 1981 censuses but it
has declined in the 1991 and 2001 censuses. On the contrary, the non-Nepali Indo-Aryan
languages except Bhojpuri declined from the 1952/54 till the 1981 censuses but they have
increased in the 1991 and 2001 censuses. This increase in Nepali speakers and decline in other
Indo-Aryan languages during the 1952/54-1981 may presumably be attributed to the growing
emphasis on the “one nation–one language” policy imposed during the Panchayat regime.
Conversely, the decline in Nepali speakers and rise in other the speakers of Indo- Aryan
languages may be ascribed to the people’s awareness of promoting and preserving their mother
tongues following the restoration of democracy in 1990.
The Indo-Aryan languages spoken in Nepal are mainly distributed from the western to the eastern
hills and the Terai and also the far western mountain though they are spoken with low density in
almost all the remaining parts of the country.
Another group of languages spoken in Nepal are the Tibeto-Burman languages. Their number is
the largest, viz. 57 languages, as compared to other groups of languages including the Indo-Aryan
languages. The Tibeto-Burman languages which are mentioned in all the censuses are Tamang,
Newar, Magar, Rai (Kirant), Gurung, Limbu, Bhote (Sherpa), and Thakali. Sunuwar has not been
listed in the 1991 census. Similarly, Thakali did not appear in the 1971 census. According to the
2001 census, these languages are spoken by 18.4 per cent of Nepal’s total population and
occupies the second position. However, the percentages of their speakers vary in the different
censuses: 21.8 per cent (1952/54), 19.26 (1961), 17.16 (1971), 12.06 (1981), 16.76 (1991), and
18.4 (2001). The Tibeto-Burman languages mainly extend over the eastern, central and western
mountain and hills though they are also sparsely spoken in the other parts of the country.
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The two Austric languages, viz. Santhali (inclusive Munda) and Khariya, have been returned in
various censuses with some variations. They are reported to have been spoken by 0.2 per cent
(1952/54), 0.31 per cent (1961), 0.21 per cent (1971), 0.19 per cent (1981), 018 per cent (1991),
and 0.2 per cent (2001). They are mainly distributed in the southern parts of Jhapa and Morang
districts.
In Dravidian family, Dhangar/Jhangar is spoken by 4,812 (1952/54), 15, 175 (1991) and 28,615
(2001) people. Mainly spoken in Sunsari district, it is also marginally used in Siraha and some
other districts. Another Dravidian language is Kisan, marginally spoken in Jhapa district.
The distribution of the four language families and their speakers have been presented in the
following table.
149
Table 4.4 : Distribution of population by the language families of mother tongues (1952/54-2001).
Population
Mother Tongue
1952/54 % 1961 % 1971 % 1981 % 1991 % 2001 %
A. Indo-European 6351899 77.13 7449604 79.14 9062435 78.42 12417886 82.66 14701283 79.50 17982769 79.1
B. Sino-Tibetan 1795337 21.08 1813083 19.26 1982635 17.16 1811944 12.06 3098698 16.76 4183995 18.4
C. Austro-Asiatic 16751 0.20 29485 0.31 23853 0.21 28208 0.19 33332 0.18 40260 0.2
D. Dravidian – – – – – – – – 15175 0.1 28615 0.1
E. Others 70340 0.85 114392 1.22 487060 4.21 764802 5.09 648627 3.51
F. Not Stated 752 0.01 6432 0.07 – – – – 9157 0.05 503295 2.2
Total 8235079 100.00 9412996 100.00 11555983 100.00 15022839 100.00 18491097 100.00 22738934 100.00
Source : Population censuses (1952/54-2001).
150
A comparison of the distribution of rural and urban population by the language families according
to the 2001 census figures shows that Indo-European languages are spoken as mother tongues by
87 per cent in rural areas but 13 per cent in urban areas. Compared to the 1991 census there has
been an increase of almost 5 percent in the Indo-European speakers of the urban area. This
increase suggests a trend of population shift from rural to urban area. Sino-Tibetan languages are
spoken by 82 per cent in rural areas as compared to 18 per cent in urban areas. These figures also
indicate an increase of Sino-Tibetan speakers in the urban area by about 3 per cent. Similarly,
Austro-Asiatic languages have been reported to be spoken by 96.30 per cent and 3.70 per cent in
rural and urban areas, respectively. Dravidian speakers constitute 95.28 per cent and 4.72 per cent
of their total population in rural and urban areas, respectively. There has been a considerable
increase in the percentage of ‘unknown languages’ in the urban area. It has risen by about 10 per
cent; this increase may be ascribed to the gradual shift of rural population to the urban area.
Table 4.5 : Distribution of rural and urban population by mother tongue (1991-2001).
1991 2001
Language Families
Rural Urban Rural Urban
Indo-European 91.99 8.01 87.00 13.00
Sino-Tibetan 84.87 15.22 82.00 18.00
Austro-Asiatic 97.97 2.10 96.30 3.70
Dravidian – – 95.28 4.72
Not stated/Unknown 93.05 6.95 83.89 16.11
Source: Population Censuses (1991-2001) (For details, see Appendix 4.2)
4.2.5 Writing Systems
Most of the languages spoken in Nepal are still confined to their oral traditions. Each of them has
a rich oral heritage of traditional folk stories and songs handed down from parent to child over a
long period of time, e.g. Salhes in Maithili and Mundhun in Kiranti languages. However, they are
disappearing with the growth of literacy and language shift. It is, therefore, time to document
them before they are lost to posterity to come.
Only a few of Nepal’s languages have literate traditions. They include Nepali, Maithili,
Tibetan/Sherpa, Newar, Limbu, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, and Lepcha in particular. All of them have
long tradition of written literature. These languages have employed various writing systems or
scripts. Most of the Indo-Aryan languages such as Nepali, Maithili (originally written in
Mithilakshar or Kaithi script), Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Hindi and Rajbanshi use the Devanagri script
151
though Bengali is written in a different version of Devanagri script. The Tibetan script is used by
Lamas for Tibetan. Newar has its own traditional script called Ranjana but it has also adopted the
Devanagri script for the sake of convenience in reading and printing. Limbu uses its own Kiranti
Srijanga script. Lepcha is written in Rong script.
Of late some other languages have taken to literate traditions. Initiatives have been taken by
various language communities to develop writing systems appropriate to the sound system of their
languages and practically acceptable to them. They are Tharu, Tamang, Magar, Gurung,
Rajbanshi and Rai group of languages such as Bantawa, Thulung, Chamling, Khaling, Kulung,
and so on. Tharu, Tamang and Gurung use the Devanagri script but some of the Gurung speakers
advocate for the use of Roman script for this language. Magar has developed its own script, called
Akkha. Recently, these languages have started developing some written literature in the form of
newspaper, magazine, textbooks for adult literacy and primary education, and folk literature.
As in India, Santhali in Nepal is written in Roman script. In addition, some of the languages have
adopted Devanagri script. Arabic script is used for writing Urdu. Thus, there have been used
about nine scripts in writing Nepal’s languages.
4.2.6 Language and Ethnicity
Nepal is a multiethnic nation, comprising various ethnic and religious communities. Its ethnic and
religious diversity is coupled with its linguistic plurality. They are found to interact with one
another, resulting in the threefold ethnic/religious-linguistic structure. First, there are a number of
ethno-linguistic communities in Nepal each of which has a common mother tongue. The mother
tongues associated with various ethnic groups include Magar, Tharu, Tamang, Gurung, Limbu,
Sherpa, Rajbanshi, Sunuwar, Kumal, Majhi, Danuwar, Chepang, Thami, Thakali, Bhote, Dhimal,
Darai, Lepcha, Byansi, Raute, Raji, Dhangad/Jhangad and so on. Such a situation having one–to-
one relation between languages and ethnic groups is characterized by “one tribe one language”
formula. Besides, Urdu is the mother tongue of a community belonging to a particular religion,
viz. Islam. Similarly, Tibetan-speaking Bhotiyas or Sherpas are Buddhists. (Cf. Breton, 1997: 16-
17). It is, however, to be noted that this formula is not exempt from exceptions. Secondly, there
are, on the other hand, ethnic communities each of which speak several mother tongues. This “one
tribe with several languages” in Nepal is the Rai (Kiranti) group in the eastern hills and mountain.
This single group speaks various Kiranti languages such as Bantawa, Chamling, Kulung, Yakkha,
Thulung, Sangpang, Khaling, Dumi, Jirel, Puma, Umbule, Bahing, Yholmo, Nachiring, Dura,
Koi, Hayu, Yamphu, Chhiling, Lohorung, Mewahang, Kaike, Tilung, Jerung, Lingkhim, Sam,
Kagate, Chhingtang, Lhomi, etc. This trend is illustrated in the Terai region also. In this region,
152
various castes and tribes such as Brahmin, Rajput, Yadav, Teli, Kurmi, Chamar, Khatawe, etc.
speak Maithili in the Maithili-speaking area, Bhojpuri in the Bhojpuri-speaking area and Awadhi
in the Awadhi-speaking area. Thus, there exists no one–to–correspondence between ethnic
communities and their mother tongues in the Terai. Thirdly, we find the “several tribes with a
common language” formula. Different ethnic groups are found to speak a single mother tongue.
This formula has been exemplified by Nepali, which is spoken as a mother tongue by various
ethnic groups such as Bahun, Kshetri, Kami, Damai, Thakuri, Sarki, Sanyasi, and so on. Being a
lingua franca, it has also been adopted as a mother tongue by people from different ethnic groups
as well. Hence, it is called an “interethnic language.” Similarly, the Newars consist of various
ethnic groups but all these groups speak a single language, viz. Newar or Nepal Bhasa.
In case of one-to-one relation between the tribes and their languages, a comparison of the
population of different tribes and their languages can show the extent of language retention by
each tribe. According to Gurung (2002: 7-8), there has been considerable increase in the speakers
of the languages spoken by various ethnic groups except those of Dhimal, Bhote-Sherpa and
Thakali languages. Rajbanshi and Raji are the two languages whose population exceeds the
population of their tribes. Besides, Limbu, Jirel, Thami, and Magar have shown significant
increase in their speakers. This is evident from the following table:
Table 4.6 : The population of tribes and their languages.
Ethnic Groups 1991 (%) 2001 (%) Ethnic Groups 1991 (%) 2001 (%)
1. Rajbanshi 104.1 135.2 18. Chepang 68.5 70.5
2. Raji 90.4 100.6 19. Darai 60.0 68.7
3. Hayu - 95.7 20. Newar 66.2 66.3
4. Satar - 94.1 21. Dura - 65.7
5. Limbu 64.0 92.9 22. Gurung 50.7 62.4
6. Jirel 86.5 92.5 23. Chhantel - 60.2
7. Tamang 88.8 92.0 24. Danuwar 46.7 59.8
8. Dhimal 89.5 88.6 25. Kusunda - 53.0
9. Meche - 87.7 26. Thakali 51.8 49.6
10. Tharu 83.2 86.8 27. Magar 32.1 47.5
11. Yakkha - 86.1 28. Jhangad - 36.3
12. Dhami 75.4 82.6 29. Bote - 35.4
13. Byansi - 82.4 30. Sunuwar - 27.9
14. Raute - 78.7 31. Pahari - 26.0
15. Rai–Kirant 83.6 78.3 32. Majhi 20.6 23.6
16. Bhote–Sherpa 99.1 7.6 33. Bhujel - 9.1
17. Lepcha - 77.2 34. Kumal 1.8 6.6
35. Baramu - 4.5
Source : Population Censuses (1991-2001) and Gurung (2002:8)
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All these aspects of language-ethnicity relation reflect the dynamism of language shift in Nepalese
context. They suggest a common tendency to shift toward regional and ethnic languages. As a
result, there has been continuous decline in the numerical strength of Nepali speakers.
4.3 Second Languages
The linguistic diversity existing in the country has given rise to the three situations in the country,
viz. monolingualism, bilingualism, and multilingualism. Of these language situations, only
monolingualism or the use of just mother tongues has been regularly reported since the first
modern census in 1952/54. The 2001 census data on monolingual communities has been
presented in Appendix 4.1. The linguistically homogeneous communities figure 70 per cent of the
total population of mother tongue speakers. They are mostly Nepali-speaking people, viz. 46 per
cent. Their mother tongue Nepali is also a lingua franca; they hardly need to learn a second
language to communicate with a group of people, speaking a different language since they know
Nepali. Besides Nepali speaking people, there are people from indigeneous groups and also from
the Terai who are able to use only their mother tongue. These people are usually old and illiterate
and/or hail from remote rural areas with minimum contact with people speaking other languages.
Bilingualism or the use of mother tongues and their speakers’ second languages (i.e. the
languages most commonly used by them) has, however, been reported since the 1991 census. The
2001 census has reported only 12 second languages used by 92 mother tongue speakers. The total
percentage of bilingual speakers for the 12 reported languages constitute 27.36 per cent (5722151)
of the country’s total population. Other enumerated second languages are Maithili (115877),
Bantawa (71713), Bhojpuri (64724), Tharu (64274), Magar (49378), Tamang (46078), Newar
(34431), Gurung (29655), and Awadhi (23577). For details about mother tongues and their
associated second languages, see Appendix 4.1.
Nepali as a second language has been mostly returned by speakers of Tibeto-Burman languages.
In such language communities it serves as a lingua franca. There are also quite a few Indo-Aryan
languages whose speakers have returned Nepali as their second language in a large number. Such
speakers also live in close proximity with Nepali speakers. They are by and large bilingual except
for a few isolated communities. Apart from contact with Nepali-speaking community, non-Nepali
speakers also use Nepali as medium of education, media and administration.
The choice of a speaker’s second language is not constrained by the condition that it must belong
to the language family to which his mother tongue belongs. For example, a Tibeto-Burman (e.g.
Newar) speaker may use an Indo-Aryan language (e.g. Nepali or Maithili) as his second language.
154
Instead, the use of a second language is conditioned by contact and pressure for inter-community
communication. It is thus found that many people make vigorous use of second languages while
conversing with speakers of other mother tongues. However, this fact does not suggest any details
about their level of proficiency in the second language they use. There is a need to evaluate their
bilingual proficiency through a sociolinguistic survey.
Multilingualism, i.e. the use of more than two languages, is presumably not as widespread as
bilingualism in Nepal. However, it does exist in the country to a large extent. A number of
Nepalis are found proficient not only in their mother tongues but also in their lingua francas such
as Hindi and English and/or neighbouring indigeneous languages. But Census data is not available
about people's proficiency in languages other than their mother tongues and second languages. It
does not mean that they are equally proficient in all these languages. Such a multilingual situation
can be attributed to electronic media, employment and education in India and abroad.
Most speakers of Nepal’s languages have been found to be in close contact. As a result, these
languages tend to converge through mutual borrowing and influences and gradually share a
number of lexical and grammatical features. For example, we find Tibeto-Burman languages
“Indo-Aryanized” and Indo-Aryan languages “Tibeto-Burmanized”. There is a need for an
intensive study of convergence as well as divergence to ascertain the precise nature of Nepal as a
linguistic area.
The Indo-Aryan languages spoken in the Terai (e.g. Rajbanshi, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Avadhi, and
Tharu) constitute a curious case, in that they are linked uninterruptedly from the viewpoint of
intelligibility. That is to say, it is rather difficult to say where one language ends and another
begins. However, the degree of intelligibility goes on decreasing with the increase in distance
between the adjacent languages. In such a case, people adopt Hindi as a link language. Thus, these
languages form a continuum.
In the hills and mountains as well, Nepali language forms an uninterrupted line of its various
regional varieties. However, speakers of linguistically distinct Tibeto-Burman languages generally
fail to communicate through their mother tongues. Instead, they adopt Nepali as a link language
for their interpersonal communication.
A comparison of the various census reports (1952/4 –2001) indicates two conflicting tendencies
in language use, viz. language shift and language maintenance. Language shift is a change from
the use of one language to the use of another language. This tendency is reflected by decreases in
languages and increase in Nepali, the language of the nation, in the censuses ranging from
1952/54 to 1981.
155
This language shift may be attributed to “one language – one nation” government policy to
prescribe a single language for use in administration, education, and media. It may also be due to
the pace of migration from one speech community to another (esp. a multilingual community
often in urban areas) with the increasing facilities of transport and communication. Besides, it
may also happen because Nepali, a single language, is required for employment, opportunities and
wider communication as a lingua franca.
There has, however, been perceived a different tendency since the 1991 census. This tendency,
called language maintenance, occurs when a group is loyal to its native language and tries to
promote, preserve and use it even in a bilingual or multilingual situation. As a result of this
tendency, there has been decrease in Nepali and increase in minority languages by 1.7 per cent. It
is evident from the comparison of population by mother tongues in the last three censuses (1981-
2001) (Table 4.1) The language maintenance may be due to a number of socio-cultural factors
such as restoration of democracy, constitutional provisions, linguistic (including ethnic)
awareness and so on.
4.4 Other Languages
In the 2001 census, there have been returned quite a few non-Nepalese languages as mother
tongues. Table 4.7 presents these languages with the number of their speakers.
Table 4.7: Non-Nepalese languages in 2001 census.
Languages Number of Speakers

1. Chinese 1,101
2. English 1,037
3. Oriya 159
4. Sindhi 72
5. Koche 54
6. Hariyanwi 33
7. Magahi 30
8. Kurmali 13
9. Dzonkha 10
10. Kuki 9
11. Mizo 8
12. Nagamese 6
13. Assamese 4
14. Sadhani 2
Source : Population Census, 2001.
156
These languages include Chinese (1,101 speakers), English (1,037 speakers), Oriya (159
speakers), Sindhi (72 speakers), Koche (54 speakers), Hariyanwi (33 speakers), Magahi (30
speakers), Kurmali (13 speakers), Dzonkha (10 speakers), Kuki (9 speakers), Mizo (8 speakers),
Nagamese (6 speakers), Assamese (4 speakers) and Sadhani (2 speakers).
Chinese (1,101 speakers), mostly reported from the Kathmandu Municipality, are presumably
spoken by business communities. In Nepalese context, English (1,037 speakers) functions as the
language of prestige in Nepal. It is considered as a means of upward mobility. It has assumed
even greater significance in the age of globalization. It has been used as an international language
and a link to the rest of the world. For these reasons, it has been not only taught as a compulsory
subject at public school and university levels but also used as medium of instruction in private
schools. Besides, it has been employed as medium of science, technology, and commerce.
The remaining non-Nepalese languages, spoken by marginal number of speakers, are all Indian
languages except Dzonkha, the national language of Bhutan and may be spoken by immigrants.
In the 2001 census Sanskrit has been enumerated as a mother tongue with 823 speakers, who may
be presumably Sanskrit scholars with zeal to preserve and promote the language. This classical
language has ceased to be spoken as a mother tongue by a speech community. However, it has
continued to be used for many centuries as a medium of scholastic study and deliberations and has
been actively used by Hindus in performing their religious rituals. Sanskrit is still learned by some
students as an optional language. There are even television programmes (including news) carried
out in Sanskrit.
4.5 Language Use, Policy and Endangerment
In the lack of a comprehensive study, it is difficult to say anything definite about the patterns of
language use in Nepal. However, some broad generalizations can be made in this regard on the
basis of some sporadic studies on the extent and domains in which some individual languages are
used in the country8.
In all speech communities, mother tongues are normally used as intra- and inter-household
languages. When they speak to others with mother tongues different from their own, they
generally tend to switch to a lingua franca. Moreover, non-Nepali mother tongues have gradually
8
See Varenkamp (1996) and other sociolinguistic surveys.
157
ceased to be spoken by their speakers of younger generation under the influence of their Nepali-
medium community school education and mass media. Nepali, spoken by the largest number of
Nepalese people (48.61 per cent), has been adopted by various language communities as a lingua
franca for broader communication as well. It is, however, to be noted that apart from this national
lingua franca, there also exists a regional lingua franca, namely, Hindi, which has been used as
medium of broader communication mainly in the Terai.
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal (1991) has recognized Nepali as ‘the language of the
nation’ (raashtrabhaasaa) and all mother tongues spoken in Nepal as its ‘national languages’
(raashtriyabhaashaa) (Article 6). It also accepts Nepali as the only official language. In addition,
the constitution has also adopted the policy to promote and preserve Nepal’s national languages.
It has also ensured the freedom of using mother tongue as medium of instruction at the primary
level of education. It has been for the first time that some constitutional provisions have been
made for languages other than Nepali in consonance with the existing linguistic plurality in the
country.
Since these constitutional provisions, there have been made some efforts to promote and preserve
Nepal’s national languages at both government and non-government levels. In 1993/4
HMG/Nepal constituted a commission to spell out the details of language policy for developing
the national languages and using them in education and mass media. Though the commission’s
recommendations were not fully implemented, they at least paved way for using some of the
national languages in education and mass media and also helped to create awareness among
various language communities for the preservation and promotion of their mother tongues. So far
18 languages ( viz. Maithili, Bhojpuri, Eastern Tharu, Western Tharu, Tamang, Newar, Magar,
Awadhi, Rai (Bantawa), Limbu, Tamang, Maithili, Newar, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Gurung, Sherpa,
Urdu, and Hindi) have been used by Radio Nepal for broadcasting news. Besides, textbooks have
been prepared for 12 mother tongues (viz. Limbu, Tamang, Maithili, Newar, Bhojpuri, Awadhi,
Tharu, Rai(Bantawa), Magar , Gurung, Sherpa, and Rai (Chamling) to teach them as a subject at
primary level of education and also secondary level in some cases.
In addition, various language communities have been continuing with their efforts to develop
writing systems (e.g. Gurung and Magar), prepare dictionaries and grammars and compile reading
materials. The Central Department of Linguistics at Tribhuvan University has been engaged in
developing expertise to boost up linguistic studies in Nepal. Its recent thrust on preparing an
“Encyclopedia of Nepal’s Languages” for their systematic study can be taken as a significant step
in the field of documenting Nepal's languages.
158
An important consequence of bilingual/multilingual situation is language endangerment. In Nepal,
speakers of minority languages (with marginal number of speakers) tend to shift to Nepali under
socio-psychological pressures. A quite few of Nepal’s minor languages are on the verge of
extinction. These languages include Kumal, Majhi, and Bote of Indo-Aryan family and Bramu,
Dura, Pahari, Raute, Raji, Hayu, Mewahang, Koi, and Tilung of Tibeto-Burman family (Toba and
Rai, 2002). Kusunda has 87 speakers and is also endangered though it was earlier reported to be
dead. It has been suggested that the very few surviving speakers of Kusunda now remember just a
limited number of lexical items (Personal communication to C. M. Bandhu, M. P. Pokharel, and
B.K.Rana).
There have been suggested a number of factors responsible for language loss and endangerment in
Nepal. They weaken language vitality and induce a language to become extinct. The major factors
include lesser number of speakers, poor economic status, lack of language transmission to
younger generation, migration to urban areas and foreign countries for job and/or education as
well as the lack of literate tradition, official recognition and initiatives for language maintenance,
language use in domains such as education, local administration, and mass media, official status
and use and, above all, language community’s awareness. In these circumstances, it is important
to initiate the documentation of endangered languages in collaboration with language
communities, linguists and government and non-government agencies and preserve and promote
them for future generation.
4.6 Conclusion
This chapter has presented a glimpse of the language situation in Nepal on the basis of the data
available from the 2001 census and some additional sources. There have been identified 92
languages. There has been, no doubt, improvement in the identification of Nepal’s languages.
However, there remain some issues, which need to be addressed before we arrive at a more
reliable picture of the language situation in Nepal. These issues include:
• A number of languages spoken by a sizable chunk of population have to be lumped

together as 'unknown' in the lack of information necessary for identifying languages. Such
languages are yet to be identified on the basis of field study.
159
• Languages such as Athpare9, Kham and Belhare have already been identified and well-
documented (Ebert, 1994, 1996; Neupane, 2003; Watters, 2002; Bickel, 1996) but they
have not been enumerated in the 2001 census.
• In many a case distinction between language and dialect has been problematic and needs to
be sorted out through sociolinguistic studies.
• Language data are not strictly comparable in various censuses.
Such uncertainty about the identification of Nepal’s languages will continue unless reliable census
enumeration is coupled with the linguistic survey of Nepal comprising both linguistic as well as
sociolinguistic study of the languages and dialects used in the country.
Apart from mother tongues, the 2001 census has also recorded 12 specific second languages used
by various mother tongue speakers. Nepali has been used as the largest-speaking second language.
The return of second languages in the present census is helpful to ascertain the degree of
bilingualism in Nepalese communities. In addition to bilingualism, there also exist
multilingualism, the study of which requires the enumeration of languages other than mother
tongues and second languages.
Barring a few unclassified languages, Nepal's languages mainly belong to four language families
– Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Austro-Asiatic, and Dravidian. The uncertainty and controversy
in their genetic affiliation will persist unless they are adequately documented and analyzed.
Most of the minor languages spoken in Nepal lack literate tradition. As a result, if they cease to be
spoken they are likely to lose their identity. However, there seems to be a positive sign for their
retention since the 2001 census shows a tendency towards growing language vitality among
various minor ethnic groups. Similarly, bilingualism has been found vibrant in different speech
communities. Finally, a number of minor languages with critical number of speakers are on the
verge of extinction and need to be preserved and promoted through the elaboration of domains of
their use as well as their documentation.
9
Ebert (1997) and Neupane (2001) have worked on a comprehensive grammar of Athpare while Bickel
(1996) has worked on the grammar of Belhare. Similarly, Watters (2002) presents a comprehensive
grammar of Kham.
160
In view of these factors, it is important to suggest the following measures:
• To provide orientation and a list of Nepal's languages to enumerators in order to record all
the languages and avoid inconsistency
• To resolve language-dialect controversy and identify specific languages through a linguistic

survey
• To facilitate the return of languages (other than mother tongues and second languages) that
people know
• To identify the genetic affiliation of unclassified languages through their adequate

linguistic studies
• To develop writing systems appropriate to specific languages with no literate traditions
• To promote the domains of language use for their preservation
161
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163
Appendix 4.1: Population by mother tongue and second language.
Population that speak second language
Not reported
Bhojpuri
Bantawa
Tamang
Maithili
Awadhi
Gurung
Bajjika
Limbu
Nepali
Newar
Others
Magar
Mother Tongue Total
Tharu
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (15) (16) (17) (18)
Total 22736934 5722151 115877 64724 64274 46078 34431 49378 23577 71713 29655 35272 7612 632443 10784
Nepali 11053255 0 54488 24761 42921 29959 29959 40150 14796 9841 18426 10043 966 178991 4802
Maithili 2797582 880593 0 14997 11629 228 76 157 460 542 74 1768 2104 208438 912
Bhojpuri 1712536 308756 5727 0 1469 31 99 50 114 73 8 21 618 61830 10
Tharu (Dagaura/Rana) 1331546 695550 9752 10580 0 44 36 127 5569 145 8 101 467 3318 260
Tamang 1179145 929660 390 56 75 0 971 1928 10 1317 7314 1096 0 5237 388
Newar 825458 626813 201 82 71 407 0 373 13 386 149 294 1 8544 419
Magar 770116 648600 208 54 657 1802 240 0 1 1302 2514 1801 0 971 531
Awadhi 560744 71631 130 25 887 21 13 43 0 111 4 27 0 79086 14
Bantawa 371056 314505 30 13 67 777 95 1279 13 0 123 17169 0 3173 1085
Gurung 338925 262076 23 24 103 10161 202 2649 3 447 0 327 0 2479 968
Limbu 333633 231161 78 9 40 682 87 1785 2 54534 106 0 0 2751 253
Bajjika 237947 31389 1102 6304 185 2 1 21 0 3 3 3 0 27628 2
Urdu 174840 57965 22423 3246 372 5 26 9 2076 27 0 17 3378 22484 23
Rajbansi 129829 80274 7402 9 1218 15 0 1 51 83 3 19 0 6453 350
Sherpa 129771 109312 12 12 4 941 53 4 0 179 34 168 0 386 198
Hindi 105765 61609 1693 2624 280 2 158 17 352 11 1 6 75 2415 2
Chamling 44093 39842 2 1 19 43 9 140 1 559 0 485 0 93 49
Santhali 40260 25420 2855 6 323 10 0 1 0 58 4 8 0 3312 2
164
Not reported
Bhojpuri
Bantawa
Tamang
Maithili
Awadhi
Gurung
Bajjika
Limbu
Nepali
Newar
Others
Magar
Mother Tongue Total
Tharu
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (15) (16) (17) (18)
Chepang 36807 29829 349 148 0 7 1 30 0 2 369 1 0 23 4
Danuwar 31849 24012 1878 3 16 6 1 12 0 40 0 1 0 39 0
Jhangar/ Dhangar 28615 15441 2921 889 2221 2 0 8 0 5 1 4 0 198 2
Sunuwar 26611 21022 1 2 2 114 4 13 0 587 1 77 0 258 403
Bangla 23602 12060 1796 229 64 2 22 8 35 7 0 3 0 2349 2
Marwari (Rajsthani) 22637 16772 258 36 2 1 20 0 47 3 0 0 0 1829 0
Manjhi 21841 17544 1 85 34 317 4 237 0 245 2 20 0 367 12
Thami 18991 15173 0 0 0 9 0 28 4 9 0 4 0 15 1
Kulung 18686 15771 84 0 0 0 3 5 0 40 0 76 0 10 1
Dhimal 17308 13132 4 3 807 19 3 85 0 93 0 178 0 1043 2
Angika 15892 7940 865 3 0 1 0 0 0 8 1 1 0 3852 0
Yakkha 14648 12140 0 3 1 10 8 1 0 110 0 1066 0 34 29
Thulung 14034 12795 3 1 0 4 2 0 0 205 1 106 0 84 3
Sangpang 10810 8930 0 0 0 5 3 0 0 302 0 148 0 58 18
Bhujel/ khawas 10733 8554 80 0 477 1 3 0 0 20 0 12 0 118 0
Darai 10210 8500 2 0 3 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 16 0
Khaling 9288 8804 6 2 0 0 0 8 0 71 4 30 0 18 2
Kumal 6533 6007 15 0 6 1 3 16 0 3 0 0 0 54 0
Thakali 6441 5667 59 2 34 0 29 3 0 4 22 2 0 24 0
Chhantyal/ Chhantel 5912 5010 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0
Nepali Sign Language 5743 1257 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 3
165
Not reported
Bhojpuri
Bantawa
Tamang
Maithili
Awadhi
Gurung
Bajjika
Limbu
Nepali
Newar
Others
Magar
Mother Tongue Total
Tharu
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (15) (16) (17) (18)
Tibetan 5277 4334 0 8 1 2 4 1 0 0 35 0 0 30 1
Dumi 5271 4054 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 31 0 27 0 17 3
Jirel 4919 4317 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 8 0
Wambule/ Umbule 4471 4314 0 0 0 0 61 0 0 4 0 0 0 10 0
Puma 4310 4061 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0
Yholmo 3986 3683 2 0 35 12 0 0 0 0 46 1 0 0 0
Nachhiring 3553 3293 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 68 0 12 0 15 0
Dura 3397 3013 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 17 0 0 0 0
Meche 3301 2970 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 17 0 79 6
Pahari 2995 1985 0 1 0 6 92 0 0 9 0 0 0 195 0
Lepcha/ Lapche 2826 2222 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 1 7 0 2 0
Bote 2823 2413 0 0 161 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bahing 2765 1571 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 0 17 0 816 1
Koi/ koyu 2641 2487 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 31 0 26 0 2 0
Raji 2413 1098 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 17 1
Hayu 1743 1603 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1
Byangshi 1734 1324 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 38 0 0 23 0
Yamphu/ Yamphe 1722 1659 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 0 4 0
Ghale 1649 1474 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 94 0 0 0 0
Khariya 1575 137 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 320 0
Chhiling 1314 1292 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
166
Not reported
Bhojpuri
Bantawa
Tamang
Maithili
Awadhi
Gurung
Bajjika
Limbu
Nepali
Newar
Others
Magar
Mother Tongue Total
Tharu
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (15) (16) (17) (18)
Lohorung 1207 712 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 49 0 20 0 9 3
Punjabi 1165 530 1 9 3 0 0 0 22 1 0 0 0 255 9
Chinese 1101 767 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 1 0 3 0 42 3
English 1037 535 7 1 0 0 7 4 1 6 0 0 0 34 5
Mewahang 904 522 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 0 0
Sanskrit 823 663 0 0 3 0 1 0 1 31 0 9 0 6 0
Kaike 794 792 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Raute 518 270 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 11 1
Kisan 489 366 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Churauti 408 391 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Baram/ Maramu 342 89 0 0 0 14 0 3 0 0 92 0 0 13 0
Tilung 310 281 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
Jero/ Jerung 271 270 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dungmali 221 162 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
Oriya 159 85 19 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 25 0
Lingkhim 97 97 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kusunda 87 59 1 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sindhi 72 26 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Koche 54 52 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hariyanwi 33 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Magahi 30 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
167
Not reported
Bhojpuri
Bantawa
Tamang
Maithili
Awadhi
Gurung
Bajjika
Limbu
Nepali
Newar
Others
Magar
Mother Tongue Total
Tharu
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (15) (16) (17) (18)
Sam 23 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kurmali 13 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kagate 10 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dzonkha 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kuki 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chhintang 8 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
Mizo 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nagamese 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lhomi 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Assamise 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sadhani 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Unknown Language 168340 20520 995 491 62 396 117 181 5 36 159 28 3 2503 0
168
Appendix 4.2 : Urban-rural composition of population by mother tongue (2001).
Mother Tongue Total Urban Rural

Total 22736934 3227879 19509055
Nepali 11053255 1680835 9372420
Maithili 2797582 266901 2530681
Bhojpuri 1712536 171283 1541253
Tharu (Dagaura/Rana) 1331546 98295 1233251
Tamang 1179145 88401 1090744
Newar 825458 474448 351010
Magar 770116 49757 720359
Awadhi 560744 69689 491055
Bantawa 371056 41945 329111
Gurung 338925 62257 276668
Limbu 333633 21351 312282
Bajjika 237947 4231 233716
Urdu 174840 35375 139465
Rajbansi 129829 9063 120766
Sherpa 129771 14390 115381
Hindi 105765 59068 46697
Chamling 44093 1235 42858
Santhali 40260 1211 39049
Chepang 36807 186 36621
Danuwar 31849 2387 29462
Jhangar/ Dhangar 28615 1351 27264
Sunuwar 26611 2208 24403
Bangla 23602 7021 16581
Marwari (Rajsthani) 22637 18349 4288
Manjhi 21841 682 21159
Thami 18991 1019 17972
Kulung 18686 347 18339
Dhimal 17308 3365 13943
Angika 15892 5 15887
Yakkha 14648 437 14211
Thulung 14034 306 13728
Sangpang 10810 262 10548
Bhujel/ Khawas 10733 179 10554
Darai 10210 3540 6670
Khaling 9288 83 9205
Kumal 6533 523 6010
Thakali 6441 2616 3825
Chhantyal/ Chhantel 5912 127 5785
169
Nepali Sign Language 5743 431 5312
Tibbetan 5277 509 4768
Dumi 5271 39 5232
Jirel 4919 84 4835
Wambule/ Umbule 4471 3 4468
Puma 4310 28 4282
Yholmo 3986 131 3855
Nachhiring 3553 49 3504
Dura 3397 106 3291
Meche 3301 637 2664
Pahari 2995 0 2995
Lepcha/ Lapche 2826 40 2786
Bote 2823 299 2524
Bahing 2765 53 2712
Koi/ Koyu 2641 45 2596
Raji 2413 80 2333
Hayu 1743 35 1708
Byangshi 1734 73 1661
Yamphu/ Yamphe 1722 8 1714
Ghale 1649 58 1591
Khariya 1575 155 1420
Chhiling 1314 8 1306
Lohorung 1207 79 1128
Punjabi 1165 894 271
Chinese 1101 807 294
English 1037 650 387
Mewahang 904 15 889
Sanskrit 823 91 732
Kaike 794 0 794
Raute 518 47 471
Kisan 489 273 216
Churauti 408 22 386
Baram/ Maramu 342 1 341
Tilung 310 0 310
Jero/ Jerung 271 0 271
Dungmali 221 22 199
Oriya 159 70 89
Lingkhim 97 0 97
Kusunda 87 55 32
Sindhi 72 66 6
170
Koche 54 0 54
Hariyanwi 33 31 2
Magahi 30 16 14
Sam 23 1 22
Kurmali 13 0 13
Kagate 10 6 4
Dzonkha 9 0 9
Kuki 9 0 9
Chhintang 8 0 8
Mizo 8 4 4
Nagamese 6 0 6
Lhomi 4 1 3
Assamise 3 0 3
Sadhani 2 0 2
Unknown language 168340 27129 141211
Source : Population Census 2001
171
CHAPTER 5
HOUSING AND HOUSEHOLD

CHARACTERISTICS AND FAMILY STRUCTURE
- Rabi Prasad Kayastha∗

- Nebin Lal Shrestha∗∗
5.1 Introduction
House is one of the basic needs of human life. The type of house and housing condition are
influenced by local environment or availability of construction materials locally and the level of
development. So there are differences in type of houses in different ecological zones and
development regions. On the other hand, the impact of development efforts is reflected in housing
condition of people in the area. The term housing means the household or family accommodation
in dwelling units, its structure type and facilities such as electricity, drinking water, cooking fuel,
toilet, etc. (Karmacharya & Sangraula, 1998). So, it is the main indicator of human well being and
level of development.
Similarly, social and cultural analysis is mainly based on household information. Socio-cultural
picture of the country is generally reflected in household information like composition, average
size, age-sex differences of headship rate and so on. Again, household data is the basis of local
and national level planning. Nepal is a multi-ethnic and cultural country. Each ethnic cultural
group has its own household characteristics. In this perspective, data on households is very
important for the socio-economic development in the country. Household is the basic unit of
enumeration in all population censuses, sample surveys, preparation of electoral voter list and so
on. The present study concentrates mainly on type of house, ownership, average household size,
household composition, sex differences in household headship rates, etc.
The general socio-economic conditions of the households can be assessed indirectly by asking
respondents about their household characteristics such as access to safe drinking water, electricity,
toilet facility, cooking fuels, possession of consumer durable goods like TV, Radio etc. Realizing
the importance, these information were collected in Population Census 2001 for the first time in
the history of Population Censuses of Nepal. However, there has been some national level surveys
in the past which provide information on these household characteristics.
*
Rabi Prasad Kayastha is a Deputy Director of Central Bureau of Statistics
∗∗
Nebin Lal Shrestha is a Deputy Director of Central Bureau of Statistics
173
5.2 Source of Data
In Nepal, there is a problem of availability of sufficient data on house and housing facilities, and
household composition or family structure. Some surveys have collected limited information on
those topics. The few sources of such data are Nepal Multiple Indicator Surveillance (NMIS),
Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), Nepal Living Standard Survey (NLSS) 1996,
Between Census Household Information, Monitoring and Evaluation System (BCHIMES) and so
on. Survey data are not sufficient to analyze spatial distribution. Those are available only at
national level and in some cases it is available up to regional and sub-regional level. So, the main
source of data on the topic is the periodic population censuses of the country.
The data on household structure and characteristics is not available in past censuses though the
country has long population census practices and 1911 census is the first in its history. The data
has been published regularly since 1952/54 census and it is very limited in characteristics. In
1991, some more data are made available to users on household composition such as data on head
of household by sex, age and marital status. Further, the 2001 population census has published
more characteristics of households.
About house type and ownership, data were not collected in previous censuses. Since 1991
census, such information on residential houses had started to be collected and is made available to
users. However, those are not sufficient for in-depth study of housing status. There is a shortage
of information about housing facilities such as room per person, number of rooms, space occupied
by house, flooring materials etc. It also does not give information on the condition of house
structure and its age.
About the data of Population Census 2001, it is noted that the fieldwork of it was conducted in
very difficult situation of the country. An unexpected event, the royal massacre occurred during
that period. Beside this event, the country was facing troubles due to Maoist's activities. They
disturbed the census enumeration work in twelve districts and as a result 1.8 percent of the
expected national population was not enumerated. Among those twelve districts, Kalikot and
Salyan were badly affected.
In Population Census 2001, information on household characteristics such as drinking water,

electricity, toilet, cooking fuels, lighting fuels and Radio/TV were collected through sampling
basis. Overall, around 20 per cent households were sampled for the study. However, 52 out of 58
municipalities and six rural districts were completely enumerated for the administration of the
174
sample count questionnaire (Form II). All together, 400934 urban households and 457791 rural
households were selected for the sample study. Since sample design is not self-weighting,
weight/raising factor has been applied to get estimate at district level as well as urban level.
It is noted that boundaries of all districts are not same in population censuses. There are minor
changes from census to census. Adjusted data in accordance with district boundary changes is not
available and it is assumed that such changes have very negligible effects in spatial analysis of the
topic. Similarly, number of urban centers has been increasing in every successive censuses and
the area of existing urban centers has also been expanding. Due to the lack of adjusted data, the
analysis work does not entertain such changes.
5.3 Concept and Definition
House & Type: There is no standard definition of residential house, ownership of house and its
type in the country. Definition used in surveys that collect information on it is not uniform and it
causes problem in comparing data obtained from different sources. But only residential houses
were enumerated using same definition of house and its types in both censuses of 1991 and 2001.
According to the concept and definition used in both population censuses, house refers to a
structure where household is using it as a shelter and which is closed or surrounded by walls or
curtains made of any types of materials such as mud, wood planks, bricks, stone, concrete, etc. A
house may contain any number of rooms, but it must have a separate way to get inside. It is noted
here that a house may have contained more than one household. In population census, houses are
divided into four categories on the basis of types of construction materials used in walls and roof
of the residential house. These categories are: Pakki (permanent), Ardha Pakki (Semi-permanent),
Kachchi (temporary) and others. Pakki house refers to that with both walls and roof made of
permanent construction material like cement, bonded brick, concrete, stone, slate, tile, galvanized
sheet, etc. Ardha Pakki house belongs to the category where either the wall or the roof is
constructed with permanent materials and the other is constructed with temporary materials. In
Kachchi house, non-durable materials like wooden flakes, bamboo, straw/thatch, mud, unbaked
bricks, etc. are mainly used in both walls and roof. Other category of house includes a very
temporary type of residential unit that is made with non-durable materials. This 'Other' type of
housing unit is, generally, made with plastic sheet, bamboo, straw/thatch, etc. For example,
hut/tent is included in this category of house.
House Ownership: About ownership of house used by household, the data is collected only in
last two censuses – 1991 and 2001 and both censuses have used similar definition. According to
175
the definition used in censuses, it refers to the legal status of ownership of house or part of house
or apartment/flats that usually is used by household. It is categorized into five types like: Owned,
Rented, Rent-free, Institutional and Others.
Household: Household refers to a single person living alone or a group of persons, who may or
may not be related, usually living in a particular housing unit and sharing meal with common
resources. In this way, resident domestic servant is also included as a member in the household.
So members of a household are not necessarily related by blood or marriage or adopted as in the
case of family member. This definition of household has been used in population census of the
country since 1952/54.
Household Head: Head of household is the member of household who is managing household
activities and takes the decisions as well as responsibility in all household related matters.
According to census definition, a household member can not be the head whose age is below 10
years. However, the head can be either sex – male or female.
Source of Drinking Water: It refers to the place from which households draw water for
drinking and cooking foods for household members. Water source may differ from place to place
and by seasons. However, information was collected on the basis of water source from where
most of the time water was collected. Water source may or may not be in their own premise and it
may be private or public. The various sources of drinking water as reported in Population Census
2001 are Piped, Well, Tube-well, Spout and River/stream.
Piped Water: If water is collected from piped line made up of either metal or polythene, then the
source is considered as piped line. The piped water could be distributed either from Department of
Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS), District Development Committee (DDC), Village
Development Committee (VDC) or from some other private organizations like NGOs or INGOs.
Dug-Well: If source of drinking water is either from well or Kuwa whether covered or not, then
the source is considered as Dug-well.
Tube-Well: If ground water is drawn by using Tube-well, Borehole, Jet pump etc and used for
drinking and cooking foods for household members, then the source is defined as Tube-well.
Spout Water: This refers to the water source from spout, Pandhero or stone tap.
River/Stream: This refers to the water source from river, Kulo, Nahar, Khola etc.
Others: All other water sources excluding the listed above.
176
Safe/Improved Source of Drinking Water: It is difficult to classify water sources as safe or
unsafe without laboratory test. Contamination at sources, water collection points, water collection
jars, locations of storage within households etc. are common factors that pollute water.
Information on reliability of water supply services and quality of water supplied has yet to be
collected. So rather than classifying water source as safe or unsafe it is more practicable to
classify water source as improved or unimproved source. In general, water from piped line and
Tube-well is considered as improved sources of drinking water. Hence in this report, analysis is
based on assuming water from piped line and Tube-well as improved source of drinking water.
Fuel Used for Cooking: Firewood, kerosene, LP Gas, bio-gas, cow dung are the various
sources of fuel used for cooking. Some other sources of fuel are leaves, straw and thatches.
Among these, firewood, cow dung, leaves, straw, thatches are considered as solid fuel.
Fuel Used for Lighting: It refers to the main source of lighting fuels used by the households.
The common sources of lighting fuel are kerosene, electricity and bio-gas. It should be noted that
in many areas of the country (especially in rural sites), Nepal Electricity Corporation has not
succeeded in providing electricity to majority of the households. However, rural households are
getting benefit from electricity provided by Micro-hydro Power and in some extent from Solar
System. Hence, these households are also using electricity as source of lighting facility although
Nepal Electricity Corporation has not yet reached to the community.
Toilet Facility: If households possess their own toilets that could be within the house or
boundary of the house then such households are considered as households having toilet facilities.
If the households do not have their own toilet and household members use either public toilets or
open places then such households are considered as households having no toilet facilities. Toilet
facility is categorized into two groups as modern with flush system and ordinary. If it is possible
to clean human excreta by pouring water (either using machine or manually) and is connected to
drainage or septic tank, then the toilet is said to be modern with flush system. On the other hand,
if it is not possible to clean human excreta by pouring water and is not connected to sewage or
septic tank, then the toilet is said to be ordinary.
Media Facilities: If a household is using any type of radio/transistor operated either by

electricity or battery then it is considered as having Radio in the households. Similarly, if a
household is using any type of TV (Black & White or Color) operated either by electricity or
battery, then it is considered as having TV in the households.
177
5.4 Type of House
By definition of house type in census, house constructed with permanent materials like stone and
mud walls with slate roof is categorized as permanent type. Such type of houses is generally
found in Mountain and Hill zones. But concrete buildings are also categorized as permanent
house type mostly found in urban centers, district headquarters and area where there is easy
access to road transportation facilities. So, it is not correct to draw the conclusion that permanent
type of houses are similar in all over the country. Permanent house in urban city like in
Kathmandu Metropolitan is different from that of remote areas where transportation facilities has
yet to be available like in Karnali zone. So, it is also necessary to consider the fact in analyzing
and comparing house type data.
Table 5.1 : Percentage of household by types of house for urban/rural residence.

Nepal Urban Rural
Type of House
1991 2001 2001 2001
Pakki 23.5 36.6 68.2 30.6
Ardha-pakki 24.8 29.2 16.1 31.7
Kachchi 49.7 33.5 15.2 36.9
Others 2.0 0.7 0.4 0.8
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 3,328,721 4,174,374 664,507 3,509,867
Source : Central Bureau of Statistics (1993).Population Census 1991 vol. III. Household Characteristics,
Table 1.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census 2001, National Report, vol I, Table 3.
The data presented in Table 5.1 shows that the higher percentage of household is living in
permanent type of house and it is followed by temporary (Kachchi) type house in 2001. The
percentage of household living in permanent and semi-permanent house type is increasing during
1991 – 2001 period. In the case of household living in temporary house, it is declining in the same
period. So, it can be concluded that it is a good indication of betterment of Nepalese living
condition. In urban areas, many households are using permanent house as their residence and it is
about two third of the total urban households. But there is still a large percentage of household
living in temporary house type in rural and it is about more than one third of the total rural
household (36.9 %) in the last census.
Among three ecological belt of the country, higher percentage of household living in permanent
type of house is found in Hill and it is followed by Mountain in both censuses. In Terai, the
percentage of it is low in 1991 and has doubled in 2001. The proportion of household using semi-
permanent house has decreased in 2001 as compared to that of previous census 1991 except in
Terai. Similarly, the proportion of household using Kachchi house type has declined in 2001 as
compared to that of 1991. The distribution of such type of house shows that it has also declined in
178
all districts of the kingdom (Kayastha, 2002). The higher percentage of household living in this
type of house is found mostly in Terai. So, it can be argued that people constructed more
permanent houses and they are shifting from semi-permanent and temporary to permanent.
However, less percentage of temporary type houses is found in Mountain area as compared to
other two ecological zones in both censuses. As mentioned above, it is due to definitional issue
that most of the houses in Mountain area are made with stone-mud wall which are locally
available and thus are categorized as semi-permanent or permanent.
Table 5.2 : Percentage distribution of household by type of house for ecological zones.
Mountain Hill Terai
Type of House
1991 2001 1991 2001 1991 2001
Pakki 32.4 44.8 34.7 51.1 10.4 20.8
Ardha-pakki 47.3 41.6 33.1 30.8 12.2 25.7
Kachchi 19.2 13.0 31.0 17.6 75.2 52.4
Others 1.1 0.6 1.2 0.5 2.2 1.0
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 274,135 285,213 1,558,493 1,951,191 1,496,093 1,937,970
Source : Same as in Table 5.1.
Among five development regions, Western and Far-western regions have higher percentage of
household living in permanent type of house in 2001 whereas it was higher in Far-western region
and followed by Western region in 1991. The percentage of households usually residing in
permanent type of house has increased in all development regions during the inter-censal period.
However, the higher increment of it is observed in Western region and followed by Central
region. One of the reasons behind it might be the fast growing urbanization as well as
development of road transport network in these regions. On the other hand, the percentage of
household living in semi-permanent type of house has decreased in Mid-western region whereas
its reverse situation is seen in Eastern and Central regions. In the case of temporary house type,
the percentage of household has decreased in all development regions during the period of 1991-
2001.
Table 5.3 : Percentage distribution of household by type of house for development

regions.
Type of EDR CDR WDR MWDR FWDR
House 1991 2001 1991 2001 1991 2001 1991 2001 1991 2001
Pakki 6.3 14.3 26.9 41.8 31.7 52.3 17.0 27.0 49.3 52.5
Ardha-Pakki 25.1 33.0 17.9 26.9 26.8 26.0 40.8 38.4 23.0 23.7
Kachchi 65.4 51.7 53.6 30.6 39.4 21.1 41.0 34.0 26.9 23.2
Others 3.2 1.0 1.6 0.7 2.1 0.6 1.2 0.6 0.8 0.6
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 821762 1000358 1115428 1465753 69016 863045 415846 479817 285525 365401
179
5.5 House Ownership
Information on ownership of house used by household is an essential part of good physical

settlement planning. According to 1991 population census, many households have their owned
house for residence in the country and only a few percentage of households used to live in rented
house. The percentage distribution of households by ownership of house where they are usually
living has followed similar pattern in 2001. But, it is noted here that percentage of household
having owned house has declined in 2001 compared to 1991 whereas there is some increment in
percentage of household living in rented house during the inter-census period. Generally, people
migrate to urban areas from rural areas for better opportunities and they have to live in rented
house at such urban centers. During the period, the size of urban population has increased up to
14.2 percent of the total population. Due to this reason, there is increasing percentage of
household living in rented house in urban areas. On the other hand, most of households in rural
areas have been living in their owned house and very small percentage of household is in rented
house. In 2001, about one third of total household are living in rented house in case of urban
population. Similarly, household living in institutional house is also high in urban areas compared
to the rural. It can be argued that there are more student hostels and other social institutional
houses in urban areas. In case of households living in rent-free houses, the percentage is found
lower in 2001 compared to the previous census.
Table 5.4 : Percentage of household by ownership of house occupied for urban/rural.

Nepal Urban Rural
Type of Ownership
1991 2001 2001 2001
Owned 92.6 88.3 60.9 93.4
Rented 4.7 8.9 34.8 4.0
Rent-free 1.6 0.2 0.5 0.2
Institutional 0.5 2.4 3.7 2.2
Others 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.2
Not Stated 0.5 - - -
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 3328721 4174374 664,507 3,509,867
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics (1993).Population Census 1991 vol. III. Household Characteristics,
Table 2.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census 2001, National Report, vol I, Table 4.
Ecologically, most of households have their owned houses in all eco-zones in both population
censuses of 1991 and 2001. The percentage of household having owned house seems to have
declined slightly in all zones. Comparatively, Hill zone has a little more percentage decline in
household having owned houses compared to other zones. On the contrary, there is an increment
in percentage of household living in rented house in all three ecological belts. This inter-census
180
period increment might be supported by increasing percentage of household living in rented house
especially in district headquarters and other rural areas with urban characteristics like Lamhi in
Dang, Jorpati VDC in Kathamand districts, and so on. Among three ecological zones, the
increment in rented household is observed more in Hill and it might be due to increased
proportion of urban population in the zone. It is noted here that Kathmandu and Pokhara valleys
are located in this zone and population in those valleys are more concentrated in urban areas.
Though the percentage is low in the case of rent-free households, it also increased in all ecological
zones during the inter-census period. In the case of household living in institutional house, there is
a slight decline in all zones.
Table 5.5 : Percentage distribution of household by ownership of house occupied for

ecological zones.
Type of Mountain Hill Terai
Ownership 1991 2001 1991 2001 1991 2001
Owned 95.2 92.7 92.0 85.5 92.8 90.3
Rented 2.2 4.0 5.6 11.8 4.1 6.7
Rent-free 1.7 2.6 1.4 2.2 1.9 2.6
Institutional 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.5 0.2
Others 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2
Not Stated 0.4 - 0.5 - 0.5 -
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 274,135 285,213 1,558,493 1,951,191 1,496,093 1,937,970
In all five development regions, the percentage of households living in owned house is observed
high in both population censuses. However it is declining in all these regions during the period
1991-2001. But the decline is insignificant in Far-western Development Region during the period.
In other words, the percentage of it is almost similar in both censuses in the region.
Comparatively Central region has little more declined in percentage of it. In this region, the
percentage of household living in rented house has increased more compare to other regions
during the period. About percentage of household living in rent-free house is also found little
increment in all four development regions except Far-western Development Region. In five
development regions, the percentage of household living in institutional house is decline in 2001
compare to 1991. It is noted here that there has no remarkable changes in the percentage
distribution of households by type of ownership of house between 1991 and 2001 population
censuses in the case of Far-western Development Region.
181
Table 5.6: Percentage distribution of household by ownership of house occupied for
ecological zones, 2001.
Type of EDR CDR WDR MWDR FWDR
Ownership 1991 2001 1991 2001 1991 2001 1991 2001 1991 2001
Owned 91.7 88.4 91.5 84.3 93.2 89.1 95.1 92.9 94.8 94.5
Rented 4.9 7.6 6.4 13.3 4.3 8.1 2.1 4.4 2.1 2.9
Rent-free 2.0 3.0 1.0 2.1 1.8 2.4 1.9 2.3 2.3 2.3
Institutional 0.8 0.3 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2
Others 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1
Not Stated 0.5 - 0.6 - 0.4 - 0.5 - 0.5 -
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 821762 1000358 1115428 1465753 69016 863045 415846 479817 285525 365401
Among households living in their own house, the percentage distribution is not so different
between different types of houses. About one third of household who are living in owned house
are in permanent type of house. In rural areas, the distribution of household living in own house
by type is found nearer to the national average whereas it is higher than that of national level in
urban areas. But the distribution scenario is different in the case of household living in rented
house. Most of households who are living in rented are permanent type house and it constitutes
more than two third of the total household living in rent. However, rented houses are mostly
permanent type both in rural and urban areas. This permanent category is followed by semi-
permanent type in case of household living in rent. About one fifth of total rural household living
in rental house are in Kachchi/others whereas the percentage of it is very low in urban areas. The
higher percentage of household residing in rent-free/institutional/ other category are found in
permanent type house in urban areas and it is not so observed in the case of rural households.
Table 5.7: Percentage of household by ownership and type of house for urban/rural, 2001.
House Ownership Type of House National Urban Rural
Pakki 33.3 61.9 29.8
Own Ardha-pakki 30.3 17.7 31.8
Kachchi/others 36.4 20.5 38.3
Total 88.3 60.9 93.4
Pakki 71.0 81.1 54.3
Rented Ardha-pakki 17.5 12.3 26.1
Total 8.9 34.8 4.0
Pakki 30.9 54.0 23.4
Rent-free/Institutional/ Ardha-pakki 31.2 25.1 33.3
Other Kachchi/others 37.8 20.9 43.4
Total 2.8 4.4 2.5
Source : Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census Results in Gender Perspective
(Population Census 2001) Vol. I. Table 1.1.
182
In Terai, higher percentage of household having owned house is temporary type and it is followed
by semi-permanent type. On the other hand, there is more percentage of household having owned
permanent type house in both Mountain and Hill zones and it is also followed by semi-permanent
house type. According to ownership status of house, higher percentage household in rented house
is observed in Hill zone. It is only about one fifth of the total household living in rent in semi-
permanent and temporary house and the rest is in permanent house type in Hill zone. Similarly,
the type of house used by household in rent is mostly permanent in Terai and Mountain zones. It
is observed that the percentage of household living in rent is, comparatively, low in all
Kachchi/other type of house in all ecological zones. In the case of rent-free, institutional and other
type of ownership, comparatively more percentage of household is found in temporary and other
type of houses in Terai zone. But it is found higher in Hill zone in permanent type of house and
followed by semi-permanent house. In Mountain zone, such type households by ownership are
more in semi-permanent followed by permanent type of house.
Table 5.8: Percentage of household by ownership and type of house for ecological zones,
2001.
House Ownership Type of House Mountain Hill Terai
Pakki 45.2 47.4 18.1
Own Ardha-pakki 41.8 33.1 25.9
Total 92.7 85.5 90.3
Pakki 48.0 80.2 56.6
Ardha-pakki 35.3 13.4 23.4
Rented
Total 4.0 11.8 6.7
Pakki 29.3 41.0 22.3
Rent-free/Institutional/ Ardha-pakki 41.7 33.6 27.5
Other Kachchi/others 29.0 25.4 50.3
Total 3.3 2.6 3.0
In Eastern Development Region, more percentage of households who are living in their own
houses are in temporary type of houses (Kachchi/others) and followed by semi-permanent type of
house. In this region, little percentage of households is in permanent type of house of their own.
On the other hand, higher percentage of household living in their own is in permanent house type
in Far-western and Western regions. But it is high in semi-permanent house type in Mid-western
region. In the case of rented house, higher percentage of household is living in permanent type of
house and it is followed by semi-permanent type of house in all five development regions. In
Central region, the highest percentage of household living in rent is found in permanent type
house, which is also the highest among all these regions. But there is higher percentage of
183
households in temporary type of house who are living in rent-free, institutional or others in
Eastern and Mid-western Development Regions. It is concentrated more in permanent type of
house in the case of other three development regions.
Table 5.9 : Percentage of household by ownership and type of house for development
regions, 2001.
House Ownership Type of EDR CDR WDR MWDR FWDR
House
Pakki 11.6 35.5 50.8 25.4 52.8
Ardha-pakki 33.0 29.3 26.7 39.2 23.5
Own
Kachchi/others 55.4 35.2 22.6 35.4 23.7
Total 88.9 84.3 89.1 92.9 94.5
Pakki 43.5 82.1 73.3 63.9 60.6
Ardha-pakki 33.8 11.0 16.7 21.1 19.9
Rented
Kachchi/others 22.7 6.9 10.0 15.0 19.6
Total 7.6 13.3 8.1 4.4 2.9
Pakki 19.3 38.3 40.4 22.9 33.9
Rent-free/Institutional/ Ardha-pakki 29.7 29.9 31.3 37.2 33.5
Other Kachchi/others 51.0 31.8 28.3 39.9 32.6
Total 3.6 2.4 2.8 2.7 2.6
5.6 Distribution of House
Shelter is one of the basic human needs. Though the information on quality of house is not
available in the country, the census provides some data about residential house. According to the
2001 population census, there is on average 1.16 households in a house in the country. As
expected, the average household per house is observed higher in urban area than the national
average. However, there is also found more than one household living in a single house even in
rural area. It can be argued that it might be supported by the inclusion of sub-urban areas and
district headquarters where more than single household might live in single house. Again, some of
these households might be living in rent. Ecologically, Hill zone has higher average household per
house followed by Terai and Mountain. Similarly, Central Development Region has higher
average household per house and it might due to having more urban areas. It contains most
populated Kathmandu Valleys and industrial as well as commercial area such as Birgunj,
Hetauda, Bharatpur, etc. In the case of average household per house, this region is followed by
Far-western Development Region where it is observed higher than that of national average.
184
Table 5.10 : Distribution of house, household and average household per house for urban-
rural, ecological zones and development regions, 2001.
Average
Area House Household household per
house
Nepal 3,598,212 4,174,374 1.16
Urban 436,533 664,507 1.52
Rural 3,161,679 3,509,867 1.11
Ecological Zone
Mountain Zone 253,006 285,213 1.13
Hill Zone 1,667,410 1,951,191 1.17
Terai Zone 1,677,796 1,937,970 1.16
Development Region
Eastern Development Region 898,616 1,000,358 1.11
Central Development Region 1,175,867 1,465,753 1.25
Western Development Region 776,788 863,045 1.11
Mid-western Development Region 439,906 479,817 1.09
Far-western Development Region 307,035 365,401 1.19
Source : Central Bureau of Statistics (2003). Special tabulation National Population Census 2001.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census 2001 National Report, Vol. I Tab. 2.
The data presented in Table 5.11 shows that about three fourths of the total urban household live
in single house whereas the percentage of household living in single house is more in rural areas
than that of urban. In rural areas, only less than one percent of houses have four and more
households. But it is found about 6 percent in urban. Similarly, more percentage of houses in
urban areas has 2-3 households in comparison to rural areas. But there is no any significant
difference between three ecological zones in the case of house having single household. The data
shows clearly that Mountain zone has comparatively very few percentage of four and more
households in a single house. By development region, the percentage of house having four and
more households is found in Central Development Region and it is due to higher proportion of
urban population in the region. House having 2-3 households is found more in Far-western
Development Region and it is followed by Central Development Region. There is almost similar
percentage of such house in other three development regions. Having single household in house is
observed more in Mid-western Development Region and followed by Eastern Development
Region.
185
Table 5.11: Percentage distribution of house by number of household residing in the house
for rural-urban, ecological zones and development regions, 2001.
Percentage of House Having Number of Household

Area
1 2-3 4+ Total
Nepal 90.17 8.48 1.35 3,598,212

Urban 75.14 18.68 6.18 436,533
Rural 92.25 7.07 0.68 3,161,679
Ecological Zone
Mountain Zone 90.54 8.82 0.64 253,006
Hill Zone 90.28 8.17 1.55 1,667,410
Terai Zone 90.02 8.73 1.25 1,677,796
Development Region
Eastern Development Region 92.74 6.36 0.91 898,616
Central Development Region 86.65 10.86 2.49 1,175,867
Western Development Region 92.39 6.85 0.76 776,788
Mid-western Development Region 93.36 6.13 0.51 439,906
Far-western Development Region 85.99 13.04 0.97 307,035
5.7 Source of Drinking Water
Overall, 53.4 per cent household in Nepal is

Fig. 5.1: Percentage distribution of the households
served by piped water. The second common by source of drinking water, Population Census 2001
source of drinking water is Tube-well/Borehole

Well
(28.6 percent) followed by well (9.1 percent) 9.1%
and spout water (6.5 percent). Still, 1.5 per cent Piped
53.4%
households draw water from river/stream and
0.9 per cent draw water from some other
Tube-well
sources. Combining together (piped water and 28.6%
Others Spout
that from Tube-well) the percent of households 0.9% 6.5%
River &
with access to improved source of drinking stream
1.5%
water comes to be 82 per cent.
Distribution of drinking water by source is not homogenous across the regions. Sixty-six per cent
households draw water from piped line in urban areas whereas the corresponding figure for rural
areas is 51 per cent resulting in a 15-percentage point difference in piped water as water source
used by place of residence. The other sources of drinking water follows similar pattern in urban
186
and rural areas, however their strength is different. For example, the second common source of
drinking water is Tube-well in both urban and rural areas. However, 23.3 per cent households in
urban areas and 29.6 per cent households in rural areas use Tube-well as drinking water source. In
terms of households with access to improved source of drinking water, households in urban areas
have better access (89.4 per cent) than households in rural areas (80.7 per cent).
Table 5.12 : Distribution of households by various sources of drinking water by regions,

Nepal 2001.
Percentage distribution of source of drinking water

Total
Area Tube Spout Rivers/ Total Households
Piped Well Others
-well Water Stream Per cent
Nepal 53.4 9.1 28.6 6.5 1.5 0.9 100.0 4,174,457
Place of Residence
Urban 66.1 5.9 23.3 3.3 0.5 0.9 100.0 664,507
Rural 51.1 9.7 29.6 7.0 1.7 0.9 100.0 3,509,950
Ecological Belt
Mountain 72.7 6.3 0.0 17.2 3.5 0.4 100.0 285,217
Hill 72.7 12.1 2.5 10.2 2.0 0.5 100.0 1,950,345
Terai 31.1 6.6 59.3 1.1 0.6 1.4 100.0 1,938,895
Development Region
EDR 35.6 9.3 48.7 4.7 1.0 0.7 100.0 1,001,121
CDR 58.3 8.6 28.4 3.3 0.6 0.7 100.0 1,465,753
WDR 69.3 9.0 14.0 5.5 1.1 1.1 100.0 863,045
MWDR 52.0 11.5 17.5 14.3 4.0 0.7 100.0 479,009
FWDR 47.0 7.9 23.4 16.0 3.6 2.1 100.0 365,529
Fig. 5.2 : Access to improved source of drinking water by regions,

Piped water is the major source of population census 2001
drinking water in Mountain and 100

89.4 90.4
90 82.0 84.3 86.7 83.3
80.7
Hill regions (72.7 per cent in each 80 72.7 75.2
69.5 70.4
70
region), whereas Tube-well is the
Per cent
60
major source of drinking water in 50

40
Terai region (59.3 per cent). In 30
20
terms of households with access to 10
0
improved source of drinking water,
Mountain
Urban
Nepal
Rural
Terai
CDR
Hill
EDR
MWDR
WDR
FWDR
households in Terai region has

better access to improved source of
187
drinking water (90.4 per cent) than households in other regions (72.7 per cent in Mountain and
75.2 per cent in Hill region).
The distribution of the water source by development region shows that Tube-well is the major
source of drinking water in Eastern Development Region (48.7 per cent), whereas for other
development regions piped water is the major source of drinking water. In terms of households
served by piped water, Western Development Region stands in top position with 69.3 per cent
households getting water from piped line. Data also shows that access to improved source of
drinking water is above national average in Eastern, Central and Western development regions
whereas in Mid-western and Far-western development regions, access to improved source of
drinking water is below national average.
Table 5.13 : Distribution households by access to improved source of drinking water in

different years
Percentage distribution of
households with access to Sample Households
Year Source
improved source of drinking water
Urban Rural Total Urban Rural Total
1991 NFHS 89.9 42.8 45.9 1621 23124 24745

1996 NDHS 84.9 61.4 63.4 716 7366 8082
2000 BCHIMES 92.3 78.1 79.9 1346 8923 10269
2001 NDHS 86.0 71.1 72.8 900 7702 8602
2001 Census 89.4 80.7 82.0 *400934 *457791 *858725
Note: * refers to the actual number of households surveyed in Population Census 2001 for the
administration of the sample count (Form II). However, weight/raising factor has been assigned
to get estimated numbers of characteristics under study. All together, there are 664507 urban
households and 3509950 rural households (4174457 total households) enumerated in Population
Census 2001.
Table 5.13 presents data on access to improved source of drinking water by place of residence in
different years. Surprisingly, the data values obtained from different sources are not consistent.
The 1996 NDHS data compared to 1991 NFHS shows that there was expected pattern of
increment in access to safe drinking water in national level and rural areas, however in urban
areas there is unexpected drop in access to safe drinking water by 5 percentage points. Similarly,
estimate obtained in NDHS 2001 is around seven percentage points less than estimates obtained
from BCHIMES 2000. However, the estimates obtained from BCHIMES 2000 and that from
Population Census 2001 seems to be more consistent compared to others. Furthermore, it should
be noted that the number of urban centers and its size is also changing over different time points.
For example, in 1991 there were 33 urban centers which rose to 58 in 2001. Also, in many urban
188
centers, it is discouraging to note that it has not been fully carried out the basic requirement of
urbanization like access to improved source of drinking water, roads, electricity etc.
Comparison of 1991, 1996 and Census 2001 data shows that nationally there has been increase in
access to improved source of drinking water by around 18 percentage points in every 5 years. This
is true for rural areas also. The urban rural gap in access to improved source of drinking water is
also narrowing over the years.
5.8 Fuel Used for Cooking
Wood is the major source of cooking fuel in Nepal. Nearly two in three households depend on
firewood for cooking purpose. The second common source of cooking fuel is kerosene, which
serves 13.7 per cent households followed by cow dung 10.1 per cent. Only 7.7 per cent
households used LP Gas (LPG), which is generally affordable by higher/middle income group in
Nepal. Smoke release from burning solid fuels such as firewood, charcoal, dung etc. during the
time of cooking food is one of the common causes of respiratory illnesses among women and
children in Nepal. Overall, 77 per cent of households in Nepal depend on solid fuels.
Table 5.14 : Distribution of households by various sources of fuel use for cooking by
regions, Nepal, 2001.
Main source of fuel used for cooking

Total
Area Cow Total Households
Wood Kerosene LPG Bio-gas Others
Dung Per cent
Nepal 66.2 13.7 7.7 1.7 10.1 0.7 100.0 4174458
Place of Residence
Urban 33.2 34.1 27.3 1.8 2.5 1.0 100.0 664400
Rural 72.4 9.8 4.0 1.7 11.5 0.6 100.0 3510058
Ecological Belt
Mountain 95.5 3.2 0.4 0.1 0.7 0.2 100.0 285229
Hill 72.3 16.0 8.9 1.9 0.1 0.8 100.0 1950822
Terai 55.6 12.8 7.7 1.7 21.5 0.7 100.0 1938407
Development Region
EDR 66.3 9.9 4.3 1.2 17.7 0.6 100.0 1000362
CDR 55.6 19.3 11.2 1.2 11.4 1.3 100.0 1465813
WDR 65.3 13.1 10.3 3.4 7.6 0.3 100.0 863049
MWDR 81.0 11.3 4.3 1.1 2.1 0.2 100.0 479817
FWDR 90.8 5.5 1.9 1.5 0.1 0.3 100.0 365417
189
Firewood is the major source of cooking fuel in rural areas and kerosene in urban areas. Use of
LPG is mainly concentrated in urban areas (27.3 per cent) compared to rural areas (4 per cent). In
rural areas 84.5 per cent households depend on solid fuels for cooking whereas, the corresponding
figure for urban areas is 36.7 per cent.
Distribution of the data by Fig. 5.3: Proportion of households using solid fuels for cooking by
regions, Population Census 2001
ecological belt shows that
overwhelming majority of the 120
households in Mountain region 100 96.4

91.2
(96.4 per cent) depends on solid 84.5 84.6 83.3
77.0 77.8
80 73.2 73.2
fuel for cooking. In all regions, Per cent 68.3
firewood is the major source of 60
cooking fuel. The second common 36.7

40
source of cooking fuel in Hill
20
region is kerosene, which served
16 per cent households whereas; in 0
Mountain
Urban
Nepal
Rural
Terai
CDR
Hill
EDR
MWDR
WDR
FWDR
Terai region it is dung, which
served 21.5 per cent households.
Overall, 73.2 per cent households in Hill region and 77.8 per cent households in Terai region used
solid fuel for cooking.
Data by development regions show that kerosene/LPG is mainly used in Central and Western
Development Regions compared to other Development Regions. Across the regions, there is 22.9
percentage points variation in use of solid fuels for cooking (91.2 per cent in Far-western
Development Region and 68.3 per cent in Central Development Region).
Table 5.15: Distribution of households using solid fuel for cooking in the year 2000 and 2001.
households using solid fuel for Sample Households
Year Source
cooking
2000 BCHIMES 38.7 94.8 87.6 1346 8923 10269
2001 Census 36.7 84.5 77.0 400934 457791 858725
Over the years, around 10 percentage point reduction in use of solid fuel for cooking is found in
both rural areas and national level. However, in urban areas there has been some decrease in the
use of solid fuels by two percentage points. The small reduction in urban areas could be explained
by the fact that already around 61 per cent households had used kerosene or gas for cooking
purpose in the year 2000.
190
5.9 Fuel Used for Lighting
Kerosene is the major source of lighting fuel in Nepal. Around 58 per cent households depend on
kerosene for lighting purpose. The second common source of lighting fuel is electricity, which
serves 39.8 per cent households. Small proportion of the households (2.5 per cent) depend on
other sources of lighting fuels such as bio-gas, wood, candle light etc.
Distribution of the sources of fuel used for lighting purpose is not homogenous across the regions.
In urban areas, significantly large proportion of the households (83.4 per cent) are using
electricity as main source of lighting fuels whereas the corresponding figure for rural areas is 31.5
per cent, resulting around 52 percentage points difference in electricity as main source of lighting
fuel.
Table 5.16 : Distribution of households by various sources of fuel use for lighting by
regions, Nepal 2001
Main source of fuel used for lighting
Total
Area Total
Electricity Kerosene Bio Gas Others Households
Per cent
Nepal 39.8 57.7 0.2 2.3 100.0 4,174,457
Place of Residence
Urban 83.4 16.2 0.2 0.2 100.0 664,507
Rural 31.5 65.6 0.2 2.7 100.0 3,509,950
Ecological Belt
Mountain 21.4 66.3 0.0 12.3 100.0 285,213
Hill 43.2 53.9 0.2 2.8 100.0 1,951,191
Terai 39.1 60.4 0.2 0.3 100.0 1,938,053
Development Region
EDR 30.5 68.6 0.2 0.7 100.0 1,000,441
CDR 53.2 46.3 0.2 0.3 100.0 1,465,753
WDR 42.8 56.2 0.2 0.7 100.0 863,045
MWDR 25.4 63.6 0.2 10.8 100.0 479,817
FWDR 23.1 69.6 0.2 7.1 100.0 365,401
Distribution of the data by ecological regions shows that in all three ecological belts, kerosene is
the major source of fuel used for lighting facility followed by electricity. Households in Hill
region have better access to electricity for lighting purpose (43.2 per cent) than households in
191
Terai and Mountain regions (39.1 and 21.4 per cent respectively). In Mountain region, 12.3 per
cent households used some other sources of fuels such as wood, candle light etc for lighting
purpose since they do not have access to or can afford either electricity or kerosene as fuel for
lighting purpose.
In Central Development Region, major source of lighting fuel is electricity (53.2 per cent),
whereas in all other development regions, kerosene is the major source of lighting fuel. There is
around 30 percentage points difference in use of electricity as lighting fuel across the regions.
Among these, households in Far-western and Mid-western Regions have the lowest coverage rate.
As in Mountain Region, some significant proportion of the households in Mid-western
Development Region (10.8 per cent) used some other sources of fuels such as wood, candle light
etc for lighting purpose.
Table 5.17 presents distribution of the households by electricity as main source of lighting fuels in
different years. However, the data are not strictly comparable since the definition used in census
and other surveys are not similar. In census 2001, households were asked about the main source
of fuel used for lighting purpose. Accordingly, those households who are getting electricity from
any source (Nepal Electricity Corporation or Micro-hydro Power or Solar System) could be
reported as having electricity for lighting purpose. In contrast to this, in all surveys, households
were asked the question whether they had electricity facility in the households. So it could be
expected that in surveys, those households that benefited from Solar System or Micro-hydro
Power might not be included. Also, since such characteristics are mainly concentrated in rural
areas, it is expected to include largely the contribution of Micro-hydro Power and Solar System
for lighting purpose in many rural areas. However, for urban areas its effect is low.
Table 5.17 : Distribution of households by electricity as main source of lighting fuels in

different years
households using electricity as Sample Households
Year Source
main source of lighting fuels
1991 NFHS 77.8 8.3 12.9 1621 23124 24745

1996 NDHS 78.4 12.1 17.9 716 7366 8082
2000 BCHIMES 79.8 16.5 24.6 1346 8923 10269
2001 NDHS 85.7 17.4 24.6 900 7702 8602
2001 Census 83.4 31.5 39.8 400934 457791 858725
192
Since, contribution of Micro-hydro Power and Solar System is minimum in urban areas, this
could be one possible reason showing smooth increment in electricity for lighting purpose in
urban areas over the years. However, for rural areas and national level, there is 15 percentage
points increment in use of electricity for lighting facility in Census 2001 compared to BCHIMES
2000 or NDHS 2001.
5.10 Access to Toilet Facility
The census data shows that overall 46.8 per cent households in Nepal have toilet facility. Among
these, around one-half of the households have modern flush system toilet and another half
households have simple ordinary toilet. There is a wide difference in households having toilet
facility by place of residence. Households in urban areas are nearly two times more likely to have
toilet facility than households in rural areas (78.1 per cent vs 40.8 per cent). Similarly, in rural
areas there are only 17.3 per cent households with modern flush system toilet whereas the
corresponding figure for urban households is 53 per cent.
Table 5.18 : Distribution of households by toilet facility by regions, Nepal, 2001.
Households having toilet facility (%) Type of toilet facility

Total
Area Modern
Yes No Total Ordinary Households
with Flush
Nepal 46.8 53.2 100.0 23.0 23.8 4,174,457
Place of Residence
Urban 78.1 21.9 100.0 53.0 25.0 664,507
Rural 40.8 59.2 100.0 17.3 23.5 3,509,950
Ecological Belt
Mountain 40.8 59.2 100.0 7.9 32.9 285,214
Hill 56.5 43.5 100.0 27.2 29.2 1,951,192
Terai 37.9 62.1 100.0 21.0 16.9 1,938,051
Development Region
EDR 46.1 53.9 100.0 15.7 30.4 1,000,441
CDR 51.7 48.3 100.0 30.4 21.2 1,465,753
WDR 55.1 44.9 100.0 27.0 28.1 863,045
MWDR 31.9 68.1 100.0 16.2 15.7 479,817
FWDR 28.6 71.4 100.0 12.6 16.0 365,401
Comparison of the data by ecological belt shows that highest proportion of the households having
toilet facility is found in Hill region (56.5 per cent) followed by Mountain and Terai region (40.8
per cent and 37.9 per cent respectively). However, distributions of the households by toilet type
do not show similar pattern. In Mountain region, only 7.9 per cent households have modern flush
193
system toilet although 40.8 per cent households have toilet facility. Access to modern flush
system toilet is better in Hill region followed by Terai region.
There exists wide variation in households having toilet facility by development regions. Access to
toilet facility among development regions varies by 26.5 percentage points. More than 50 per cent
households in Central and Western Development Regions have toilet facility, whereas in other
Development Regions, access to toilet facility is below national average of 46.8 per cent. Data
also shows that highest proportion of the households with modern flush system toilet is found in
Central Development Region (30.4 per cent) and lowest proportion in Far-western Development
Region (12.6 per cent).
Table 5.19 presents data on access to toilet facility by place of residence in different years. The
data shows expected pattern of increment in access to toilet facility in urban areas. Similar pattern
is also observed in rural areas and national level up to the year 2000. However, in rural areas and
national level as reported in NDHS 2001, there is two percentage points decrease in households
having toilet facility compared to BCHIMES 2000. Similarly, increase in access to toilet facility
by 14 percentage points in rural areas and national level as reported in Census 2001 compared to
BCHIMES 2000 makes comparison of the data over the years a problem. The cause specific
analysis for this has yet to be done.
Table 5.19: Distribution of households by access to toilet facility in different years.

households with access to toilet Sample Households
Year Source
facility
1991 NFHS 69.8 16.5 20.0 1,621 23,124 24,745
1996 NDHS 73.7 17.7 22.7 716 7,366 8,082
2000 BCHIMES 74.7 27.1 33.2 1,346 8,923 10,269
2001 NDHS 79.9 24.7 30.5 900 7,702 8,602
2001 Census 78.1 40.8 46.8 400,934 457,791 858,725
5.11 Radio and Television Facility in the Households
The census data shows that more than half (53.1 per cent) of the households in Nepal have radio
facility, whereas TV facility is limited to only 22.5 per cent of the households. Overall, 41.3 per
cent of the households have no access to either one or the other means of information media i.e.
the radio or the TV. Distribution of these facilities is not homogeneous across the region. Urban-
rural differential in households having TV facility is more remarkable than radio. There is 38.3
194
percentage points difference in households having TV facility by place of residence, whereas the
differences for radio facility accounted to 13.8 percentage points.
Table 5.20 : Distribution of households by households having Radio, TV facility by regions,

Nepal, 2001.
Percentage of households having Total

Area
Neither Households
Radio TV
Radio nor TV
Nepal 53.1 22.5 41.3 4,174,371
Place of Residence
Urban 64.7 54.9 24.0 664,507
Rural 50.9 16.4 44.5 3,509,864
Ecological Belt
Mountain 53.9 4.5 45.6 285,208
Hill 63.4 22.6 33.3 1,951,194
Terai 42.6 25.1 48.6 1,937,969
Development Region
EDR 48.8 19.3 45.4 1,000,356
CDR 53.6 32.9 38.7 1,465,754
WDR 57.5 19.3 37.3 863,048
MWDR 55.5 11.8 42.0 479,812
FWDR 49.5 11.6 48.4 365,401
Note : Columns are not mutually exclusive in above classification, for example: households having
radio facility may or may not have TV. Hence, row total percent exceeds 100.
The data across the ecological belt does not show similar pattern of distribution of radio and TV
facility. More households in Hill region owned radio, whereas TV is more prevalent in Terai
region. In Mountain region, only 4.5 per cent households owned TV. It is interesting to note that
although prevalence of TV is highest in Terai region, but in the same region, prevalence of radio
is lowest. Overall, the data shows that highest proportion of the households in Terai region (48.6
per cent) has no access to even one information media: Radio or TV. This is followed by
Mountain region (45.6 per cent).
There exists wide variation in households having TV facility by development regions. Access to
TV facility among development regions varies by 21.3 percentage points. Variation in radio
facility is however low compared to TV facility. Data shows that households in Western
Development Region have better access to radio facility (57.5 per cent), whereas TV is more
common in Central Development Region (32.9 per cent). Data also shows that households in Mid-
195
western and Far-western Development Regions have the lowest access to TV facility (nearly 12
per cent).
Table 5.21 presents data on access to radio/TV facility by place of residence in different years.
Data shows rapid increment in access to radio facility in rural areas and in national level over the
years. This seems to be quite reasonable because of Khasa (Chinese) market in Nepal, which
produces low cost radio tremendously. However, in urban areas, the data does not show the
consistent pattern.
Table 5.21: Percentage distribution of households by households having Radio, TV facility

in different years.
Place of Residence
Year Source
Urban Rural Total
Radio TV Radio TV Radio TV
1991 NFHS 67.2 38.9 29.2 1.2 31.7 3.7
1996 NDHS 59.7 42.6 34.2 3.1 36.5 6.6
2000 BCHIMES 71.0 55.4 46.6 7.8 49.7 13.9
2001 Census 64.7 54.9 50.9 16.4 53.1 22.5
There is steady increase in access to TV facility up to the year 2000. However, in rural areas and
national level as reported in Census 2001, there is fast increase in access to TV facility by 8.6
percentage points over the years compared to BCHIMES 2000 which is hard to explain. The
cause specific analysis for this has yet to be done.
5.12 Average Household Size
Nepalese society is composed of multi-ethnic groups. So, there are many cultural and social
practices in the country. As a result, household composition is also influenced and some ethnics
groups want to live in joint family. For example, Tharu people want to live in joint family or large
family structure (Kansakar, 1995,). Similarly, Newar ethnic group has, usually, lived in joint
household, which contained some nuclear families. On the other hand, some ethnic groups do
usually not have practice of large family. In process of development and increasing trend of
urbanization in the country, some traditional practices or norms have been gradually changing. In
this context, household composition has also been affected. Previously Nepalese population
preferred to live in large households and their economic activities were mainly dependent on
agriculture and in subsistence agriculture. It requires more labor to increase production in
agriculture and people thought their live prosperous with higher production in agriculture. So,
people preferred to live in a large household in the case of primitive agrarian economy. But
196
people engaged in other economic activities rather than agriculture preferred to reside in
comparatively smaller households. Similarly, the occupational structure in urban areas is different
from that of rural areas and the proportion of population engaged in agriculture is less in urban
areas. So, The Urban Population Survey 1996 conducted by Central Bureau of Statistics showed
that nuclear family is becoming more popular instead of joint family in urban areas of the country
(Dangol, 1997). In the country, the occupational structure is also changing and the proportion of
population engaged in agriculture is declining. On the other hand, the percentage of urban
population is increasing in the country. Again, the household size is also influenced by the level
of fertility and mortality. Different survey data shows that the level of both fertility and mortality
are declining. So the average household size is gradually moving towards having smaller size.
Data obtained from population censuses of Nepal show also declining trends of average
household size.
Table 5.22 : Average household size and its annual growth, 1952/54-2001.
Average Annual Annual

Census
Household Population Household Growth of Growth of
Year
Size Household Population
1952/54 1,524,511 8,256,625 5.4 - -
1961 1,783,975 9,412,996 5.3 1.57 1.31
1971 2,084,062 11,524,250 5.5 1.55 2.02
1981 2,585,154 15,022,839 5.8 2.15 2.65
1991 3,328,721 18,491,097 5.6 2.53 2.08
2001* 4,253,220 23,151,423 5.4 2.45 2.25
Source : Dr. Kansakar, Vidya Bir Singh (1995). Household Analysis: Size, Composition and Headship
Rates, Population Monograph of Nepal, Central Bureau of Statistics, Kathmandu.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census 2001, National Report.
* Includes both enumerated as well as estimated number
The data presented in Table 5.22 shows that average household size of the country has been
gradually decreasing during the last three population censuses. The population census of 1952/54
showed 5.4 average household size and it was decreased in 1961 census. The annual population
growth rate was observed lower than the annual growth of average household size during the
period. But the average household size increased in 1971. Its growth rate became lower than the
population growth rate. Similar situation was also observed during 1981-1991 period. The
declining trend in average household size has started since 1981. Since 1991 annual growth of
average household size is observed higher than the annual population growth rate. Similarly
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BCHIMEs Surveys conducted in 2000 by Central Bureau of Statistics shows 5.5 average
household size which is nearer to the last census result. Demographic and Health Survey 2001
also shows similar average household size (5.3) to the census result of 2001.
5.13 Households by Size
Table 5.23 shows that there is higher percentage of households composed of five persons in
population censuses except in 1961. In 1961, it was found that household consisted of four
persons. The percentage of single person household is nearly same in censuses except in 1961 in
which it was little higher than in other censuses. Similarly, household consisting of nine persons
and above is observed more in 1981 census and it starts to decline in subsequent censuses. So, it
can be assumed that there is increasing preferences of comparatively smaller household size in the
country. This is also supported by data from Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2001(DHS).
According the survey, five persons household constituted higher percentage (18.5 %) and single
person household is 4 percent in the country (DHS). These data are almost similar as the 2001
census result.
Table 5.23 : Percentage distribution of household by size, 1961-2001.

Percentage of Household
Household Size 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Nepal (percent) 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Number 1,783,975 2,084,062 2,585,154 3,328,721 4,174,374
1 Person 4.68 3.94 3.86 4.04 4.01
2 Persons 9.93 8.46 7.15 7.69 7.52
3 Persons 14.07 12.35 10.57 10.88 10.85
4 Persons 16.54 15.63 14.23 15.19 16.64
5 Persons 15.82 16.02 15.83 17.07 18.18
6 Persons 12.82 13.73 14.51 15.07 15.12
7 Persons 9.00 10.19 11.18 11.48 11.36
8 Persons 5.91 6.83 7.66 6.77 5.87
9 Persons & More 11.24 12.85 15.00 11.82 10.46
The percentage of single person household in urban area is increasing in each successive
population census. On the other hand, households having large number of members is decreasing
at faster trend in urban areas such as percentage of seven persons household, eight persons
households and household having nine persons and more have declined in 2001 compared to
1991. In 2001, household having four persons is observed to have the highest percentage whereas
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households having five persons were found with higher percentage in 1981 and 1991. In the case
of rural, the percentage of single household slightly declined in 2001 compared to that of 1991,
whereas it increased in 1991 compared to 1981. The percentage of households having five persons
is found higher in 1981, 1991 and 2001 in the case of rural areas.
Table 5.24 : Percentage distribution of household by size for urban-rural, 1981-2001.
Percentage of Household in Percentage of Household in Rural

Household Size Urban
1981 1991 2001 1981 1991 2001

Total (Percent) 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Number 153,528 313,342 664,507 2,431,626 3,015,379 3,509,867
1 Person 5.54 6.02 6.46 3.75 3.83 3.55
2 Persons 7.22 9.05 10.02 7.15 7.55 7.05
3 Persons 9.28 11.65 13.83 10.66 10.80 10.29
4 Persons 12.48 16.07 20.00 14.34 15.10 16.00
5 Persons 14.53 17.08 17.88 15.91 17.07 18.23
6 Persons 13.53 13.49 12.27 14.57 15.23 15.65
7 Persons 10.77 9.58 8.09 11.21 11.68 11.98
8 Persons 7.57 5.43 3.87 7.67 6.91 6.24
9 Persons & More 19.06 11.64 7.59 14.75 11.84 11.01
In Mountain zone, the percentage of single person household has increased in 2001 compared to
that of 1991 whereas it decreased during 1981 -1991. The percentage of large households started
to decline during 1981-2001 though the pace of the decline is not so high. Especially, the
percentage of household having eight persons and more was declined in the period. In the
Mountain, higher percentage of household has contained five persons in all four censuses, i.e.,
1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001.
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Table 5.25 : Percentage distribution of household by size for ecological zones, 1971-2001.
Percentage of Household
Household Size
1971 1981 1991 2001
Mountain(Percent) 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Number 204,938 236,294 274,135 285,213
1 Person 3.08 5.31 4.56 5.14
2 Persons 7.55 6.86 8.08 7.80
3 Persons 12.38 11.14 11.92 10.58
4 Persons 16.09 15.01 15.90 15.65
5 Persons 16.61 16.32 17.29 17.81
6 Persons 14.25 14.40 15.09 15.78
7 Persons 10.47 10.90 11.40 12.36
8 Persons 7.10 7.23 6.49 6.18
9 Persons & More 12.47 12.83 9.27 8.70
Hill ( Percent) 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Number 1,088,080 1,240,434 1,558,493 1,951,191
1 Person 3.68 3.70 4.48 4.80
2 Persons 7.81 6.80 7.75 8.23
3 Persons 11.90 10.35 11.16 11.92
4 Persons 15.31 14.17 15.46 17.56
5 Persons 16.18 16.08 17.00 17.98
6 Persons 14.21 14.91 15.15 14.64
7 Persons 10.81 11.60 11.64 11.07
8 Persons 7.22 8.00 6.91 5.52
9 Persons & More 12.86 14.39 10.46 8.29
Terai (Percent) 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Number 791,044 1,108,426 1,496,093 1,937,970
1 Person 4.53 3.73 3.47 3.06
2 Persons 9.59 7.61 7.55 6.77
3 Persons 12.96 10.71 10.40 9.81
4 Persons 15.95 14.13 14.78 15.86
5 Persons 15.63 15.45 17.11 18.43
6 Persons 12.92 14.08 14.99 15.50
7 Persons 9.28 10.78 11.33 11.50
8 Persons 6.22 7.38 6.68 6.16
9 Persons & More 12.92 16.15 13.70 12.92
As in Mountain zone, Hill zone also has declining percentage of large households in each
successive census. Similarly, more households have five persons in all censuses during the period.
However, the data shows that the single person household is slightly increasing during the period.
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The scenario of household composition by size is slightly different in Terai from other two
ecological zones. There is not significant decline in the percentage distribution of households
having large number of members in Terai zone. Similarly, the percent of single member
household is recorded as declining though the pace of it is not so high. There is decline in not only
single person household but also in two and three person households in all successive censuses
and it is not observed in other two ecological zones. In this zone, the higher percent of household
lies in category of five person household in the period 1981-2001 and it was four person
household in 1971 census. But there is no uniformity in the percentage distribution of households
by size in five development regions. Far-western Development Region has still higher percent of
household with large number of members whereas in other regions these have seen to decline in
2001.
5.14 Head of Household
Head of household has high respect in Nepalese society. Generally, the eldest male member of
household is regarded as head. Being male dominated society, most of household has usually
reported the male member of household regardless of age as the head though questionnaire
instruction manual of census has explained the term with practical examples. Similarly,
enumerator’s training program was conducted with special focus on the issue that the head of
household refers to the person who is the main responsible person to manage and look after all
household activities. Again, the head might be either male or female. However, the census data on
topic reflects that there is higher percentage of male household head than female in both 1991 and
2001. There is tiny difference in the age distribution of household head during these two
population censuses. In younger age groups, the percentage of it has increased slightly in 2001
compared to 1991 whereas it decreases in age group 20-29 years. Again it has increased little in
older age group 70 and above years. Such type of changes in the age distribution of household
head is observed slightly more in the case of sex distribution. It is noted here that there is
increment in the percentage of female household head of aged below 40 years in 2001 as
compared to the previous census. It might be due to the special emphasis given in the definitional
explanation of household head during the enumerator's training and gender based census media
campaign in 2001 census. On the other hand, the percentage of male household head in the age
groups below 30 years has decreased in 2001 compare to that of 1991.
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Table 5.26 : Percentage distribution of household head by age groups and sex, 1991-2001.
1991 2001
Age Group
Nepal 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
10-14 Yrs. 0.04 0.04 0.06
1.08 1.08 1.07
15-19 Yrs. 1.11 1.04 1.52
20-29 Yrs. 15.07 15.41 12.83 14.34 13.83 17.27
30-39 Yrs. 25.63 26.31 21.14 25.63 25.78 24.73
40-49 Yrs. 23.82 23.97 22.79 23.79 24.43 20.17
50-59 Yrs. 17.98 17.75 19.48 17.77 18.15 15.60
60-69 Yrs. 11.45 10.85 15.40 11.40 11.07 13.23
70+ Yrs. 4.98 4.64 7.28 5.91 5.65 7.41
Source : Central Bureau of Statistics (1993 ). National Population Census 1991, General Characteristics
Tables.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census 2001 National Report, vol I
Table 14.
5.14.1 Household Having Head Alone
In the broad age distribution of male household head living alone, it is observed that there is more
concentration of head in the age group 15-59 years. Such percentage is found more in urban area
than in rural area. So it can be argued that those persons living alone might be contributed more
by the share of students and job holder staying in urban area. Ecologically, more percentage of
male household head alone is observed in Hill zone. It is found highest in Far-western
Development Region followed by Central Development Region. However the age distribution of
female household head alone is different from that of male headed age distribution. Generally,
female do not live alone without certain circumstances in the context of Nepalese culture and they
get married at earlier ages compared to male. The data on Table 5.27 shows clearly that single
household woman is found in negligible percentage in age less than 15 years. Similarly, the
percentage distribution shows higher concentration of female household head alone at older ages,
i.e., age of 60 years and above which is more than double of male percentage of the same age
group. But it is not in the case of age group 15-59 years. In such age group, the percentage of
female household head alone is substantially low compared to that of male. In the case of rural-
urban difference in female household head alone in different age groups, more female percentage
in age group 15-59 years is found in urban compare to rural of the same age group. The reverse
situation is observed in older age group, that is, 60 and above years. Similarly, the higher
percentage of female household head at older age is observed in Mountain zone and it is followed
by Hill and Terai and those are almost more than double of the male percentage of the same age
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group in all three ecological zones. However, it is considerable difference between male and
female percentage in Hill zone. More or less similar type of picture is observed in Far -western
Development Region and Central Development Region. However, little higher percentage of
household head alone at lower age, that is, less than 15 years is observed in Far-western
Development Region and Mid-western Development Region in the case of male. More percentage
of female of such age group is found in Mid-western Development region and it is followed by
Eastern Development Region.
Table 5.27: Percentage distribution of household having head alone by broad age-groups
and sex for urban-rural, ecological zones and development regions, 2001.
Age-group and Sex for Household Having
Total Household Head Alone
by Sex
Area < 15 years 15-59 Years 60 + Years
Nepal 87,940 81,673 0.25 0.10 78.83 48.78 20.92 51.12
Urban 30,045 12,897 0.20 0.06 92.40 61.23 7.40 38.71
Rural 57,895 68,776 0.27 0.11 71.79 46.45 27.94 53.44
Mountain Zone 7,060 7,779 0.27 0.12 73.16 44.22 26.57 55.66
Hill Zone 46,604 48,112 0.23 0.11 80.23 48.86 19.54 51.03
Terai Zone 34,276 25,782 0.27 0.07 78.09 50.02 21.64 49.91
Eastern Dev.
Region 19,441 18,355 0.21 0.13 76.63 49.81 23.16 50.06
Central Dev.
Region 35,386 24,622 0.21 0.09 81.24 47.56 18.54 52.36
Western Dev.
Region 18,523 24,940 0.28 0.07 73.96 47.74 25.77 52.19
Mid-western
Dev. Region 8,822 6,798 0.32 0.18 81.06 53.16 18.62 46.66
Far-western
Dev. Region 5,768 6,958 0.38 0.11 83.70 49.89 15.92 50.00
5.14.2 Headship Rate by Sex
The term headship rate refers to the number of household head of x sex in the x age group per 100
population of the same age and sex. Following the definition of headship rate, it is found that it
has declined in 2001 compared to 1991 for male whereas female headship rate has began to
increase a little in 2001. Female headship rate has increased more in urban than in rural areas
during the inter-census period 1991-2001. However, there is large gap between male and female
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headship rates. Male headship rate is very high compared to female in all cases, i.e., rural-urban,
ecological zones and development regions. Ecologically, Hill zone has more female headship rate
in both censuses. It might be caused by male selectivity of out-migration from Hill (Kansakar,
1995). Again more urbanized areas like Kathmandu and Pokhara Valleys lie in the zone and
social development occurs more in urban areas. Women of these areas are comparatively
advanced. But, Terai has lower female headship rate compared to other ecological zones where
male domination in household headship is strongly prevalent in social culture of the eco-zone. On
the other hand, female headship rate has declined in Western Development Regions during the
inter-census period whereas it is found increased in Central Development Region and is followed
by Eastern Development Region.
Table 5.28: Headship rate by sex for urban-rural, ecological zones and development
regions, 1991-2001.
1991 2001
Area Male Female Male Female
Nepal 45.03 6.69 42.65 7.36
Urban 41.08 6.67 41.94 9.17
Rural 45.48 6.68 42.79 7.05
Mountain Zone 47.18 7.15 44.97 7.28

Hill Zone 45.37 8.43 43.28 9.62
Terai Zone 44.36 4.78 41.80 5.17
Eastern Development Region 46.00 6.32 44.23 6.82

Central Development Region 44.77 5.43 42.50 8.44
Western Development Region 44.41 9.74 41.52 6.94
Mid-western Development Region 45.24 5.48 42.92 6.84
Far-western Development Region 44.35 6.77 41.27 6.39
Source : Central Bureau of Statistics (1993). Population Census 1991 Geographical Region Tables &
Urban Tables .
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census National Report, Tables 10 & 14.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census Results in Gender Perspective

(Population Census 2001) vol. I Table 2.3.
Age-specific headship rate is the number of household head per 100 persons in a given sex and
age group. The data presented on Table 5.29 shows that female headship rate is lower in all age
groups. This type of situation is observed in both censuses as well as in urban and rural areas. The
highest male headship rate is observed in age group 50-59 years and it is followed by age group
40-49 years. In urban area, the second highest male headship rate is found in older age group 60-
69 years. About female headship rate, it is observed highest in older age group compared to male.
Age-group of 60-69 years has the highest female headship rate in national level as well as in rural
204
areas in both censuses. However, it is found highest in the age group 70 and above years in urban
areas. It is also noted that urban female headship rate is higher than that of rural in all age groups
in 2001 whereas the distribution pattern of female headship rate was slightly different in 1991.
The increasing trend of female headship rate at older ages is due to marriage dissolution and
increasing proportion of widowhood in those ages. So, women are forced to live with the
responsibility of household head (Kansakar, 1995).
Table 5.29 : Age-specific household headship rate by sex for urban-rural, 1991-2001.
Nepal Urban Rural

Age
Groups 1991 2001 1991 2001 1991 2001
M F M F M F M F M F M F
10-14 Yrs. 0.10 0.02 0.11 0.04 0.09 0.02
1.5 0.2 2.2 0.4 1.4 0.2
15-19 Yrs. 3.11 0.78 4.89 1.73 2.77 0.62
20-29 Yrs. 32.9 3.6 27.80 5.43 30.7 3.3 30.43 7.09 32.6 3.6 27.19 5.10
30-39 Yrs. 71.2 8.3 66.52 10.79 65.5 7.5 63.88 12.46 71.9 7.7 67.08 10.48
40-49 Yrs. 88.3 12.6 85.97 12.51 82.9 12.7 81.27 15.35 88.9 13.6 86.84 12.05
50-59 Yrs. 92.0 16.9 90.68 14.75 88.1 19.2 87.41 18.97 92.4 16.6 91.20 14.12
60-69 Yrs. 87.8 19.6 85.86 18.27 86.7 24.7 84.63 23.70 87.9 19.2 86.03 17.50
70+ Yrs. 72.2 17.4 70.10 16.28 76.7 23.8 71.35 48.44 72.4 16.8 69.93 15.48
Source: Same as in Table 5.28.
Ecologically, male age specific headship rate has followed national level distribution pattern in all
three zones. The highest male headship rate is in 50-59 years age group in all three zones whereas
it lies in 60-69 years age group in the case of female. It is noted here that female headship rate is
lower in Terai zone than in other two zones in all age groups. In Terai, male headship rate for age
groups below 40 years is low compared to Mountain and Hill.
Table 5.30: Age-specific household headship rate by sex for ecological zones, 1991-2001.
Mountain Hill Terai
Age
1991 2001 1991 2001 1991 2001
Groups
10-14 Yrs. 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0
1.8 0.2 1.4 0.3 1.5 0.2
15-19 Yrs. 3.6 0.7 3.3 1.0 2.9 0.5
20-29 Yrs. 34.9 3.3 30.8 4.3 33.6 4.9 30.2 7.5 30.7 2.2 25.5 3.6
30-39 Yrs. 73.4 8.3 70.3 9.4 72.7 11.5 67.9 14.8 69.6 5.4 65.0 7.4
40-49 Yrs. 88.9 13.7 87.7 12.5 89.0 15.5 85.9 16.2 87.7 9.5 85.8 9.1
50-59 Yrs. 92.3 17.4 91.3 14.7 93.0 19.7 91.4 18.4 90.9 13.2 90.0 10.9
60-69 Yrs. 86.2 19.7 86.6 20.2 90.2 23.5 88.5 22.8 85.4 15.2 83.2 13.0
70+ Yrs. 67.5 19.2 70.4 20.5 73.2 20.5 73.0 20.0 71.9 13.2 66.9 11.3
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Western Development Region has higher female headship rate than other development regions in
all age groups in both censuses. It might due to more male out-migration from the region
especially in foreign army and other services. Again, the female headship rate is increasing during
inter-census period 1991-2001. As in National level, the highest male headship rate lies in age
group 50-59 years and female headship rate is in 60-69 years in all development regions. Male
headship rate is lower in 1991 census than in 2001 especially in younger age groups in all
development regions whereas it is not the same in the case of female headship rates. It is clearly
observed that the female household headship rate is higher in 2001 census than that of 1991.
Table 5.31: Age-specific household headship rate by sex for development regions, 1991-
2001.
Dev. Age Group in Years

Year Sex
Region 10-14 15-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+
1991 Male 1.3 34.5 75.7 90.5 93.0 88.1 71.2
1991 Female 0.2 2.7 7.1 12.9 18.2 20.8 18.0
EDR
2001 Male 0.1 2.7 28.3 70.2 88.2 92.0 87.0 69.3
2001 Female 0.0 0.7 4.3 9.2 11.8 15.4 18.7 16.3
1991 Male 1.5 30.9 69.2 87.4 91.8 88.1 74.9
1991 Female 0.2 2.2 5.4 10.0 14.9 18.2 17.9
CDR
2001 Male 0.1 3.2 27.0 63.9 84.6 90.7 86.2 71.0
2001 Female 0.0 0.7 3.9 7.3 9.3 12.0 15.9 15.4
1991 Male 1 27.9 67 87.2 92.6 90.7 75.1
1991 Female 0.3 6.8 14.2 16.7 20.5 23.7 19.1
WDR
2001 Male 0.1 2.4 23.9 63.0 84.6 91.4 88.6 73.6
2001 Female 0.0 1.0 9.5 19.1 18.5 19.6 23.3 19.8
1991 Male 2 35.9 73.4 88.8 91.0 84.4 66.4
1991 Female 0.2 3.3 7.6 11.3 14.2 16.0 12.6
MWDR
2001 Male 0.1 3.7 32.4 71.0 87.7 89.6 82.1 65.8
2001 Female 0.0 0.9 5.8 10.7 12.4 13.9 17.5 14.0
1991 Male 2.2 35.1 71.6 87.7 90.3 81.5 60.3
1991 Female 0.2 4.3 10.2 13.7 15.1 15.0 12.0
FWDR
2001 Male 0.2 5.8 30.8 69.2 86.2 87.0 78.6 61.2
2001 Female 0.0 0.7 5.0 10.5 12.3 12.2 14.5 11.1
5.14.3 Headship Rate by Marital Status
Marital status is an important component in household composition. In Nepalese culture, young

single person will, generally, be a household head only under certain circumstances such as senior
able ever married male is absent in the household. Being male dominated culture, males are
reported as household head though there are other female such as mother who is mainly
responsible for household activities is administering the household. Other circumstances of being
206
reported the person having single marital status as household head are person who is living away
from household for study and service purposes, orphans, and so on. According to the report of last
census, there is low headship rate among single who has not married. There is higher headship
rate among single marital status men than single females. In 2001, currently married is further
categorized into three categories like married living with single spouse, married living with more
than one spouse and remarried. In the case of male, the highest headship rate is found in the
category of remarried person and it is followed by married person living with more than one
spouse and married living with single spouse. It means that most of male persons who marry
again (remarriage) are head of their respective households. Similarly, there is sizeable number of
household heads who do not report their marital status. Such type of report is observed less in
case of female. Female headship rate is found to be the highest in the category of married living
with more than one spouse and it is followed by widow and divorce/separated. It is noted here that
polyandry (woman having more than one husband) is comparatively very less practiced and it is
found only in some ethnic groups that lived in northern high Himalayas. Most of the polyandry
cases are found within reproductive age and they might themselves look after their household
activities. On the other hand, there is comparatively very lower female headship rate than male in
the category of married living with single spouse. It might be the cause of cultural practices to
report head for male member of household. Similarly, female headship rate is lower than that of
male in remarried marital status.
Table 5.32 : Headship rate by marital status and sex, 2001.

Nepal
Marital Status Male Female
Single 3.7 1.0
Married and living with one spouse 66.6 8.5
Married and living with more than one spouse 83.4 62.5
Remarried 86.1 14.4
Widow/widowed 66.5 34.2
Divorced/separated 39.5 29.0
Marital status not stated 26.0 6.1
(Population Census 2001) Vol. I, Table 2.5.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census 2001 National Report Vol II, Table 17.
5.15 Household with Domestic Workers
Nepalese society is not so common to have domestic workers in household. Households having
domestic worker is about less than one percent of total households. According to the census 2001,
there are only 57, 295 persons reported as domestic workers in the country and among them 62.8
percent and 37.2 percent are male and female respectively. Again, more than half of them are
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children below 16 years of age. Among child domestic workers, about 52 percent is female (CBS,
Gender perspective, vol. I, 2002). Table 5.33 shows that there is no significant difference between
sex of household head for having domestic worker in household. In other words, there is very
little higher percentage of female headed household that has domestic workers. Similarly, there
are some differences in the percentage distribution of household having domestic worker between
urban and rural areas. As expected, there is higher percentage of household having domestic
worker in urban areas than the rural areas. In the case of ecological distribution, Hill zone has
comparatively more percentage of household having domestic workers whereas Mountain zone
has less percentage of it. Among five development regions, Central region has higher percentage
of households having domestic worker and it is followed by Eastern region. As mentioned above,
Central region consist of more urban population and also most populous area. Similarly, Eastern
region also consists of industrial Sub-metropolitan – Biratnagar. So, household having domestic
worker is observed more in these regions. On the other hand, the lowest percentage of such
household is found in Far-western region where it is very negligible.
Table 5.33: Percentage distribution of household having domestic worker, 2001.

Percentage of household by sex of household head
Area/Region Having Domestic Worker Without Domestic Worker
Nepal 0.96 0.95 1.01 99.04 99.05 98.99
Urban 0.54 0.53 0.59 99.46 99.47 99.41
Rural 0.42 0.42 0.41 99.58 99.58 99.59
Mountain Zone 0.05 0.04 0.05 99.95 99.96 99.95
Hill Zone 0.53 0.51 0.59 99.47 99.49 99.41
Terai Zone 0.39 0.39 0.37 99.61 99.61 99.63
Eastern Development Region 0.23 0.22 0.25 99.77 99.78 99.75
Central Development Region 0.47 0.47 0.49 99.53 99.53 99.51
Western Development Region 0.13 0.12 0.16 99.87 99.88 99.84
Mid-western Development Region 0.10 0.10 0.09 99.90 99.90 99.91
Far-western Development Region 0.04 0.04 0.03 99.96 99.96 99.97
(Population Census 2001) Vol. I, Table 2.6.
5.16 Findings and Conclusion
• The percentage of household residing in permanent and semi-permanent type of house has
increased during the period 1991-2001. During the same period, the percentage of
household living in temporary type of house and other category have decreased. This is a
good sign of well-being of people and economic development.
208
• Most of households are living in their own house in the country. However, the percentage
of household living in rented house has increased in 2001 compared to the previous census.
In urban areas, such type of household is found about one third of the total in the area
whereas more than 90 percent of households are staying in their own house in rural areas.
• Rental houses are generally permanent type and it is mostly found in urban areas. Similarly,
household living in owned permanent house is also high in urban and it is reverse in rural
areas. In rural areas, more than one third of the total household is living in their own
Kachchi/ others type of house.
• In Nepal, most households are living in single house and very few percent of houses have
more than single household. The average household per house is observed high in urban
area and in rural area it is lower than the national average.
• Around four in five households in Nepal have access to improved source of drinking water.
Rural areas, Mountain and Hill Ecological Belts, and Mid-western and Far-western
Development Regions are the places where access to improved source of drinking water is
below national average value of 82 per cent. However, over the years, access to improved
source of drinking water in rural areas and national level is increasing and urban rural gap
is narrowing.
• The overwhelming majority of the households in Nepal depend on solid fuels for cooking.
This is true for all regions except urban areas where use of LPG and Kerosene is mainly
concentrated. Over the years, overall, there is around 10-percentage point decrease in use of
solid fuel for cooking. This is true for rural areas also.
• Kerosene is the major source of lighting fuel in Nepal. Electricity is largely available in
urban areas. More than four in five households in urban areas are being benefited from
electricity as source of lighting fuels against less than two in five households in rural areas.
The rural areas, Mountain and Terai Ecological Belts, and Eastern, Mid-western and Far-
western Development Regions are the places where access to electricity is below the
national average value of around 40 per cent.
• Toilet facility is available only in 47 per cent of the households in Nepal. Urban-rural
variation in availability of toilet facility is quite large. Households in urban areas are nearly
two times more likely to have toilet facility than households in rural areas. The rural areas,
Mountain and Terai Ecological Belts, and Eastern, Mid-western and Far-western
Development Regions are the places where access to toilet facility is below national
average value of 47 per cent.
209
• More than half of the households in Nepal has radio facility, whereas TV facility is limited
to less than one fourth of the households. Urban-rural differential in households having TV
facility is more remarkable than radio. The rural areas, Mountain and Terai Ecological
Belts, and Eastern, Mid-western and Far-western Development Regions are the places
where access to at least one of the information media i.e. the radio or the TV, is below the
national average value of 58.7 per cent.
• Nepalese people have shown the increasing expression of their preference for smaller
household size. So the average household is gradually declining in every successive
population censuses. It is smaller in urban than in rural areas.
• There is higher percentage of male household head compared to female in both population
censuses and age distribution pattern of male household head is not different between 1991
and 2001 censuses. However, there is some increment in the percentage of female
household head aged below 40 years in 2001 census and the reverse picture is seen in age
above 40 years.
• By marital status, higher headship rate for male is found in case of remarriage and it is in
the category of polyandry which is found especially in Mountain zone though the case is
very low in number. There is more male headship rate in the category of married and living
with single spouse compared to that of female.
• There is very low percentage of household that have domestic workers in the country.
Again, there is no significant difference between sexes of household head for having
domestic workers. Urban household has more domestic worker than rural household.
210
References
Central Bureau of Statistics (1993). National Population Census 1991, General Characteristics,
Central Bureau of Statistics (1993).Population Census 1991 vol. III. Household Characteristics,
Central Bureau of Statistics (1993). Population Census 1991 Geographical Region Tables &
Urban Tables
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census 2001 National Report.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2001). Population Census 2001 Questionnaire Instruction Manual.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census Results in Gender Perspective (Population
Census 2001) vol. I.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2001). Between Census Household Information, Monitoring and
Evaluation System (BCHIMES 2000).
Department of Health Services. Demographic and Health Survey (DHS: 1991, 1996 & 2001).
Karmacharya, K. and Sangraula, P. (1998). Housing, A compendium of Environment Statistics

1998, Central Bureau of Statistics, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Kayastha, R. P. (2002). Type of House Used by Household, Four Monthly Statistical Bulletin,
Issue 2059/60, Central Bureau of Statistics, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Dangol, B. D. S. (1997). Analysis of Urban Population and Households, Urban Population

Survey – 1996 An Analytical Report, Central Bureau of Statistics, Kathmandu.
Bastola, T.S. (1997). Urban Population Survey – 1996 An Analytical Report, Central Bureau of
Statistics, Kathmandu.
Kansakar, V.B.S. (1995). Household Analysis: Size, Composition and Headship Rates,
Population Monograph of Nepal, Central Bureau of Statistics, Kathmandu.
Household Composition – New Zealand Standard Classification (1999): URL :

http/www.stats.govt.nz
211
CHAPTER 6
POPULATION GROWTH AND EDUCATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
- Tirtha Bahadur Manandhar*
- Krishna Prasad Shrestha**
6.1 Introduction
6.1.1 Coverage of the Paper
The Population Census, 2001, has collected data on two main educational features of the
population: literacy status, and educational attainment of the population. The National Report of
the Population Census, 2001 presents census results on the following:
i. Population 6 years of age and over by literacy status, age and sex for regions, and
districts.
ii. Literate population 6 year of age and over by educational attainment (level passed) age
and sex for regions and districts.
Based on the above census results, overall literacy rate for population 6 years and above, and
adult literacy rate for population 15 years and above have been presented in this paper. Also
educational attainment of the literate population has been analyzed based on the census results in
this paper. Thus, we could find out what level of formal education have the various segments of
the population completed (level of school education, higher education). Apart from the findings
based on the census results, it is pertinent to analyze the relevant data collected by the Ministry of
Educational and Sports, (MOES ) and presented regularly in the Annual Educational Statistics
reports of the MOES. In this paper, the basic educational data based on the Educational Statistics
Reports are analyzed initially in context of the educational policies and the relevant population
information from the Census. Detailed analysis of the literacy status and educational attainment of
the population is presented in the later part of the paper.
*
Tirtha Bahadur Manandhar is ex-Joint Seretary, HMG, Nepal
**
Krishna Prasad Shrestha is a Deputy Director of Central Bureau of Statistics.
213
6.1.2 Population and Educational Development
Population growth and educational development are closely interrelated. Population growth leads
to an increase in number of persons for whom education facilities have to be provided. On the
other hand, educational development affects population trends through promotion of increased
acceptance of family planning measures by the adults, and delay in age at marriage.
Nepal has made significant progress in education at all levels during the past three decades.
Currently, 3.8 million students are attending the primary schools and 1.5 million students are
attending the secondary schools (lower secondary and secondary together). Universal primary
education, that is enrollment of all 6-10 years old children in primary schools, is the long-term
goal of the government. The Education for All - Plan of Action (2003) has set the target of
attaining universal primary education by 2015 AD.
Secondary education has also expanded rapidly, as a result of efforts of the government to provide
access to secondary education and also due to increased public demand for this level of education.
Higher secondary education has emerged as an alternative to Proficiency Certificate Level (PCL)
education provided in the campuses of Tribhuvan University. There is now a countrywide
network of higher secondary schools, all of which are functioning under private management. The
PCL programme is proposed to be phased out with the expansion of the higher secondary schools.
Two new universities, the Purbanchal University and the Pokhara University have been
established since 1992. The B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, having university status has
also been set up. Tribhuvan University is still the main provider of higher education in the
country. The new universities have granted affiliation to a large number of private colleges.
Literacy rate has gone up steadily reaching 54.1% for population 6 years and over. Expansion of
primary education, and execution of various non-formal education programmes have contributed
towards this increase.
6.2 Features of the Education System
6.2.1 Structure
The structure of school level education with Primary Education of Grades 1-5, Lower Secondary
Education of Grades 6-8, and Secondary Education of Grades 9-10, that was created in early
1990's, still remains in practice. The long term goal of the government as indicated in the Ninth
Plan (1997-2002) document is to integrate the higher secondary education (Grades 11, 12) with
the school level education.
214
6.2.2 Types of Schools
There are three types of schools at each level of school education namely Government aided
schools (Public Schools), Community Schools and Private Schools. The Community Schools and
Private Schools do not get government grants and rely on their own resources and community
contributions. The Community Schools are observed to be attempting to get government paid
'teacher quotas' on receiving which they get recognition as government aided schools. In the year
2001, the government aided schools accounted for 88.8% of enrollment at the primary level,
87.6% of enrollment at the lower secondary level, and 85.8% of enrollment at the secondary level.
The rest of the enrollment of various levels was in the Community Schools and Private Schools.
(DOE, School Level Educational Statistics of Nepal, 2001)
6.2.3 Growth of the Private Sector
The private schools have emerged as major provider of school level education since past two
decades. In the year 2001, private schools constituted 8.7% of all primary schools, 17.8% of all
lower secondary schools, and 21.3% of all secondary schools (DOE, School Level Educational
Statistics of Nepal, 2001). The private schools are seen to be particularly prominent in the
delivery of secondary education. The perceived higher quality of education in these schools is the
main factor for the growth of private sector institutions.
Early childhood education has been emphasized for proper development of young children and
increased access to primary educations. Promotion of pre-primary education through community
based child development centres is being done. In urban areas, private sector is providing pre-
primary education on extensive scale.
6.2.4 Higher Secondary Education
Higher secondary education is provided by a diverse set of institutions such as the Public schools,
Private schools, Colleges and specific Plus Two schools. The Higher Secondary Education Board
(HSEB) provides approval to the institutions for conducting Grades 11 and 12 (Plus Two) classes,
prescribes curriculum and conducts examinations. A large number of higher secondary schools
have been established in recent years. The number of such schools reached 789 in April 2003. The
addition in number of such schools has been as indicated by the Ninth Plan (1997-2002). The Plan
had expected that the number of higher secondary schools would reach 758 by the end of the plan
period. The number has now exceeded the plan expectation due to liberal granting of approval by
HSEB.
215
6.2.5 Expansion of Higher Education
With the establishment of two new universities - the Purbanchal University and the Pokhara
University, the number of universities has reached five. The Kathmandu University and other two
new universities have provided affiliation to a large number of private colleges for teaching
Science, Management, Engineering, Medicine and other professional courses. The Purbanchal
University and Pokhara University have quite small enrollment in their respective constituent
campuses. The private colleges attached to these universities charge much higher fees than the
private campuses affiliated to Tribhuvan University.
6.2.6 Department of Education
The establishment of Department of Education (DOE) in 1999 marks an important change in the
system of educational administration. The DOE was made responsible for the implementation of
the Basic and Primary Education Project (BPEP), Phase II (1999–2004). At the same time, the
processes of preparation of District Education Plans (DEP) and School Improvement Plans (SIP)
were started under the BPEP II programme. The DEP and SIP planning processes are considered
to be important steps for promoting decentralized planning in the educational field and for raising
quality education..
6.2.7 Financing of Education
The government has been devoting a substantial proportion of budget for the Education Sector.
The allocation for the Education Sector was 14% of the government budget for Fiscal Year
2000/2001. The Education Sub-Sector allocations were as follows for FY 2000/2001: 55.4% for
Primary Education, 21% for Secondary Education, 12% for Higher Education, and 1% for Non-
formal Education. The total allocation for the Education Sector was Rs. 14.0 Billions. (MOES,
Education Information of Nepal, 2001)
6.2.8 Education Regulations Revision
The Education Regulations 2059 (2002 A.D.) based on the Seventh Amendment of the Education
Act, 2028 (1971 A.D.), allows the public schools to charge tuition and other fees on the students.
The government is committed to free primary education. The tuition fees can now be charged in
the Public Secondary Schools. Several new features such as Teacher Licensing System, setting up
of Village Education Committees, formation of School Management Committees with major
representation of parents, have also been included in the revised Regulations. Further, the new
terminologies have been used to describe the types of Schools. The present government aided
216
schools are called Community Schools and the Private Schools (including private boarding
schools) are described as Institutional Schools.
6.2.9 Projects
A number of externally supported projects have been implemented during 1991-2001 to promote
educational development.
These are :
- Basic and Primary Education Project (1993-98) Phase I
- Basic and Primary Education Project (1999-2004) Phase II
- Secondary Education Development Project (1993-2000)
- Primary Education Development Project (1992-97)
The Basic and Primary Education Project (Phase I and II) has the objectives of
(i) expanding access to basic and primary education (ii) raising quality of teaching/learning and
(iii) improving educational management. The Primary Education Development Project (PEDP)
concentrated on building infrastructure for primary teacher training and on establishment of
National Centre for Educational Development (NCED). Secondary Education Development
Project provided support for improving infrastructure for science teaching and for expanding
institutional base for secondary teacher training. The PEDP provided support for the
establishment and operation of the NCED and Primary Teacher Training Centres.
6.2.10 Population Pressure on Education
The country's rate of growth of population during 1991-2001 was 2.25% per year. This is
considered to be relatively high growth rate of population. The population growth exerts
continuing pressure on provision of primary education in the short term and on provision of other
levels of education in course of time.
6.3 Progress in Education
6.3.1 Primary Education
The growth in number of schools and enrollment continued during the intercensal period 1991-
2001. As reported in the School Level Educational Statistics of Nepal, 2001, the number of
217
primary schools reached 24,943 in the year 2001; and enrollment reached 3.8 millions in that
year. (Table 6.1)
Over the period 1993-2001, there was an absolute increase of 4726 primary schools; and the
average annual rate of increase in enrollment during the period was 2.8%. This growth rate is
lower compared to the annual growth rate (11.1%) over the earlier period (1987-92) (Table 6.2).
The Educational Statistics Report for 2001, indicates a decline in number of primary schools in
2001.
Primary education has been a priority area of educational policy and programme. Several
measures have been taken to increase the access to primary education and improve its quality.
Basic and Primary Education Project with comprehensive coverage (Physical facilities
development, Curriculum Development, Teacher Training, Resource Centres, Woman Education)
has been implemented. A new phase of the project is currently under implementation since 1999.
There has been a steady increase in the participation of girls in primary education. Girl students as
proportion of total primary enrollment increased from 38.7% in 1993 to 44.8% in 2001. Special
measures such as provision of scholarships for girl students in specified districts, and appointment
of female teachers have contributed towards this increase in girls participation. The Education for
All – Plan Action 2003 aims at attaining complete gender parity in school enrollment by 2015.
Primary enrollment ratios are used to measure progress in access to and participation in primary
education. Gross Enrollment Ratios have exceeded 100% because of presence of "underaged" and
"overaged" children in primary classes. Currently, Net Enrollment Ratio is 81.1%. This implies
that about 19% of children in 6-10 years age group are still out of school (primary level). It is
observed that most of the unschooled children belong to the disadvantaged groups, communities
in remote areas and families in extreme poverty.
6.3.2 Secondary Education
There has been a significant increase in number of lower secondary and secondary schools and
also in the enrollments of the respective levels. The number of lower secondary schools went up
from 4376 in 1993 to 7340 in 2001. Enrollment grew from 637 thousand in 1993 to 1058
thousand in 2001 indicating an annual increase of 5.2% over the period 1993-2001. (Tables 6.1
and 6.2)
218
The number of secondary schools reached 4113 in 2001, which is nearly double the number in
1993. Enrollment at this level went up from 272 thousand in 1993 to 449 thousand in 2001,
indicating an annual growth rate of 4.2% during the period 1993-2001. A decline in number of
secondary schools in 2001 is noted: however there was a large increase in secondary level
enrollment in this year.
The increase of lower secondary and secondary level enrollment can be explained by factors such
as the demand for secondary education created by an expanding primary education system, social
pressure for gaining more education at upper levels, and the waiving of tuition fees in the public
schools at lower secondary and secondary levels. The "tuition fee" in secondary education was
done away in 2059 when a major revision of the Education Regulations, 2059 (2002 A.D.)
permitted the charging of tuition and other fees in the public schools.
The percentage of girls at the enrollment of the lower secondary level was 42.2% and at
secondary level 41.4% in 2001. Over the years from 1993 to 2001, some increment in the
percentage of girl students at the secondary levels has occurred. A large number of lower
secondary and secondary schools have been approved with a view to increase, for the boys as well
as the girls, the access to secondary education.
Table 6.1 : Trends in number of schools, total enrollment and girls' enrolment 1993 –
2001, Nepal.
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Primary Level
1. No of Schools 20217 21102 21473 22218 23284 23885 25527 25927 24943
2. Total Enrolment (in 1000) 3091 3191 3263 3447 3460 3587 3780 3623 3853
3. Girls Percentage in Total 38.7 39.0 39.9 40.6 41.6 41.9 42.6 44.1 44.8
Enrolment
Lower Secondary Level

1. No of Schools 4376 4739 5041 5506 6062 6617 7276 7287 7340
Enrolment
Secondary Level
1. No of Schools 2242 2482 2654 2903 3322 3624 4082 4350 4113
Enrolment
Source : Ministry of Education, Educational Statistics Reports for Various Years 1993 to 2001.
Note : The statistics mentioned here include Public (G overnment aided), Comminity and Private
Schools.
219
Table 6.2 : Average annual growth rate of enrollment at primary, lower secondary and
secondary levels.
Year Primary Lower Secondary Secondary

1993-94 3.2 5.2 0.7
1994-95 2.2 8.3 5.8
1995-96 5.7 8.9 13.8
1996-97 0.4 4.8 4.5
1997-98 3.7 1.6 9
1998-99 5.3 7.8 2.7
1999-2000 -4.1 4.5 -3.2
2000-2001 6.3 0.7 20.4
Average 2.8 5.2 6.7
Source : Based on data presented in Table 6.1.

Note : The Minus (-) notation indicates a decline in related rate.
The Gross Enrollment Ratio at the lower secondary level was 63.2% and at the secondary level,
43.8% in the year 2001. These ratios indicate relatively low participation rates of the adolescents
and youths in secondary education. Gender disparities in participation are more pronounced at this
level than at the primary level. The participation of low socio-economic and disadvantaged groups
is generally observed to be low, mainly because of high incidence of dropout at the primary level,
among these groups. Further, the low efficiency of secondary education as indicated by high
failure rate in the S.L.C. examination is a matter of serious concern.
6.3.3 Proportion of Girls Enrollment at Primary Level
The pattern of primary enrollment in 2001 by Development Regions and Geographical zones is
shown in Table 6.3 Each cell in the table has two figures: the first figure is the total enrollment in
the concerned region/zone, and the second figure is the percentage of girls in that enrollment. It is
seen that the Mountain and Hill Zones of Eastern and Western Region, and Kathmandu Valley
have high percentages of girls enrollment in the total enrollment of respective Region/Zone.
Lowest percentages of girls enrollment are found in Mountain Zones of Mid Western and Far
Western Regions, and Terai Zone of Central Region.
220
Table 6.3 : Primary enrollment and percentage of girls, 2001 by development and
geographical regions.
Mid Far
Region Eastern Central Western
Western Western
Mountain
Total 100041 112131 3508 50814 73944
% of Girls 47 45 50.7 34.3 41.4
Hills
Total 337674 352242 629543 300089 121624
% of Girls 47.9 46.6 48.9 43.7 43.4
Kathmandu
Valley
Total 221290
% of Girls 47.7
Terai
Total 445616 482246 259540 206615 156701
% of Girls 44.3 38.2 42.5 44.7 45.1
Region Total 883331 1167909 892591 557518 352269

% of Girls 46 43.2 47.1 43.2 43.8
Source : Department of Education, MOES, School Level Educational Statistics of Nepal, 2001
6.3.4 Teachers at the School Level
The total number of teachers in schools (all types) in 2001 was 96,659 at the primary level,
26,678 at lower secondary level, and 18,846 at the secondary level. Female teachers as
proportions of total teachers constituted 25.3% of teachers at primary level, 14% of teachers at
lower secondary level and 7.9% of teachers at secondary level in 2001.
During the period 1996-2001 the number of primary teachers increased by 8.1%, number of lower
secondary teachers by 35.4% and number of secondary teachers by 14.7%. The increase in
number of lower secondary and secondary teachers is evidently higher than that of primary
teachers.
Over the period 1996-2001, there was steady increase in proportions of female teachers at the
primary level; about 25% of the teachers in primary schools are female teachers: and the
proportions of female teachers reached around 14% at lower secondary, and about 8% at
secondary level in 2001.
221
Table 6.4 : Teachers at school level 1996-2001.
Level Category 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

Total Teachers 89,378 91,464 91,878 99,382 97,879 96659
Primary
Percentage of
Level
Female Teachers 20.6 22.5 22.5 23.8 25.3 25.3
Lower Total Teachers 19,704 20,641 22,095 24,696 25,375 26678

Secondary Percentage of
Level Female Teachers 12.8 12.6 11.6 13.4 12 14
Total Teachers 16,423 16,494 16,677 19,185 19,498 18,846

Secondary
Percentage of
Level
Female Teachers 10.3 8.2 7.2 8.4 7.6 7.90%
Source : Ministry of Education, Educational Statistics Reports (Various Years) 1996 to 2001.
The Student: Teacher ratios at the school level in 2001 were as follows: 40:1 at primary level,
40:1 at Lower Secondary Level and 24:1 at Secondary Level. There are large regional variations
in the student teacher ratios. Generally the student teacher ratios are higher at all levels in Terai
region compared to other regions.
6.4 Enrollment Ratios
6.4.1 Trends in Enrollment Ratios
The enrollment ratios indicate the extent of access to and participation of population of relevant
age groups in education of various levels of education. Targets of educational development are
generally laid down in Nepalese development plans in terms of enrollment ratios – Net
Enrollment Ratios (NER) (Number of students in officially defined age group for a given level of
education expressed as percentage of population in the corresponding age group) with respect to
Primary Education, and Gross Enrollment Ratios (GER) (Enrollment in a specific level of
education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the eligible school age population
corresponding to the same level of education) with respect to Lower Secondary and Secondary
levels. For instance, the Ninth Plan laid down enrollment targets of attaining 90%(NER) at
Primary Level and 45% (GER) at Secondary Level. The Tenth Plan (2002/2007) has set target of
attaining GER 65% for lower secondary level and 45% secondary level During the period 1995-
2001, the GER at primary level increased marginally, and there was significant improvement in
the NER.
222
Table 6.5 : Change in GER, NER 1995-2001.
Year 1995 2001

Gross Net Gross Net
Level Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment
Ratio Ratio Ratio Ratio
Primary 114.1 67.5 124.7 81.1
Lower Secondary 47.9 26 63 39
Secondary 31.6 17.3 43.8 25.5
Source : Ministry of Education, Educational Statistics Reports, 1995, and 2001.
The GER at lower secondary increased significantly during 1995-2001 period. There was also
moderate increase in NER at this level. GER and NER at the secondary level also went up
moderately. The data indicate that in 2001, about 81% of primary school age (6-10 years) children
were enrolled in schools; at the lower secondary level about 40% of lower secondary age (11-13
years) children were enrolled, and similarly, 25% of secondary school age (14-15 years) children
were enrolled in secondary schools.
It is seen that the GER at primary level exceeds 100%. This situation is due to lack of strict age-
grade correspondence in school enrollment. There are "underaged" as well as "overaged" children
(ages lower or higher than specified for a particular grade). In the year 2001, the distribution of
students in percentage at primary level by their age/grade level was as follows: "underaged"
students 7.8%: "correct age" students, 65.1%, "overaged" students 27.1%. The data indicate that
over a quarter of all primary students are overaged for the grades they attend.
The pattern of GER at primary level exceeding 100% is found in a number of the South Asian
countries (Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka) besides Nepal.
6.4.2 Pattern of Enrollment Ratios at Various Levels
Table 6.6 presents the GER at different levels by Development Regions. At the primary level, the
GER exceeds 100% both for boys and girl students, and in all the five Development Regions.
Highest total GER is found in the Western Region. Relatively low GER is found in Central
Region. At the lower secondary level, total GER is 63.2%, relatively low GER is found in Mid
Western and Far Western Region, particularly for the girl students in 2001. At the Secondary
level, GER for the country is 43.8%, the highest GER (51.4%) is found in the Western Region
and relatively low GER(about 30%) is found in Mid Western and Far Western Regions in 2001,
GERs are particularly very low for the girl students in all development regions.
223
Table 6.6 : Gross enrollment ratios, by development regions 2001.
Primary Lower Secondary Secondary

Development
Region Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total
Eastern 126.7 112.1 119.5 71.9 59 65.5 55.8 42.7 49.2
Central 125.8 102 114 71 51 61 51 37.2 44.2
Western 144.4 138.6 141.6 80.9 68.6 74.8 58.2 44.9 51.4
Mid Western 153.8 119.7 137 66.9 40.1 53.5 42.1 20.3 30.7
Far Western 132 108.4 120.5 66.8 37.1 52.3 43.6 17.2 30.2
Nepal 134.1 115 125 72 54 63 52 36 43.8
Source : DOE, MOES, School Level Educational Statistics of Nepal, 2001.
Table 6.7: Net enrollment ratios by development regions 2001.
Development Primary Lower Secondary Secondary

Region Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total
Eastern 83.9 76 80 46 36 41 32.8 24.4 28.4
Central 86.3 69 77.9 46.2 34.6 40.5 32.9 23.8 28.4
Western 89.7 81.4 85.7 49.3 41 45.2 31.9 24.5 28.1
Mid Western 91.1 80.7 85.9 38.2 23 30.6 21.7 10.8 16
Far Western 84.7 73 79 39 22 31 22 8.8 15.4
Nepal 86.9 75.1 81.1 45 33.7 39.4 30.2 20.9 25.5
There are wide differences between GER and NER (total as well as genderwise) at all levels. The
relatively low NER compared to GER at primary level indicates the practice of late school going
in several parts of the country.
With respect to both GER and NER at the primary level, there is a substantial gender gap
indicating the need to be met in getting the girls to schools. The gender gaps are wider at lower
secondary and secondary levels than at primary level.
Table 6.7 presents NER at different levels and development regions. In the year 2001, the total
NER at the primary level was 81.1%, in total, 86.9% for the boys and for the girls 75.1%. It
means that about 19% of the primary school age children are not in schools. More girls of primary
school age (25%), are not in schools, compared to 13% of the primary school age boys.
224
Regionwise the NER at primary level exceeds the national average of 81.1% in two Development
Regions, (Western and Mid Western Regions). The NER for the Central Region is less than the
national average. This is due to relatively low girl specific NER in this Region.
The NER at lower secondary and secondary levels are quite low, particularly at the secondary
level. Regionwise higher NER (45.2%) is found in the Western Region, for the lower secondary
level; and highest NER (28.4%) is found in the Eastern and Central Regions for the secondary
level. Girl specific NER is generally lower than the boy specific NER in all regions.
Further exploration of NER at primary level by geographical regions is relevant in view of the
government's goal of attaining 90% NER by the end of Tenth Plan. The NER data for the year
2001 show that NERs are generally low in the Terai Region of all development regions
particularly for the girls. Also the Mountain and Hill belts in the Mid Western and Far Western
Regions have low NER. (Table 6.8)
Table 6.8 : Net enrollment ratio at primary level by development and geographical
regions, 2001.
Regions Boys Girls Total

Nepal 86.9 75 81.1
Eastern Region 83.9 75.8 79.9
Mountains 90.4 94 92
Hills 93.3 88.5 90.9
Terai 78.4 67.1 72.9
Central Region 86.3 69 77.9
Mountains 94.6 90 93
Hills 94 84.8 89.5
Terai 79.8 51.7 66.3
Kathmandu Valley 91.4 89.5 90.5
Western Region 89.7 81.4 85.7
Mountains 96.5 97.4 97
Hills 93.1 90.4 91.8
Terai 84.1 67 75.8
Mid Western Region 91.1 80.7 85.7
Mountains 92.9 67.8 80.5
Hills 95.3 88 91.7
Terai 85.8 75.1 80.5
Far Western Region 84.7 73.1 79
Mountains 96.6 85.2 91.1
Hills 82.5 70.5 76.7
Terai 81.9 70.7 76.4
225
6. 5 Promotion, Repetition and Dropout Rates
6. 5.1 Promotion, Repetition and Dropout Rates at Primary Level
One of the main problems of the education system particularly at the primary level is the low rate
of retention in the schools. Retaining the students in schools and enabling them to complete
primary education is now one of the key aims of the education policy at present. The low
retention is a reflection of the successive dropout and repetition rates prevailing in the primary
grades.
Recent Educational Statistics Reports and Ministry of Education Reports have used 'Survival
Rates' at primary level to represent the status of efficiency. The Survival Rate (by grade) at
primary level refers to percentage of student cohort enrolled in Grade 1 of primary education, that
reaches a given grade of the primary cycle. The Educational Statistics Report (1999) has
mentioned the Survival Rate to Grade 5 to be 49.7% for the year 1999. The EFA Plan of Action,
2003, has mentioned the Survival Rate to be 63% for the year 2000.
Data on the flow rates at the primary and secondary levels are regularly presented in the annual
Educational Statistics Reports of the MOES. Data on these rates for two years 1995, and 2001 are
briefly analyzed here (Tables 6.9, A and B). It is seen from the Table
6.9 (B) that in 2001 promotion rate was just above 47.4% at Grade 1; repetition rate was very
high; so too the dropout rate was quite high at Grade 1. Consequently promotion rate to Grade 2
was low. Promotion rates improved substantially from Grade 2 onwards. Repetition rate at the
Grade 2 and subsequent grades are substantially low compared to the rates prevailing at Grade 1.
A comparison of the flow rates for 1995 and 2001 shows that the promotion rate has gone up; and
repetition and dropout rates have gone down across the entire five grades of primary education.
More particularly the promotion rate at Grade 1 has gone up to 47.4 in 2001. Dropout rate has
gone down to 13.7% in 2001. (Table 6.9, A & B). These trends indicate an improvement in the
internal efficiency of primary education.
The pattern of promotion, repetition and dropout rates (at primary level) for boys and girls is
almost similar, with not significant difference.
226
Table 6.9 A: Promotion, repetition, dropout rates at primary level, 1995.
Flow Rate Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5

Promotion Rate 37.6 70 77.3 73.2 67
Repetition Rate 41.8 18.9 17 16.9 17.4
Dropout Rate 20.6 11 6 10 16
Source : MOE, Educational Statistics of Nepal, 1995.
Table 6.9 B : Promotion, repetition, dropout rate, 2001.

Promotion Rate 47.4 79.0 83.7 82.7 82.0
Repetition Rate 38.7 16.8 12.3 12.7 90
Dropout Rate 13.9 4.0 4.0 5.0 10.0
Source : DOE, MOES, School Level Educational Statistics of Nepal, 2001

Note : (i) Promotion Rate Percentage of students who are promoted to the next upper grade in the
following year to the number of students enrolled in grade..
(ii) Repetition Rate: The percentage of students who repeat the same grade in the following year to
the number of students enrolled in the grade.
(iii) Dropout Rate: The percentage of students who dropped out from the school from a particular
grade to the number of students enrolled in the grade.
Bringing down dropout and repetition rates is essential to attain higher NERs. For this, raising
quality of instruction in schools, and improving school management including monitoring of
student attendance and performance are essential. Under the BPEP II, the government has been
conducting piloting of automatic promotion in Grades 1, 2, and 3. in a few districts The scheme is
still in experimental stage. Further, there is a programme of introducing Compulsory Primary
Education. Some municipalities like Banepa have done appreciable work on their own in their
constituencies. The government programme on compulsory primary education is limited to five
districts. Successful implementation of Compulsory Primary Education will cut down dropout
rates substantially. The EFA Plan of Action (1993) has also mentioned strategy to introduce the
compulsory education at the primary level. for raising primary enrollment. As yet, it seems
unlikely that there will be extension of the scheme in the immediate future.
6.5.2 Promotion, Repetition and Dropout Rate at Secondary Level
Promotion rates are consistently high at secondary level; there is decline in promotion rate at
Grade 8. Repetition and dropout rates are generally low. A comparison of data for 1995 and 2001
indicates that repetition and dropout rates for the year 2001 are lower than the rates for 1995.
227
(Tables 6.10A and B) Despite the lower repetition and dropout rates in the secondary grades, the
secondary education system is seen to be evidently inefficient. This is indicated by the low pass
rates in the SLC Examination. The low performance of students of the public schools points out
the low efficiency levels of these schools mainly. The S.L.C. pass rates have varied between 33%
and 45% in different years. In the SLC examination of 2003, the pass rate was 32.5%
Table 6.10 A : Promotion, repetition and dropout rate at secondary level, 1995.

Promotion Rate 79.4 81.1 71.2 76.8 -
Repetition Rate 13.2 11.1 16.9 12.0 18.3
Dropout Rate 7.4 7.8 11.9 11.2 -
Source : MOE, Educational Statistics of Nepal, 1995.
Table 6.10 B : Promotion, repetition and dropout rate at secondary level, 2001.

Promotion Rate 84.0 88.5 79.2 82.2 -
Repetition Rate 10.8 8.8 10.6 9.8 10.3
Dropout Rate 5.2 2.7 10.2 8.0 -
6.6 Higher Secondary Education
The higher secondary education system was introduced in early 1990's under the Higher
Secondary Education Act of 1989. The system was intended to prepare students for the world of
work as middle level manpower, and to prepare students for higher education in general and
professional areas. Presently, the system is devoted mainly to preparing students for higher
education. The higher secondary education system was expected to replace the Proficiency
Certificate Level (PCL) in Tribhuvan University and other Universities. Such phasing out of the
PCL programme from the universities has not materialized for various reasons.
Under the Higher Secondary Education Act, the Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB)
grants approval to various institutions to conduct the Plus Two (Grade 11 and 12) classes. The
higher secondary schools are being run in the following organizational setups:
- Attached to existing secondary schools (Public and Private), but operating as separate
entities,
228
- Attached to Campuses, mainly private campuses
- Separate Plus Two (Higher Secondary) Institutes.
In April 2003, the number of higher secondary schools approved by the HSEB was 789. The
regional distribution of these schools is as follows: (Table 6.11)
Table 6.11 : Regional distribution of higher secondary schools (HSS), 2003.

Number of
Region %
H. S. S.
1. Eastern Region 165.0 20.9
2. Central Region 325 41.2
a) Districts other than Kathmandu Valley Districts (139) (17.6)
b) Kathmandu Valley Districts (186) (23.6)
3. Western Region 190 24.1
4. Mid Western Region 49 6.2
5. Far Western Region 60 7.6
Total 789 100
Source : Higher Secondary Education Board. (Compiled from the primary data supplied by HSEB, April
2003)
Data on enrollments and teachers in the higher secondary schools are currently lacking. The
HSEB maintains data on students sitting in the higher secondary examination. According to
HSEB Examination Section, a total of 172 thousand students (Grades 11 and 12) appeared in the
higher secondary examinations held in April 2003. This gives some idea of the large student
population involved in higher secondary school studies.
One important aspect is that the pass rates in the examinations conducted by the HSEB are very
low. Pass rates vary by subject. The overall pass rate in Grade 11 Examination (Regular) of 2055
was 34.5%, and Grade 12 Examination (Regular) of the same year was 39.7%. Higher pass rates
was found in Commerce and Science streams, compared to the rates in Humanities and Education
streams. (HSEB, Examination 2055- At a glance)
6.7 Technical Education and Vocational Training
The Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) is the principal
government agency under the Ministry of Education and Sports, responsible for technical and
vocational training directed mainly to students with some years of secondary education.
Information is available on 8 Technical Schools and 1 Polytechnic directly operated by CTEVT.
229
In 2056/57, there were a total of 1520 students (undergoing two year Technical SLC programmes)
in the 8 technical schools. The polytechnic (at Hetauda) conducts short term training. There were
114 private technical institutes affiliated to CTEVT, which were conducting the Technical SLC
programmes in various vocational areas. A total of 7155 students were enrolled in these private
institutes in 2056/67. The data indicate significant role of private institutes in vocational training.
(MOES, Education Information of Nepal, 2001)
The CTEVT is now moving on to conduct Diploma level courses in some of the technical
schools. It has also granted affiliation to 5 private institutes to conduct Diploma courses.
Meanwhile, the Training Institute for Technical Instruction (TITI), under the CTEVT has received
affiliation with Kathmandu University to conduct Bachelor programme in Technical Instruction.
6.8 Higher Education
6.8.1 Institutions
The higher education system of the country comprises of the following universities:
Enrollment Constituent
Universities Year
(Campuses)
Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur 142,308 2001/02
Mahendra Sanskrit University, Dang 1,606 2000/01
Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel 1,497 2000/01
Purbanchal University, Biratanagar 214 2000/01
Pokhara University, Pokhara 128 2000/01
B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan 860 2002
Source : Tribhuvan University, The 22nd Annual Report, and B.P.K. Institute of Health Sciences, Annual
Report 2001-2002 and Plan of Action 2002-2003
Note : Constituent Campuses refer to campuses operated directly by the concerned univeristies. Thus
private/affiliated campuses are not included here.
Until recently, higher education in Nepal was virtually synonymous with Tribhuvan University
(Constituent and Affiliated campuses). At present, the other universities have come up with large
number of affiliated campuses. At present, the total enrollment in constituent campuses of
different universities together exceeds 146,000. In 2053/54 (1996), the total enrollment in
constituent campuses of three universities (Tribhuvan University, Mahendra Sanskrit University
and Kathmandu University) was 106,887.
230
6.8.2 Tribhuvan University
This university is the oldest and largest university of the country. It has 5 Institutes (Engineering,
Medicine, Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Forestry and Science and Technology) and 4
Faculties (Education, Management, Law, and Humanities and Social Sciences). The university
has 61 Constituent campuses under the various Institutes and Faculties. It has a total of 177
affiliated (private) campuses conducting various academic programmes. In 2058/59 B.S.
(2001/2002 A.D.), the university had a total of 142,308 students enrolled in its constituent
campuses. Data on the enrollment in the affiliated campuses are not available.
The university enrollment in Technical Institutes and Faculties in 2058/59is shown in the Tables.
(Table 6.12 A and 6.12 B). From Table 6.12 A it is seen that 42.4% of T.U. enrollment is at
Certificate Level, 45.5% at Bachelor Level, 11.2% at Post Graduate Level, and about 1% at
'Others' category.
Further, girl students constituted 26% of total T.U. enrollment (constituent campuses) .In
Technical Institutes, girls constituted about 19% of total related enrollment, and in General
Faculties, the girl students constituted about 28% of total related enrollment.
The distribution of T.U. enrollment by Institutes and Faculties is shown in Table 6.12 B. and 6.13.
In 2058/59, 13.5% of T.U. enrollment was in Technical Institutes and 86.5% in General Faculties.
Data presented in Table 6.13 indicate that enrollment in Science and Technology at Certificate
and Bachelor Levels constitute major portion of Technical Institute enrollment. Engineering
education is seen to be expanding. In general higher education, the Management and
Humanities/Social Science faculties accounted for major proportion of total enrollment.
For comparision purposes, higher education enrollment status (in constituent campuses of
different universities in 2053/54) is presented in Table 6.12C. The total enrollment in that year
was 106,887. Enrollments by Institutes and General Faculties of Tribhuvan University, and by
Schools of Kathmandu University are also shown in the table. Significant increases have occurred
in enrollment in Tribhuvan University during 2053/54 and 2058/59. (Please refer to Table 6.12A
and 6.12B as well). There has occurred an 18% increase in Technical Institute enrollment
compared to 39% increase in General Faculty enrollment 39% over the five year period in
Tribhuvan University only.
231
Table 6.12 A : Enrolments by levels, Tribhuvan University constituent campuses, 2058/59.
Certificate Bachelor Post Graduate Others Total
Institutes/Faculties
Total % Girls Total % Girls Total % Girls Total % Girls Total % Girls
Technical Institutes 9873 19.2 7521 18.6 1770 18.9 19,164 18.9
General Faculties 50,470 30.8 57,315 25.9 14,230 19.4 1129 18.3 123,144 27.6
Total 60,343 28.8 64,836 25.0 16,000 19.3 1129 18.3 142,308 26.0
Proportion of enrollment by level 42.4 _ 45.6 _ 11.2 _ 0.8 _ 100.0 _
Table 6.12 B : Enrolment in Tribhuvan University by institutes and faculties (constituent campuses) 2058/59.
Institutes/Faculties Certificate Bachelors Post Graduate Others Total

Technical Institutes
1. Engineering 2414 1487 173 4074
2. Agri. and Animal Science 101 536 81 718
3. Medicine 839 616 292 1747
4. Forestry 157 189 14 360
5. Science and Technology 6,362 4693 1,210 12265
Sub Total Technical 9,873 7521 1,770 19,164
General Faculties
6. Law 1924 92 2016
7. Management 12,814 19,072 5,547 37,433
8. Education 7758 13,308 1735 22,801
9. Hum. & Social Science 29,898 23,011 6,856 1129 60,894
Sub Total General 50,470 57,315 14,230 1129 123,144
Total 60,343 64,836 16,000 1129 142,308
Source : Tribhuvan University, The 22nd Annual Report of Tribhuvan University 2058/59
232
Table 6.12 C : Higher education enrollments: enrollments in constituent campuses 2053/54.
University Enrollment
1. Tribhuvan University (T.U.)

Institute of Engineering 1998
Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences 602
Institute of Medicine 1565
Institute of Forestry 410
Institute of Science and Technology 11655
Sub Total Technical 16230
Faculty of Law 3877

Faculty of Management 31534
Faculty of Education 10984
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences 42001
Sub Total General Faculty 88396
Total T.U. 104626
2. Mahendra Sanskrit University (M.S.U.) 1017
3. Kathmandu University (K.U.)

School of Science 865
School of Engineering 252
School of Management 71
School of Education 24
School of Arts 32
Total K.U. 1244
Grand Total (T.U., M.S.U., K.U.) 106887
233
Table 6.13 : Distribution of enrollment (constituent campuses) Tribhuvan University by
institutes/ faculties, 2058/59.
Total Percent of
Institute/Faculty
Enrollment Enrollment
Technical
1. Engineering 4074 2.9
2. Agriculture and Animal Science 718 0.5
3. Medicine 1747 1.2
4. Forestry 360 0.3
5. Science and Technology 12265 8.6
Sub Total Technical 19164 13.5
General Faculty
6. Law 2016 1.4
7. Management 37433 26.3
8. Education 22801 16
9. Humanities and Social Science 60894 42.8
Sub Total General 123144 86.5
Total 142308 100.0
Source : Planning Division, Tribhuvan University, The 22nd Annual Report of Tribhuvan University
(2058/59).
6.8.3 Mahendra Sanskrit University
This university has 12 constituent campuses and a few affiliated campuses. There were 1606
students in the 12 constituent campuses with following levelwise distribution : Uttarmadhyama-
1070; Shastri-424; and Acharya-112. (Enrollment Data for 2057/58) (U.G.C. Annual Report of
University Grants Commission 2057/2058)
6.8.4 Kathmandu University
This private sector university has 6 constituent campuses (organized in Schools of Science,
Engineering, Management, Education, Medical Sciences and Arts). The total enrollment in these
campuses/schools was 1497 (25% girls) in 2057/58. The university has 12 affiliated colleges
(including 5 medical colleges) in different parts of the country. There were a total of 2491
students (40.6% girls) in these colleges in 2057/58. (UGC, Annual Report of University Grants
Commission, 2057/58)
234
6.8.5 Purbanchal University
This university functioning with state support has 2 constituent campuses, and 34 affiliated
colleges/campuses. The two constituent campuses had a total of 214 students. The affiliated
colleges/campuses offer Bachelor courses on a number of subject areas such as Science,
Management, Engineering, Agriculture, Bio-chemistry, Education, Humanities and Law. The
affiliated colleges/campuses had a total of 1117 students in 2057/58. (UGC, Annual Report of
University Grants Commission 2057/58)
6.8.6 Pokhara University
This university conducts programmes in Management, Construction Management, Resource

Management under its three Faculties. It has 19 affiliated (private) campuses; these affiliated
campuses conduct courses on various areas such as Science, Bio-chemistry Management,
Engineering. Altogether, there were 128 students in the courses run by the university under its
Faculties. There were 1500 students in the private campuses affiliated to the university in
2057/58. (UGC, Annual Report of University Grants Commission, 2057/58)
Some notable trends in higher education are:
- The demand for professional courses like Engineering, Management, Medicine, and
specific job oriented areas is increasing.
- As the cost of taking up technical studies is increasing, the common people can hardly
afford the high fees charged by the private institutions. Seats in the campuses of Tribhuvan
University are very limited. The Engineering Institute has started course shifts charging
high fees, running in parallel with the regular fee courses.
- In the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, (Tribhuvan University), the proportion of
total enrollment is high. But actual daily attendance of the students in the classes is reported
to be quite low. The failure rate of students in examination in Humanities and Social
Sciences are higher than that in Sciences, Management, and professional areas.
- Generally the private colleges affiliated to the universities do not have adequate physical,
and instructional facilities for conducting the studies.
- The Proficiency Certificate Level classes are being run by constituent and affiliated
campuses of Tribhuvan University. The Kathmandu University and Mahendra Sanskrit
University continue to run their Certificate Level courses in their respective areas. At the
same time, the 10+2 programme is being expanded.
235
6.8.7 B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), Dharan
The BPKIHS was established in 1993 as an autonomous Health Sciences University. The Institute
conducts MBBS programmes, B.Sc. in Nursing, Bachelor in Dental Surgery and a number of Post
Graduate programmes on various clinical sciences. In 2002, the BPKIHS had the following
number of students: 384 in MBBS, 160 in BDS, 75 in B.Sc. Nursing, 160 in Certificate level in
Nursing, 48 in MD/MS and 33 in other clinical areas.
6.9 Literacy Definition
In common interpretation, literacy is the knowledge of reading and writing. Those who can read
and write are called literates. A literate person is expected to be conversant with the three R' s -
reading, writing and arithmetic. Traditionally for census taking purposes in most countries, the
ability to read and write has been regarded as the minimal standard of literacy. Now a day,
literacy is interpreted in a wide and comprehensive sense. UNESCO came up with the concept of
functional literacy and added qualitative approach in 1965. It defined a person to be functionally
literate when he/she could read and write enough to be effective in the normal activities of life. It
is difficult to measure the extent of knowledge and skills required to carry on daily
responsibilities relating to work, and supporting one self and one's family. For census purposes,
the ability to read and write and do simple computation is enough basis for categorizing a person
as literate. Even this is difficult to measure precisely; and census-takers have to rely on
respondents to declare whether they are literate or not. It is not possible to test respondents about
literacy in census operation.
6.9.1 Literacy and Development
Education is one of the fundamental means for all for alleviating poverty and bringing
improvement in the standard of living through different socio-economic activities. So, literacy is
the most important single means of attaining socio-economic development and of opening for the
individual, the door to innovative ideas and actions. Literacy enhances access to information that
may be necessary to conduct various essential activities in daily life and work. It enables a person
to improve his knowledge base, acquire education informally and make progress in life. The
objective of 9th Plan (1997-2002) was to attend 70% literacy and that of the 10th plan to achieve
75% literacy by year 2007 for population 6 years and above and make all people literate at the end
236
of Twelfth Plan Period. UNESCO has made a worldwide call for eradicating illiteracy in the
member countries by the year 2000 A.D. The 'Education for all' Conference held in Jomtien,
Thailand (1990) called for action by the participating countries to reduce their respective illiteracy
rates by half, by the year 2000 A.D. The illiteracy should be abolished by the year 2015 AD
according to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) endorsed by UN in September 2001. In
the context of Nepal, since the illiteracy rate was 45.9 percent in 2001, the resolution implies that
illiteracy rate should be reduced drastically to meet the target endorsed by national and
international authorities.
Various measures are being taken in the country to raise the literacy rate. The expansion of free
primary education is the major contributing factor in raising the literacy rate. Primary education
tackles illiteracy at the source. However, there are large numbers of school dropouts especially
more girls, which adds to the numbers of illiterates.
Adult literacy activities are being carried out by various governmental and non-governmental
agencies in an integrated way. Literacy campaigns have been launched in some districts to
achieve literacy in a short period of time. Provisions are also made to distribute free textbooks for
girl students. Compulsory primary education is initiated in 5 districts. All these activities have
contributed to raise literacy in the country in recent years.
6.9.2 Census Data on Literacy
Censuses have been the main source of information on literacy situation in the country. Data on
literacy have been collected in all the censuses conducted since 1952/54. The concept of literacy
used in the censuses has remained almost uniform. The literacy competence was interpreted as
ability to read and write in any language in the censuses of 1952/54, 1961 and 1971. The 1981
census made a slight improvement in the definition of literacy. The literacy competence was
defined in this census as ability to read and write in any language with understanding. The 1991
and 2001 censuses made further improvement by defining literacy as ability to read and write
with understanding and to do simple arithmetic calculations. Census of 2001 categorized literacy
in two parts able to read and able to read and write with understanding in any language. The later
category was considered as literate in 2001 census. This provision further filtered the quality of
literacy consequentially literacy was reported to be in lower side than expected level in 2001.
237
6.9.3 Literacy Situation in 2001
Literacy rates by single ages from 6 years to 14 years and for various age groups for 1981 and
2001 are presented in Table 6.14. The overall literacy rate in 2001 was 54.1 percent for both
sexes, 65.5 percent for the males and 42.8 percent for females. Nepal Living Standard
Measurement Survey (NLSS) 1995/96 using the same definition as of 2001 census, found low
literacy rate of 37.8% (52.2% for males and 24.4% for females.)
Between Census Household Information, Monitoring and Evaluation System (BCHIMES)

conducted by Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) in year 2000-reported literacy rate of 57.6%
(70.0% for males and 44.9% for females) using the literacy definition of 1991 census.
On examining the percent of population who reported as can read only to be 5.9 percent in 2001
census, there was some probability that some of them could be reported as literate and the literacy
rate could be noted more than that of reported figures in both the 1995/96 survey and the 2001
census.
The lower literacy rates among females are the result of a variety of historical, economic and
social reasons. Social prejudices against female education, restriction on mobility of females, low
social status granted to the females, the system of early marriage and low participation of females
in formal education are the main reasons for low female literacy rate. The situation is now rapidly
changing. Females have now greater access to primary as well as upper levels of education; and
education has become a necessity for social status as well as for economic betterment. There has
been a considerable increase in the literacy rate for the total population aged 6 years and above
between 1981 and 2001. The total literacy rate went up from 23.3 percent in 1981 to 54.1 percent
in 2001. The male literacy rate increased from 34.0 percent in 1981 to 65.5 percent in 2001.
Similarly, the female illiteracy rate went up from 12 percent in 1981 to 42.8 percent in
2001(Table 6.14 and Fig. 6.1).
6.9.4 Growth in Literacy Level by Sex
The overall literacy rate for population 6 years and above by sex and their growth over the years
is given in Table 6.14. It is seen that during 1981-2001, the total literacy rate has increased more
than two fold. The male literacy has increased less than double and the female literacy rate
increased more than three fold. The growth in the literacy rate has been greater for females than
that of males. Further, there has been an acceleration in the growth of literacy of females from
238
1991-2001 decade compared to 1981-1991 decade. This in itself is a proof of the effort made
towards eradication of illiteracy and encouragement of females to enroll in school system.
Table 6.14 : Literacy rate by age and sex, Nepal, 1981-2001.

Literacy Rate (%)
Age/Sex 1981 1991 2001@
Both Both Both
Sexes Sexes Sexes
All ages (6+) 23.3 34.0 12.0 39.6 54.5 25.0 54.1 65.5 42.8
Adults (15+) 20.6* 31.7* 9.2* 33.0** 49.2** 17.4** 48.6 62.7 34.9
6 Years 14.0 17.5 10.5 34.3 40.1 28.3 34.9 36.9 32.8
7 Years 20.3 26.2 14.5 46.1 54.4 37.6 52.9 55.8 49.9
8 Years 24.3 31.1 16.8 51.0 61.0 40.4 61.8 65.8 57.6
9 Years 29.5 38.3 20.4 58.3 69.3 46.9 72.8 76.8 68.7
6-9Years 21.6 27.8 15.2 47.0 55.7 38.0 54.7 58.0 51.4
10 Years 34.4 44.4 22.6 60.0 71.8 46.9 72.5 77.4 67.1
11 Years 42.5 54.7 28.5 68.4 80.4 55.3 81.9 86.0 77.6
12 Years 38.0 49.8 23.9 61.9 74.7 47.8 78.5 83.9 72.5
13 Years 42.2 56.2 26.4 65.5 79.2 51.0 82.5 87.7 77.2
14 Years 40.0 53.9 24.0 62.3 76.4 47.5 80.7 86.4 74.9
10-14 Years 38.8 50.8 21.2 63.2 76.0 49.3 78.6 83.7 73.3
15-19 Years 33.6 48.2 17.5 54.7 71.5 38.6 74.3 82.5 66.2
20-24 Years 26.5 41.7 12.6 43.8 64.3 26.3 65.0 78.2 53.4
15-24 years 30.0* 45.1* 15.0* 49.6** 68.2** 32.7** 70.1 80.6 60.1
25-29 Years 23.0 36.3 10.1 35.1 54.7 17.6 55.7 71.4 41.4
30-34 Years 19.3 31.8 7.8 31.0 49.6 13.9 49.7 67.7 32.6
35-39 Years 17.5 27.6 6.7 28.4 45.3 11.2 42. 4 60.3 24.7
40-44 Years 14.6 23.7 5.5 24.1 41.2 7.9 37.5 55.7 19.5
45-49 Years 14.2 22.2 5.0 21.7 36.5 6.3 33.7 51.3 15.4
50-54 Years 12.5 19.4 4.6 18.1 30.9 4.7 28.5 45.1 11.1
55-59 Years 13.3 20.7 4.5 17.2 28.5 4.2 25.7 41.1 8.3
60-64 Years 10.2 16.1 3.8 13.6 24.0 3.1 19.1 32.4 5.6
65+ Years 10.5 16.4 3.9 14.3 24.5 3.5 16.0 27.5 4.2
Source : CBS, 1995; Population Monograph of Nepal, Table 16 p.378.

@
CBS, 2002; population Census 2001, National Report Vol. II Table 11 p.136.
*CBS, 1984; Population Census 1981, Vol. I ,Part IV, Table 14 p.1
**CBS, 1993; Population Census 1991, Vol. I, Part X Table 30 p.1
239
Figure 6.1: Literacy rate for 6 years and above by sex 1981-2001, Nepal
70
60
50
40
Percent
30 Male
Female
20
Both sex
10
0
1981 1991 2001
Year
6.9.5 Growth of Literacy in Specific Age and Sex
The literacy rate was highest for single age13 years. It was 82.5% (87.7 % for males and 77.2%
for females) in 2001. The adult literacy rate (for age 15 years and above) was 48.6% (62.7% for
males and 34.9% for females) in 2001. That rate was 20.6 % in 1981 and 33% in 1991. The
literacy rate was 44.5% (62.3% for males and 28.3% for females) in Nepal Labour Force Survey
(NLFS) in 1998/99 conducted by CBS. The definition of NLFS was similar to that of 2001
census. The literacy rate for age group 15-24 was 70.1% (80.6% for males and 60.1% for females)
in 2001 that rate was 49.6 % in 1991. This shows that the literacy rate of younger generations are
increasing fast during recent years compared to earlier years due to expansion of educational
facilities and increasing awareness of the people.
A comparison of adult literacy in Nepal with South Asia Association of Regional Co-operation
(SAARC) countries would be instructive. The literacy was highest for males (96%) in Maldives
followed by Srilanka (94%), India (68%), Nepal (62%) all of them in 1999, Bangladesh (59%) in
1998 and Bhutan 56% in 1995. That indicator was highest for females in Maldives (96%)
followed by Srilanka (89%), India (44%), Bangladesh (43%) Pakistan (32%), Nepal and Bhutan
28% in the same time period. Therefore in terms of literacy achievement Maldives and Srilanka
recorded highest position among SAARC countries (Table 6.15).
240
Table 6.15 : Adult literacy rate in percent (15 years above) in South Asian Association of
Regional Co-operation (SAARC) countries during 1990s.
Year Year
Countries (1990) (1995-99)
Female Male Female Male
Bhutan 23 51 28 56 (1995)
Bangladesh 23 47 43 59 (1998)
India 34 62 44 68 (1999)
Maldives 92 93 96 96 (1999)
Nepal 11 37 28 62 (1999)
Pakistan 21 46 32 57 (1999)
Srilanka 85 93 89 94 (1999)
Source : Asian Development Bank by Oxford University Press : 2001. p.40
Table 6.16 : Literacy rate and intercensal change by sex, Nepal 1981-2001 for population 6
years and above.
Inter-Censal Change
Percent Literate
Sex (Average Annual Rate of Increase in %)
1981 1991 2001 1981-91 1991-2001 1981-2001
Both Sexes 23.3 39.6 54.1 1.63 1.45 1.54
Male 34.0 54.5 65.5 2.05 1.10 1.58
Female 12.0 25.0 42.8 1.30 1.78 1.54
6.9.6 Age and Sex Patterns of Literacy in Rural and Urban Areas
The status of literacy by age and sex in 1991 and 2001 for the rural and the urban areas are
presented in Tables 6.17 & 6.18. The total literacy rate in the rural areas was 51.0 percent
compared to 71.9 percent in the urban areas in 2001. In the rural areas, 62.6 percent of the males
and 39.6 percent of the females were literate in 2001. In the urban areas, 81.2 percent of the males
and 61.9 percent of the females were literate in the same year 2001. There is evidently a wide
disparity in the literacy rates in the rural and urban area. The higher literacy rare in the urban areas
is attributable to the facts that there is greater necessity of being literate in urban than in rural
areas, greater access to educational facilities and also greater awareness in the urban areas as well
as the tendency of educated rural people to migrate in urban areas for different job opportunities.
The literacy rate in the rural areas grew from 36.8 percent in 1991 to 51.0 percent in 2001. While
the literacy rate in the urban areas grew from 66.9 percent in 1991 to 71.9 percent in 2001.
241
Literacy rate has improved much in the rural areas; the rural-urban difference in literacy rates has
declined substantially in this decade. It is likely that the difference will continue to prevail if
migration of educated persons from the rural areas to the urban areas continues as is happening at
present.
Table 6.17: Rural literacy rate by age and sex, Nepal 1991-2001
Rural Literacy Rate (%)

1991* 2001**
Age/Sex
Both Both
Sexes Sexes
All ages (6 Years+) 36.8 51.9 22.0 51.0 62.6 39.6
Adult (15 Years+) 29.7 46.0 14.2 45.0 59.4 31.2
6 Year 31.8 37.7 25.7 31.5 33.6 29.4
7 Year 43.7 52.3 34.9 50.0 53.1 46.9
8 Year 48.8 59.2 37.7 59.6 63.8 55.0
9 Year 56.1 67.8 44.3 70.7 74.9 66.4
6 - 9 Years 44.7 53.7 35.3 52.0 55.4 48.5
10Year 58.0 70.5 44.4 70.6 75.9 65.0
11Year 66.6 79.3 52.6 80.6 84.9 76.1
12Year 60.0 73.5 45.1 77.1 82.8 70.7
13Year 63.5 78.1 48.0 81.0 86.8 75.1
14 Year 60.1 75.2 44.3 79.1 85.4 72.6
10-14Years 61.2 74.8 46.6 77.0 82.5 71.2
15-19 Years 51.8 69.6 35.0 71.7 80.8 63.1
20-24 Years 39.8 61.2 22.0 61.4 75.8 49.0
15-24 Years 48.2* 67.2* 31.1* 76.0 78.6 56.5
25-29 Years 31.1 51.2 13.6 51.2 67.8 36.6
30-34 Years 27.3 46.0 10.4 45.1 63.9 27.8
35-39 Years 25.0 41.9 8.1 37.9 56.1 20.2
40-44 Years 21.1 37.8 5.5 33.2 51.4 15.7
45-49 Years 19.0 33.3 4.2 30.4 47.3 13.6
50-54 Years 15.9 28.1 3.1 26.6 42.5 10.1
55-59 Years 15.3 26.0 2.8 24.7 39.9 7.3
60-64 Years 12.0 21.8 2.2 18.5 31.6 4.9
65 Years+ 12.7 22.3 2.5 15.8 26.9 3.9
Source : * CBS 1995, Population Monograph of Nepal Table 18, p.380 and CBS 1994, Population Census
Vol. I, Part X and Vol II
**CBS 2002, National Report Volume II Table 11 p.136 Special table generation
242
There has been an improvement in rural literacy rate during 1991-2001. The male rate went up
from 51.9 percent in 1991 to 62.6 percent in 2001. The female rate went up from 22 percent in
1991 to 39.6 percent in 2001.
Table 6.18: Urban literacy rate by age and sex, Nepal, 1991-2001.
Urban Literacy Rate (%)
1991 2001
Age
Both Both
Sexes Sexes
6 years & above 66.9 78.0 54.8 71.9 81.2 61.9
15 years & above 62.5 76.0 47.8 68.3 80.0 55.8
6 Year 63.5 67.2 59.6 59.9 61.1 58.5
7 Year 73.7 77.4 69.7 73.9 75.3 72.3
8 Year 77.1 81.6 72.1 79.4 81.0 77.6
9 Year 82.4 86.5 78.0 87.2 89.2 84.9
6 – 9 Years 73.9 77.9 69.6 74.6 76.3 72.8
10 Year 81.3 86.2 75.7 85.7 88.3 82.8
11 Year 86.5 90.6 81.9 90.4 92.8 87.6
12 Year 82.4 87.1 76.9 88.0 90.7 84.8
13 Year 84.7 89.3 79.7 91.2 93.0 89.4
14 Year 83.0 87.8 77.8 90.2 92.4 88.0
10-14Years 83.4 88.0 78.2 88.9 91.2 86.4
15-19 Years 79.4 86.4 71.8 87.1 90.8 82.9
20-24 Years 73.8 85.1 62.1 82.0 89.0 75.2
15 – 24 Years 76.6* 85.8* 66.9* 84.7 90.0 79.1
25-29 Years 66.7 80.3 52.6 76.3 86.5 65.7
30-34 Years 63.1 77.8 46.8 71.7 84.4 57.7
35-39 Years 59.0 74.0 41.6 65.4 80.1 49.0
40-44 Years 54.0 71.4 33.8 60.9 77.0 42.4
45-49 Years 50.2 67.5 29.2 54.0 73.6 28.4
50-54 Years 43.9 61.7 23.6 42.8 63.9 18.4
55-59 Years 40.1 57.8 19.6 33.3 51.8 15.8
60-64 Years 33.3 51.8 14.9 24.2 40.4 11.0
65 Years+ 31.6 50.2 13.8 17.6 32.9 5.9
Source : CBS 1995, Population Monograph of Nepal Table 18, p. 380

* CBS 1994, Population Census 1991, Vol.II
CBS 2002, Population Census 2001 National Report Special Table
243
Figure 6.2: Literacy rate for 6 years and above by sex and rural- urban, Nepal, 1981-2001.
90
80
70
60 Male Rural
Percent
50 Male Urban
40 Female Rural
30 Female Urban
20
10
0
1981 1991 2001
Year
The urban literacy rate increased from 66.9 percent in 1991 to 71.9 percent in 2001. The male
literacy rate increased by 3 percentage points from 78 in 1991 to 81.2 in 2001. The female literacy
rate also increased by about 7 percentage points from 54.8 in 1991 to 61.9 in 2001. The gain in
literacy during 1991-2001 was greater for females than that of males in both urban and rural areas.
This implies that proportionately more females than males became literate in the rural areas
during 1991-2001(Table 6.17,6.18 and fig. 6.2). Urban literacy rate for 55 years and above in
2001 was noticed lower than that of 1991. One of the reasons was that in those categories only
can read percent was about 9 percent in urban and 6 percent in rural areas in 2001. If there was no
filtered question there was probability to include some of them in literate category.
6.9.7 Regional Variations in Literacy Rate
6.9.7.1 Literacy Rate by Development Regions
The status of literacy in 1991 and 2001 for development regions is presented in tables 6.19.
Western Development Region had the highest (59.3%) literacy rate followed by the Eastern
Development Region (55.7%) and Central Development Region (52.9%). The Mid- Western
Development Region with 49.4 percent and Far Western Development with 48.7 percent, are the
regions with relatively lower and nearly identical literacy rates in 2001. While EDR had the
highest (44.3%) and Mid- western had the lowest (31.8%) literacy rate in 1991. On examining the
literacy rate by gender in different development regions both males and females had the highest
244
(70.4% for male and 49.3% for females) literacy rate in WDR and lowest (61.1 % for male) in
MWDR and FWDR in 2001. The literacy for males was highest (59.3%) in EDR followed by
WDR and lowest (47.6%) for MWDR in 1991. On examining the female literacy, it was found
highest (29.2%) in EDR and lowest 13.3% in FWDR in 1991. During this decade female literacy
growth rate improved more than that of males in all the development regions.
The growth of literacy rate in different development regions during the same period is also given
in Table 6.19. During this decade Nepal gained literacy by 14.5 percentage points. The MWDR
gained the highest percentage point (17.6) and EDR gained the lowest (11.4) percentage points in
the same time period 1991 – 2001.
Table 6.19 : Literacy rate and inter-censal growth rate by development regions, 1991 and
2001.
Increase in
Development 1991 2001 Percentage
regions Points
Both Both
Male Female Male Female Both Sexes
Sexes Sexes
EDR 44.3 59.3 29.2 55.7 66.5 45.0 11.4
CDR 38.6 52.0 24.6 52.9 63.7 41.6 14.3
WDR 44.0 58.5 28.9 59.3 70.4 49.3 15.3
MWDR 31.8 47.6 16.3 49.4 61.1 37.7 17.6
FWDR 32.2 52.0 13.3 48.7 64.7 33.2 16.5
Nepal 39.6 54.5 25.0 54.1 65.5 42.8 14.5
Source : CBS 1995, Population Monograph of Nepal Table 20 A, 20 B. p. 380

CBS 2002, Population Census 2001, National Report Vol. II Table 11
6.9.7.2 Literacy Rate by Ecological Zones and Eco-development Regions
The total literacy rate by ecological zones and eco-development regions is presented in Table 6.20
for 1991 and 2001. Among the ecological zones, the Hills had the highest literacy followed by
Terai and lowest in Mountain both in 1991 and 2001. The highest literacy was noted in Central
Hills followed by Western Hills and lowest in MWDR Mountain among the eco-development
regions both in 1991 and 2001.
245
Table 6.20 : Literacy rate by ecological zones, both sexes, 1991 and 2001 .
1991
Ecological Zones
EDR CDR WDR MWDR FWDR Nepal
Mountains 45.1 31.1 47.0 22.0 31.2 33.2
Hills 44.6 48.4 48.0 31.6 30.6 43.9
Terai 44.0 30.8 36.6 35.0 34.4 36.5
Total 44.3 38.6 44.0 31.8 32.2 39.6
2001
Mountains 51.4 43.7 55.4 31.2 39.7 43..5
Hills 56.9 63.9 61.8 47.2 44.6 58.6
Terai 55.7 43.8 55.4 54.1 55.5 51.3
Total 55.7 52.9 59.3 49.4 48.7 54.1
Table 6.21 presents the literacy by sex and by eco development regions. The male and female
literacy rates in the Mountain zones were the lowest among different ecological zones. Over the
period 1981-2001, the total literacy rate in Mountains increased from 18.0 percent to 43.5 percent;
the literacy rate in Hill increased from 24.9 percent to 58.6 percent. Similarly the literacy rate in
the Terai increased from 22.5 percent to 51.3 percent. Relatively there has been a large increase
(in percentage points) on literacy rate in Hills followed by Terai and lowest in Mountain
ecological zones (Table 6.21).
As may be seen from Table geographic variations are not identical in all the development regions.
The Mountains in WDR have relatively high literacy rate (above the national average), compared
to the Mountains in other development regions. The Hills in CDR, WDR and EDR have
relatively higher literacy rate (above the national average) compared to the Hills in the other two
development regions. The Terai in all development regions has relatively higher and almost equal
literacy rate (also above or equal to the national average) compared to the Terai of central
development region in 2001. In general, the Mountain in EDR, CDR, MWDR, FWDR, the Hills
in MWDR, FWDR and Terai in CDR have relatively low literacy rates in 2001.
246
Table 6.21 : Literacy rate by sex and development regions, ecological zones and eco-
development regions of Nepal, 1981-2001.
Literacy Rate (%)

1981 1991 2001
Regions/Zone Both Both Both
sexes sexes sexes
EDR 27.4 39.5 14.5 44.3 59.3 29.2 55.7 66.5 45.0
Mountains 26.5 40.6 12.1 45.1 62.0 29.0 51.4 61.5 41.7
Hill 25.3 38.7 11.7 44.6 61.4 28.5 56.9 67.8 46.4
Terai 28.8 39.7 16.8 44.0 57.9 29.7 55.7 66.5 44.7
CDR 22.7 32.3 12.5 38.6 52.0 24.6 52.9 63.7 41.6
Mountains 15.6 23.6 6.9 31.1 46.5 15.7 43.7 55.1 32.4
Hill 28.6 39.3 28.9 48.4 63.0 33.6 63.9 74.7 52.7
Terai 18.8 27.5 9.3 30.8 43.0 17.8 43.8 54.6 32.2
WDR 25.8 38.3 13.2 44.0 58.5 28.9 59.3 70.4 49.3
Mountains 22.4 31.4 12.4 47.0 59.2 33.5 55.4 63.5 45.8
Hill
27.5 41.3 25.9 48.0 63.6 34.7 61.8 73.0 52.4
Terai
22.1 32.2 11.0 36.6 49.9 23.0 55.4 66.7 44.0
MWDR 16.4 25.2 7.3 31.8 47.6 16.3 49.4 61.1 37.1
Mountains 12.3 19.3 4.7 22.0 36.9 6.4 31.2 46.2 14.7
Hill 16.1 25.8 20.6 31.6 49.4 14.6 47.3 60.5 34.5
Terai 18.3 26.5 9.3 35.0 48.4 21.2 54.1 64.0 44.2
FWDR 17.3 26.8 7.6 32.2 52.0 13.3 48.7 64.7 33.2
Mountains 15.4 24.8 6.2 31.2 53.1 10.5 39.7 59.1 21.3
Hill
17.0 26.9 7.6 30.6 53.3 10.1 44.6 64.1 26.6
Terai
19.1 28.0 8.7 34.4 50.4 18.2 55.5 67.3 43.4
NEPAL 23.3 34.0 12.0 39.6 54.5 25.0 54.1 65.5 42.8
Mountains 18.0 27.6 7.8 33.2 50.2 16.5 43.5 56.9 30.4
Hill 24.9 36.9 12.9 43.9 60.2 28.5 58.6 70.6 47.3
Terai 22.5 32.1 11.9 36.5 49.8 22.7 51.3 62.1 40.1
Source : CBS,1995: Population Monograph of Nepal Table 21 p. 384

CBS 2002: Population Census 2001, National Report Vol. II Table 11
247
6.9.7.3 Literacy Rate by Rural/Urban Residence in the Development Regions
Literacy status by the rural and urban residence and by the development regions for 1991 and
2001 is presented in Table 6.22. It is seen that in 2001, the rural areas in WDR had the highest
(57.5%) literacy rate followed by rural EDR and lowest (46.9%) in rural CDR. The male literacy
rates are consistently higher than that of females in all the areas. It suggests that greater efforts
should be made to improve female literacy in all the areas. The data indicate greater efforts have
been made in providing education in the rural areas of WDR and EDR as compared to efforts
made in the rural areas of other development regions.
With regard to 2001, literacy rates in the urban areas in different development regions, the CDR
had the highest literacy rate (75.7%) and this is true for both the males and females literacy rates.
The second highest urban literacy rate (73.2%) is found in the WDR and lowest (60.3%) was in
FWDR. In 2001, the male literacy rate in the urban areas of all development regions was above 70
percent. It is surprising that the male literacy of urban in MWDR was found slightly less than that
of 1991. It might be due to inclusion of some of the rural areas to urban areas after 1991 census
and change of literacy definition. The female literacy rates in all the urban areas were above 46
percent in 2001.
Both the rural literacy rate and the urban literacy rate in the country showed improvement over
the period 1991 and 2001. As may be seen from Table 6.22, the rural literacy rate increased from
36.8 percent in 1991 to 51.0 percent in 2001; the urban literacy rate increased from 66.9 percent
in 1991 to 71.9 percent in 2001 exhibiting more increment in rural areas than that of urban areas
in terms of percentage points.
During the period 1991-2001, there has been an increase in literacy rate ranging from 11 to 17
percentages points in the rural areas of the development regions, the greatest increase being in
WDR and FWDR.
During the same period, increase in literacy rate in urban areas of the different development
regions varied between 3 and 8 percentage points. Higher increments (in percentage points) are
seen to have occurred in the case of WDR and FWDR as compared to those in other regions.
248
Table 6.22 : Literacy rate by rural-urban residence in development regions, Nepal 1991-
2001.
1991 2001
Dev. Rural Urban Rural Urban

Regions
Both Both Both Both
Sexes Sexes Sexes Sexes
Nepal 36.8 51.9 22.0 66.9 78.0 54.8 51.0 62.6 39.6 71.9 81.2 61.9
EDR 42.5 57.8 27.3 65.3 76.5 53.1 54.0 64.9 43.1 68.6 77.8 59.0
CDR 32.7 46.5 18.6 70.1 80.4 58.7 46.9 58.1 35.3 75.7 84.2 66.2
WDR 42.7 57.3 29.5 65.1 75.8 53.7 57.5 68.6 47.5 73.2 83.1 63.5
MWDR 30.5 46.4 14.9 61.3 72.9 48.7 48.1 60.1 36.4 62.2 72.1 52.1
FWDR 30.6 50.5 11.7 53.3 70.5 35.1 47.2 63.5 31.5 60.3 73.7 46.4
6.9.7.4 Literacy Rate by Districts
Literacy rate by districts for 1991 and 2001 are presented in Table 6.23. Among the districts,
Kathmandu occupied the first position with respect to literacy rate and is followed by Kaski and
Chitwan in 2001. The literacy rate in Kathmandu was 77.2 percent, while in Kaski and Chitwan
were 72.1 percent and 71.1 percent respectively. The lowest literacy rates were in Humla and
Mugu .
Table 6.23 : Literacy rate for population 6 years and above by sex for development regions
and districts 1991-2001.
Literacy Rate 6 Years and Above
Region / District 1981* 1991* 2001**
Total Total Male Female Total Male Female
NEPAL 23.3 39.6 54.5 25.0 54.1 65.5 42.8
EDR 27.4 44.3 59.3 29.2 55.7 66.5 45.0
Taplejung 28.8 46.1 62.4 30.6 52.6 62.9 42.8
Panchathar 24.0 43.9 61.7 26.9 55.4 65.7 45.6
Ilam 33.0 52.5 65.9 39.0 66.5 74.4 58.6
Jhapa 37.0 56.3 67.8 44.5 67.1 75.6 58.8
249
Region / District 1981* 1991* 2001**
Morang 30.5 48.9 62.2 35.2 57.0 67.1 46.8
Sunsari 30.8 44.7 59.1 60.2 60.6 70.9 50.3
Dhankuta 31.2 49.6 66.3 33.5 64.3 74.5 54.5
Terhathum 33.8 55.7 74.9 37.6 59.3 71.3 48.2
Sankhuwasabha 27.5 48.6 65.4 32.6 54.2 63.7 45.1
Bhojpur 23.7 41.9 58.9 26.3 54.8 66.1 44.4
Solukhumbu 21.8 38.9 56.8 21.5 45.9 56.7 35.5
Okhaldhunga 17.8 39.1 56.2 23.1 49.3 63.6 36.3
Khotang 22.9 40.3 58.4 23.6 50.2 62.3 38.8
Udayapur 19.3 38.2 55.2 21.5 53.6 64.8 42.5
Saptari 25.2 34.8 51.4 17.8 49.6 63.2 35.5
Siraha 17.6 28.8 43.5 13.3 40.7 53.6 27.1
CDR 22.7 38.6 52.0 24.6 52.9 63.7 41.6
Dhanusa 18.4 30.1 43.1 16.1 48.7 60.1 36.3
Mahotari 16.3 26.0 37.3 13.9 34.7 45.9 22.4
Sarlahi 15.6 26.2 38.0 13.5 36.5 46.9 25.4
Sindhuli 19.4 33.1 48.6 17.7 50.5 62.6 38.5
Ramechhap 17.8 30.4 49.3 12.9 39.4 53.8 26.6
Dolakha 17.5 34.9 53.1 17.7 51.1 64.0 38.8
Sindhupalchoke 15.1 29.7 44.1 15.0 40.6 51.8 29.5
Kavre 24.3 39.6 56.2 23.7 64.0 75.7 52.8
Lalitpur 37.1 62.4 76.5 48.0 70.9 81. 60.4
Bhaktapur 32.4 58.8 74.8 42.7 70.6 81.1 59.6
Kathmandu 50.0 70.1 82.2 57.0 77.2 86.5 66.6
Nuwakot 18.3 31.6 45.4 18.0 51.4 62.4 40.7
Rasuwa 9.2 23.0 33.8 11.3 34.3 42.8 24.8
250
Region / District 1981* 1991* 2001**
Dhading 15.0 32.2 46.2 18.5 43.7 53.9 34.0
Makwanpur 24.1 38.6 52.1 24.7 63.4 72.6 53.9
Rautahat 12.6 23.7 34.7 11.9 32.7 42.9 21.7
Bara 17.9 28.2 41.7 13.7 42.7 55.2 29.1
Parsa 21.3 32.5 46.2 17.9 42.6 55.5 28.2
Chitawan 33.7 53.1 65.7 40.9 71.1 79.3 63.0
WDR 25.8 44.0 58.5 30.8 59.3 70.4 49.3
Gorkha 18.3 43.8 57.4 31.0 54.3 64.4 45.7
Lamjung 32.7 47.1 62.0 34.0 56.9 69.0 46.3
Tanahu 25.3 50.4 66.5 36.2 62.0 72.6 53.0
Syangja 28.1 51.3 66.9 38.4 66.7 77.9 57.7
Kaski 35.0 57.2 71.0 44.5 72.1 83.2 61.8
Manang 20.5 43.1 54.9 30.1 60.4 67.3 52.7
Mustang 23.3 48.5 60.8 34.8 52.1 61.1 41.1
Myagdi 22.1 39.6 55.0 26.1 56.0 67.9 45.9
Parbat 31.8 51.9 68.5 38.1 57.0 68.2 47.7
Baglung 23.2 41.1 57.3 27.5 61.7 73.1 52.3
Gulmi 31.8 46.8 64.6 32.7 57.8 70.1 48.1
Palpa 28.7 48.2 63.9 34.9 66.2 76.2 57.8
Nawalparasi 22.9 39.2 53.3 25.2 53.3 66.0 40.9
Rupandehi 27.5 40.0 53.4 26.2 66.2 76.2 55.9
Kapilbastu 13.2 28.8 41.1 15.5 41.8 53.3 29.5
Arghakhanchi 25.3 43.3 59.5 29.7 56.1 67.2 46.9
MWDR 16.4 31.8 47.6 16.3 49.4 61.1 37.7
Pyuthan 16.5 32.7 51.4 17.0 46.9 62.4 34.0
Rolpa 14.9 27.7 46.6 10.2 37.5 53.1 23.1
251
Region / District 1981* 1991* 2001**
Rukum 13.8 28.8 46.8 11.3 40.3 51.0 29.0
Salyan 13.5 29.8 47.5 12.5 48.5 60.2 36.2
Dang 21.5 39.9 55.8 24.4 58.0 69.3 46.9
Banke 18.2 34.6 46.4 21.8 57.8 66.0 49.2
Bardiya 13.9 29.4 41.6 16.8 45.7 55.5 35.9
Surkhet 21.5 42.6 60.2 25.5 62.7 73.9 51.7
Dailekh 18.6 29.8 48.3 11.3 48.0 64.7 32.3
Jajarkot 11.5 23.6 38.0 9.0 39.5 49.4 29.1
Dolpa 12.6 23.3 37.5 8.4 35.0 49.6 19.8
Jumla 18.2 25.4 41.5 8.5 32.5 47.0 16.8
Kalikot 8.5 19.6 33.6 5.1 38.5 54.2 17.8
Mugu 9.5 22.0 37.9 5.2 28.0 45.4 9.3
Humla 13.1 19.6 33.7 4.6 27.1 41.3 11.8
FWDR 17.3 32.2 52.0 13.3 48.7 64.7 33.2
Bajura 11.6 25.2 43.4 7.7 34.1 51.2 17.3
Bajhang 12.9 27.6 50.1 7.0 35.5 57.6 15.2
Achham 14.9 23.9 45.3 5.5 33.8 54.1 16.0
Doti 12.5 28.6 48.7 9.9 43.7 61.2 26.0
Kailali 16.0 30.3 45.3 15.1 52.6 64.0 41.0
Kanchanpur 23.8 41.0 58.5 23.1 60.1 72.8 47.2
Dadeldhura 21.9 36.6 62.3 13.0 51.9 72.2 33.3
Baitadi 20.2 35.7 60.0 13.5 51.9 71.5 33.8
Darchula 22.5 41.4 65.4 18.0 49.5 67.4 32.5
Source : * CBS 1995, Population Monograph of Nepal, Table 23,pp. 387,388.

** CBS 2002, Population Census 2001, National Report, Vol. II Table 11 .
252
Kathmandu was the first, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur were in second and third position while Kalitkot
and Humla were in the lowest position in terms of literacy in1991.
From the distribution of districts by range of literacy rates, it is seen that 43 districts have literacy
rate below 54 percent and 32 districts have literacy rate of 54 percent and above (Table 6.24).
Literacy rates have increased in all districts during 1991-2001. There were 5 districts having
literacy more than 71% and 14 districts with literacy 61-70% in 2001. There were no districts
with literacy rate less than 20% whereas there were two such districts in 1991.
Table 6.24: Number of districts with literacy range for 1991 and 2001.
No. of Districts
Range of Literacy Rates
1991 2001
10% -20% 2 -
21% -30% 21 2
31% -40% 21 13
41% -50% 20 17
51% -60% 9 24
61% -70% 1 14
71% & above 1 5
Total Districts 75 75
6.9.7.5 Sex Differences in Literacy Rate- Spatial Variations
The status of literacy rate in 1991 and 2001 by sex is also presented in Table 6.23. As expected,
we can observe wide differences in literacy rates exist between males and females in all the
districts. Generally, the differences are particularly marked in the Mountain districts and in the
districts of Mid-Western and Far-Western Development Regions. In the districts with
predominantly urban areas, the differences in male and female literacy rates were observed to be
much smaller.
6.10 Educational Attainment - by Level for National and

Rural/Urban Residence
Considerable improvement in the level of literacy had been achieved in the country over the
years. The literacy level however, does not indicate over all the level of educational attainment of
253
the people. Among the literates there are persons who have been literate without undergoing any
formal schooling, as well as there are those who have completed different levels of formal
education. Expansion of educational facilities, implementation of free education up to secondary
school in recent years and awareness of the people has aided in the enhancement of educational
attainment.
Table 6.25 presents the summary distribution of population aged 6 and above by level of
education for the whole country from 1971 to 2001. The proportions of literate persons with
various levels of educational attainment were as follows:
Table 6.25: Level of educational attainment of literate persons 6 years and above by sex
for census year 1991 and 2001.
Level of Educational 1971 1981 1991 2001*
Attainment (%) (%) (%) Both Sexes Male Female
Literate but no Schooling 4.42 5.50 8.98 4.73 5.54 3.92
Primary Education 5.79 11.33 16.15 22.65 25.70 19.62
Secondary Education 3.10 4.80 8.88 16.54 20.14 12.95
S.L.C./Intermediate 0.34 1.23 2.88 7.65 10.25 5.06
Graduate/Post Graduate 0.24 0.39 0.64 1.84 3.01 0.68
Level Not Stated -- -- 1.80 0.68 0.81 0.54
Total 13.89 23.25 39.33 54.09 65.45 42.77
Source : C.B.S. 1995, Table 24 p.390 ;

*CBS, 2002, Population Census 2001 National Report Vol. II Table 13, p.144,145
The proportion of people who were literate but had no formal education increased from 4.42
percent in 1971 to 5.5 percent in 1981, 8.98 percent in 1991 and decreased to 4.73 percent in
2001. This indicates increasing number of people learning to read and write through the formal
schooling system. The proportion of literate people who had gone through primary education
increased from 5.79 percent in 1971, 11.33 percent in 1981, 16.15 percent in 1991 and further
increased to 22.65% in 2001. Similarly, proportion of literate people who had secondary
education increased from 3.1 percent in 1971, 4.8 percent in 1981, 8.88 percent in 1991 and to
16.54 percent in 2001. This is evidently due to expansion of free primary and secondary education
facilities in the country.
Those who had passed S.L.C. and studied up to Intermediate level accounted 0.34 percent of the
literate population in 1971, 1.23 percent in 1981, 2.88 percent in 1991 and 7.65 percent in 2001.
254
Graduates and Postgraduate persons constituted a small proportion in all the census years. The
proportions were 0.24 percent in 1971, 0.39 percent in 1981 and 0.64 percent in 1991 and 1.84
percent in 2001.
Table 6.26 presents the percent of population aged 6 years and above by age groups, sex, levels of
educational attainment in the country for 1981-2001. There has been considerable improvement in
different levels of educational attainment during 1981-2001. In all the age groups, the proportions
of persons with different educational attainment levels were higher in 2001 compared to those in
the preceding censuses. This is true for both males and females. For example, the proportion of
population who had completed primary education was 22.7 percent (25.7 Percent males and 19.6
percent for females) in 2001. The corresponding proportions were 16.2 percent (21.2 percent for
males and 11.2 percent for females) in 1991 and 11.3 percent (15.7 percent for males and 6.8
percent for females) in 1981.
Tables 6.27 and 6.28 present the similar information for rural and urban areas of the country
during 1981 to 2001. The rural-urban differentials in educational attainment are clear when we
compare the proportions of population in these areas, who have completed various (specially after
primary) levels of education in 2001. The proportion of population who had completed secondary
education was15.6 percent for the rural areas, while that was 22.2 percent in the urban areas in
2001. Similarly, the proportions of urban population who had completed S.L.C., intermediate
education and graduate & post graduate levels were respectively 16.1 percent, 5.9 percent while
the corresponding proportions for the rural areas were 6.2 percent, and 1.1 percent respectively in
2001.
Attainment of a particular educational level in each specified age group was also higher in the
urban areas than that in the rural areas in 2001 as compared to earlier censuses. For example, the
proportion of people aged 6-9 years who have attained primary education was 48.9 percent in
rural areas and 64.7 percent in the urban areas in 2001. This trend is seems to hold true in all
specified age groups for each level of educational attainment.
The rural-urban differences in educational attainment are also noted. Higher proportions of
population were found completing different levels of education in the urban areas compared to
that of rural areas in 2001.
255
Table 6.26 : Percent of literate population aged 6 years and above by level of education, age and sex, Nepal 1981-2001
Year 1981* 1991* 2001**
Attainment\
6-9 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 35+ Total 6 - 9 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 35+ Total 6 - 9 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 35+ Total
Age Group
No Schooling
Total 3.70 3.49 4.32 5.62 3.92 7.00 5.50 12.88 6.95 7.06 7.85 8.65 9.48 8.98 3.61 1.37 2.48 3.92 5.34 7.65 4.73
Male 4.44 4.12 5.32 8.06 10.03 11.39 8.13 14.76 7.28 7.33 9.57 12.24 15.60 12.06 3.87 1.23 1.93 3.12 4.95 10.81 5.54
Female 2.42 2.76 3.21 3.39 2.91 2.18 2.75 10.93 6.59 6.80 6.39 5.40 3.19 5.95 3.34 1.52 3.03 4.62 5.71 4.42 3.92
Primary (1-5)
Total 17.92 29.37 12.93 8.35 3.88 4.06 11.33 30.16 44.24 15.09 9.35 7.09 3.45 16.15 50.75 57.43 16.15 11.78 10.21 6.78 22.65
Male 23.32 38.71 18.46 12.47 9.34 5.61 15.65 36.32 53.56 19.37 13.64 11.37 5.76 21.18 53.73 61.06 17.21 13.51 12.60 10.14 25.70
Female 12.32 18.47 6.85 4.59 3.44 2.36 6.80 23.78 34.14 10.99 5.71 3.23 1.09 11.19 47.68 53.60 15.11 10.26 7.99 3.35 19.62
Secondary (6-10)
Total -- 5.87 4.60 8.23 3.16 1.78 4.80 -- 10.34 27.64 15.43 8.45 3.18 8.88 -- 19.46 44.11 25.13 17.53 7.65 16.54
Male -- 8.17 22.00 14.02 8.86 3.01 7.55 -- 13.29 38.33 23.85 13.96 5.32 12.85 -- 21.04 49.79 29.99 23.48 11.84 20.14
Female -- 3.44 6.45 2.94 1.61 0.42 1.92 -- 7.14 17.38 8.26 3.47 0.99 4.97 -- 17.78 38.52 20.82 12.00 3.37 12.95
SLC & Intermediate

Total -- 0.12 1.69 3.57 1.51 0.69 1.23 -- 0.02 3.54 8.87 5.72 1.84 2.88 -- -- 11.02 21.04 13.80 5.54 7.65
Male -- 0.02 2.33 5.97 4.21 1.19 1.98 -- 0.02 4.88 14.16 9.61 3.13 4.48 -- -- 13.05 27.17 19.04 8.90 10.25
Female -- 0.01 0.98 1.38 0.78 0.13 0.45 -- 0.02 2.26 4.38 2.21 0.52 1.31 -- -- 9.01 15.61 8.94 2.09 5.06
Graduate & Post graduate

Total -- -- 0.07 0.73 0.65 0.37 0.39 -- -- 0.05 0.83 1.62 0.89 0.64 -- -- -- 2.48 4.82 2.45 1.84
Male -- -- 0.10 1.16 1.83 0.64 0.65 -- -- 0.07 1.29 2.70 1.54 1.06 -- -- -- 3.58 7.93 4.26 3.01
Female -- -- 0.05 0.34 0.33 0.64 0.13 -- -- 0.04 0.44 0.63 0.23 0.23 -- -- -- 1.50 1.93 0.59 0.68
Level Not Stated

Total -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 3.41 1.40 1.06 1.20 1.47 1.92 1.80 0.36 0.36 0.52 0.69 1.21 0.74 0.68
Male -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 3.99 1.63 1.20 1.51 2.17 3.29 2.53 0.39 0.36 0.55 0.85 1.62 0.90 0.81
Female -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2.80 1.16 0.93 0.94 0.84 0.53 1.09 0.33 0.36 0.49 0.56 0.83 0.58 0.54
Sources : * CBS 1995, Table 24 p. 390

** CBS 2002, Population Census 2001, Vol II Table 13 pp 144, 145
256
Table 6.27 : Percent of literate population aged 6 years and above by level of education, age and sex for rural Nepal 1991-2001.
Year 1991* 2001**
Attainment Age Group 6-9 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 35+ Total 6-9 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 35+ Total
No Schooling
Total 12.43 6.96 6.98 7.42 8.40 9.07 8.74 2.87 1.28 1.92 3.84 5.27 7.82 4.59
Male 14.36 7.31 7.28 9.64 12.34 15.45 11.99 3.37 1.17 1.73 3.02 5.03 11.30 5.64
Female 10.44 6.57 6.70 6.13 4.91 2.58 5.57 2.36 1.39 2.10 4.55 5.49 4.27 3.57
Primary (1-5)
Total 28.40 43.55 15.51 9.56 7.12 3.29 15.88 48.86 57.54 17.18 12.51 10.59 6.66 22.88
Male 34.86 53.47 20.21 14.44 11.85 5..67 21.27 51.75 61.46 18.76 14.72 13.56 10.24 26.29
Female 21.74 32.86 11.06 5.52 2.94 0.86 10.61 45.89 53.40 15.66 10.60 7.91 3.02 19.54
Secondary (6-10)
Total -- 9.04 25.70 14.32 7.48 2.62 7.93 -- 17.83 43.85 24.55 16.77 6.81 15.56
Male -- 12.14 37.09 23.34 13.17 4.63 11.98 -- 19.49 49.98 30.65 23.51 10.94 19.38
Female -- 5.70 14.93 6.85 2.44 0.58 3.97 -- 16.08 37.95 19.27 10.69 2.60 11.80
SLC & Intermediate
Total -- 0.01 2.29 6.44 4.08 1.15 1.96 -- -- 8.31 18.19 11.47 4.58 6.19
Male -- 0.01 3.48 11.37 7.68 2.12 3.35 -- -- 9.72 23.95 16.75 7.67 8.56
Female -- 0.01 1.17 2.36 0.88 0.15 0.60 -- -- 6.95 13.21 6.71 1.43 3.87
Total -- -- 0.03 0.38 0.69 0.32 0.26 -- -- -- 1.59 3.04 1.50 1.14
Male -- -- 0.04 0.70 1.32 0.62 0.48 -- -- -- 2.50 5.39 2.73 1.97
Female -- -- 0.01 0.11 0.13 0.03 0.04 -- -- -- 0.81 0.93 0.24 0.32
Level Not Stated
Total 3.31 1.40 1.03 1.15 1.39 1.79 1.73 0..30 0.37 0 .48 0.71 1.24 0.65 0.64
Male 3.92 1.64 1.19 1.49 2.13 3.16 2.48 0.32 0.37 0.57 0.91 1.70 0.78 0.78
Female 2.68 1.14 0.88 0.88 0.74 0.39 1.00 0.27 0.36 0.40 0.54 0.83 0.51 0.50
Sources: * CBS 1995, Table 25 p. 392

** CBS 2002, Population Census 2001,Special table generated
257
Table 6.28 : Percent of literate population aged 6 years and above by level of education, age and sex for urban, Nepal 1991-2001.
Year 1991* 2001**
Attainment\Age Group 6-9 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 35+ Total 6-9 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 35+ Total
No Schooling
Total 18.03 6.85 7.72 8.86 10.71 13.79 11.27 9.07 1.96 5.33 4.26 5.68 6.58 5.49
Male 19.32 6.90 7.73 9.11 11.48 17.28 12.63 7.48 1.62 2.88 3.54 4.62 7.72 5.00
Female 16.64 6.78 7.71 8.59 9.88 9.86 9.80 10.80 2.32 8.05 4.97 6.80 5.38 6.01
Primary (1-5)
Total 50.50 51.19 11.58 7.77 6.85 5.19 18.74 64.70 56.74 10.99 8.40 8.39 7.59 21.29
Male 52.97 54.45 12.70 8.30 7.75 6.64 20.36 67.91 58.47 9.93 8.24 8.41 9.51 22.41
Female 47.86 47.51 10.36 7.23 5.89 3.55 16.97 61.24 54.88 12.16 8.56 8.37 5.55 20.08
Secondary (6-10)
Total -- 23.51 44.02 23.75 16.47 9.10 17.97 -- 29.85 45.45 27.83 21.12 13.11 22.19
Male -- 24.75 48.02 27.33 19.91 12.23 20.66 -- 30.82 48.93 27.14 23.37 17.50 24.40
Female -- 22.10 39.63 20.05 12.79 5.59 15.02 -- 28.80 41.56 28.52 18.72 8.44 19.85
SLC & Intermediate

Total -- 0.08 14.10 27.13 19.25 9.11 11.62 -- -- 24.63 34.31 24.81 11.72 16.07
Male -- 0.07 15.93 32.85 24.01 13.16 14.56 -- -- 28.64 41.15 28.97 16.69 19.64
Female -- 0.09 12.10 21.21 14.15 4.56 8.41 -- -- 20.16 27.56 20.38 6.46 12.26

Total -- -- 0.27 4.26 9.23 6.79 4.28 -- -- -- 6.60 13.20 8.58 5.91
Male -- -- 0.29 5.29 13.02 10.72 6.26 -- -- -- 8.31 18.94 13.97 8.78
Female -- -- 0.25 3.19 5.19 2.39 2.13 -- -- -- 4.92 7.08 2.87 2.87
Level Not Stated

Total 4.56 1.44 1.33 1.58 2.14 3.35 2.49 0.81 0.34 0.70 0.62 1.04 1.35 0.91
Male 4.85 1.53 1.29 1.68 2.46 4.54 2.96 0.83 0.30 0.46 0.57 1.25 1.69 1.00
Female 4.25 1.33 1.38 1.46 1.80 2.01 1.99 0.79 0.37 0.98 0.67 0.82 0.99 0.80
Source : * CBS 1995 Table 26 p. 393

** Population Census 2001, Special table generated
258
6.11 School Attendance Status of 6-25 Years Age Population who
have not Passed 10th Grade
Data on educational attainment serves important information for policy and program managers to
assess the educational system up to secondary level after the restoration of multi party democracy
system in the country in 1991. Data on school attendance, however, provides a more complete
picture in this respect. Data on current status of school attendance for population 6-25 years of age
who have not passed 10th grade was collected both in the censuses of 1991 and 2001. This type of
data is useful in knowing what percentage of people 6-25 years of age are attending or had
attended schools at different levels sometimes before census. Tables 6.29 and 6.30 present
national data on proportion of 6-25 years of age population currently attending school and who
have not passed 10th grade respectively for the years 1991 and 2001. It also shows proportion of
6-25 years old who had been through various levels of school education previously but are not
currently attending schools.
The overall current attendance of persons, 6 to 25 years of age in educational institutions was
46.6% (51.4 percent for males and 41.9 percent for females) in 2001. Of these, 1.6 percent was in
beginners (pre-primary) classes, 29.4 percent in primary (grades I-V) classes and 15.7 percent in
the secondary level (VI-X) classes. Among males, 1.6 percent was in the beginner's classes, 32.1
percent in the primary classes, and 17.7 percent in the secondary classes. For females, 1.6 percent
was in beginners classes, 26.7 percent were in primary and 13.6 in the secondary classes. The
male's attendance rate is seen to be considerably higher than the female's rate at all levels of
education (Table 6.30).
6.11.1 School Attendance Status of 6 - 25 Years Age Population in

National Level 1991 - 2001
It is further seen that 52.6 percent of the 6-9 years old population were in different levels i.e. 3.5
percent in the beginners and 49.2 percent in primary classes (category) in 2001. Also about 55
percent of the 10-14 years age group population was in the beginners and primary classes. It is
seen that 18.8 percent of 10-14 years population were at secondary level. It is further seen that of
the 43.4 percent of 15-19 years population, 0.8 percent were beginners, 7.2 percent in primary
classes and 35.4 percent in the secondary level. The current attendance of different age groups in
259
preprimary, primary and secondary education is indicated by the data. For instance, currently 49.2
percent of 6-9 year persons, 54.2 percent of 10-14 year persons and 7.2 percent of 15-19 year
persons are attending primary schools. The total school attendance rates are 52.6 percent for 6-9
years old, 74.0 percent for 10-14 years old, 43.4 percent for 15-19 years old and 9.3 percent for
20-24 years and 8.9 percent 25 years old who have not passed 10th grade in 2001. A high
proportion (35.4%)of 15-19 years old are in secondary schools. On examining the same indicators
with 1991 census it was found that there was marked improvement during 1991 and 2001(Tables
6.29 and 6.30).
Tables 6.29 and 6.30 also present data on those who were in school some time ago but are no
longer attending school now. Such persons constituted 12.8 percent of the 6-25 years age group
population who have not passed 10th grade. Of such persons, 13.6 percent were males, and 12.0
percent were females. Further 1.3 percent had been out of school after attending beginner classes,
5.6 percent after attending primary schools and 5.9 percent after attending secondary schools in
2001. There were 8.6 percent of 6-25 years group who were not attending school in 1991. The
proportion of population who attended earlier and not attending present are generally increasing
over the years but not substantially (tables 6.29 and 6.30). The specific age assigned for primary
is 6-10, for secondary 11-15 years of age. There are high proportions of population attending
school in their late ages (Table 6.29 and 6.30) but the situation is found improving in 2001 as
compared to that of 1991.
6.12 School Attendance by Rural/Urban Residence
The census also presents data on proportion of population 6 to 25 years of age and who have not
passed 10th grade by current status of school attendance for the rural and the urban areas. Data for
the rural areas are presented in Tables 6.31 for 1991 and 6.32 for 2001.
The proportion of population in school attendance in rural areas (Tables 6.31 and 6.32) indicates
the following: The proportion of population 6 to 25 years of age who have not passed 10th grade,
currently attending schools was 42.2 percent for both sexes in 2001. The attendance rates for the
males were 50.4 percent and for the females 40.1 percent. Further 1.3 percent of the 6-25 years
population was in the beginners classes, 29.3 percent in primary classes, and 14.6 percent in the
secondary education in the rural areas in 2001. This indicates that in rural areas, the proportion of
260
population currently attending school is higher for males as compared to that with females in
2001. There were greater percent of population in school currently attending in young ages in
2001 as compared to that of 1991. The total population currently attending schools was 29.6
percent in 1991. On examining age specific grade, the situation has improved mark ably during
1991 and 2001.
Similarly for the urban areas data on proportion of 6-25 years population by current status of
school attendance is presented in tables 6.33 for 1991 and 6.34 for 2001. In the urban areas, 54.0
percent of the 6-25 years population was attending schools in 2001. Of these 3.5 percent were in
beginner classes, 29.0 percent in primary schools, and 21.6 percent in secondary schools. The
proportions of school attendance were 55.7 percent for the males, and 52.2 percent for females in
2001. That proportions currently attending school was 40.2 percent for both sexes in 1991. A
small difference is noted in case of male and female school attendance rates in 2001 as compared
to that of 1991 in urban areas.
261
Table 6.29 : Proportion of 6-25 years age population who have not passed 10th grade by current status of school attendance, level of education, sex
and age, Nepal for year 1991.
Sex and Attending School Not Attending School but Attended Earlier
Not Stated
Age Total Beginning Primary Secondary Total Beginning Primary Secondary
Both Sexes 30.58 3.73 19.38 7.47 8.61 1.41 3.68 3.52 7.44
6–9 31.87 6.66 25.21 -- 0.63 0.23 0.40 -- 10.54
10-14 55.45 4.96 40.72 9.77 3.38 0.63 2.38 0.37 2.69
15-19 27.44 2.11 6.03 19.30 15.16 2.07 6.81 6.28 7.18
20-24 4.25 0.69 0.67 2.89 18.40 3.04 6.27 9.09 9.99
25 1.31 0.34 0.31 0.66 13.39 2.79 4.57 6.03 8.99
Male 39.45 4.42 24.56 10.47 11.05 1.48 4.72 4.85 8.85
6–9 38.06 7.72 30.34 -- 0.72 0.24 0.48 -- 12.30
10-14 67.72 5.51 49.59 12.62 3.61 0.52 2.65 0.44 2.80
15-19 38.38 2.59 8.19 27.60 18.50 1.95 8.43 8.12 8.14
20-24 6.70 0.96 0.94 4.80 27.04 3.70 9.32 14.02 13.33
25 2.01 0.46 0.41 1.41 21.51 3.88 7.43 10.20 12.94
Female 21.85 3.04 14.29 4.52 6.20 1.34 2.65 2.21 6.05
6–9 25.46 5.57 19.89 -- 0.54 0.22 0.32 -- 8.71
10-14 42.17 4.37 31.11 6.69 3.12 0.74 2.08 0.30 2.58
15-19 16.93 1.64 3.96 11.33 11.97 2.19 5.26 4.52 6.27
20-24 2.16 0.47 0.43 1.26 11.05 2.48 3.67 4.90 7.15
25 0.71 0.24 0.21 0.26 6.38 1.86 2.10 2.42 5.59
Source : CBS, 1995 Table 27 p. 395.
262
Table 6.30 : Proportion of 6 - 25 years age population who have not passed 10th grade of education by current status of school attendance, level of
education, sex and age, Nepal for year 2001
Sex and Attending School Not Attending School but Attended Earlier Not
Age Total Beginner Primary Secondary Total Beginner Primary Secondary Stated
NEPAL
Both Sexes 46.62 1.61 29.35 15.67 12.76 1.26 5.64 5.86 0.02
6–9 52.63 3.45 49.18 -- 1.69 0.21 1.47 -- --
10 - 14 73.98 0.98 54.25 18.76 4.31 0.44 3.18 0.70 0.02
15 - 19 43.39 0.82 7.19 35.38 19.41 1.72 8.96 8.73 0.04
20-24 9.27 1.15 1.91 6.21 31.70 2.91 9.87 18.92 0.06
25 8.93 1.69 2.38 4.86 24.43 2.53 7.82 14.08 0.10
Male 51.39 1.63 32.05 17.71 13.55 0.97 6.01 6.57 0.02
6-9 55.83 3.72 52.11 -- 1.73 0.21 1.51 -- --
10 - 14 79.06 0.98 57.79 20.29 4.30 0.29 3.26 0.75 0.02
15 - 19 49.12 0.77 7.92 40.42 19.88 1.23 9.28 9.37 0.06
20-24 10.60 0.95 2.17 7.48 36.23 2.38 11.34 22.51 0.05
25 9.79 1.45 2.63 5.70 30.65 2.39 9.71 18.56 0.08
Female 41.90 1.59 26.67 13.64 11.98 1.56 5.27 5.15 0.02
6–9 49.32 3.17 46.15 -- 1.64 0.22 1.43 -- --
10 – 14 68.60 0.97 50.49 17.13 4.33 0.59 3.10 0.65 0.01
15 – 19 37.74 0.86 6.47 30.41 18.95 2.21 8.64 8.10 0.03
20-24 8.09 1.33 1.68 5.08 27.69 3.38 8.58 15.74 0.06
25 8.16 1.90 2.15 4.11 18.81 2.66 6.11 10.04 0.12
Source : Population Census 2001, Special table generated.
263
Table 6.31 : Proportion of 6 to25 years of age who have not passed 10th grade of education by current status of school attendance, level of education,
sex and age, for rural Nepal, census year 1991.
Age Total Beginning Primary Secondary Total Beginning Primary Secondary stated
Both Sexes 29.55 3.72 19.07 6.76 8.40 1.41 3.74 3.25 7.01
6–9 30.43 6.59 23.84 -- 0.62 0.23 0.39 -- 9.79
10-14 53.56 4.99 40.05 8.52 3.37 0.64 2.39 0.34 2.62
15-19 26.18 2.03 6.24 17.91 15.03 2.10 7.02 5.91 6.98
20-24 4.04 0.64 0.67 2.73 18.17 3.09 6.51 8.57 9.40
25 1.23 0.32 0.30 0.61 13.06 2.78 4.67 5.61 8.23
Male 38.96 4.46 24.63 9.87 11.03 1.50 4.87 4.66 8.49
6–9 36.92 7.69 29.23 -- 0.72 0.24 4.48 -- 11.58
10-14 66.59 5.58 49.50 11.51 3.63 0.53 2.68 0.42 2.71
15-19 37.84 2.53 8.62 26.69 18.73 1.99 8.81 7.93 8.01
20-24 6.64 0.91 0.97 4.76 27.73 3.86 9.99 13.88 13.04
25 1.94 0.43 0.42 1.09 21.71 3.96 7.78 9.97 12.33
Female 20.38 3.01 13.65 3.72 5.84 1.33 2.63 1.88 5.57
6–9 23.73 5.46 18.27 -- 0.52 0.22 0.30 -- 7.93
10-14 39.51 4.35 29.86 5.30 3.10 0.75 2.08 0.27 2.52
15-19 15.16 1.56 3.98 9.62 11.53 2.21 5.32 4.00 6.00
20-24 1.88 0.42 0.41 1.05 10.23 2.44 3.62 4.17 6.38
25 0.62 0.22 0.20 0.20 5.68 1.76 2.01 1.91 4.73
Source : CBS 1995 Table 28 p. 396.
264
education, sex and age, rural Nepal for year 2001.
Attending School Not Attending School but Attended Earlier
Sex and Not
Primary Secondary Primary Secondary
Age Total Beginner Total Beginner Stated
(1-5) (6-10) (1-5) (6-10)
Both Sexes 42.18 1.27 29.31 14.60 12.71 1.17 5.85 5.69 0.01
6–9 50.03 2.71 47.31 -- 1.48 0.16 1.32 -- --
10 – 14 72.11 0.91 54.09 17.11 4.14 0.39 3.13 0.62 0.01
15 – 19 42.82 0.59 7.61 34.62 19.31 1.35 9.33 8.63 0.03
20-24 8.42 0.99 1.73 5.70 32.66 2.99 10.79 18.88 0.04
25 6.47 1.21 1.82 3.45 21.47 2.21 7.24 12.02 0.08
Male 50.41 1.38 32.28 16.74 13.74 0.95 6.31 6.48 0.01
6–9 53.33 3.21 50.12 -- 1.54 0.17 1.37 -- --
10 - 14 77.49 0.93 57.87 18.70 4.11 0.27 3.18 0.66 0.02
15 - 19 49.10 0.66 8.59 39.85 20.28 1.11 9.86 9.31 0.04
20-24 10.05 0.81 2.03 7.20 38.87 2.44 12.79 23.64 0.03
25 7.33 1.04 2.12 4.17 27.78 2.10 9.28 16.40 0.05
Female 40.07 1.19 26.39 12.50 11.69 1.37 5.41 4.91 0.01
6–9 46.65 2.21 44.43 -- 1.42 0.15 1.27 -- --
10 - 14 66.42 0.90 50.09 15.43 4.17 0.52 3.07 0.58 0.01
15 - 19 36.75 0.55 6.67 29.53 18.37 1.56 8.81 8.00 0.02
20-24 7.03 1.14 1.48 4.41 27.35 3.45 9.09 14.81 0.04
25 5.71 1.35 1.54 2.81 15.84 2.32 5.42 8.11 0.10
Source: Population Census 2001, Special table generated
265
Table 6.33 : Proportion of 6 to 25 years of age who have not passed 10th grade of education by current status of school attendance, level of
education, sex and age, for urban Nepal, census year 1991.
Age Total Beginning Primary Secondary Total Beginning Primary Secondary stated
Both Sexes 40.23 3.74 22.35 14.14 10.53 1.43 3.15 5.95 11.39
6–9 48.53 7.47 41.06 -- 0.80 0.28 0.52 -- 19.19
10-14 74.60 4.67 47.49 22.44 3.45 0.56 2.25 0.64 3.49
15-19 38.04 2.72 4.29 31.03 16.33 1.82 5.08 9.43 8.95
20-24 5.81 1.08 0.69 4.04 20.13 2.69 4.47 12.97 14.45
25 2.03 0.57 0.33 1.13 16.28 2.95 3.72 9.61 15.64
Male 43.80 4.05 23.98 15.77 11.26 1.36 3.38 6.52 11.97
6–9 52.00 8.05 43.05 -- 0.81 0.28 0.53 -- 20.39
10-14 78.87 4.81 50.44 23.62 3.55 0.49 2.38 0.68 3.70
15-19 42.64 3.02 4.84 34.78 16.68 1.64 5.43 9.61 9.13
20-24 7.12 1.30 0.77 5.05 22.36 2.65 4.82 14.89 15.27
25 2.51 0.68 0.32 1.51 19.88 3.24 4.52 12.12 17.88
Female 36.40 3.41 20.59 12.40 9.74 1.50 2.89 5.35 10.76
6–9 45.78 6.86 38.92 -- 0.80 0.28 0.52 -- 17.91
10-14 69.81 4.52 44.17 21.12 3.33 0.63 2.10 0.60 3.25
15-19 33.02 2.38 3.70 26.94 15.94 2.01 4.69 9.24 8.75
20-24 4.44 0.85 0.61 2.98 17.82 2.74 4.10 10.98 13.60
25 1.57 0.46 0.33 0.78 12.82 2.68 2.94 7.20 13.50
Source: CBS 1995 Table 29 p. 397
266
education, sex and age, urban Nepal for year 2001.
Age Total Beginner Primary Secondary Total Beginner Primary Secondary Stated
Both Sexes 54.04 3.48 28.99 21.57 14.23 1.94 4.95 7.33 0.09
6–9 72.61 9.00 63.60 -- 2.81 0.57 2.24 -- --
10 – 14 86.69 1.42 55.47 29.80 5.23 0.69 3.38 1.16 0.04
15 – 19 46.62 2.18 5.08 39.36 19.85 3.66 6.72 9.46 0.12
20-24 11.40 1.65 1.96 7.79 29.02 2.79 6.38 19.85 0.15
25 21.90 4.21 5.34 12.36 39.82 4.20 10.84 24.78 0.24
Male 55.69 2.87 30.07 22.75 13.81 1.25 4.97 7.58 0.10
6–9 74.68 7.55 67.12 -- 2.72 0.46 2.26 -- --
10 – 14 89.90 1.33 57.60 30.98 5.16 0.44 3.49 1.23 0.05
15 – 19 49.32 1.33 4.75 43.24 17.70 1.88 6.01 9.81 0.17
20-24 10.91 1.37 1.92 7.63 27.13 2.27 6.09 18.77 0.13
25 22.30 3.52 5.20 13.57 45.03 3.83 11.90 29.30 0.22
Female 52.21 4.05 27.84 20.32 14.76 2.76 4.94 7.07 0.22
6–9 70.39 10.54 59.85 -- 2.91 0.71 2.20 -- --
10 - 14 83.26 1.51 53.21 28.54 5.33 0.98 3.26 1.09 0.10
15 - 19 43.59 2.99 5.41 35.19 22.28 5.73 7.52 9.03 0.20
20-24 11.86 1.94 2.00 7.92 31.00 3.32 6.68 21.00 0.38
25 21.53 4.86 5.46 11.21 34.81 4.55 9.83 20.43 0.79
Source : Population Census 2001, Special table generated.
267
The proportions of population attending in different age groups (for both sexes) were 72.6 percent
for the 6-9 years population, 86.7 percent for the 10-14 years population, 46.6 percent for the 15-
19 years population and 11.4 percent for the 20-24 years and 21.9 percent for age 25 population in
2001. That proportion was quite low in 1991 (Table 6.33 and 6.34). It indicates that greater
numbers of people are attending school in 2001 compared to earlier censuses.
The proportions of population attending school among 6-9 years, 10-14 years and 15-19 years
were 74.7 percent, 89.9 percent, 49.3 percent of respectively for males; the corresponding values
for the females were 70.4percent 83.3 percent and 43.6 percent respectively in 2001.
The differences in male/female proportions of population (6-25 years) by different levels of

education, as well as by different age groups exist in both the urban and rural areas. But there are
narrow differences exist in urban areas compared to that in the rural areas and the gap is
narrowing down in recent years.
Among those who are currently attending school, the male-female and rural-urban differentials
exist. The proportion of 6-25 year population currently attending school is higher in the urban
than that in the rural areas. The difference is particularly marked at secondary level. In general it
may be said that the rural-urban gap in the proportion currently attending school seemed to have
increased with increasing level of schooling and this is more marked for females than for males in
2001.
6.12.1 Ministry of Education Data on School Attendance
To increase the participation of children at primary school age group (6-10 years) in primary
education has been one of the goals of the educational policy. It is further emphasized by MDGs
that all who were enrolled in grade one should reach fifth grade and should have universal
primary education in the country by 2015. Significant progress has been made in achieving high
participation rates all over the country. The Annual Statistical Reports of the MoES present data
on school enrolment by districts, development regions and for the whole country. The primary
source of the data is the schools. All schools have to fill up and submit a statistical information
form to MoES, DoE every year.
268
The census data on school attendance are based on responses to the question on school attendance
in the census schedule/questionnaire.
The sources of data on school attendance form the MoES, DoE reports and the census are
therefore totally different. This makes comparison of the data difficult. However, the census data
would provide some indication of current age specific participation rates at the time of census.
In 2001, according to the MoES Statistical Report (2001), the gross enrolment in the primary
level was 124.7 percent. Net enrolment ratio was 81.1 percent in the same year, considering that
about 43.6 percent of the students in the primary schools are mostly over aged for the grades
concerned.
The census of 2001 indicates that 72.6 percent of the 6-9 years age group population were
attending pre-primary (beginners) or primary classes. Further the table indicate that 55.5 percent
of the 10-14 years population were also attending primary schools. This would imply involvement
of 'overaged' children in the primary and secondary schools in large numbers. Similarly 7.3
percent in pre-primary & primary 39.4 in secondary are attending by age group 15-19 years of age
which indicate that there are lot of students over aged in different level of school system in Nepal.
6.13 Future Prospects
Population growth shows its impact on educational development of the country in a number of
ways. The demand for primary education in absolute terms, has increased as a result of high
population growth. Provision of more schools, teachers, textbooks and educational materials
becomes necessary to meet the increased demand. Secondary education is also affected by making
secondary education free as well as by population growth. The increase in primary enrolment will
have its repercussion on secondary education within a period of five years after the initial
increment in enrolment in grade I. Demand for secondary education is growing due to free
secondary education and increased need for attaining secondary education for better job prospects
and for getting entry into higher education.
It was observed that there were lots of over age students in different levels of schooling. Proper
attention should be given to enroll in age specific grades by the concerned authorities in future to
increase net enrolment ratio in different levels of schooling.
269
Implementation of free primary and secondary education and rapid population growth makes very
difficult to attain the goal of universal primary education. Further, it makes the task of raising
quality of education more difficult as provision of better physical facilities, more educational
materials, and trained teachers cannot be made at a fast pace even if the funds are available. The
government is spending its huge percent of national budget on education. In the fiscal year
2060/61 about 16% of national budget is allocated for Educational Sector. Still there are great
challenges to overcome.
270
References
Asian Development Bank by Oxford University Press (2001). Growth and Change in
Asia and the Pacific Key Indicators 2001, Volume XXXII.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census 2001, National Report, National
Planning Commission, Kathmandu, Nepal.
DOE, MOES, School Level Educational Statistics of Nepal for the years1999, 2000 and
2001.
National Planning Commission Secretariat (NPCS) (2003). Tenth Plan 2059-2060, His
Majesty's Government of Nepal (HMG/N), Kathmandu, Nepal.
Central Bureau of Statistics (1994). Population Census 1991, Volume I, Part X. National
Central Bureau of Statistics (1994). Population Census 1991, Volume II. National
Central Bureau of Statistics (1995). Population Monograph of Nepal, National Planning
Commission, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Central Bureau of Statistics (1996). Nepal Living Standard Survey Report, Vol. I.
Central Bureau of Statistics (1998/99). Report on the Labour Force Survey, Vol. I.
Central Bureau of Statistics (1998). Further Analysis Report Antenatal, Delivery,
Postnatal Services Literacy and Polio Coverage, Nepal Multiple Indicator
Surveillance (NMIS), Fifth Cycle. Kathmandu, Nepal.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census 2001, National Report, National
Central Bureau of Statistics & UNICEF (2001). Report on the Situation of Women,
Children and Households "Between Census Household Information Monitoring and
Evaluation System (BCHIMES), Kathmandu, Nepal.
HSEB, Examination (2055 B.S.). (At a glance), Higher Secondary Education Board
MOES (2003). Education for All, Plan of Action, UNESCO Section.
MOES, Educational Statistics of Nepal, Various Years
National Planning Commission, (2003). The Tenth Plan, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Tribhuvan University, The 22nd Annual Report, Planning Division, Kathmandu, Nepal.
University Grant Commission (2000/01). Annual Report (in Nepali), Kathmandu, Nepal.
271
CHAPTER 7
NUPTIALITY TRENDS AND DIFFERENTIALS IN NEPAL
- Dr. R.H. Chaudhury*
- Dr. Bhanu Niraula**
7.1 Introduction
The paper examines the nuptiality trends and differentials in Nepal based on five decennial census
data (1961-2001). The paper in essence duplicates and updates the chapter on nuptiality in the
1987 Population Monograph of Nepal based on new information and analysis. Marital status is an
important determinant of fertility behaviour particularly in a non-contracepting society and where
most of the births take place within marital union as in Nepal. Keeping in view the importance of
the variable all the six censuses held since 1952/54 have collected information on the marital
status of the population above a minimum age. For example, in 1952/54 the particulars in regard
to marital status were obtained for the population aged 5 years and above. In the subsequent two
censuses (1961 and 1971) the age limit was raised to 6 years and above. And this was once again
raised to 10 years and above in the subsequent three censuses (1981, 1991 and 2001). Each
census before 1991 obtained information on marital status under four categories, viz: (i) never
married; (ii) married; (iii) widowed; and (iv) divorced/separated.
The 1991 census added one more category by treating divorced and separated as two independent
categories unlike the preceding censuses which lumped them together. The 2001 census has
further expanded marital status categories by elaborating the category of married. The married
persons were further classified into three sub-categories: married persons living with single
spouse, married persons living with more than one spouse, and re-married. The 2001 census
collected information on marital status under five categories and three sub-categories viz: (1)
single; (2) married; (2a) married living with single spouse; (2b) married living with more than one
spouse; (2c) re-married; (3) widowed; (4) divorced; and (5) separated.
The 2001 population census also differs with other decennial censuses in respect of database on
marital status. All the censuses prior to 2001 population census collected information on marital
distribution for the total population above certain age. However the 2001 census collected
*
Rafiqul Huda Chaudhury is an Adviser at UNFPA Country Technical Services Team for South and
West Asia, Kathmandu, Nepal.
**
Bhanu Niraula is Assistant Representative at UNFPA Country Office, Kathmandu, Nepal.
273
information on marital status of the population based on probability sample of 858725
households, which accounted for nearly 21 percent of the enumerated households in the 2001
population census
There is little intercensal variation in operational definitions of marital status categories with the
exception of the further clarification and elaboration that have been introduced since 1981. The
operational definitions of marital status categories adopted by the censuses of 1952/54 and 1971
were as follows:
Never Married: A person who has not lived as husband and wife even once is known as a person
who has never married.
Married: A person who has lived as husband and wife after being married religiously or socially
is defined as married.
Widower/Widow: A man who has lost his wife due to death and has not remarried is defined as a
widower. On the other hand if a woman has lost her husband on account of death and has not
remarried she is known as a widow.
Divorced/Separated: A married person who has broken up the marital relationship is classified
as divorced. Even if, the wife has chosen another husband but the husband has not yet remarried,
he is considered to be divorced.
A person who has not broken the marital union but living separately from his/her husband or wife
without any relationship to each other is classified as separated.
The definitions adopted by the 1981 census were as follows:
Never Married: A person who is not married in any way (legally, religiously or socially), or who
has not lived as husband or wife even once at the time of the census is known as a person who has
never married.
Married: No matter how one is married, one who has lived once as a husband or wife in the
community at the time of census enumeration and has continued to do so is known as a married
person, even though, living in separate place. This includes polygamy and re-marriage cases.
274
Widowed: If the wife is dead at the time of the census, the person is known as a widower. If the
wife loses her husband on account of his death she is known as a widow. In the case of such
persons, if they have not remarried at the time of census they are known as widower or widow.
But if they are remarried they are considered to be married again.
Divorced/Separated: The married person who has broken the marital status legally or by any
means is known as divorced. If the husband and wife continue to live separately for ever they are
considered to be divorced. If the wife has chosen another husband but if the husband has not yet
remarried at the time of the census, the husband is considered divorced. But once the husband
and wife have divorced and lived separately and after sometime both remarry other people, they
are considered to be married.
A person who has not broken the marital union legally or by any means but living separately from
his/her husband or wife without any relationship to each other is considered separated.
An important difference, one finds, between the definitions employed by the censuses of 1952/54,
1961 and 1971 on the one hand and the definition employed by the 1981 census on the other, is
that the latter lays more emphasis on the legal aspect of marriage while the former place more
emphasis on religious and social aspects. The definitions employed by the 1981 census were also
followed by the subsequent censuses with the exception of the following elaboration of married
persons in the 2001 census:
Living with One Spouse: Those persons that are living with only single spouse at the time of
census enumeration are kept in this category. Even though wife and husband are living separately
with consensus and have only single spouse, they are categorized as "living with one spouse".
Even if a person is used to have more than single spouses in the past, but she/he is currently living
with only single spouse due to divorce or separation or death of other spouses, then the person is
included in this category of marital status. However, a person married again after divorce or
separation or death of previous spouse/s is not included in this category though s/he is currently
living with single spouse at the time of enumeration. Such person is to be included in remarriage
category. For example, a widowed person marries with a never married person and is living with
single spouse at the time of enumeration, they will not be kept in the same category. The married
widowed person is categorized as "remarriage" and the other in "living with one spouse"
categories.
275
Living with more than One Spouse: Any person living with more than one spouse at the time of
census enumeration is categorized in this group of marital status. Those spouses may live in
different places with consensus and all spouses are not bound to live in the same place and eating
in the same kitchen. In this way, this category includes all polyandry (a woman has currently
more than one husband) and polygamy (a man has currently several wives) cases at the time of
census enumeration.
Remarried: It refers to currently married person who is married more than once and currently
living with only single spouse. If divorced or separated or widowed person marries again with
other person of any marital status, then the person is included in this "remarried" category.
The other intercensal changes, one comes across, is the practice of coding information on the
marital status. In the censuses of 1952/54 and 1961 eligible people from whom information on
their marital status could not be obtained, were classified as "unstated". But in 1971 and 1981
censuses there was no "unstated" category, even though there were eligible people from whom
information on marital status could not be obtained. When coding the data of 1971 and 1981
censuses, if the information on marital status of an eligible person was missing, he/she was
assigned to any of the four categories (never married, married, widowed and divorced) on the
basis of some a priori internally consistent assumption. The "unstated category" is restored in the
subsequent two censuses (1991 and 2001).
The quality of data

Table 7.1: Percentage distribution of ever married and never married
on "marital status" women in the reproductive age (15-49 years), Nepal census
year 2001 and Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS)
obtained by the 2001
census is considered
2001 NDHS* 2001 Census
to be fairly reliable. Age of
Never Ever Never Ever
Women
The marital status Married Married Married Married
15-19 59.7 40.3 66.1 33.9
picture one obtains
20-24 17.1 82.9 21.0 79.0
employing the 25-29 4.5 95.5 5.6 94.4
census data closely 30-34 2.5 97.5 2.6 97.4
corresponds to the 35-39 1.9 98.1 1.8 98.2
40-44 1.1 98.9 1.5 98.5
picture one gets by
45-49 1.4 98.6 1.2 98.8
employing nationally * His Majesty's Government of Nepal, Ministry of Health, New Era and ORC
representative data Macro, Nepal Demographic Health Survey 2001.
collected independently by Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 2001 (see Table 7.1),
except for younger ages below 25. At these ages, 2001 census reported relatively a higher
276
proportion of single women compared to DHS. Conversely, DHS has reported relatively a higher
proportion of married women at younger ages below 25 compared to the 2001 census. This could
be due to sampling errors resulting from differential sample size used by NDHS and 2001 census.
DHS sample consisted of 8,602 households compared to 858,725 sampled households in the 2001
census. Therefore data collected by the 2001 census may be considered more robust and reliable
compared to NDHS data.
7.2 Some Special Features
7.2.1 Sex Ratio
Predominance of females among One interesting feature of marital pattern in Nepal is that
currently married persons among currently married persons the number of female
continues and also shows an exceeds that of males in every census since 1952/54 (see
increase over the years. Table 7.2). The 1952/54 census enumerates 1091 females
currently married for every 1000 currently married males. And this pattern not only continues
through 2001 but also shows a marked increase in number of currently married females per 1000
currently married males over the
Table 7.2: Sex ratio among the currently married persons,
years, particularly in the last Nepal, Census Years 1952-54 – 2001
decade. An explanation for this Census Currently Currently Sex Ratio

Years Married Married (per 1,000
excess of females over males Males Females Males)
1952/54 1,905,571 2,078,957 1,091
among the currently married
1961 2,149,756 2,373,199 1,104
persons may be found in
1971 2,655,329 2,837,798 1,069
husbands working abroad
1981 3,347,744 3,634,205 1,086
leaving behind their spouses
1991 3,887,062 4,309,626 1,109
and/or limited practice of
2001 4,386,881 5,363,431 1,223
polygamy1. The rise in ratio of
Source : CBS 1995; CBS 2002.
females over males among
currently married persons during the last decade may also be attributed to recent boost in
emigration of young adult males to East Asia, particularly Malaysia and the Middle Eastern
countries. A good proportion of the emigrants, who are predominantly males, are likely to be
married and leave behind their spouses as they are not permitted to bring along their spouses.
1
Over three percent of men reported to have had more than one wife in 2001 population census.
277
7.2.2 Polygamy
The 2001 population census for the first time

A large section of males practice polygamy.
has collected data on polygamy and re-
This is higher in rural than in urban areas
marriage and these are presented in Table 7.3.
and rises with age.
An examination of the table confirms
monogamy as the most dominant marital system in Nepal. However, polygamy is also practiced
by a large section of the population, particularly males. About 6 percent of ever married males
reported to have had more than one spouse at a time. The incidence of polygamy is very
uncommon among women. Only a handful of ever married women reported to have had more
than one spouse. And this conclusion holds good for all ecological zones, development regions,
urban and rural areas and all age-groups. This is mostly practiced among some ethnic groups in
the Mountain zone. The incidence of polygamy among ever married males varies by rural/urban
residence, ecological zone, development region and age.
Rural/Urban Differences in Polygamy: The incidence of polygamy is higher in rural than in

urban areas. The proportion of ever married males who have had more than one spouse at a time
in urban areas (4 percent) is only about 67 percent of rural areas (6 percent).
Regional Differences (Ecological Zones) in Polygamy: Among the ecological zones, the
proportion of ever married males who were living with more than one spouse is lowest in the
Terai (4 percent) compared to the Mountain (6.6) and Hill (6.8). The Mountain and Hill occupy
the intermediary position.
Regional Differences (Development Regions) in Polygamy: The incidence of polygamy (i.e.,

proportion of ever married males who were living with more than one spouse) ranges from
highest 7 percent in the Western development region to lowest 5 percent in the Central and Far
Western Development regions. The Eastern Development region occupies the second highest
position in terms of the proportion of ever married males who had married more than one spouse.
The Mid Western Development region occupies the intermediary position.
Age Differences in Polygamy: Data show a positive relationship between age and the incidence
of polygamy in which the proportion of ever married males who were living with more than one
spouse increases with age, reaching its highest 11 percent at age 65 and above.
278
Table 7.3 : Percentage of ever married population aged 10 years and above who married
more than one spouse and those who re-married by gender, rural/urban
residence, ecological zones, development region and age, Nepal 2001.
Married more than One Spouse Re-marriage

Variables
Total 5.54 0.04 4.20 2.69

Rural 5.74 0.04 4.52 2.98
Urban 4.40 0.01 2.36 1.10
Zone
Mountain 6.59 0.37 5.85 4.29
Hill 6.79 0.03 5.38 3.70
Terai 4.37 0.00 2.99 1.57
Development Regions
Eastern 5.97 0.05 3.95 2.31
Central 4.73 0.01 3.01 1.57
Western 7.05 0.06 4.80 3.14
Mid-Western 5.45 0.04 7.30 5.84
Far-Western 4.79 0.03 4.42 2.95
Age
10-14 2.29 0.02 1.74 0.71
15-19 1.52 0.00 0.96 0.85
20-24 1.06 0.01 1.12 1.17
25-29 1.90 0.03 1.85 1.78
30-34 3.15 0.06 2.57 2.49
35-39 4.45 0.06 3.51 3.20
40-44 6.06 0.09 4.84 3.80
45-49 7.26 0.11 5.61 4.24
50-54 8.66 0.00 6.34 4.32
55-59 9.79 0.00 7.11 4.01
60-64 10.32 0.00 7.20 3.86
65+ 11.12 0.00 7.40 2.98
Source: CBS, 2002 National Report. Vol. II.
279
7.3 Re-marriage
The data on re-marriage were also collected

A small proportion of both ever married males
in the 2001 census. Four percent of ever
and females re-marry. Ever married males
married males compared to about 3 percent
are more likely to re-marry than are ever
of ever married females reported to have married females.
remarried. Ever married males are more likely to be re-married than are ever married females.
And this overall conclusion holds good for rural and urban areas, ecological zones, development
regions and almost at every age-group. The incidence of re-marriage varies by gender, rural-urban
residence, ecological zones, development regions and age-groups (see Table 7.3).
Rural-Urban Differences in Re-marriage:

The chances of re-marriage among both ever
Both ever married males and females in rural
married males and females is highest in the
areas are more likely to be re-married than
rural areas, Mountain, Mid-Western
are their counterparts in urban areas. These
Development region and at age group 65 and
rates in 2001 for males were 4.5 and 2.4 for above for males and 50-54 for females.
the rural and urban areas respectively. The
corresponding figures for females were 2.9 and 1.1 respectively.
Regional (Ecological Zones) Differences in Re-marriage: Among the ecological zones, the
propensity to re-marry among both ever-married males and females is highest in the Mountain
and lowest in the Terai. Hill occupies the intermediary position. These rates in 2001 for males
were 5.9, 5.4 and 3.0 for the Mountain, Hill and Terai respectively. The corresponding rates for
females were 4.3, 3.7 and 1.6 respectively.
Regional (Development) Differences in Re-marriage: Re-marriage for both ever married males
and females is found to be the highest in the Mid-Western Development region followed by the
Western Development region, while this is found to be the lowest in the Central Development
region followed by the Eastern Development region. The Far-Western Development region
occupies the intermediary position. These rates in 2001 for males were 4.0, 3.0, 4.8, 7.3 and 4.4
for the Eastern, Central, Western, Mid-Western and Far-Western Development regions
respectively. The corresponding figures for females were 2.3, 1.6, 3.1, 5.8 and 3.0 respectively.
280
Age Differences in Re-marriage: The propensity to re-marriage increases with each successive
age for ever married males, reaching its highest (7 percent) at age-group 65 and above. A similar
pattern of increasing rate of re-marriage with each successive age is also noted among ever
married females upto age 54 and thereafter it decreases with age, indicating diminishing chance of
re-marriage among ever married older women.
The chances of re-marriage among both ever-married males and females is highest in the Mid-
Western Development region and at age-group 65 and above for males and 50-54 for females.
Seven percent ever married males re-married in the Mid-Western Development region and at age-
group 65 and above. The corresponding figures for females were 6 percent and 4.3 percent for
Mid Western Development region and age-group 50-54 respectively.
7.4 Intercensal Changes
Table 7.4 presents data on the marital

Data show a modest change in the composition of
distribution of the population aged 10
the population by marital status in which proportion
years and above for the four censuses
of singles increased and widowed decreased.
since 1961. An examination of the However, increase in the proportion singles was not
table shows some modest changes in accompanied by the expected decline in the
the composition of population by proportion married. This is due to decline in
marital status during the last four proportion widowed.
decades, particularly between 1961-71,
1971-81 and 1991-2001. A very little change was recorded between 1981 and 1991. For
example, one finds a modest but steady increase in the proportion of singles during the census
periods 1961 and 1981, and 1991 and 2001, from 29 percent in 1961 to 35 percent in 1981 and 39
percent in 2001 for males and 15 percent to 23 percent and 30 percent for females respectively. A
very little change in the composition of population by marital status was noticed between 1981
and 1991. The proportion single increased by 0.30 percent per annum for males and 0.40 – 0.46
percent per annum for females during the decades of 1961-1971, 1971-1981 and 1991-2001. The
corresponding change was only 0.10 percent and 0.24 percent for males and females respectively
during the decade of 1981-1991. The slow change reported during 1981 and 1991 could be
considered an exception rather than the rule.
281
Table 7.4: Marital status of population aged 10 years and over by sex, Nepal, census years 1961-2001.
1961 Census 1971 Census 1981 Census 1991 Census 2001 Census
Marital Status and
Sex Standar- Standar- Standar- Standar- Standar-
% % % % %
dized* dized* dized* dized* dized*
Males 3288362 4140804 5387614 6418531 8330576

All statuses 100 100 100 100 100 100
Never married 28.47 30.51 31.93 33.82 35.12 36.79 35.65 35.65 39.23 39.23
Married 65.37 63.24 64.13 62.05 62.14 60.45 60.56 60.43 58.57 58.57
Widowed 4.36 5.01 3.66 3.86 2.36 2.38 2.95 3.01 1.34 1.58
Divorced/Separated 0.4 0.38 0.028 0.28 0.38 0.38 0.45 0.46 0.79 0.24
Females 3431695 4037816 5130274 6556558 8439703

All statuses 100 100 100 100 100 100
Never married 15.12 17.74 19.35 22.15 23.3 25.59 25.71 25.92 30.26 30.26
Married 69.16 67.02 70.27 67.6 70.84 68.42 65.73 65.24 65.45 65.45
Widowed 14.26 14.05 10.1 9.98 5.45 5.58 7.18 7.47 3.65 3.65
Divorced/Separated 0.34 0.33 0.28 0.26 0.42 0.41 0.69 0.69 0.31 0.31
* In respect of population aged 10 years and above.
** Standardized on the basis of 2001 age distribution for the population of Nepal aged 10 years and above.
Source : CBS, 1968 Vol. III, Part VI, Table 7
CBS, 1968 Vol. III, Part VI, Table 7
CBS, 1975 Vol. II, Part II, Table 15
CBS, 1984 Vol. II, Part Table 15
CBS, 1993 Vol. I, Part XI, Table 34
CBS, 2002 National Report Vol. II, Table 17
It is to be also noted that the increase in the proportion singles was not accompanied by the
expected decline in the proportion married. At least 65 percent of female and 60 percent of male
remain married in all the census year, the proportion being higher among females than among
males. During the period 1961 and 2001, the proportion of married males declined very modestly
from 65 to 59 percent at the rate of 0.15 percent per annum during last four decades but for
females this increased from 69 to 71 percent during the period 1961 and 1981 and thereafter
declined from 71 percent in 1981 to 65 percent in 2001.
The failure to find the proportion who were married declining in comparison with the increasing
proportion remaining single may be attributed to the considerable decline in widowhood. During
the intercensal period 1961 to 2001, the proportion widowed declined by 74 percent, from 14.3 to
282
3.7 percent for females and 70 percent, from 4.4 to 1.3 percent for males. Consequently, more
and more persons are remaining within the marital union. The proportion of males who were
divorced or separated fluctuated between 0.3 to 0.5 during 1961 and 1991 and thereafter declined
to 0.2 percent in 2001. The corresponding figure for females remained unchanged at 0.3 percent
between 1961 and 1971 and thereafter increased to 0.4 and 0.7 in 1981 and 1991 respectively, and
thereafter declined to 0.3 percent in 2001. The intercensal marriage pattern as noted above
remains unchanged even when allowance is made for the effect of variation in age distribution
over the years (see the standardized rates in Table 7.4).
We have so far presented the overall picture of marital composition of the population. This,
however, conceals the changes in marital status particularly those which took place in recent
years. To get an idea of this change, we need to look at marital distribution by age groups.
7.4.1 Proportion Married by Age and Sex
Table 7.5 provides data on the percentage distribution of the married population aged 10 years
and above by age and sex.
Table 7.5 : Age-sex specific proportions of currently married by age and sex, Nepal,
census years 1961-2001 and percentage change in proportions married
between 1961-71, 1971-81, 1981-91, 1991-2001 and 1961-2001.
% Currently Married Percentage Change

Age Group
and Sex 1991- 1961-
1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 1961-71 1971-81 1981-91
2001 2001
Males
All ages* 65.37 64.13 62.14 60.56 58.52 -1.9 -3.1 -2.5 -3.4 -10.5
6-9 2.97 1.2 -59.6
10-14 10.59 6.23 14.03 4.06 0.76 -41.2 125.2 -71.1 -81.3 -92.8
15-19 35.86 26.62 25.09 19.13 11.70 -25.8 -5.7 -23.8 -38.8 -67.4
20-24 69.63 65.59 57.82 60.29 47.82 -5.8 -11.8 4.3 -20.7 -31.3
25-29 85.27 85.65 78.8 85.51 81.05 0.4 -8.0 8.5 -5.2 -5.0
30-34 90.42 91.5 85.76 92.8 93.36 1.2 -6.3 8.2 0.6 3.2
35-39 91.83 93.31 88.98 94.75 96.02 1.6 -4.6 6.5 1.3 4.6
40-44 91.05 92.94 89.07 94.35 96.22 2.1 -4.2 5.9 2.0 5.7
45-49 89.5 92.44 89.16 93.49 96.20 3.3 -3.5 4.9 2.9 7.5
50-54 86.96 90.51 88.36 91.15 95.22 4.1 -2.4 3.2 4.5 9.5
55-59 84.13 88.54 87.18 89.18 94.12 5.2 -1.5 2.3 5.5 11.9
60+ 73.17 78.95 80.82 79.32 88.33 7.9 2.4 -1.9 11.4 20.7
283
% Currently Married Percentage Change
Age Group
and Sex 1991- 1961-
1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 1961-71 1971-81 1981-91
2001 2001
Females
All ages* 69.16 70.27 70.8 65.73 65.45 1.6 0.8 -7.2 -0.4 -5.4
6-9 5.29 2.33 -56.0
10-14 24.64 13.36 13.36 7.21 1.73 -45.8 0.0 -46.0 -76.0 -93.0
15-19 71.42 60.19 50.05 45.5 33.26 -15.7 -16.8 -9.1 -26.9 -53.4
20-24 91.57 91.07 85.93 85.09 78.17 -0.5 -5.6 -1.0 -8.1 -14.6
25-29 93.71 95.42 93.21 94.13 93.64 1.8 -2.3 1.0 -0.5 -0.1
30-34 91.83 94.99 94.78 95.13 96.10 3.4 -0.2 0.4 1.0 4.7
35-39 86.65 91.95 93.81 93.89 96.07 6.1 2.0 0.1 2.3 10.9
40-44 78.32 86.64 91.12 90.85 95.00 10.6 5.2 -0.3 4.6 21.3
45-49 68.59 80.57 87.8 86.33 93.23 17.5 9.0 -1.7 8.0 35.9
50-54 59.15 70.82 81.74 78.23 89.46 19.7 15.4 -4.3 14.4 51.3
55-59 50.78 66.62 79.06 72.26 86.35 31.2 18.7 -8.6 19.5 70.0
60+ 32.13 44.38 61.04 49.17 71.75 38.1 37.5 -19.4 45.9 123.3
* In respect of population aged 10 years and above
Examination of the table

The propensity to marry tends to rise with age up to a peak at
shows the following
middle age and tapers off thereafter. Women tend to marry earlier
than men and the absolute majority of men and women are major features of marital
married in the age-groups 30-39 and 20-29 respectively. Early patterns and the changes
years marriage is found to be almost universal in Nepal. However, during the intercensal
there has been a significant decline in the proportion of population period: (i) there shows a
currently married in the age-groups 10-14, 15-19 and 20-24. curvilinear relationship
between age and proportion married. The propensity to marry tends to rise with age up to a peak
at middle age and tapers off thereafter (see Figure 7.1); (ii) women tend to marry earlier than men;
(iii) the absolute majority of men and women are married in the age-groups 30-39 and 20-29
respectively; (iv) there has been a marked shift in age at which the highest proportion of women
are married since 1981. In 1961 and 1971, the proportion of women married reached its peak in
the age-group 25-29. This has been shifted to immediate later age-group 30-34 since 1981,
indicating a shift towards later age at marriage. No similar shift is clearly noticed among males.
284
The proportion of men
Figure
Figure 7.1: 1: Percentofofmen
Percent men and
and women
womencurrently married
currently by by
married
married reaching its age, Nepal for 1961 and 2001 censuses
age, Nepal for 1961 and 2001 censuses
highest remained almost
120
unchanged at age-group
100
35-39; (v) early years
marriage was considered 80
to be almost universal in
Percent
60
Nepal, although there has
been some change from 40
this tradition. In 2001, 2

20
percent of females in the
0
age group 10-14 were 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60+
Age-group
reported to be currently
1961 Males 1961 Females 2001 Males 2001 Females
married but by the age of

25-29, 94 percent of females were married and this increases to 96 percent by the age of 30-34.
However, there has been a significant decline in the proportion of population currently married in
the age-groups 10-14, 15-19 and 20-24.
The proportion of currently married females in

A sharp reduction in the proportion of
the age-groups 10-14, 15-19 and 20-24 was
married persons in the younger age-groups
reported to be 24.6, 71.4 and 91.6 percent
during the last four decades may be
respectively in 1961. The corresponding
interpreted as a deliberate attempt on the
figures in 2001 were 1.7, 33.3 and 78.2
part of young men and women to postpone
respectively experiencing about 93, 53 and 15
marriage.
percent decline between 1961-2001. The pace
of decline is almost the same among males. For example, in the 1961 census the proportion of
currently married males in age-groups 10-14, 15-19 and 20-24 was reported to be 11, 36 and 70
percent respectively. The corresponding figures in the 2001 census were less than 1, 12 and 48
percent, giving 93 percent, 53 percent and 15 percent decline. A sharp reduction in the proportion
married in the younger age-groups during the last four decades may be interpreted as a deliberate
attempt on the part of young men and women to postpone marriage. This may be attributed to
increasing opportunities for education and desire to continue schooling to meet the needs of the
modern globalized economy, increasing poverty and unemployment, lack of family support,
among other factors.
285
A combined effect of all these factors
Data show a steady increase in the proportion of
is also reflected in the increasing
single women in all age-groups over the period 1961
proportion of single people at younger
and 2001.
ages, 10-14, 15-19 and 20-24 years.
For instance, in the 1961 census the proportion of women who were never married in age-groups
10-14, 15-19 and 20-24 were reported to be 75, 26 and 5 percent respectively. In 2001, the
corresponding figures were 98, 66 and 21 percent respectively. A similar trend in increase in the
proportion of single
Figure 7.2: Percent of men and women never married by age, Nepal
is also noticed
for 1961 and 2001 census
among younger
120
males. In 1961
census, the 100
proportions of men 80
who had never

Percent
60
married in age-
groups 10-14, 15-19 40
and 20-24 were 20
reported to be 89, 63
0
and 26 percent 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60+
Age-group
respectively. In the 1961 Males 1961 Females 2001 Males 2001 Females
2001 census the

corresponding figures were 99, 87 and 49 percent respectively. Data show a steady increase in
the proportion of single women in all age-groups over the period 1961 and 2001 (see Figure 7.2).
A similar trend in increase in the proportion of single is also noticed among men in the majority
of age-groups, particularly younger age-groups (10-29) (see Annex 7.1).
Permanent "celibacy", measured in terms of

Permanent "celibacy", measured in
population who remained single in the age-group
terms of population who remained
45-49 may be considered virtually absent in Nepal.
single in the age-group 45-49 may be
The proportion of single men and women in the
considered virtually absent in Nepal.
age-group 45-49 were less than two and one
percent respectively in 1961, 1971, 1991 and 2001. Only in 1981, these figures increased to 7 and
3 percent for males and females respectively. This may be considered an exception rather than
the rule.
286
7.4.2 Singulate Mean Age at Marriage
The reduction in the proportion of

Data show a steady increase in singulate mean age
married people on the one hand and
at marriage over the last four decades and this
rise in the proportion of single people conclusion holds for males and females, ecological
on the other, particularly in the younger zones and most of the development regions. The
age-groups, resulted in increasing the singulate mean age at marriage has been and
mean age at marriage. In the absence continues to remain higher for males than females
of a direct question on the age at although the difference is somewhat attenuated over
marriage in the censuses, except for the the 40 years period (1961-2001).
last decennial census in 2001, we have made an indirect estimate of mean age at marriage by the
Hajnal Technique known as Singulate Mean Age at Marriage (SMAM). This is computed from
the proportion who are single, that is never married, in each age-group. The data are presented in
Table 7.6.
Table 7.6 : Singulate mean age at marriage (in years) by sex, Nepal, census years 1961-
2001.
Singulate Mean Age at Marriage
Sex 2001-1961
1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Difference in SMAM
Males 19.5 20.8 20.7 21.4 22.9 3.4
Females 15.4 16.8 17.2 18.1 19.5 4.1
Male-Female Difference in SMAM 4.1 4 3.5 3.3 3.4 -0.7
There shows a steady increase in the singulate mean age at marriage from 1961 to 2001. The
values of SMAM have increased by 3 years for males and 4 years for females since 1961 and
these are in 2001 about 23 years for males and 20 years for females. Data show a definite decline
in male-female differences in SMAM from 4 years during the early three decades (1961-1991) to
3 years during the immediate last two decades (1991-2001).
The Singulate Mean Age at Marriage (SMAM) varies by rural/urban residence, ecological zone
and development region (see Table 7.7).
287
Table 7.7: Singulate mean age at marriage (in years) by rural/urban residence and
regions for Nepal, 1991 and 2001
Singulate Mean Age at Marriage
2001-1991
1991 2001
Residence Difference in SMAM
Male-Female Male-Female
Difference Difference
Urban 23.5 19.6 3.9 24.5 20.7 3.8 1.0 1.1

Rural 21.1 17.9 3.2 22.5 19.3 3.2 1.4 1.4
Urban-Rural
difference in SMAM 2.4 1.7 2 1.4
Ecological Zones
Mountain 21.9 18.6 3.3 22.1 19.6 2.5 0.2 1
Hill 22.2 18.9 3.3 23.4 20.2 3.2 1.2 1.3
Terai 20.6 17.0 3.6 22.5 18.9 3.6 1.9 1.9
Development Regions
Eastern 22.5 19.2 3.3 23.7 20.3 3.4 1.2 1.1
Central 21.3 17.7 3.6 23.1 19.5 3.6 1.8 1.8
Western 21.2 18.0 3.2 22.7 19.5 3.2 1.5 1.5
Mid-Western 20.7 17.6 3.1 21.8 18.9 2.9 1.1 1.3
Far-Western 20.4 16.9 3.5 21.8 18.5 3.3 1.4 1.6
Source : CBS 1995, CBS 2002 National Report.
7.4.3 Rural/Urban Differences in Singulate Mean Age at Marriage
The Singulate Mean Age at Marriage is higher in urban than in rural areas and remains unchanged
during the last two decades. However, both rural and urban areas registered an increase in
singulate mean age at marriage by at least one year during the last two decades (1991-2001) and
this holds good for both males and females. Mean age at marriage has been and continues to
remain higher for males than females by 3 years in rural and 4 years in urban areas during the last
two decades (1991-2001). Male-female differences in mean age at marriage continues to remain
higher in urban than in rural areas during the last two decades (see Table 7.7).
7.4.4 Variation in Singulate Mean Age at Marriage: Ecological and

Development Region
The singulate mean age at marriage (SMAM) has been and continues to remain higher for males
than females by 3-4 years in all ecological zones and development regions during the last two
decades. Data however show an increase in SMAM in all ecological zones and development
regions by at least one year for both males and females, except for males in the Mountain during
the last intercensal period. SMAM for males in the Mountain increased marginally by 0.2 years
during the last intercensal period. Among the ecological zones, the Terai has experienced the
288
highest increase in SMAM by 2.0 years for both males and females while the Mountain
experienced the lowest increase.
The rank-order of the ecological zones with regard to singulate mean age at marriage by sex
remained almost unchanged during last intercensal period (1991 to 2001), excepting that the Terai
moved to second position and the Mountain moved to third position with regard to male singulate
mean age marriage.
Among the development regions, the highest increase in SMAM was observed in the Central
Development region by about two years, while the Eastern and Far-Western Development region
experienced the lowest increase and this holds true for both males and females. The rank-order of
the development regions in respect of singulate mean age at marriage remained unchanged during
the last intercensal period.
7.5 Intercensal Changes: Widowhood
There has been a considerable decline in the proportion The percentage distribution of
of widowed persons over the last four decades, indicating widowers and widows by five year age-
declining mortality. The proportion of widows exceed group for the census years (1961-2001)
that of widowers at every age group. is presented in Annex 7.2. Examination
of the table shows the following pattern of widowhood and its change over time: (i) the proportion
of the widowed tends to
Figure 7.3: Percent of men and women widowed by age, Nepal
increase with age reaching for 1961 and 2001 censuses
its peak in the highest age

70
60 and above (see Figure
60
7.3). This is expected in
view of greater risk of 50
mortality at higher ages and

40
Percent
its variation by sex; (ii)

30
there is a sharp reduction in
the proportion widowed at 20
every age-group during the

10
period 1961 to 2001. For
0
instance, the proportion 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60+
Age-group
widowed declined by
1961 Males 1961 Females 2001 Males 2001 Females
lowest 62 percent at age 60
289
years and above to highest 86 percent at age-group 20-24. The corresponding decline among
widowers ranges between lowest 63 percent at age 60 years and above and highest 91 percent at
age-group 25-29. The average decline reflecting to a large extent the declining mortality; (iii)
proportion of widows exceeds that of widowers at every age-group. For instance, 25 percent of
women aged 60 years and above were widowed in 2001. The corresponding figure for males was
only 9 percent. The glaring disparity in widowhood between men and women may be attributed
to higher chances of re-marriage among the former than among the latter. About 8 percent of
older men compared to only 4-5 percent of older women aged 60 years and above were reported
to be re-married in 2001. Also spouses of the former are younger by 3-4 years on average and
hence wives have a higher chance of survival than their husband.
7.6 Intercensal Changes : Proportion Divorced/Separated
Annex 7.3
Figure 7.4: Percent of men and women divorced/separated by age,
presents data on Nepal for 1961 and 2001 censuses
the percentage
0.8
distribution of
divorced/separa 0.7
ted persons by
0.6
age and sex for
the census
0.5
years 1961-
Percent
2001. The 0.4
proportion of
0.3
divorced/separa
ted accounts for 0.2
a small fraction
of the total 0.1
number of
0
people who 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60+
have ever Age-group
married and 1961 Males 1961 Females 2001 Males 2001 Females
also showed a
decline during the last intercensal period (1991-2001) for all age-groups and for both males and
females. However, compared to 1961, the proportion of divorced and/or separated increased
among females, particularly for those aged 40 and above, while this has declined among men
across all age-groups (see Figure 7.4).
290
7.7 Variation in Marital Pattern
7.7.1 Rural/Urban Differences in Marital Pattern
Table 7.8 presents data on the distribution

The proportion of ever married persons, both
of ever and never married persons by rural
males and females, are higher in urban than in
and urban areas. An examination of the
rural areas and this remains almost unchanged
table shows that the proportion married for
during the last intercensal period. Mean age at
both males and females is higher in rural
areas than in urban areas. Conversely, a marriage is higher in urban than in rural areas.
higher proportion of single in urban than in rural areas for both males and females. And these
findings hold good even when allowance is made for the effect of the variation in age distribution
over time and between rural and urban areas (see standardized rates in Table 7.8). The rural-
urban differences in the proportion married remains almost unchanged over the last intercensal
period. This is also reflected in rural-urban differences in mean age at marriage. The estimated
singulate mean age at marriage (SMAM) is found to be higher in urban than in rural areas and this
holds for the both males and females and for each census year under the study. These values in
2001 were 24.5 and 20.7 for males and females respectively in urban areas. The corresponding
figures for males and females were 22.5 and 19.3 respectively in rural areas.
Table 7.8 : Percentage distribution of population aged 10 years and above by marital
status and sex, Nepal by rural and urban areas 1991-2001.
1991 2001
Marital Status Both Areas Rural Areas Urban Areas Both Areas Rural Areas Urban Areas
by Sex Standar- Standar- Standar- Standar- Standar- Standar-
Percent dized Percent dized Percent dized Percent dized Percent dized Percent dized
Percent* Percent* Percent* Percent* Percent* Percent*
Male 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Never Married 35.7 35.7 34.9 34.9 41.9 41.0 39.2 39.2 38.6 38.3 42.7 43.3
Married 60.6 60.4 61.1 61.1 55.6 56.1 58.5 58.5 59.1 59.4 55.5 54.8
Widowed 3.0 3.0 3.1 3.1 1.6 2.0 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.4 0.8 1.0
Divorced/
Separated 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
Unknown 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8
Female 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
ever Married 25.7 25.9 25.2 25.4 31.0 30.8 30.3 30.3 29.9 29.6 32.6 33.8
Married 65.7 65.2 66.2 65.8 61.3 60.4 65.5 65.5 65.8 66.1 63.2 61.6
Widowed 7.2 7.5 7.3 7.5 6.2 7.2 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.6 3.5 3.8
Divorced/
Separated 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4
Unknown 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4
* Standardized on the basis of 2001 age-distribution for the population of Nepal aged 10 years and above.
Source : CBS, 1995; CBS 2002 National Report
291
7.7.2 Regional Differences in Marital Pattern: Ecological Zones
Tables 7.9 and 7.10 presents data on the

Among the ecological zones Terai occupies the
distribution of ever married persons by ecological lowest position in regard to the proportion single
zones of the country. Confining the analysis to the and highest in regard to the proportion married.
Conversely, the Hill occupies the highest
standardized rates it may be observed that the
position in regard to the proportion single and
proportion of ever married is lowest in the Hill for lowest in regard to the proportion married.
both males and females and highest in the Terai,
particularly for females (see Table 7.9). The Mountain and Hill hold the intermediary position
with regard to the proportion of ever married males. Conversely, the proportion of single people
is highest in the Hill, for both males and females and lowest in the Terai, particularly for females
(see Table 7.10).
The estimated singulate mean age at marriage in 2001 for females was 20.2, 19.6 and 18.9 for the
Hill, Mountain and Terai respectively. The corresponding figures for males were 23.4, 22.1 and
22.5 respectively (see Table 7.7).
Table 7.9 : Ever-married persons as proportion of total population 10 years of age and
over and sex for different ecological zones Nepal, census year 2001.
Nepal Mountain Hill Terai
Age Group
Males Females Males Females Males Females Males Females
10-14 Years 0.8 1.8 0.7 1.2 0.5 0.8 1.1 2.9
15-19 Years 11.9 33.6 13.4 32.9 9.2 27.3 14.2 40.3
20-24 Years 48.1 78.6 57.1 79.3 45.0 74.6 49.8 82.4
25-29 Years 81.6 94.4 85.6 93.0 79.0 92.7 83.1 96.1
30-34 Years 94.1 97.4 93.4 96.0 93.3 96.4 94.8 98.4
35-39 Years 96.9 98.2 95.9 97.0 96.5 97.5 97.4 99.0
40-44 Years 97.6 98.4 96.2 97.5 97.3 97.8 98.0 99.2
45-49 Years 98.0 98.6 96.8 98.0 97.9 98.0 98.2 99.3
50-54 Years 98.1 97.9 96.9 97.6 98.0 97.7 98.2 98.3
55-59 Years 98.2 98.1 97.8 97.9 98.1 97.9 98.4 98.3
60-64 Years 98.0 97.6 97.0 97.0 98.0 97.7 98.0 97.7
65+ Years 97.6 97.0 97.3 96.4 97.9 97.4 97.4 96.6
All Ages 10 Years
and Above* 60.1 69.4 61.5 68.4 58.1 66.9 61.6 72.0
Standardized 10
Years and Above** 60.1 69.4 61.3 68.8 58.9 67.5 61.0 71.5
** Standardized on the basis of 2001 age distribution for the population of Nepal aged 10 years
and above.
292
Table 7.10 : Never-married persons as proportion of total population 10 years of age and
over and sex for different ecological zones Nepal, census year 2001.

Age Group
Males Females Males Females Males Females Males Females
10-14 Years 99.2 98.2 99.3 98.8 99.5 99.2 98.9 97.1
15-19 Years 87.1 66.0 85.7 66.7 90.1 72.4 84.5 59.3
20-24 Years 49.4 21.0 41.1 20.5 53.0 25.1 47.2 17.2
25-29 Years 18.1 5.6 14.3 6.9 20.7 7.3 16.6 3.9
30-34 Years 5.7 2.6 6.3 4.0 6.5 3.6 4.9 1.6
35-39 Years 2.8 1.8 3.9 3.0 3.3 2.4 2.2 1.0
40-44 Years 2.0 1.5 3.5 2.4 2.3 2.1 1.5 0.8
45-49 Years 1.5 1.2 2.8 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.1 0.6
50-54 Years 1.4 1.3 2.6 1.9 1.6 1.8 1.1 0.7
55-59 Years 1.3 1.0 1.8 1.5 1.6 1.4 1.1 0.6
60-64 Years 1.4 1.1 2.3 1.9 1.5 1.4 1.2 0.7
65+ Years 1.4 1.2 1.8 1.9 1.5 1.5 1.3 0.8
All Ages 10 Years

and Above* 39.2 30.3 38.0 31.3 41.3 32.8 37.5 27.6
Standardized 10
Years and Above** 39.2 30.3 38.2 31.0 40.5 32.3 38.2 28.1
Source : Same as in Table 4.
* Same as in Table 9.
** Same as in Table 9.
7.7.3 Regional Differences in Marital Pattern: Development Region
The marital structure and its changes over a period of time were also examined for the
development regions. Tables 11 and 12 present data on the distribution of ever and never married
persons by development regions for the census year 2001.
293
Table 7.11 : Ever-married persons as proportion of total population 10 years of age and
over and sex for different development regions Nepal, census year 2001.
Eastern Dev. Central Dev. Western Dev. Mid-Western Dev. Far-Western Dev.
Age Group Region Region Region Region Region
Males Females Males Females Males Females Males Females Males Females
10-14 Years 0.4 0.9 0.9 2.4 1.2 2.4 0.8 1.4 0.7 1.3
15-19 Years 8.6 27.9 11.7 34.4 12.4 32.3 16.5 39.5 14.1 40.0
20-24 Years 41.4 72.1 45.8 77.4 48.6 80.0 60.1 84.5 57.8 88.3
25-29 Years 78.4 92.2 79.5 94.0 84.0 95.2 86.7 96.1 87.9 98.0
30-34 Years 92.9 96.1 93.8 97.6 94.5 97.4 94.9 98.2 96.4 98.9
35-39 Years 96.5 97.4 97.0 98.4 97.0 98.2 96.9 98.7 97.5 99.5
40-44 Years 97.7 97.8 97.7 98.5 97.5 98.5 96.9 98.9 97.6 99.3
45-49 Years 98.2 98.1 98.0 98.6 97.9 98.6 97.8 99.0 97.9 99.5
50-54 Years 98.1 97.5 98.0 98.0 98.1 98.2 97.9 98.0 98.1 98.3
55-59 Years 98.5 97.8 98.2 98.2 98.1 98.2 97.8 97.8 98.4 98.2
60-64 Years 98.2 97.6 97.7 97.5 98.0 98.1 97.8 97.7 98.5 96.8
65+ Years 97.9 96.7 97.4 97.1 97.9 97.3 97.2 96.8 97.4 96.4
All Ages 10 Years
and Above* 58.9 67.4 60.9 70.7 59.3 69.3 61.0 69.1 60.2 70.5
Standardized 10
Years and Above** 58.4 67.1 59.6 69.5 60.6 69.7 62.6 71.3 62.3 72.2
** Standardized on the basis of the 2001 age distribution for the population of Nepal aged 10 years
and above.
It may be observed that the proportion of those Among the development region, the Eastern
Development region occupies the lowest position in
who are ever married is lowest in the Eastern
regard to the proportion ever married but highest in
Development region, and highest in the Far- regard to the proportion single. Conversely, the Far-
Western and Mid-Western Development regions
Western Development region and Mid-Western
occupy the highest in regard to the proportion
Development region for both females and married but lowest in regard to the proportion
males respectively (see Table 7.11). Conversely, the proportion of single people is highest in the
Eastern development region and lowest in the Far-Western Development region for both males
and females. The Central and Western Development regions occupy the intermediary position
(see Table 7.12).
294
Table 7.12 : Never-married persons as proportion of total population 10 years of age and
over and sex for different Development regions Nepal, census year 2001.
Eastern Central Western Mid-Western Far-Western

Age Group
Males Females Males Females Males Females Males Females Males Females
10-14 Years 99.6 99.1 99.1 97.6 98.8 97.6 99.2 98.6 99.3 98.7
15-19 Years 90.6 71.9 87.1 65.2 86.8 67.5 82.3 60.0 84.6 59.5
20-24 Years 56.3 27.6 51.5 22.1 49.0 19.6 37.7 15.2 39.2 11.3
25-29 Years 21.4 7.8 20.3 6.0 15.8 4.8 13.0 3.9 11.8 2.0
30-34 Years 6.9 3.9 6.0 2.4 5.3 2.6 4.8 1.8 3.2 1.0
35-39 Years 3.2 2.6 2.7 1.6 2.7 1.7 2.8 1.3 2.0 0.5
40-44 Years 2.0 2.2 1.9 1.4 2.1 1.5 2.4 1.0 1.7 0.6
45-49 Years 1.5 1.8 1.5 1.3 1.7 1.2 1.6 0.8 1.2 0.4
50-54 Years 1.5 1.8 1.4 1.3 1.5 1.2 1.4 0.9 1.1 0.7
55-59 Years 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.0 1.4 1.1 1.7 0.9 0.9 0.3
60-64 Years 1.3 1.2 1.5 1.3 1.6 1.1 1.2 0.8 0.9 0.8
65+ Years 1.3 1.4 1.6 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.6 0.9 1.2 0.8
All ages 10 Years
and above* 40.5 32.3 38.4 29.0 40.1 30.4 38.2 30.5 38.8 29.0
Standardized 10
Years and above** 41.0 32.6 39.7 30.2 38.8 30.1 36.7 28.3 36.7 27.4
* Same as in Table 7.11.
** Same as in Table 7.11.
The mean age at marriage for both males and females was found to be lowest in the Far Western
Development Region, followed by Mid Western Development Region, while these were found to
be highest in the Eastern Development Region. The Central and Western Development Region
occupied the intermediary position. These values in 2001 for males were 23.7, 23.1, 22.7, 21.8
and 21.8 in the Eastern, Central, Western, Mid-Western and Far- Western Development regions
respectively. The corresponding figures for females were 20.3, 19.5, 19.5, 18.9 and 18.5
respectively.
7.8 Intercensal Changes in The Marital Distribution by

Development Region
Table 7.13 presents data on the intercensal changes in marital distribution. Examination of the
table reveals a noticeable intercensal changes in the marital distribution in which all development
regions experienced decline in the proportion of those ever married with a corresponding increase
295
in the proportion of single people and this holds good for both males and females. In this process
of change, the Central Development region, followed by the Eastern Development are in the
forefront, while the Mid-Western Development region is lagging behind.
Table 7.13 : Percentage distribution of population aged 10 years and above by marital
status and sex and by development region, Nepal, census year 1981-2001.
Ever Married* Never Married*
Sex/Regions % Standardized % % Standardized %
% %
Change Rate** Change Change Rate** Change
1981 2001 1981 2001 1981 2001 1981 2001
Males
Eastern 62.4 58.9 -5.6 62.0 58.4 -5.8 37.6 40.6 7.7 38.0 41.0 7.9
Central 66.1 60.9 -7.9 63.9 59.6 -6.7 33.9 38.4 13.3 36.1 39.7 9.9
Western 64.7 59.3 -8.2 62.9 60.6 -3.7 35.4 40.1 13.9 37.1 38.8 4.6
Mid-Western 65.3 61.0 -6.6 63.9 62.6 -2.0 34.7 38.2 10.1 36.1 36.7 1.7
Far-Western 67.0 60.2 -10.1 64.4 62.3 -3.3 32.9 38.8 17.9 35.7 36.7 3.1
Females
Eastern 73.5 67.4 -6.0 72.8 67.1 -7.8 26.6 32.3 21.8 27.3 32.6 19.4
Central 78.5 70.7 -7.9 75.7 69.5 -8.2 21.5 29.0 35.3 24.4 30.2 24.2
Western 76.7 69.3 -7.4 74.2 69.7 -6.1 23.3 30.4 30.5 25.8 30.1 16.7
Mid-Western 76.2 69.1 -7.1 74.1 71.3 -3.8 23.8 30.5 28.6 25.9 28.3 9.3
Far-Western 89.8 70.5 -19.2 76.1 72.2 -5.1 10.2 29.9 184.3 23.9 27.4 14.6
** Standardized on the basis of the 2001 age distribution for the population of Nepal aged 10 years and
above.
7.9. District Level Variation
We have so far presented data on age at marriage at national and regional level. However, this
picture at aggregate level may conceal variation in mean age at marriage within the country and
also within a region. What is true for the country or for a region may not be true for its
constituents. In order to get a clue to this variation we have calculated the singulate mean age
marriage at the district level. Analysis of variation in mean age at marriage at district level may
also help us to identify factors affecting nuptiality more appropriately by relating the
characteristics of a district to its level of nuptiality. Annexes 7.4 and 7.5 present data on the
singulate mean age at marriage by district for male and female for the year 1981 and 2001.
296
Examination of data reveals a shift in rank-order
Data reveal a shift in rank-order of the
of the districts in respect of mean age at marriage
districts in respect of mean age at
between the last two decades. The singulate
marriage between the last two decades.
mean age at marriage for male is found to be
highest in Kathmandu followed by Mustang and lowest in Rolpa in 2001. Kathmandu moved up
from 19th position in 1981 to first position in 2001, while Mustang moved down from first
position in 1981 to second position in 2001 and Rolpa moved down from 25th position in 1981 to
75th position in 2001. The singulate mean age at marriage for female is found to be highest in
Manang and lowest in Rautahat in 2001. Comparing 1981 with 2001, we find Manang is holding
on to the first position in both 1981 and 2001 in respect of female mean age at marriage.
However, Rautahat moved down the scale from 70th position in 1981 to 75th position in 2001. It
would be an interesting exercise to understand the underlying factors affecting high and low
nuptiality and intercensal changes in district level nuptiality.
7.10 Nuptiality Index
Various other summary

Examination of nuptiality indexes between intercensal period
indexes of nuptiality have been
confirms continuation of universal marriage in Nepal.
calculated from census data to
However, proportion married is declining slowly but steadily
measure the changing pattern
with corresponding increase in the proportion single. But the
of nuptiality over a period of
dampening effect of rising proportion of single on fertility is,
time and also to show inter-
to some extent, counteracted by decreasing widowed.
regional difference in marriage
patterns in Nepal. The indexes include the proportion married (Im), the proportion single (Is), the
proportion separated (Ip), the proportion divorced (Id) and the proportion widowed (Iw). The
indexes (Is, Id, Ip and Iw) are the components of the reciprocal of the index proportion of women
married (Im). The index Im (proportion of women married) was originally developed by Coale
(1970). This was further broadened by Hull and Saladi (1977) in an attempt to broaden its use.
These indexes indicate the distribution of women of reproductive age of various marital status
which are weighted according to the Hutterite Schedule of age specific fertility which is meant to
represent an approximate weighting for potential fecundity patterns. In other words, these indexes
reflect not only the marriage pattern of women but also their marital status with regard to its
potential effect on fertility. For example, the index proportion divorced (Id) will be inflated if
these women are predominantly young and presumably fecund. That is to say – what would be
297
the potential effect of divorce on reducing fertility, if it is among younger than older women. The
coefficients of these indexes are presented in Table 7.14.
Examination of table reveals that 80 percent of women of presumable reproductive potential are
currently married – which once again confirms that marriage is universal in Nepal. The finding
indicates that 80 percent of the reproductive potential is realized through the present marriage
pattern assuming few or no births outside legal marriage. About 19 percent of potential fertility is
reduced because of the fact that not all women are married but approximately 19 percent are still
single. The remaining 1 percent of the reduction is attributed to the dissolution of marriage.
Among the indexes of marriage dissolution the index of widowhood is consistently higher than
the proportion divorced/separated.
However, it should be noted that even though four-fifth of women of presumed reproductive
potential are currently married, the Im has been falling slowly but consistently over the years from
0.884 in 1961 to 0.801 in 2001. The falling Im is the result of rising Is, which is counteracted to
some extent by decreasing widowhood (Iw). The proportion of single people (Is) has increased by
234 percent, from 0.056 in 1961 to 0.187 in 2001, while the proportion of widowed (Iw) declined
by 88 percent, from 0.056 in 1981 to 0.007 in 2001. Even though the decline of Iw falls short of
the increase in Is, the former is likely to dampen some what the potential fertility control effect of
the rapidly rising Is.
The changing pattern of marriage as observed above for the country as a whole also holds good
for different regions of the country, although there are some interesting regional variations in
these patterns.
7.10.1 Rural/Urban Differences in Nuptiality Indexes
Nuptiality pattern, at least with respect to the indexes of the proportion married (Im) and the
proportion single (Is), varies between rural and urban areas (see Table 7.19). The proportion
married is higher in rural than in urban areas. The value of Im varies from a high 0.811 in rural
area to a low 0.750 in urban area in 2001. Conversely, the proportion single in urban areas
exceeds that of rural areas. This value (Is) ranges from 0.238 in urban area to 0.177 in rural area.
The proportion widowed (Iw) is marginally higher in rural area than in urban area. There is no
rural/urban difference in regard to the proportion divorced and separated. Data show no
significant reduction in rural-urban gap regarding the proportions of married and single people
over the years.
298
Table 7.14: Nuptiality indexes for Nepal, rural urban areas, geographic and development
regions.
Region,
Proporti Proportion Proportion Proportion Proportion Proportion Not
Zone and
Year on Single Married Widowed Divorced Seperated Currently
Rural/Urban
(Is) (Im) (Iw) (Id) (Ip) Married (Iu)
Areas
1961 0.056 0.884 0.056 NA NA 0.116
1971 0.085 0.881 0.031 NA NA 0.119
NEPAL 1981 0.126 0.854 0.016 NA NA 0.146
1991 0.123 0.844 0.016 0.002 0.004 0.156
2001 0.187 0.801 0.007 0.001 0.002 0.197
Rural/Urban Residence
1981 0.122 0.857 0.017 0.004 0.000 0.143
Rural 1991 0.126 0.851 0.016 0.003 0.004 0.149
2001 0.177 0.811 0.008 0.001 0.002 0.188
1981 0.189 0.795 0.013 0.003 0.000 0.205
Urban 1991 0.209 0.773 0.012 0.002 0.004 0.227
2001 0.238 0.750 0.007 0.001 0.002 0.248
Ecological Zones
Mountain 1981 0.168 0.808 0.018 0.006 0.000 0.192
1991 0.155 0.815 0.02 0.01 0.006 0.185
2001 0.197 0.789 0.008 0.004 0.002 0.210
Hill 1981 0.163 0.817 0.015 0.005 0.000 0.183
1991 0.172 0.805 0.015 0.008 0.000 0.195
2001 0.221 0.767 0.007 0.004 0.002 0.232
1981 0.076 0.903 0.018 0.003 0.000 0.097
Terai 1991 0.095 0.884 0.015 0.006 0.004 0.116
2001 0.153 0.835 0.008 0.003 0.002 0.163
Development Regions
1981 0.151 0.827 0.017 0.005 0.000 0.173
Eastern 1991 0.177 0.799 0.016 0.008 0.000 0.201
2001 0.221 0.767 0.007 0.003 0.000 0.232
1981 0.111 0.868 0.017 0.004 0.000 0.132
Central 1991 0.122 0.858 0.014 0.006 0.000 0.142
2001 0.181 0.807 0.007 0.003 0.000 0.191
1981 0.133 0.848 0.015 0.004 0.000 0.152
Western 1991 0.137 0.842 0.014 0.006 0.000 0.158
2001 0.190 0.798 0.007 0.004 0.000 0.200
1981 0.124 0.854 0.017 0.005 0.000 0.146
Mid-Western 1991 0.115 0.859 0.017 0.009 0.004 0.141
2001 0.162 0.823 0.008 0.005 0.002 0.175
1981 0.102 0.881 0.015 0.002 0.000 0.119
Far-Western 1991 0.084 0.888 0.023 0.005 0.000 0.112
2001 0.142 0.844 0.010 0.002 0.000 0.154
Source : CBS 1995; CBS 2002 National Report.
Note: NA = Not available.
299
7.10.2 Variation in Nuptiality Indexes: Geographic Zones
The data show a considerable variation in the marital pattern by geographic zones. For example,
the proportion married ranges from a low 0.767 in the Hill to a high 0.835 in the Terai. The
Mountain occupies the intermediary position. Conversely, the proportion single (Is) in the Hill is
44 percent higher than that of the corresponding proportion in the Terai. The value of Is ranges
from 0.221 in the Hill to 0.197 and 0.153 in the Mountain and Terai respectively. There is hardly
any difference among geographical zones in the values of Iw (proportion widowed) and Id and Ip
(proportion divorced and separated) and these values are also very insignificant (see Table 7.14).
7.10.3 Variation in Nuptiality Indexes: Development Regions
Data in Table 7.14 show a good deal of variation in the proportion of the single (Is) and married
(Im) among regions, indicating some alternative patterns of delayed marriage existing in Nepal.
The proportion of single (Is) ranges from a high 0.221 in the Eastern Development region to a low
0.142 in the Far-Western Development region. Conversely, the proportion of married ranges
from a low 0.767 in the Eastern development region to a high 0.844 in the Far-Western
Development region. The data show that more than three-quarters of women of presumed
reproductive potential are currently married in each region.
There is hardly any noticeable difference among the regions in regard to the proportion widowed
(Iw). The value of Iw varies between 0.007 in the Eastern, Central and Western Development
regions to 0.008 and 0.010 in the Mid-Western and Far-Western Development region
respectively. The proportion of divorced and separated (Id + Ip) account for a very small
proportion of ever married women. It ranges within a narrow range of 0.002 – 0.005, with a high
0.005 in the Mid-Western Development region and a low 0.002 in the Far-Western Development
region.
7.10.4 The Coale Model for First Marriage
Coale's (1971) nuptiality indices are also employed to measure the changing pattern of nuptiality
over time. These indices comprise of three parameters: ao, (age at which a significant number of
marriages takes place), k (pace of marriage) and c (ultimate proportion ever married). The value
of these indices are given in Table 7.15.
300
Table 7.15 : Coale's nuptiality parameters (females) for 1981 and 2001 censuses.
1981 2001
Area
a0 k c a0 k c
NEPAL 12.18 0.491 0.9615 12.83 0.60 0.9908
Development Regions
Eastern 12.53 0.600 0.9611 12.33 0.73 0.9976
Central 12.15 0.467 0.9641 12.33 0.65 0.9999
Western 12.09 0.502 0.9564 13.33 0.55 0.9952
Mid-Western 12.41 0.453 0.9529 12.83 0.52 0.9898
Far-Western 11.67 0.427 0.9405 13.83 0.42 0.9921
Source : CBS 1987, CBS 2002 National Report.
Data reveal a small but positive shift in the age at which a significant number of marriages takes
places (ao), from 12.2 in 1981 to 12.8 in 2001. This shift is noted in almost every region of the
country, expect Eastern Development region. Data also show an expansion of the period in which
the marriages take place (k), from 0.49 in 1981 to 0.60 in 2001 – indicating a change in the pace
of marriage. The expansion in k values is also noted in almost all development regions, except
Far-Western Development region. However, "c" value not only remained high but has also
increased during the last two decades (1981-2001), confirming that marriage not only remaining
universal but also the ultimate proportion who have ever married increased. This may be
attributed to declining proportion of widowed.
7.11 The Effect of Education on Nuptiality
One would expect to find a positive association between educational attainment and literacy on
the one hand and age at marriage on the other. There are several mechanisms through which
education may positively effect the age at marriage: (i) longer schooling may involuntarily delay
the age at marriage; (ii) work opportunities increase with the level of education. Educated boys
and girls may join labour force outside the home. And employment outside the home may foster
interests in non-formal activities which may compete with marriage and consequently lead to a
postponement of marriage; and (iii) educated boys and girls may also consider early age at
marriage as an obstacle to achieving social and economic mobility and therefore may postpone
their marriages until they have a stable career path and a permanent source of income. And this
process could delay the age at marriage of educated boys and girls. Data tend to support the
hypothesized relationship between education and nuptiality.
301
7.11.1 Literacy and Age at Marriage
Table 7.16 examines the effect of education on age at marriage. It may be observed that literate
men and women have a higher singulate age at marriage than their counterparts. This relationship
is more pronounced among females than males. For men the singulate mean age at marriage is
21.2 for the illiterate and 23.6 for the literate. The corresponding figures for women are 17.6 and
20.8 respectively.
This literate and illiterate differences in mean age at marriage is also reflected in age standardized
proportion of single people. For example, age standardized proportion of single people is 35.7 for
the illiterate men and 40.4 for their literate counterparts. The corresponding figures for women
are 25.0 and 34.2 respectively. From the preceding findings it may be noted that the differences
in the nuptiality pattern observed between literate men and their illiterate counterparts are less
marked when compared to those observed between literate women and their illiterate
counterparts. It indicates that literacy seems to affect female nuptiality more strongly than men's.
7.11.2 Educational Attainment and Age at Marriage
Data show a discontinuous relationship between the level of education and nuptiality in which
singulate mean age at marriage increases with the increase in level of education, although not
significantly, from no formal education category to primary level for both men and women.
However, the mean age at marriage rises substantially beyond the lower secondary level for both
men and women, particularly for the former. For men the age at marriage rises from 21 for those
with primary education to 22 and 25 for those who completed lower secondary and secondary and
higher secondary level education respectively. The female age at marriage rises from 19 for those
with primary education to 20 and 22 for those who completed lower secondary and secondary and
higher level education respectively.
The standardized proportion of single people also increases with the level of education,
particularly beyond the primary level for both men and women, especially for the former. The
standardized proportion of single people among men rises from 35.6 percent for those with no
formal schooling to 36.2, 38 and 43 percent for those with primary, lower secondary and
secondary and higher secondary level education respectively. The corresponding figures among
women are 28, 30, 33 and 38 respectively.
302
Table 7.16 : Percent of men and women never married and singulate mean age at marriage
by level of literacy and educational attainment, Nepal census year 2001.
No Lower Secondary
Total Illiterate Total Literate Primary
Age Group Schooling Secondary & Above
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
10-14 Years 98.9 96.5 99.6 99.4 99.3 98.5 99.7 99.5 99.5 99.4 99.3 99.5
15-19 Years 77.2 45.3 91.5 78.5 79.8 56.7 86.8 69.3 92.3 81.2 94.1 84.7
20-24 Years 33.6 8.5 54.4 31.1 35.8 14.0 33.5 16.3 41.2 20.5 66.6 44.2
25-29 Years 12.0 2.8 20.4 8.7 10.8 5.0 9.9 4.9 11.5 5.2 28.1 13.0
30-34 Years 6.0 1.7 5.3 3.7 3.9 2.7 3.5 2.3 3.3 2.7 6.7 5.3
35-39 Years 4.0 1.3 2.0 2.4 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.7 2 1.8 2.1 3.7
40-44 Years 3.2 1.2 1.1 1.9 1.4 1.6 1.4 1.3 0.8 1.2 0.9 3.2
45-49 Years 2.3 1.1 0.9 1.8 1.3 1.2 1.0 1.4 0.6 1.0 0.7 3.3
50-54 Years 2.1 1.1 0.7 2.2 0.7 1.4 0.7 1.4 0.6 1.8 0.6 4.6
55-59 Years 1.9 0.9 0.8 2.3 0.7 2.0 0.9 1.7 0.8 1.6 0.6 5.1
60-64 Years 1.8 1.1 0.7 2.3 0.8 1.7 0.6 2.3 0.2 1.7 0.8 4.0
65+ Years 1.7 1.0 1.1 1.9 0.9 1.9 1.3 1.0 1.1 1.5 1.4 3.1
Total 19.2 12.7 49.9 54.5 11.6 16.3 65.5 70.2 59.9 61.5 40.0 43.0
Standardized for
Age* 35.7 25.0 40.4 34.2 35.6 28.1 36.2 30.3 37.9 32.6 43.0 38.0
Singulate Mean
Age at Marriage 21.2 17.6 23.6 20.8 21.4 18.7 21.6 19.4 22.4 20.2 24.8 21.7
Male-Female
Difference 3.6 2.8 2.7 2.2 2.2 3.1
Source : CBS 2003 (sample raw data).
*Standardized on the basis of 2001 population.
Note: Percentages are based on unweighted sample data.
Male-female differences in age at marriage is higher among illiterate (4.0 years) compared to
literate people (3.0 years) by about one year. However, data show no systematic relationship
between the level of education and male-female difference in age at marriage. The difference
between men and women in age at marriage decreases from 3.0 years for those with no schooling
to 2.0 years for those with primary education and then it remains unchanged from primary to
lower secondary level. But it rises to 3.0 years for the secondary and higher secondary group.
This unexpected increase in male-female difference in age at marriage at the higher level of
education (i.e., secondary and above) is due to increase in the age at marriage of the male by 2
years without a corresponding increase of the female age at marriage from lower to secondary and
higher level.
303
An important conclusion one draws from the above findings is that the effect of education on age
at marriage is greatest beyond the primary level. And this is also supported in other studies
conducted in Asia (see, Smith, 1976).
Data in Table 7.17 also show a significant increase in mean age at marriage at each level of
education, particularly beyond "no schooling" level during the last three decades (1981-2001).
For the nation as a whole, mean age at marriage increased by about 4 years among literate women
compared to one year among the illiterate women.
Table 7.17 : Intercensal changes (1981-2001) in mean age at marriage by level of education
and sex.
1981 2001 Change (in years)

Level of Education
Illiterate 20.0 16.7 21.2 17.6 1.2 0.9
Literate 20.1 17.3 23.6 20.8 3.5 3.5
No Schooling 20.8 18.1 21.4 18.7 0.60 0.60
Primary 20.4 17.9 21.6 19.4 1.20 1.50
Lower Secondary 21.1 19.9 22.4 20.2 1.30 0.30
Secondary and Higher Secondary 22.1 19.5 24.8 21.7 2.70 2.20
Source : CBS 1987, CBS 2003 (sample raw data).
7.12 The Effect of Changes in The Marriage Pattern on Fertility
The marriage pattern in Nepal has undergone considerable change during the inter-censal period
1961-2001. These changes are marked by the increasing proportion of single people resulting in
the increased mean age at marriage on the one hand and the falling proportion of widowed on the
other. Between 1961 and 2001, the proportion of single females has increased by 100 percent,
from 15 percent to 30 percent and the estimated mean age at marriage for females rose from 15.4
to 19.5, while the proportion widowed declined by 74 percent, from 14.3 percent to 3.7 percent.
These changes are likely to have counteracting effect on fertility. Increasing age at marriage will
have a depressing effect on fertility by limiting the number of younger women who are exposed to
pregnancy, while an increase in the number of widowhood has the opposite effect of increasing
the number of women exposed to the risk of pregnancy. This section examines the effect of the
changes of nuptiality pattern on fertility particularly the Crude Birth Rate (CBR) by comparing
the CBRs which would have resulted in 2001 if the proportions married and proportions widowed
had remained unchanged from 1961. And the results are presented in Table 7.18.
304
Table 7.18: Impact of changes in marital structure on birth rate.
CBR (2001) = 32
ECBR (2001) = 40
CBRW (2001) = 33
% change (CBRW - CBR) 2001 = (33-32) = 3%
% change (ECBR - CBR) 2001 = (40-32) = 20%
Where,
CBR (2001) = Estimated Crude Birth Rate in 2001.
ECBR (2001) = Estimated CBR in 2001 if the proportion married in 2001 had remained unchanged
from 1961.
CBRW (2001) = Estimated CBR in 2001 if the rate of widowhood in 2001 had remained unchanged
from 1961.
The formulae for these estimates are as follows:
 [(F) (MW)] [W) (PMW) (F)]

i-n i-n
CBR = -------------------- ; ECBR = --------------------
P P
W1 w
 [ ( ------ - -------) (EW) ] (F) +  [ (F) (MW) ]
i-n EW1 EW i-n
CBRW = --------------------------------------------------------------------
P
Where,

i-n = summation of the quantity for the i th through the n age groups.
F = marital age-specific fertility rate (estimated for 2001).
MW = number of married women (2001).
P = total population (2001).
W = number of women (2001).
PMW = percentage of married women in 1961.
W1 = number of widowed women in 1961.
w = number of widowed women in 2001.
EW1 = number of ever-married women in 1961.
EW = number of ever-married women in 2001.
It may be observed that the effect of increasing age at marriage on reducing fertility outweighs the
boosting effect of the declining proportion of widowed. If the proportions married in 2001 were
the same as were those in 1961 the CBR in 2001 would have been 40 instead of 32 – an
impressive reduction of CBR by 20 percent. Whereas, if the proportions widowed in 2001 were
305
the same as were those in 1961 the
Table 7.19: Estimated percentage change in
CBR would have been 3 percent lower births by age between 1961 and 2001 produced
than what is now the case. It shows that by shift in marital structure
the net impact of the increase in age at Age Group Percentage Change
15-19 - 53.8
marriage on the reduction of birth rate
20-24 - 15.6
still holds, although slightly attenuated, 25-29 - 20.0
even when allowance is made of the 30-34 + 2.0
counteracting effect of falling 35-39 + 7.2
40-44 + 16.5
incidence of widowhood on birth rate.
45-49 + 29.9
This has been further explored by
estimating the percentage change in births by age-group produced by the changes in marital
structure. The data are presented in Table 7.19.
It is to be noted that there has been a substantial decline in the number of births to younger
women aged 15-29 years due to increasing proportions of single girls in these ages in 2001. This
was followed by a slow but steady percentage increase in the number of births to women aged 30
years and older due to falling incidence of widowhood in 2001. The percentage decline in the
number of births to women aged 15-29 years was very impressive and sufficient to offset the
percentage increase in the number of births to women aged 30 years and above for the following
reasons: the contribution to the total number of births by younger women, particularly those in the
age-groups 20-24 and 25-29 is considerably higher than that of women in the higher age-groups
30-49 due to differences in age-specific fertility. As a result, the impact of increasing age at
marriage on the number of births is higher than that of the declining incidence of widowhood.
This finding points out that a significant increase in age at marriage can outweigh the boosting
effect of the falling incidence of widowhood on fertility, keeping other factors constant.
7.13 Summary of the Findings and Policy Implications
The salient findings may be summarized as follows:
Marriage pattern characterized by universal early age at marriage and absence of "celibacy"
remains almost unchanged. However, data show a slow but steady change in the composition of
population by marital status in which proportion of singles increased with a corresponding decline
in the proportion married. This has resulted in increase in mean age at marriage for both males
and females and this holds good for rural and urban areas, ecological zones and most of the
306
development regions. However, male-female differences, regional and district level variations in
mean age at marriage still hold. Mean age at marriage for males has been and continues to exceed
that of females in all regions and development regions. Likewise, mean age at marriage has been
and continues to remain higher in urban than in rural areas.
Data also reveal intercensal changes in regional and district level nuptiality. In this process of
changes in the marital distribution, the Central and Eastern Development regions and the districts
of Kathmandu and Manang are in the forefront, while the Mid-Western Development region, the
Terai zone and districts of Rolpa and Rautahat lagged behind.
Other salient findings include: increasing number of females among ever married persons,
practice of polygamy among a good proportion of people particularly males; significant decline in
widowhood, indicating improved mortality over the years; predominance of widows among
widowed persons, particularly at higher ages, increasing age at marriage with increasing
education and depressing effect of increasing age at marriage on fertility.
Some of these findings merit further probing and policy action. For example, the finding of more
females than males among currently married persons which is attributed to rise in emigration of
married males to foreign countries in search of jobs leaving behind their spouses may adversely
affect health; both mental and physical, and nutrition of wives and children, including education
of children. Research studies conducted elsewhere have shown adverse affect of male migration
on health of children. This calls for an appropriate policy action based on further probing into
causes and consequences of emigration of married males on health and well being of wives and
children.
The finding of the practice of polygamy, although confined among a limited section of the
population, is a manifestation of inferior position of women compared to men in a traditional
patriarchal society. This is likely to have an adverse repercussions on health and education of
children as well as the overall well being of the family members, including wives due to
unhealthy competition over limited resources among several competitors, among other things.
This calls for an appropriate policy action against polygamy based on research into underlying
causes and consequences of polygamy.
Probing into factors affecting variation and intercensal changes in district and regional level
nuptiality will help in identifying appropriate programme interventions to increase age at
marriage.
307
Spouse age gender gaps at marriage in which married women are more likely to be younger than
are their men counterparts, also an indication of lower social position of women compared to men,
is detrimental to promotion of equitable conjugal role relationship and gender equity and equality.
Appropriate programme interventions are needed to reduce the male-female gap in age at
marriage.
The finding of more widows than widowers at older ages is also a cause of concern because
widows are more likely to be economically dependent and suffer from both physical and mental
stress than are the widowers, particularly at older ages. This is also confirmed by Nepal 2001
population census data. This calls for appropriate gender sensitive policies and programme of
action to improve the living conditions of both male and female elderly persons, particularly
widowed.
The finding of positive association between level of education and nuptiality implies enhancement
of education will lead to higher age at marriage.
The depressing effect of increasing age at marriage on fertility points out that nuptiality is an
important determinant of fertility, particularly in a society where most of the births take place
within marriage. This calls for supporting enabling policy and programme initiatives such as
female education and employment that will lead to significant postponement of marriage and
increase in age at marriage.
308
References
Central Bureau of Statistics (1968). Population Census 1961, Vol. III, Part VI, National
Central Bureau of Statistics (1975). Population Census 1971, Vol. II, Part II, National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (1984). Population Census 1981, Vol. II, National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (1984). Population Census 1981, Vol. III, National Planning

Central Bureau of Statistics (1993). Population Census 1991, Vol. I, Part XI, National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (1994). Population Census 1991, Vol. II, National Planning

Coale, A. J. (1970). The Decline in Fertility in Europe from the French Revolution to World War
II, in Behrman S.J. et. al., Fertility and Family Planning: A World View; Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press.
Coale, A. J. (1971). Age Pattern of Marriage. Population Studies, Vol. 25, No. 2, July 1971, pp.
193-208.
Hajnal, J. (1953). Age at Marriage and Proportions Marrying. Population Studies, Vol. VII, No.
2, pp. 111-136.
Hull, T., & Saladi, R. (1977). The Application of Hutterite Fertility-Weighted Indexes to Studies
of Changing Marriage Patterns, Working Paper No. 33, Population Institute, Gadjah
Marda University, Yogya Kartu, Indonesia, August 1977.
Smith, P. C. (1976). Asian Nuptiality in Transition. Paper presented at the Seventh Summer
Seminar in Population, paper presented at the Seventh Summer Seminar in Population,
East-West Population Institute, Honolulu, June (1977).
309
Annex 7.1: Age-sex proportions of never married persons, Nepal, census year 1961-2001
and percentage changes in proportions never married between 1961-71, 1971-
81, 1981-91, 1991-2001 and 1961-2001.
% Never Married Percentage Change

Age Group
and Sex 1991- 1961-
1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 1961-71 1971-81 1981-91
2001 2001
Males
All ages* 28.47 31.93 35.12 35.65 39.23 12.2 10.0 1.5 10.0 37.8
6-9 97.01 98.78 1.8
10-14 89.3 93.71 85.11 95.76 99.18 4.9 -9.2 12.5 3.6 11.1
15-19 63.33 73.02 74.13 79.44 87.08 15.3 1.5 7.2 9.6 37.5
20-24 26.35 33.11 40.85 38.07 49.38 25.7 23.4 -6.8 29.7 87.4
25-29 10.21 12.26 19.52 12.66 18.15 20.1 59.2 -35.1 43.4 77.8
30-34 4.72 5.7 12.36 5.15 5.69 20.8 116.8 -58.3 10.4 20.5
35-39 2.71 3.25 8.93 2.75 2.77 19.9 174.8 -69.2 0.6 2.1
40-44 2.06 2.31 8.04 2.11 2.01 12.1 248.1 -73.8 -5.0 -2.7
45-49 1.6 1.6 7.37 1.64 1.52 0.0 360.6 -77.7 -7.6 -5.3
50-54 1.47 1.43 6.88 1.55 1.43 -2.7 381.1 -77.5 -7.9 -2.9
55-59 1.26 1.22 7.04 1.38 1.35 -3.2 477.0 -80.4 -2.5 6.8
60+ 0.98 1.07 7.83 1.29 1.42 9.2 631.8 -83.5 9.9 44.6
Females
All ages* 15.12 19.35 23.3 25.71 30.26 28.0 20.4 10.3 17.7 100.1
6-9 94.67 97.65 3.1 -100.0
10-14 75.14 86.56 85.73 92.36 98.19 15.2 -1.0 7.7 6.3 30.7
15-19 25.68 39.33 49.17 52.72 66.05 53.2 25.0 7.2 25.3 157.2
20-24 5.33 7.87 13.06 12.76 21.02 47.7 65.9 -2.3 64.8 294.4
25-29 1.91 2.59 5.35 3.66 5.58 35.6 106.6 -31.6 52.3 191.9
30-34 1.04 1.4 3.07 1.92 2.61 34.6 119.3 -37.5 36.1 151.2
35-39 0.77 1.08 2.63 1.3 1.75 40.3 143.5 -50.6 35.0 127.8
40-44 0.68 0.92 2.52 1.09 1.50 35.3 173.9 -56.7 37.3 120.0
45-49 0.58 0.77 2.93 0.9 1.24 32.8 280.5 -69.3 38.1 114.3
50-54 0.55 0.71 3.56 0.93 1.31 29.1 401.4 -73.9 40.6 137.7
55-59 0.51 0.68 4.2 0.89 1.05 33.3 517.6 -78.8 17.6 105.3
60+ 0.45 0.62 6.24 0.89 1.18 37.8 906.5 -85.7 33.1 163.2
Source: CBS, 1968 Vol. III, Part VI, Table 7
310
Annex 7.2: Age-specific proportion of widowed persons, Nepal, census years 1961-2001
and percentage changes in proportions widowed between 1961-71, 1971-81,
1981-91, 1991-2001 and 1961-2001.
% Widowed/Widower Percentage Change

Age Group
and Sex 1991- 1961-
1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 1961-71 1971-81 1981-91
2001 2001
Males
All ages* 4.76 3.66 2.36 2.95 1.34 -23.1 -35.5 25.0 -54.4 -71.8
10-14 0.09 0.04 0.68 0.05 0.01 -55.6 1600.0 -92.6 -80.0 -88.9
15-19 0.58 0.24 0.55 0.13 0.09 -58.6 129.2 -76.4 -27.2 -83.7
20-24 0.54 0.9 0.82 0.38 0.10 66.7 -8.9 -53.7 -74.2 -81.9
25-29 2.46 1.59 1.09 0.68 0.23 -35.4 -31.4 -37.6 -66.6 -90.8
30-34 3.25 2.35 1.35 1.03 0.34 -27.7 -42.6 -23.7 -67.0 -89.5
35-39 4.12 3.05 1.67 1.59 0.58 -26.0 -45.2 -4.8 -63.6 -85.9
40-44 5.69 4.4 2.48 2.67 0.96 -22.7 -43.6 7.7 -64.0 -83.1
45-49 7.73 5.67 3.11 4.04 1.46 -26.6 -45.1 29.9 -63.9 -81.1
50-54 10.41 7.79 4.39 6.43 2.49 -25.2 -43.6 46.5 -61.3 -76.1
55-59 13.52 9.99 5.44 8.57 3.79 -26.1 -45.5 57.5 -55.8 -72.0
60+ 24.5 19.68 10.92 18.24 9.11 -19.7 -44.5 67.0 -50.1 -62.8
Females
All ages* 14.26 10.1 5.45 7.18 3.65 -29.2 -46.0 31.7 -49.1 -74.4
10-14 0.18 0.06 0.7 0.06 0.02 -66.7 1066.7 -91.4 -58.7 -86.2
15-19 0.8 0.3 0.49 0.16 0.22 -62.5 63.3 -67.3 37.0 -72.6
20-24 1.62 0.73 0.62 0.4 0.17 -54.9 -15.1 -35.5 -58.2 -89.7
25-29 3.24 1.64 1.03 0.89 0.44 -49.4 -37.2 -13.6 -50.9 -86.5
30-34 6.14 3.28 1.73 1.76 0.86 -46.6 -47.3 1.7 -51.2 -86.0
35-39 11.56 6.62 3.1 3.62 1.71 -42.7 -53.2 16.8 -52.7 -85.2
40-44 19.88 12.1 5.82 6.74 2.91 -39.1 -51.9 15.8 -56.8 -85.4
45-49 29.57 18.3 8.74 11.35 4.84 -38.1 -52.2 29.9 -57.4 -83.6
50-54 38.99 28.13 14.08 18.93 7.90 -27.9 -49.9 34.4 -58.3 -79.7
55-59 47.24 32.39 16.19 24.85 11.21 -31.4 -50.0 53.5 -54.9 -76.3
60+ 65.73 54.65 32.07 47.53 24.94 -16.9 -41.3 48.2 -47.5 -62.1
311
Annex 7.3: Age-sex specific proportion of divorced/separated persons, Nepal census years
1961-2001 and percentage changes in proportion divorced/separated between
1961-71, 1971-81, 1981-91, 1991-2001 and 1961-2001.
% Divorced/Separated Percentage Change

Age Group
and Sex 1991- 1961-
1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 1961-71 1971-81 1981-91
2001 2001
Males
All ages* 0.4 0.28 0.38 0.46 0.23 -30.0 35.7 21.1 -49.3 -41.7
10-14 0.02 0.02 0.17 0.06 0.06 0.0 750.0 -64.7 -5.8 182.6
15-19 0.23 0.13 0.23 0.2 0.10 -43.5 76.9 -13.0 -52.3 -58.5
20-24 0.63 0.4 0.52 0.59 0.20 -36.5 30.0 13.5 -66.2 -68.4
25-29 0.69 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.30 -27.5 20.0 16.7 -56.8 -56.2
30-34 0.61 0.46 0.52 0.65 0.35 -24.6 13.0 25.0 -45.6 -42.1
35-39 0.47 0.39 0.43 0.63 0.32 -17.0 10.3 46.5 -48.9 -31.5
40-44 0.41 0.35 0.41 0.62 0.40 -14.6 17.1 51.2 -35.6 -2.7
45-49 0.41 0.29 0.37 0.59 0.32 -29.3 27.6 59.5 -45.9 -22.1
50-54 0.39 0.26 0.36 0.62 0.35 -33.3 38.5 72.2 -43.9 -10.9
55-59 0.35 0.25 0.34 0.59 0.31 -28.6 36.0 73.5 -47.2 -11.0
60+ 0.39 0.3 0.43 0.56 0.32 -23.1 43.3 30.2 -42.7 -17.8
Females
All ages* 0.34 0.28 0.42 0.69 0.32 -17.6 50.0 64.3 -54.1 -5.9
10-14 0.03 0.02 0.21 0.08 0.05 -33.3 950.0 -61.9 -36.7 68.7
15-19 0.29 0.18 0.29 0.34 0.11 -37.9 61.1 17.2 -66.2 -60.4
20-24 0.45 0.33 0.39 0.64 0.25 -26.7 18.2 64.1 -61.2 -44.8
25-29 0.45 0.35 0.42 0.72 0.34 -22.2 20.0 71.4 -53.1 -24.9
30-34 0.43 0.33 0.42 0.78 0.41 -23.3 27.3 85.7 -47.6 -5.0
35-39 0.46 0.35 0.45 0.91 0.45 -23.9 28.6 102.2 -50.3 -1.6
40-44 0.46 0.35 0.54 1.07 0.54 -23.9 54.3 98.1 -49.4 17.7
45-49 0.42 0.35 0.53 1.16 0.55 -16.7 51.4 118.9 -52.5 31.2
50-54 0.38 0.34 0.62 1.37 0.57 -10.5 82.4 121.0 -58.1 50.9
55-59 0.41 0.31 0.55 1.32 0.54 -24.4 77.4 140.0 -59.0 31.9
60+ 0.24 0.36 0.65 1.05 0.50 50.0 80.6 61.5 -52.2 109.1

312
Annex 7.4: Singulate mean age at marriage of men by districts, Nepal, 1981-2001.
Male Singulate Male Singulate

Difference
S. N. District Mean Age at Mean Age at
2001-1981
Marriage in 2001 Marriage in 1981
1. Manang 28.27 25.40 2.87
2. Kathmandu 25.74 22.40 3.34
3. Mustang 25.22 25.80 -0.58
4. Jhapa 24.97 22.80 2.17
5. Lalitpur 24.84 21.70 3.14
6. Ilam 24.82 24.20 0.62
7. Dhankuta 24.56 23.30 1.26
8. Syangja 24.01 21.30 2.71
9. Bhaktapur 24.00 21.20 2.80
10. Sunsari 23.98 21.00 2.98
11. Solukhumbu 23.93 23.90 0.03
12. Chitawan 23.92 21.60 2.32
13. Terhathum 23.89 23.10 0.79
14. Morang 23.89 21.90 1.99
15. Bhojpur 23.84 23.40 0.44
16. Panchthar 23.83 22.80 1.03
17. Palpa 23.82 22.20 1.62
18. Kaski 23.82 22.60 1.22
19. Taplejung 23.80 23.40 0.40
20. Makawanpur 23.59 20.40 3.19
21. Sankhuwasabha 23.50 23.50 0.00
22. Banke 23.31 20.90 2.41
23. Gulmi 23.20 21.60 1.60
24. Parbat 23.19 22.70 0.49
25. Rupandehi 23.07 18.10 4.97
26. Khotang 23.06 23.00 0.06
27. Myagdi 22.96 21.00 1.96
28. Udaypur 22.87 21.60 1.27
29. Saptari 22.87 17.70 5.17
30. Dhanusa 22.85 18.40 4.45
31. Kavre 22.74 21.20 1.54
32. Gorkha 22.74 21.30 1.44
33. Baglung 22.71 22.30 0.41
34. Arghakhanchi 22.69 21.60 1.09
35. Lamjung 22.66 22.30 0.36
36. Tanahun 22.63 21.40 1.23
37. Humla 22.63 23.40 -0.77
38. Kanchanpur 22.62 18.40 4.22
39. Dolakha 22.53 22.70 -0.17
313
Male Singulate Male Singulate
Difference
2001-1981
40. Sindhuli 22.52 21.60 0.92
41. Baitadi 22.44 20.00 2.44
42. Okhaldhunga 22.37 21.80 0.57
43. Dadeldhura 22.29 19.80 2.49
44. Rasuwa 22.24 22.90 -0.66
45. Mahottari 22.20 18.60 3.60
46. Kailali 22.13 19.80 2.33
47. Ramechhap 22.09 21.70 0.39
48. Siraha 22.00 18.50 3.50
49. Nuwakot 21.97 22.30 -0.33
50. Dolpa 21.96 23.00 -1.04
51. Dhading 21.96 21.60 0.36
52. Dang 21.94 20.60 1.34
53. Surkhet 21.83 19.10 2.73
54. Sarlahi 21.76 19.40 2.36
55. Jajarkot 21.73 18.90 2.83
56. Pyuthan 21.61 20.10 1.51
57. Salyan 21.54 18.70 2.84
58. Bardiya 21.53 19.10 2.43
59. Doti 21.43 20.40 1.03
60. Darchula 21.42 19.70 1.72
61. Sindhupalchok 21.41 21.50 -0.09
62. Rautahat 21.41 18.70 2.71
63. Rukum 21.39 20.90 0.49
64. Bara 21.20 18.70 2.50
65. Nawalparasi 21.17 19.90 1.27
66. Parsa 21.12 18.00 3.12
67. Kalikot 21.00 19.70 1.30
68. Bajura 21.00 19.50 1.50
69. Mugu 20.91 21.10 -0.19
70. Dailekh 20.78 19.50 1.28
71. Achham 20.64 19.50 1.14
72. Kapilbastu 20.59 17.90 2.69
73. Jumla 20.55 19.60 0.95
74. Rolpa 20.41 20.30 0.11
75. Bajhang 19.84 19.00 0.84
314
Annex 7.5: Singulate mean age at marriage of women by districts, Nepal, 1981-2001.
Female Singulate Female Singulate
Difference
2001-1981
1. Manang 25.36 24.5 0.9
2. Mustang 23.94 22.7 1.2
3. Solukhumbu 22.42 20.9 1.5
4. Lalitpur 21.87 18.7 3.2
5. Taplejung 21.86 19.6 2.3
6. Kathmandu 21.73 18.9 2.8
7. Ilam 21.72 NA NA
8. Terhathum 21.71 19.7 2.0
9. Bhaktapur 21.61 18.3 3.3
10. Dhankuta 21.48 20.2 1.3
11. Jhapa 21.38 18.2 3.2
12. Panchthar 21.29 20.1 1.2
13. Bhojpur 21.15 20.0 1.2
14. Sankhuwasabha 20.78 20.1 0.7
15. Dolpa 20.65 20.7 -0.1
16. Khotang 20.61 19.5 1.1
17. Kavre 20.57 17.7 2.9
18. Makawanpur 20.55 17.3 3.3
19. Palpa 20.46 17.8 2.7
20. Morang 20.25 17.8 2.5
21. Okhaldhunga 20.25 18.9 1.4
22. Chitawan 20.24 17.5 2.7
23. Sunsari 20.22 17.4 2.8
24. Gorkha 20.14 17.8 2.3
25. Syangja 20.09 17.4 2.7
26. Kaski 19.99 18.4 1.6
27. Myagdi 19.98 19.5 0.5
28. Dolakha 19.96 19.3 0.7
29. Lamjung 19.91 19.2 0.7
30. Nuwakot 19.87 18.0 1.9
31. Ramechhap 19.75 18.7 1.1
32. Udaypur 19.73 18.1 1.6
33. Rupandehi 19.68 15.1 4.6
34. Parbat 19.66 18.3 1.4
35. Baglung 19.60 18.4 1.2
36. Banke 19.56 16.2 3.4
37. Sindhuli 19.48 18.0 1.5
315
Female Singulate Female Singulate
Difference
2001-1981
38. Gulmi 19.43 17.4 2.0
39. Dhading 19.41 17.5 1.9
40. Tanahun 19.41 17.8 1.6
41. Rasuwa 19.40 19.3 0.1
42. Rukum 19.33 17.8 1.5
43. Sindhupalchok 19.30 18.0 1.3
44. Humla 19.23 19.3 -0.1
45. Arghakhanchi 19.16 16.9 2.3
46. Dang 19.03 17.4 1.6
47. Jajarkot 18.91 16.9 2.0
48. Kanchanpur 18.90 14.2 4.7
49. Kailali 18.87 16.1 2.8
50. Salyan 18.86 15.6 3.3
51. Pyuthan 18.83 17.3 1.5
52. Baitadi 18.81 14.9 3.9
53. Surkhet 18.77 16.8 2.0
54. Saptari 18.73 14.3 4.4
55. Rolpa 18.70 18.3 0.4
56. Dadeldhura 18.58 15.6 3.0
57. Bardiya 18.52 15.5 3.0
58. Nawalparasi 18.50 16.2 2.3
59. Achham 18.33 16.7 1.6
60. Bajura 18.30 17.1 1.2
61. Darchula 18.24 16.2 2.0
62. Dailekh 18.13 16.0 2.1
63. Dhanusa 18.08 14.6 3.5
64. Mugu 18.01 17.6 0.4
65. Jumla 17.76 16.3 1.5
66. Doti 17.72 16.3 1.4
67. Kapilbastu 17.66 14.6 3.1
68. Siraha 17.64 14.3 3.3
69. Kalikot 17.63 16.0 1.6
70. Sarlahi 17.53 15.4 2.1
71. Mahottari 17.48 13.7 3.8
72. Bajhang 17.43 15.7 1.7
73. Bara 17.31 14.9 2.4
74. Parsa 17.24 13.7 3.5
75. Rautahat 17.22 14.5 2.7
316
CHAPTER 8
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR MEASUREMENT OF THE
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY OF POPULATION FROM THE
CENSUSES
*
- Badri P. Niroula
8.1 Introduction
In Nepal population census is conducted every 10 years. The census or population count formally
began in 1911 and the last census of 2001 is the tenth in the series. In a review of available census
documents we find question to collect information on economic activity of population was included
in the questionnaire since the first census but documentation and publishing of results are found only
since 1952/54 census. The concept and definition used for collecting information on economic
activity of population, number and types of questions administered, however, changed from time to
time (CBS, 1995) limiting the value, uses and comparison of statistics generated by the census. In a
census /survey, data on economic activity of population collected and classified by using standard
concept and definition facilitate measurement, presentation and comparison of data within and across
the country. We can also measure changes over time in the activity structure of human labour both by
occupation and industry groups. Census data on a range of characteristics of population is not only a
benchmark statistics, it provides distribution and structure of population in various sectors of
economy. Such a statistical information based on some national or international standards would
provide a strong base for establishing rational policy for human resource development, and formulate
programs to generate employment in various sectors of economy.
In this chapter we will briefly review census questions on economic activity of population
administered in past censuses, examine whether concept, definition used are in line with standard
definition. The focus of discussion will be on economic activity data generated and published by the
census 2001, examine the data along with standard definition and fit in ILO Framework. To create
*
Badri P. Niroula is a Deputy Director of Central Bureau of Statistics.
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interest of users on economic activity of population and make meaningful utilization of data, the
classification goes beyond the Framework.
8.2 Background
In a census/survey, the problem of collecting statistics on economic activity of population starts from
the beginning and cycles through the stage of presentation. For instance – understanding the concept
of work, making a clear distinction between economic and non-economic activity/work, establishing
a working definition for measuring participation of work force, formulating questions to be included
in the schedule, training personnel at various levels, administering questions in the field, editing
collected information, if necessary, recognizing and classifying collected information in various
occupation and industry groups and then presentation of statistics to users has been a challenging
task. On the part of data presentation, it has been difficult to ensure that data are based on standards,
user friendly, comparable with the past both at the national and international levels. In a census or
large scale survey, difficulty in explaining and properly implementing the concept of work/activity
(economic and non-economic), particularly in the developing country, has been well recognized. In
the context of collecting information on economic activity of population it has been difficult to
explain and understand the concept of economic and non-economic work. Beginning from initial to
the implementation stage, it becomes difficult to explain to census personnel and respondents about
what constitutes a work to be economic and/or non-economic. This is because, in many instances, we
find individuals work whole day in a farm field or elsewhere without economic gain; it takes hours to
collect water and firewood for family consumption and to collect fodder to feed livestock in which
they realise no economic gain. In the developing world, it is also true that work performed by most
individuals is unpaid work. Work performed within the household, mostly by females, is either not
recognized as economic (given economic value) and even if recognized as economic for national
accounting purpose, the value of such work has not been fully acknowledged at the household level.
Therefore, work performed by females (mostly within household and also elsewhere) are not properly
reported during enumeration, or adequately captured in statistics. In many developing countries of the
world, evidences have shown under reporting of economic work, particularly under valuation of
women’s work.
Population censuses have been the major source of data on economic activity of population of Nepal.
Censuses of Nepal have no doubt been collecting and presenting information on economic activity of
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population, but have not yet followed a set of proper and standard definition for measurement,
classification and presentation of population by economically active, not economically active,
employed, unemployed and so forth. Moreover, presentation of data on the subject is, occasionally, in
such a way that they deviate from the standard, and are likely to confuse the users resulting in under
and/or improper use of data.
In the censuses, question on economic activity of population was asked to all persons of specified
age. Table 8.1 presents census year, population and the size on which question on economic activity
was administered. As it appears, in the table in each census, at least three fifths of the population had
to respond to economic activity questions, except in 2001. Most of the population who had to respond
to the census is the workforce of the nation. Once data is collected, measurement needs to be
standardized so that the product statistics is properly presented, understood and used at various levels
without confusion.
Table 8.1 : Total population and population of specified age and over by census year, Nepal,
1952/54 – 2001.
Population of Specified Age
Age for Eco.
Total Population % of Total
Census Year Activity Question Number
Population
1952/54 8,235,079 10 years + 6,003,359 72.9
--- 15 years + 5,069,434 61.6
1961 9,412,996 10 years + 6,720,057 71.4
--- 15 years + 5,659,931 60.1
1971 11,555,983 10 years + 8,178,620 70.8
1981 15,022,839 10 years + 10,517,888 70.0
1991 18,491,097 10 years + 12,977,612 70.2
2001 22,736,934 10 years + Est. population in 14.8
Enumerated sample 33,61,730
Source : Population censuses of Nepal, 1952/54 - 2001, Central Bureau of Statistics.
In a country like Nepal, where labour force survey is only occasional undertaking, censuses have been
the major source of economic activity data. It is very logical, therefore, to collect adequate statistics in
the census and diagnose how workforce of the nation spend their time over the year, allocate them on
standard classification, and make a realistic plan for utilizing national human resource.
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8.3 Literature Review
8.3.1 Concepts of Economic Activity
Although all persons consume goods and services, only a part of the entire population of a country is
engaged in producing such goods and services. Obviously, the youngest and the oldest and physically
and mentally incapacitated do not engage in such economic activities because of the inability to do so.
The manpower of a nation then is the totality of persons who could produce the goods and services if
there were demand for their labours and they desired to participate in such activities. The
Economically Active is that part of the manpower which actually engages or attempts to engage, in
the production of economic goods and services (Shryock and Seigel, 1971).
The concept of economic activity for the measurement of the economically active population is
defined in terms of production of goods and services as set forth by the UN System of National
Accounts (SNA, 1993). Activities which produce goods and services are also described in the system.
The production boundary has been widened over time. According to International Labour Office
(ILO) guidelines, economically active persons are persons engaged or intent to engage in the
production of goods and services included within the boundary of production of the system. In the
census 2001, efforts have been made to define activities in line with the current ILO standards which
in tern are based on the (SNA, 1993).
A clear understanding of the concept and boundary of economic activity is fundamental to the correct
application of the definition of employment, unemployment, and economically active population in
surveys of households or individuals. The exact boundary between economic and non-economic
activities is a matter of convention, but unless a precise line is drawn the correct statistical treatment
of many situations encountered in practice can not be determined, and in consequence, the resulting
statistics are more likely to be subject to controversy and to higher response errors.
As described in the System of National Accounts (SNA, 1993), activities that fall within the
production boundary of the system are summarized as -
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1) The production of all individual or collective goods or services that are supplied to units other
than their producers, or intended to be so supplied, including the production of goods or
services used up in the process of producing such goods or services;
2) The own-account production of all goods that are retained by their producers for their own final
consumption or gross capital formation
3) The own-account production of housing services by owner-occupiers and of domestic and

personal services produced by employing paid domestic staff.
Note that the SNA production boundary excludes the following types of production for own
consumption, they are - the own-account production of domestic and personal services by member of
the household for their own final consumption. Some examples of those domestic and personal
services are -
a) The cleaning, decoration and maintenance of the dwelling occupied by the household,
including small repairs of a kind usually carried out by tenants as well as owners;
b) The cleaning, servicing and repairs of household durables or other goods, including vehicles
used for household purpose;
c) The preparation and serving of meals; the care, training and instruction of children; the care
of sick, infirm and old people; the transportation of members of the household or their goods.
Based on the concept of economic and non-economic activity, production boundary as described in
the SNA, and census information on economic activity, performed by individuals in the reference
year, ILO recommends a framework for measuring Usual Activity of population.
8.4 ILO Framework for Measurement
For economic activity data collected in a census, the ILO recommends a framework for measuring
usual activity of population (ILO, 1990). For the measurement, the framework make use of data
collected during the reference period of one year and on the basis of specified definition, classifies
total population of specified age in groups and sub-groups. The recommended framework for
measurement of the Usually Active Population is presented in the Figure 8.1.
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Figure 8.1
ILO framework for measurement of the usually active population
Total population of specified age
Population Economically Active at Population Not Economically

some time during the year Active at all during the year
Number of weeks or days of Number of weeks or days of

employment or unemployment ≥ employment or unemployment
specified minimum duration (e.g. < specified minimum duration
26 weeks) Not Usually Active
Usually Active
Number of weeks or days of Number of weeks or days of

employment ≥ Number of employment < Number of
weeks or days of weeks or days of
unemployment unemployment
Employed Unemployed
Source : ILO, 1990.
The framework is a fundamental base for classifying national workforce and could be used to arrange
population in various groups and sub-groups. The framework is useful to standardizes the population
statistics and also enables to compare with population of other nation(s) similarly classified.
8.5 Census Data on Economic Activity
From a review of available questionnaire administered in population censuses of Nepal, we find data
collection on economic activity of population began since the first census of 1911. But documentation
and presentation of results is found only since 1952/54 census. Until census 1941, we have only
census questionnaire available. The type of questions administered in those censuses reflect that effort
was made to apply standard definition and collect data on economic activity, but neither questions
used were adequate nor terms used were clearly defined. Similarly, reference period for which data
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refer to, minimum age for asking question is not found clearly stated in the questionnaire. Besides,
some of economic activity questions were asked only to male population, females were not bothered.
In census 1952/54 and after, there is a gradual progress. Attempt has been made to collect
comprehensive information on economic activity of population, improvement has been made to
define and explain economic, gainful and non-economic work. But again types of questions asked, the
duration respondent worked in the reference year, and minimum age for respondent differ from
census to census. In the past censuses, even though effort was made to define economic, non
economic activity/work in line with the ILO standard, but questions administered were inadequate to
collect complete information required by the standard measurement. Economically active and not
economically active population was loosely defined for the tabulation and presentation of past census
data.
Regarding implementation of conceptual aspect of economic non-economic activity/work, reference

period used, types of questions administered, and documentation of results, census development could
be arranged in four stages –
1. 1911 through 1941

2. 1952/54
3. 1961 through 1981
4. 1991 and 2001
A review of census questions, since census 1952/54, on economic activity of population, presented in
the annex 8.2, we find questions administered in the census 2001 of Nepal resemble, to a large extent,
with the questions of census 1991. Questions of 2001 are further elaborated to separately capture
extended economic activities described in SNA as extended boundary of production and also separate
question is set for those seeking job. Questions for 2001 are designed to allow more flexibility to
classify population under economically active, not economically active, employed and unemployed
categories, and also to allow comparison, if any possible, with economic activity data of the past.
8.6 Reference Period
In a census/survey, generally, there are two types of reference period used for collecting and
measuring economic activity of population. One is the long and the other the short reference period.
Long reference period is normally of one year (12 months). Short reference period is of one month or
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one week or even of one day, depending on the situation and the objective of measurement. If the
long reference period is used, the activity mostly performed during the reference year is termed as –
Usual Activity. If short reference period is used it is termed as – Current Activity and data is used to
measure “labour force participation” of population. Both long and short periods have merits and
limitations. Population censuses of Nepal have mostly been collecting economic activity data by
using long reference period. That means, census data on economic activity of population is collected
on 12 months reference period preceding the census and, therefore, data have been largely used to
measure “usual activity” of population of Nepal. Occasionally, data was collected also on short period
basis (in 1952/54 and 1981) but they were not published for use. Nepal Labour Force Survey,
1998/99 used both short and long reference period for measuring activity of the workforce.
8.7 Census 2001
In the preparatory stage and during formulation of census questions, series of discussion were held
among experts within and outside of CBS. The focus of discussion was primarily to simplify question
on social and economic activity aspects of population. On economic activity, intention was to capture
all types of activities performed by individuals, particularly performed by female(s) within and
outside home during the reference period. Finally, a consensus was reached to fix questions and make
it a gender responsive census. Accordingly, the census manual made possible attempt to explain, with
examples in Nepalese context, economic, extended economic and non-economic activity as
recommended by the SNA, 1993. Questions and response categories were formulated in such a way
that the data on economic activity could be classified in accordance with the ILO definition on usual
activity and allow flexibility for comparing data with the past census. Questions on economic activity
were placed in Form - 2 (designed and prescribed for enumeration in sample households).
8.7.1 Census Questions on Economic Activity
To measure economic activity of population, classify them on economically active, not active,
occupation, industry, status of work and reasons for not being usually active, there are 6 questions in
the Form 2, for all person 10 years and over in sample households. The following two main questions
(Q. 15 and 16) were used to answer the remaining 4 questions (Q. 17,18, 19 and 20). The main
questions are –
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Q 15. In the last 12 months, what was the …… (person) usually doing?
Enumerator was instructed to ask and confirm usual activity performed as described in census
manual, and mark only one activity, among eight response categories listed in the schedule. Response
categories provided are –
1. Own agricultural activity

2. Wage/salary earning
3. Own non-agricultural activity
4. Extended economic activity
5. Seeking economic job
6. Household chores/duties
7. Study/Training
8. Did not do any of the above
The marked activity would be the activity the person was usually doing during the reference year.
Q 16. In the last 12 months, how many month(s) did ……. (person) do/performed the following
types of work/activity?
Category of activities are ---

1. Economic activity (response categories 1, 2 and 3 in Q. 15) …… month
2. Extended economic activity (response category 4 in Q. 15) …… month
3. Looking for /seeking economic job (response category 5 in Q. 15) …… month
4. Did not do any economic work (response categories 6, 7 and 8 in Q. 15) …… month
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 12 months
Note : To simplify the presentation four response categories, numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4 in

question 16, are presented as response a, b, c and d respectively in boxes of figure 8.2,
figure 8.3 and the annex 8.1.
Instruction to enumerators was to compute total time, in month, spent in doing any of activity during
the reference period of 12 months and then write number of month(s) in the respective category. Total
month(s) declared in each of the four response categories, added together must equal 12 months, the
reference period preceding the census.
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Now, by definition of economic and non-economic activity/work, number of month(s) spent in
performing activities of economic value declared in response category 1 and 2 (economic activity and
extended economic activity), in question 16, during the reference period of 12 months preceding the
census, constitute total months spent in doing economic activity/work. Similarly, number of month (s)
declared in 3 constitute time spent in seeking economic job/work, and month(s) declared in 4
constitute time spent in doing non-economic activity, such as study/training, household work and /or
non of any activity at all declared in 1, 2 and 3, during the reference year.
8.7.2 Census 2001 Data Within and Beyond the Framework
Number of month(s) stated in each of the four response categories, in question 16, by an individual of
age 10 years and over, provides us empirical information on how workforce of the nation spent their
time during the reference year. It would, therefore, be a rational approach to arrange all possible
combination of months declared in four response categories, in question 16, in such a way that each
individual enumerated in the census fits in the classification of ILO Framework, given in Figure 8.1.
Such an arrangement of four response categories and all possible combination of month(s) likely to be
reported in corresponding responses is presented in the Annex 8.1 and economic activity data
obtained from the census has been logically fitted in the framework. As the data for economic activity
of population come from sample households of the census 2001, estimates of population are,
accordingly, presented in various classification of the Framework in the Figure 8.2. The arrangement,
presentation of the response categories and combination of stated time (in month) is made in such a
way that the fitted 2001 economic activity data in the framework can easily be understood.
The presentation is the only initial classification according to the standard definition. Further
classifications, such as – occupation, industry, status of employment of economically active, and
reason for not being usually active for those not usually economically active by sex, age etc. can
readily be made on this standard base. Fitting of population data of 2001 in the framework has also
enabled us to compute rates for conventional measurement, such as - economically active, not
economically active, employed, unemployed and so forth.
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Figure 8.2
Census 2001 data fitted in the ILO framework
Total Population
(10 years of age and above)
(1,67,70,279) 100.00 %
Population Economically Active at some Population Not Economically Active at all

time during the year during the year
{in this case time in response category {in this case time in response category
(a+b+c) > 0 month } (a+b+c) = 0 month or category d = 12
months}
Population (1,06,37,239) 63.4 %
Population (61,33,040) 36.6 %
Number of months of employment or Number of months of employment or

unemployment > specified minimum unemployment < specified minimum duration
duration (in this case 6 months) (in this case 6 months)
{or time in response category (a+b+c) ≥ 6 {or time in response category (a+b+c) < 6
months} months }
Usually Active Not Usually Active
Population (97,61,476) 58.2 % Population (8,75,762) 5.2 %
Number of months of employment ≥ Number Number of months of employment <

of months of unemployment Number of months of unemployment
{ time in category (a+b) ≥ time in category c} {( time in category (a+b) < time in category c )}
Employed Unemployed
Note : Population number is given in parenthesis, percentages are per cent of the total population 10 years and
over. To simplify the presentation response categories 1, 2, 3 and 4 in question 16 are presented as a, b, c
and d respectively in figures 8.2 and 8.3.
The arrangement of response categories and computation of all possible combination of months
reported in those categories not only facilitated to fit the economic activity data in the framework but
also legitimately allows us to go beyond for a logical classification. For each set of classification of
the framework, the beyond classification tells us how individuals spend their time – whether worked
for some time, looked for job or remained economically idle and for how long. The value of beyond
classification will be realised more when we go for resource planning at the micro levels, such as –
rural, urban, region, districts etc. One such beyond classification is presented in the figure 8.3 where
priority for classification is given to the first three response categories i. e. number of months doing
economic activity, extended economic activity and seeking job. Estimates of population 2001, for
each beyond classification, are presented in the same figure 8.3.
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Figure 8.3
Census 2001 data fitted in the framework and beyond
Total Population
(10 years of age and above)
(1,67,70,279) 100.00 %
Population Economically Active at some time during the year Population Not Economically Active at all during the year
{in this case, time in response category {in this case, time in response category
(a+b+c) > 0 month } (a+b+c ) = 0 month or response d = 12 months}
Population (1,06,37,239) 63.4 % Population (61,33,040) 36.6 %
Response (a+b) = 0 month

Number of months of employment or unemployment > Number of months of employment or Population (54,313) 0.32 %
specified minimum duration (in this case 6 months) unemployment < specified minimum duration Did not work at all but looking for work for some
{or time in response category (in this case 6 months) time
(a+b+c) ≥ 6 months } {or time in response category
Usually Active (a+b+c) < 6 months } Resp (a+b) > 0 months,
Population (97,61,476) 58.2 % Not Usually Active Population (8,21,449) 4.9 %
Population (8,75,762) 5.2 % TThough worked for some time remained idle
omost of the time.
Number of months of employment ≥ Number of months of unemployment Number of months of employment < Number of months of unemployment
{time in response category (a+b) ≥ time in response c} {time in response category (a+b) < time in response c }
Employed Unemployed
Response c = 6 months
Response (a+b) ≥ 6 months Response ( a+b) < 6 months Respon. (a+b ) > 0 months Respons (a+b) = 0 month Populn. (5,72,394 ) 3.41 %
(87,36,111) 52.1% (1,65,280) 0.98 % (1,77,352) 1.06 % (6,82,734) 4.07 %
Not Employed most of the time Worked for some time Did not work at all
Employed most of the time Looked for work half of the time
Response c > 6 months

Response c < 6 months Response c = 6 months Response c < 6 months Resp. c = 6 months Resp. c >6 months Populn. (1,10,340) 0.66 %
(87,04,756) 51.9 % (31,355) 0.19 % (1,18,298) 0.70 % (11,650) 0.07 % (47,404) 0.28 % Looked for work/ job most
Worked most of the time Looked for work half Also looked for work for Looked for work half Looked for work of the time
of the time some time of the time most of the time
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It is obvious that, in the framework for measurement of the usually active population, we have validly
fitted data obtained from census 2001. We could go further and classify data beyond the framework
as per our need. Moreover, classification beyond the framework not only facilitates us to understand
comprehensively how the workforce of the nation utilized their time, it also helps us to comprehend
how data published in the National Report deviate from the standard. We may also investigate
possibility for comparing 2001 data with data of similar nature obtained from past censuses. It is
needless to emphasize the importance of such a comprehensive statistics for human resource planning
and develop program of action for generating employment not only at the national level but would be
much more important while planning at the grassroots level.
In Figure 8.2 and 8.3, number of persons and corresponding percentages given in each category are
self-explained. After fitting economic activity data in the framework, we find that among 16.8 million
persons of Nepal, 10 years of age and over, 63.4 per cent are economically active at some time and
36.6 per cent are not economically active at all during the reference year preceding the census.
Among the workforce, 58.2 per cent are usually active and 5.2 per cent are not usually active. The
census revealed estimated unemployed is 5.1 per cent of the total population 10 years & over of the
country.
In addition, some important indicators about population of Nepal can be derived from the
combination structure presented in annex 8.1. Among 16.8 million person 10 years and above -
(during the reference period of 12 months preceding the census)
a. Who did not do any economic work at all (months declared in response a and b = 0) were →
(68,70,087) 40.96 per cent
b. Who did not look at all for economic work (months declared in response c = 0) were →
(1,47,57,196) 88.0 per cent
c. Who did not remain economically idle (months declared in response d = 0) were →
(67,37,114) 40.2 per cent
d. Who did only economic work during the year (months declared in response a and b = 12)
were → (60,94,888) 36.3 per cent
e. Who were looking for economic work all time (months declared in response c =12) were →
(77,431) 0.46 per cent
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f. Who did not do any economic work all the time or not economically active at all (months
declared in response d = 12) were → (61,33,040) 36.6 per cent.
g. Who did not work at all but looked for work for some time (months declared in response
(a+b) = 0, c > 0) were → (7,37,047) 4.4 per cent.
Note : Population in parenthesis, percentage are per cent of total population age 10 years and over.
8.7.3 Published Data Census 2001
The Central Bureau of Statistics thus far published results of census 2001 in National Reports,
Population Census Results in Gender Perspective and Gender Statistics at a Glance (A fact Sheet,
Population Census 2001). An over view of data on economic activity of population presented in
published documents we find that they could not follow standard definition, loose consistency with
each other in terms of nomenclature and classification used in data tables. Data could be made and
used meaningfully if they are presented – a. in accordance with the standard, b. are consistent and c.
made comparable with data obtained from other sources.
In the National Report, there are four basic tables (second part Table 23, 24, 25 and 36), relating to
economic activity, other tables are based on table 24. If wisely used, data presented in those tables
have own meaning and value, but they lack supporting definitions, explanatory notes and data depart
from standard classification, loose consistency and comparison with the past. It is true that we could
not pay much attention to the sensitivity of the subject and lack of exercise at the time of data
tabulation and presentation, data classification deviate from the standard. Nevertheless, in some
publications efforts have been made, at the initial stage, to classify these data in line with ILO
standard. But in the later stage they also deviate from the track of standard. Hence, users of economic
activity data are likely to be confused and must be aware of these anomalies. To clarify, data in Table
23 in the National report is based on responses on question 15 which is the activity a person was
usually doing during the reference year preceding the census. Since data in Table 15 is based on usual
activity performed, it does not fall under the purview of the framework. While data in Tables 24, 25
and 36 are based on question 16 (reported month/s by type of activity performed), we can classify and
examine the data under the classification of the framework presented in the Figure 8.3. And at the
same time we see how and where they deviate from the track of the standard.
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In fact, it is relevant here to provide a brief definition for these data tables presented in the National
Report. Population in Table 24 are those whose response on question 16 in category (a + b) is > 0
month. Data in Table 25 is classification of total population in the first two groups in the framework,
i. e. population economically active at some time, response category (a + b + c) > 0 month, and not
economically active at all, (a + b + c) = 0 month. Population in Table 36 are those whose response in
category (a + b) is < 6 months, where response category a, b, c and d are as given in the Annex 8.1.
Because, these stated four data Tables are generated from different data definitions, data must be used
carefully and cautiously.
8.8 Comparison of 2001 Data with the Past
It is judicious to examine whether 2001 data on economic activity can be compared with economic
activity data of the past. From a review of published census documents, we find data on economic
activity of population collected in censuses of Nepal has suffered comparison over time due to
changes in definition of economically active, not economically active population from census to
census. In this context we can sight one example. The author did some exercise on economic activity
data obtained from 1981 and 1991 censuses of Nepal to compare percentage of economically active
population by applying the same definition. To measure economically active and not active, the 1981
census used the criteria – who did economic work at least for 8 months during 12 months preceding
the census, was Economically Active. But census 1991 used another criteria - who did economic
work even for less than 3 months, during 12 months period preceding the census, was Economically
Active. According to the definition of each census, per cent of economically active population was
shown 65.1 and 56.6 in 1981 and 1991 respectively. But if we use the 1981 definition, the per cent
economically active in 1991 comes out to be only 36.8 (Niroula, 1994) which is much lower than the
stated figure, 56.6. In this regard, data from census 2001 is not the exception. Census 2001 adequately
collected economic activity data to apply standard measurement and allow possibility for comparison.
But data presented in the National Report could not be made comparable directly with the past census
data. However, there are possibilities for comparing 2001 data with the past, to some extent, if
definitions of the data are carefully examined.
8.9 Quality of Statistics
Like other demographic statistics, statistics on the working force are subject to errors from various
causes. Despite their limitations and the errors of measurement, labour force statistics collected in a
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census/survey have proven themselves highly useful. In the underdeveloped countries, the conceptual
difficulties, operational clarity of economic and non-economic work/activities seems to be a more
basic problem. At the operational level, in addition, response error such as - reporting of activity
performed by individuals and computation of time for each activity performed may not be very
precise and under reporting of activities, particularly performed by females, need not be over
emphasized. Inconsistency in classification has affected both quality and uses of economic activity
data of Nepal.
8.10 Uses and Limitations of Data
Census statistics on the economically active population are especially useful in those countries that do
not have a highly developed system of economic statistics from establishment sources. Planning for
economic development is a very important use of such statistics. Statistics on economic activity
provide much of the description of a nation’s or of a region’s human resources. Similarly data on
occupational characteristics cross tabulated with other variables provide tremendous amount of
information for economic planning and human resource utilization. Other uses of economic activity
data are also described in literatures (UN, 1958; Shryock and Siegel, 1971).
The analysis of statistics on the economically active population is subject to limitations, both with
respect to the changes in definition employed, and to the methods of compiling data. Data lack
comparability with the results of the past censuses and sample household surveys because of different
concepts, definitions, and the processing procedures applied. Similarly, time series data on economic
activity is not strictly comparable, the reason we have mentioned.
8.11 Summary Conclusion
Since the history of census taking, Nepal collected data on economic activity of her population. But
the concept and definition of economic and non-economic activity/work used, type of questions
administered, reference year and duration worked during the reference year, age of respondent to ask
question changed from time to time. Over time and till 1991, attempts have been made to apply
standard concept to define economic, non-economic activity/work, but basic questions were not
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properly addressed and adequately designed to collect data and apply standard measurement.
However, in 2001, after series of discussion effort was made to design and administer adequate
number of questions to meet requirements of the standard measurement and classification of
economic activity data.
By a close scrutiny of definition applied to collect economic activity data and examination of
requirements of standard definition and classification, we are convinced that economic activity data
generated by census 2001 meets the requirement of standard classification. Accordingly, therefore,
fitting exercise of 2001 data has been completed and concurrently estimates of population according
to the ILO Framework are presented in the Figure 8.2. Moreover, in this exercise, it has also been
possible to classify the workforce beyond the framework, and see how they used their time (based on
stated four response categories) during the reference year. An exhaustive structure (combination of
activity/work and time, in month, an individual spent performing different type of activity during the
reference period of 12 months) to look at both the “Framework and Beyond” is presented in the annex
8.1 which facilitates us to search and analyse activities of population during the reference year. An
example of the analysis is presented in the figure 8.3.
The exercise is the first of its kind in the history of analyzing census data on economic activity of
population of Nepal. The exercise has, in fact, not only resolved the long felt but unsolved problem
on standardizing data on economic activity of population collected by population censuses of Nepal
but also provided clear guidelines for collection and presentation of economic activity data in the
future censuses. The issue of improving quality of data, however, remains. Quality can be improved
gradually by educating census personnel, particularly educating enumerators and respondents through
training and publicity of topics under investigation before census enumeration.
As the population classification is based on standard, this exercise provides a solid base to
understand statistics on activities of the workforce, design population policy and formulate plan of
action for generating employment at the national and grassroots level.
333
References
Central Bureau of Statistics (1911–2001). Census Questionnaires and Instruction Manuals,

Population Census 1911 to 2001, Thapathali, Kathmandu.
Central Bureau of Statistics (1987). Population Monograph of Nepal, National Planning Commission,
Kathmandu, Nepal.
Central Bureau of Statistics (1995). Population Monograph of Nepal, National Planning Commission,
Kathmandu, Nepal.
Central Bureau of Statistics (1998/99). Report on the Nepal Labour Force Survey, National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (2001). Rastiya Janaganana 2058, Janaganana Nirdesika (Population
Census 2001 instruction Manual, in Nepali), Thapathali, Kathmandu.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census 2001, National Report, National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census Results in Gender Perspective (three
Volumes), National Planning Commission, Kathmandu, Nepal, December, 2002.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2003). Gender Statistics at a Glance (Folder on Gender Statistics),
International Labour Organization (1990). Survey of Economically Active Population, Employment,

Unemployment and Under Employment; An ILO Manual on Concepts and Methods, Geneva.
Niroula (1994). A Note on Use of Labour Force Data in the Changed Perspective, in Nepal
Population Journal, Vol. 2 – 3, Population Association of Nepal (PAN), Kathmandu.
Shryock and Seigel (1971). Methods and Materials of Demography, United States Department of
Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Washington DC, USA.
United Nations (1958). Hand Book of Population Census Methods, Vol. II, Economic Characteristics
of Population, Studies in Methods, Series F, No. 5, New York, 1958.
United Nations (1993). System of National Accounts, 1993, United Nations, New York.
334
Annex 8.1 : Combination of response categories and stated month(s), Census 2001.
Question no. 16 (in Form 2, for Sample Households)
In the last 12 months, how many months did ….. do/performed the following types of work ?
Response category
a. Economic Activity ……… Month
b. Extended Economic Activity ……… Month
c. Seeking for Economic Job ……… Month
d. Did not do any Economic Activity ……… Month
Total 12 Months
Combination of month stated in each response category during the
Combination of response category
reference period of 12 months
(a+b) = 0
(a+b+c) = 0 month c= 0 ← Not Economically active at all during the year
d= 12
(a+b) = 1 0
(a+b+c) = 1 month
←-------- Not Usually Active -----→

c= 0 1
←----------------------- Economically Active at some time during the year -----------------------→

d= 11 11
(a+b) = 2 1 0
(a+b+c) = 2 months c= 0 1 2
d= 10 10 10
(a+b) = 3 2 1 0
(a+b+c) = 3 months c= 0 1 2 3
d= 9 9 9 9
(a+b) = 4 3 2 1 0
(a+b+c) = 4 months c= 0 1 2 3 4
d= 8 8 8 8 8
(a+b) = 5 4 3 2 1 0
(a+b+c) = 5 months c= 0 1 2 3 4 5
d= 7 7 7 7 7 7
(a+b) = 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
(a+b+c) = 6 months c= 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
←--------------- Usually Active -----------------------→

d= 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
(a+b) = 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
(a+b+c) = 7 months c= 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
d= 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
(a+b) = 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
(a+b+c) = 8 months c= 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
d= 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
(a+b) = 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
(a+b+c) = 9 months c= 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
d= 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
(a+b) = 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
(a+b+c) = 10 months c= 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
d= 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
(a+b) = 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
(a+b+c) = 11 months c= 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
d= 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
(a+b) = 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
(a+b+c) = 12 months c= 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
d= 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
← Usually Employed → ← Usually Unemployed →
Note : To simplify the presentation and without losing required information, response categories a and b are combined in
one group.
335
Annex 8. 2 : To collect information on economic activity of population questions administered
since 1952/54 census of Nepal are presented below (questions administered were in
Nepali language) -
Census 1952/54
Individual Schedule
(Question on economic activity asked for all individuals, lower age limit not mentioned, data available for age
<15 years, 15 years and over)
Question 8. Do you earn for own living ? 1. Yes 2. No
If yes,
a. What was the occupation ? What type of work did …. do in that occupation ?
b. What was the status of work ?
1. Employer
2. Employee
3. Own account worker
Question 9. If …. does not earn for own living in q. 8, what is the occupation of the person who
earns for ….’s living? What type of work s/he did in that occupation?
Question 10. A. Does …. work these days? 1. Yes 2. No

If no,
B. What is the reason ?
Census 1961
Individual Schedule
(Question asked for all individual age 15 years and over)
Question 13. a. (During the year preceding the census) Did …. do any economic work for at
least 7/8 months? 1. Yes 2. No
If no,
b. What was the reason for not doing economic work ?
1. Household duties
2. Old Age
3. Study
4. Physically disabled
5. Chronic disease
6. Maharogi
7. Mentally retarded
8. Prison/orphanage
9. Pension/income etc.
10. Others
336
If Yes in Q. 13a,
Question 14. What was …… ‘s Occupation (type of work)
Question 15. What was …… ‘s Industry of work
Question 16. What was …… ‘s status of work ?

1. Employers
3. Employee
4. Unpaid family worker.
Census 1971
Individual Schedule
Question 15. Did ……. do any economic/ gainful work ? 1. Yes 2. No
If yes,
a. In which district ……………………
b. Occupation ……………………
c. Industry ……………………
d. Status of Work
1. Employer
2. Employee
If no,
Question 16. What was the reason…….was not doing economic/gainful work?
1. Household duties
2. Study
3. Old age
4. Chronic disease
5. Maharogi
8. Prison/orphanage
10. Others
337
Census 1981
Individual Schedule
Question 20. (in the last week) Did …. Do any economic work? 1. Yes 2. No
If no,
Question 21. Did … look for any economic work?
1. Yes 2. No
Question 22. (in the last 12 months) Did …. Do any economic work for at least 8 months ?
1. Yes 2. No
Question 23. (In the last12 months) If …… did not do any economic work for at least 8 months,
what was the main reason for not doing economic work ?
1. Household duties
2. Study
3. Old age
4. Chronic disease
7. Prison/orphanage
9. Looked for economic work
10. others, specify …..
If yes in Q. 22,
Question 24. What was the Occupation ……….
Question 25. What was the Industry of work ……….
Question 26. What was the Status of Work

1. Employer
2. Employee
338
Census 1991
Individual Schedule
In the last 12 months preceding the census,
Question 18. What type of work (economic or non-economic) …… was usually doing?
4. Did not do any economic work.
Question 19. How many months did ….. do economic work (response 1, 2 and 3 in Q. 18)?
1. Eight months and above
2. 6 to 7 months
3. 3 to 5 months
4. Less than 3 months
If response 1 or 2 or 3 in Q. 18,
Question 20. (during the reference period) What type of work did ….usually do (occupation) ……
Question 21. Where did …. Worked (industry) ……
Question 22. What was…. ‘s status of work

1. Employer
2. Employee
If response 4 in Q. 18,
Question 23. What was the main reason for ……. not usually doing economic work ?
1. Household duties
2. Study
3. Old age
5. Physically /mentally sick
6. Prison/orphanage
7. Other (specify) …….
339
Census 2001
Form 2 (for Sample Households)
(Question asked for individuals of selected household age 10 years and over)
Question 15. In the last 12 months, what was the …… usually doing?
4. Extended economic activity
5. Looking for/seeking economic job
6. Household duties
7. Study/Training
8. Did not do any of the above.
Question 16. In the last 12 months, how many months did ….. do/performed the following types
of work ?
1. Economic activity ……... month(s)
2. Extended economic activity ……... month(s)
3. Looking for / seeking economic job ……... month(s)
4. Did not do any economic work/activity ……..month(s).
Total 12 months.
Question 17. What type of work did …. Do (occupation)
Question 18. Where did …. work (industry) ……
Question 19. What was…..’s status of work

1. Employer
2. Employee
Question 20. What was the main reason for not usually doing economic work ?
1. Study/training
2. Household duties
3. Old age
4. Pension/income
5. Physically/mentally disabled
6. Sick/chronic disease
7. Others ……..
340
CHAPTER 9
TRENDS, PATTERNS AND STRUCTURE OF
ECONOMICALLY ACTIVE POPULATION
- Dr. Devendra P Shrestha*
9.1 Introduction
Like in previous censuses the population census of 2001 gathered information on the various
activities performed by the population of age 10 years and above. The census elicited information
from economically active population on the nature of their usual job (occupation, industry, status,
name of employer place of work and duration of work). For those who were identified as
economically not active the census further solicited information regarding the reasons for not
working. This chapter analyses the trends, patterns and structure of economically active
population in the country using the 2001 population census tables. Wherever needed previous
census data is used for establishing trends and patterns in economically active population.
9.2 Measurement Approaches and Data Limitation
The economically active population is generally defined to " comprise all those persons who
contribute to the supply of labour for the production of goods and services disregarding whether
they actually were employed at the time of enumeration or not"(CBS, 1977: 149). Conventionally
two approaches; "labour force" and "gainful work" are followed to measure the extent of
economically active population in the country. According to labour force approach economically
active population consists of all persons who during a specific period of time (a week, a month or
even a year) were practicing some profession or occupation or seeking employment. The gainful
work "investigates the usual occupation or the gainful activity of the persons without specifying
when the work was actually performed and it excludes all persons seeking employment for the
first time, temporary workers and students and women working only seasonally" (CBS, 1977:
150). The gainful work approach has no explicit time reference (Shryock and Siegel, 1976). In
fact this approach refers to persons "usual" activity. Each of these approaches has their own
limitations. Some amount of vagueness is involved in both the approaches so far as the
identification of economically active and not active population is concerned.
*
Dr. Shrestha is an Associate Professor of Central Department of Economics, TU
341
The review of the documents indicates that previous population censuses used both labour force
and gainful work approaches for the measurement of economically active population in the
country. In the following table the approach adopted and the concept defined in various census is
presented.
Table 9.1 : Salient features associated with the measurement of economically active
population in different censuses
1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001

Labour Force Labour Force Mixture Gainful Gainful Mixture
Mixture of & Gainful Approach & of Labour Work Work of Labour
Approach work approach Gainful Work Force & Approach Approach Force &
Approach Gainful & Labour & Labour Gainful
Work Forced Force Work
Approach Approach Approach Approach
Economically Worked at Same as Same as Worked Worked
Definition active least for 8 in 1961 in 1961 for any for any
population months either length of length of
was one who at a single time time
was either stretch or at during the during the
working or intervals, 12 month 12 month
had job but either for pay, preceding preceding
temporarily profit or the census the census
absent or remuneration date date
looking for in cash or
work at the kind during
time of census the year
preceding the
day of census
Minimum Under 15 15 years and 10 years 10 years 10 years 10 years
Age years of age above and above and above and above and above
At the time of 8 months in 8 months 8 months during last during
Reference census the course of in the in the 12 months last 12
Period enumeration the year course of course of months
preceding the the year the year
census preceding preceding
the census the census
Inclusion Included all Excluded Data on Data on
& job seekers -Out of work duration duration
Exclusion under EAP at the time of of work of work
Excluded enumeration collected collected
- Unpaid - had worked for the -
family worker less than 8 first time Included
months informati
Included on on
- unpaid extended
family economic
workers activities
342
From the over view presented in Table 9.1 it is apparent that census data on economically active
population suffers from several limitations. The limitation emanates from the changes in
definition and concept used and the number and type of questions administered in the censuses
(Niroula, 2003). The fixation of "minimum age" and the "reference period" also varied from one
census to another creating the problem of data comparability.
The 2001 census has widened the definition considerably by allowing anyone to count as
economically active if they did any work at all during the last 12 months. For the sake of defining
work activities the population census 2001 adopted the ILO standards, which in turn are based on
the UN 1993 System of National Accounts. In the history of population census it is for the first
time in 2001 population census a separate tables on "economically active" (Table 25 in National
Report) and "usually economically active"(Table 24 in National Report) are presented. Census
recorded 10637243 as the economically active population and 9900196 as usually economically
active population with a difference of 737049 economically active but who are not usually
economically active. Who are those respondents is not very clear. No clear distinction has been
made in terms of these two numbers and their specific sources in terms of the type of respondents,
and duration of work if applicable. It appears that census made an effort to distinguish between
current economic activity and usual economic activity. The current activity covered a short
reference period while the usual activity covered the long reference period. Accordingly based on
the number of 10637243 economically active populations it has been estimated that 63.4 percent
of population are economically active (refined rate) at some time during the reference year among
which 58.2 percent are usually active (Niroula, 2003). Nepal Labour Force Survey 1998/99 is
believed to be the pioneer in obtaining estimates of usual activity in the country (CBS, 1999).
Though the census presents separate tables on economically active population and usually active
population, more classified tables are presented only for usually active population of 9900196.
The detailed analysis of this chapter is based on this number. Therefore, the analysis on industrial
and occupational classification and duration of work of usually active population is not strictly
comparable with the previous census, which was based on the concept of current activity.
9.3 Economically Active Population: General Trends
The growth in the economically active population is affected by the rate of increase in the total
population. It is therefore essential to analyze the growth in economically active population in
relation to population growth over time. The total population, population of the age group 10
years and above and the economically active population as recorded in various population
343
censuses are presented in Table 9.2. During 1952/54-2001 while the population growth recorded
an increase by 176 percent (an average annual increase of 3.67%) the economically active
population increased by 156 percent (average annual rate of 3.25%).
The year-to-year growth in the economically active female population reveals that especially
during the decade 1961-71 though the growth in female population aged 10 years and above had
been positive the growth in economically active female population was negative. The findings are
little untenable due to the fact that in the 1961 census the minimum age for economically active
population was fixed at 15 years where as in 1971 it was reduced to 10 years. This should rather
increase in the size of economically active female population. Some suspicions were raised in the
figures. It has been suspected that "either the size of the labour force in 1961 was inflated or that
1971 labour force figures have, in some way, been underestimated. Similarly, other factors such
as differences in data collection methods editing, coding, tabulation might have emerged to
produce these variations" (CBS, 1977:154). It has also been suspected that the 1961 census has
probably wrongly classified a large number of females as economically active when their primary
occupation was in fact as "housewives" (CBS, 1987).
As may be observed in Table 9.1 the percentage change in the economically active male
population during 1981-1991 recorded a negative increase (-2.3%). This needs careful attention.
A large number of populations of about one hundred thousand were listed under the "not stated"
category (CBS, 1995). This could partly explain the phenomenon.
In more recent decade 1991-2001 the increase in the economically active population (44.9%) has
been quite noticeable when compared to total population increase of 22.9 percent. There has been
a six-fold increase in the economically active population during 1991-2001. During the decade
1981-91 the percentage rise was merely 7 percent, which has jumped to 45 percent during 1991-
2001. This sudden jump in the size of economically active population could be attributed to the
wider definition of the concept of the economically active population. The population census of
2001 included "extended economic activities" in the definition of the economically actively
population. The increase in the economically active female population by 57 percent during the
same decade compared to 25 percent in the previous decade amply supports this fact. The
extended economic activities (collecting firewood for household use, fetching water, food
processing for household consumption) were not treated as economic activities in the previous
censuses (CBS, 2001: 50).
344
Table 9.2 : Growth of population and economically active population by sex, 1952/54 –
2001.
Population Aged 10 plus Economically Active
Total Population
Sex & Year Years Population
Number % Increase Number % Increase Number % Increase
Both Sexes
1952/54 8235079 7225607 4153455
1961* 9412996 14.3 5659931 -5.7 4306839 3.7
1971 11555983 22.8 8178620 44.5 4852524 12.7
1981 15022839 30.0 10517888 28.6 6850886 41.2
1991 18491097 23.1 12977612 23.4 7339586 7.1
2001 22736934 22.9 16770279 29.2 10637243 44.9
Males
1952/54 4050607 4153455 2460492
1961* 4636033 14.4 2724757 -34.4 2563915 4.2
1971 5817203 25.5 4140624 52.0 3434288 33.9
1981 7659336 31.6 5351614 29.2 4479944 30.4
1991 9220974 20.4 6419484 20.0 4375583 -2.3
2001 11359378 23.2 8330576 29.8 5971024 36.5
Females
1952/54 4184472 3072152 1692963
1961* 4776963 14.2 2935174 -4.5 1742924 3.0
1971 5738780 20.1 4037817 37.6 1418236 -18.6
1981 7327503 27.7 5130274 27.1 2370942 67.2
1991 9270123 26.5 6558128 27.8 2964003 25.0
2001 11377556 22.7 8439703 28.7 4666219 57.4
Source : CBS, Various Census Tables

* Refers to age 15+ as the Census 1961 defined lower limit of age 15 to be qualified to be
economically active.
9.3.1 Crude and Refined Activity Rate
The extent of economic activity rate is generally measured by crude and refined activity rate.
Crude activity rate (here after termed as CAR) represents the number of economically active
population as a percent of the total population. As the name suggests, refined activity rate (here
after termed as RAR), which is also known as General Activity Rate, is a more refined measure of
measuring the economically active population. This is simply the activity rate for persons of
working age. In the present analysis the refined activity rate has been defined to represent the
number of economically active population of age 10 years and above as percentage of the
population of corresponding age i.e., 10 years and above (in the case of 1961 census this is
however 15 years and above). Not all population can engage in economic activities. This is a
refined activity rate as it considers only that segment of population who can engage themselves in
economic activities.
345
Table 9.3 presents the CAR and RAR during 1952/54 to 2001. The data in the table shows that
there is no consistent pattern in the activity rate. Both CAR and RAR increased in 1961 and
declined in 1971. In the subsequent year it again increased and this was followed by a decline in
1991. All these could be attributed to the change in the definition adopted to measure the
economically active population in various censuses. It has also been documented that the decline
in the CAR is due to the rise in the school enrolment rate (Shrestha & Pant, 1995). Comparison of
the 1991 and 2001 census figures on reasons for being economically inactive also supports this
view. While 39.29 percent of above age 10 were reported to be studying in 1991 census, the
proportion of inactive population is recorded at 47.29 percent in 2001 census.
The overall CAR and RAR both recorded an increase during 1991 to 2001 but the increase was
more marked in the case of females. RAR of females activity rate recorded an increase from 45.20
percent in 1991 to 55.29 percent in 2001 while male activity rate increased from 68.16 to 71.68
during the same period. As mentioned above the increase in the male and female activity rates has
been accounted by the adoption of new definition in the 2001 census where activities like
collecting firewood for household use, fetching water, food processing for household
consumption etc are considered as the economic activity under the title of extended economic
activities. This has resulted to the greater increase in the female activity rate as compared to male.
Table 9.3 : Crude and refined activity rate by sex, 1952/54 – 2001.
Census Crude Activity Rate (CAR) Refined Activity Rate (RAR)

Year Both Sexes Male Female Both Sexes Male Female
1952/54 50.43 60.74 40.45 57.48 59.23 55.10
1961 45.75 55.30 36.48 76.09 94.09 59.38
1971 41.99 59.03 24.71 59.33 82.94 35.12
1981 45.60 58.48 32.36 65.14 83.71 46.21
1991 39.69 47.45 31.97 56.56 68.16 45.20
2001 46.78 52.56 41.01 63.43 71.68 55.29
Source: CBS 1975, Vol. III, Part I, Table 19

CBS 1984, Vol. I, Part V, Table 21
CBS 1993, Vol. I, Part XIII, Table 50
CBS 2002, National Report, Table 25
346
Fig. 9.1 : Refined activity rate, 1952/54-2001
100
90
80
70
Refined Activity Rate
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Census Year
Both Sexes Male Female
9.4 Age-Sex Trends and Patterns
The economic activity rate tends to vary by age and sex of the economically active population. It
is affected by education policy and child labour policy of the government, among others. If the
education is compulsory up to certain minimum age and child labour is restricted, then age–
specific participation rate of 10 to 14 tend to be lower. The age-sex specific participation rates are
presented in Table 9.4. The activity rates presented in the table revealed that over a period of time
the overall participation rate of population aged 10-14 years has declined significantly. In 1981 it
was as high as 57 percent, which has reduced to half - 29 percent - in 2001 census. This is true
with male and female. The economically active children aged 10-14 constitutes 8.1 percent of the
total economically population in 2001. Among male the share is 7.1 and among females it is 9.44
percent and their share has declined considerably over time.
It may be observed that for both sexes combined the activity rates in 2001 increases sharply from
28.83 percent for age 10 to 14 years to 68.75 percent for 20 to 24 years of age. Thereafter, the
increase is gradual until a peak of 83.39% is reached at ages 40 to 44. The activity rate then
declines gradually and reaches 47.12 at age 65 and above. Male activity rate confirms this pattern.
However for females, the activity rate gradually increases up to the age of 54 and starts declining
thereafter. The over all age specific activity rates thus follows the universal pattern and are
characterized by high activity rate up to certain age and maximum at age 35-39 and continue to
show a broad peak up to age 45-49 and thereafter continue to decline rapidly. Data presented thus
reveal an inverted U-shaped economic activity rate. Figure 9.2 depicts the age-sex specific
activity rate for the country in 2001.
347
Table 9.4 : Age-sex specific economic activity rate, 1971-2001.
1971 1981 1991 2001

Age
group Both Both Both Both
10-14 50.5 59.2 40.1 56.9 61.3 51.9 23.28 18.44 28.54 28.83 27.34 30.42
15-19 61.6 75.7 46.2 60.7 69.2 51.3 49.43 49.57 49.29 48.92 49.70 36.61
20-24 63.5 89.8 39.2 66.1 86.3 47.6 66.35 80.52 54.31 68.75 76.90 54.14
25-29 65.3 95.1 36.6 68.7 93.4 44.9 72.34 92.77 54.13 78.17 91.94 72.80
30-34 63.7 96.6 33.9 68.2 95.3 43.3 73.92 95.61 54.03 81.84 96.60 77.80
35-39 66.9 97.4 34.0 70.8 95.8 44.1 75.63 96.33 54.73 83.27 97.36 78.51
40-44 64.7 97.2 32.9 70.4 96.0 44.7 74.55 95.93 54.30 83.39 97.12 83.42
45-49 66.7 96.8 32.5 72.3 96.4 44.9 74.13 95.12 52.31 83.29 96.75 84.39
50-54 62.9 94.0 30.5 71.2 94.3 44.7 70.73 92.07 48.17 80.82 94.65 93.72
55-59 60.0 90.3 27.7 69.9 92.2 43.3 66.85 88.56 41.69 77.89 91.56 69.29
60-64 39.7 64.1 17.9 62.5 83.3 39.9 45.96 66.47 25.50 67.23 81.91 77.77
65 + 25.1 40.5 10.4 52.9 68.7 35.0 26.92 40.27 12.92 47.12 59.71 34.30

CBS 2002, National Report, Table 25
Fig. 9.2 : Age-sex specific economic activity rate, 1971-2001.

120
100
Activity Rate
80 Both sexes
Male
60
Female
40
20
0
1o- 15- 20- 25- 30- 35- 40- 45- 50- 55- 60- 65
14 19 24 29 34 39 44 49 54 59 64 +
Age-group
348
Consistent with the data of earlier census, the 2001 census also recorded higher activity rate of
male compared to female in all the age groups (see Table 9.3).
9.5 Rural Urban Differences in Economic Activity Rates
Activity rate tends to be affected by place of residence. The activity rates for males and females
for rural and urban areas are presented in Table 9.5. The upper segment of the table shows CAR
and lower segment shows RAR. The rates presented in the table clearly demonstrate the rural
urban differences. Both CAR and RAR was higher in rural area than in urban area. This is quite
usual in view of the fact that the share of "students" in the urban population is higher than in the
rural areas. The difference is gradually narrowing down. Among females between rural and urban
areas the differences persisted while among males it has come down to its minimum level in
2001. While the CAR of rural females differed significantly with its urban counterpart, the
difference between rural and urban males is minimal in 2001. It is also true with the RAR.
Table 9.5 : Economic activity rate by sex and place of residence, 1952/54 - 2001.
Rural Urban
Census
Crude Activity Rate (CAR)
Year
Both Sexes Male Female Both Sexes Male Female
1961 76.9 94.8 60.5 55.5 79.5 59.4
1971 60.1 83.7 36.0 42.3 66.8 12.3
1981 45.99 58.46 32.98 39.77 54.69 22.58
1991 40.94 48.15 33.84 30.56 44.76 15.19
2001 47.69 52.67 42.77 41.27 51.89 29.97
Refined Activity Rate (RAR)
1971 60.07 83.69 36.02 48.20 75.88 11.40

1981 65.85 83.77 47.19 54.90 74.86 31.48
1991 58.76 69.78 48.10 40.76 59.44 20.34
2001 65.43 72.80 58.25 52.28 65.69 37.99

CBS 2002, Unpublished Tables
349
The age-specific activity rates in 2001 for rural urban area presented in Table 9.6 indicates that for
all ages the rural rates for both sexes combined are substantially higher than urban rates. The
differences are more alarming between ages 10-29 years of age. This could possibly be explained
from the fact that the rural population constitutes larger proportion of children and young people
and school enrolment rate is also lower than in the urban areas.
Table 9.6 : Age-sex specific activity rates by place of residence, 1991-2001.

1991* 2001**
Age Rural Urban Rural Urban
Group Both Both Both Both
10-14 24.84 36.56 30.62 7.56 8.02 7.04 30.54 28.84 32.34 17.42 17.31 17.53
15-19 52.52 52.12 52.90 23.26 29.56 16.37 52.04 52.43 51.68 31.81 35.65 27.61
20-24 69.58 83.45 58.10 42.03 60.86 22.60 72.35 80.13 65.69 52.10 63.33 40.53
25-29 74.52 94.09 57.40 55.02 83.10 25.86 80.54 93.20 69.30 67.01 86.36 47.42
30-34 75.41 96.29 56.69 61.19 90.43 28.85 83.60 97.00 71.18 73.32 94.79 50.15
35-39 77.00 96.85 57.27 63.13 91.97 29.78 84.92 97.67 72.52 74.73 95.81 52.01
40-44 75.74 96.45 56.55 62.62 91.33 29.15 84.94 97.53 72.85 74.78 95.05 51.61
45-49 75.35 95.68 54.49 61.28 89.56 27.30 84.90 97.22 72.38 73.57 94.11 49.83
50-54 72.02 92.80 50.21 55.98 84.11 23.89 73.22 95.64 69.76 68.97 89.31 46.05
55-59 68.19 89.41 43.58 51.29 78.66 19.79 91.55 92.70 65.40 63.68 83.12 40.54
60-64 46.66 66.39 26.48 37.05 61.17 13.11 69.52 83.64 55.15 50.42 69.04 31.91
65 + 27.38 40.48 13.52 21.82 37.82 6.59 49.33 61.61 36.62 31.92 45.77 19.28
*Source : Shrestha & Pant: Economically Active Population, Chapter VII in Population Monograph, CBS,
1995 Page 209 – 210.
** Source : CBS Unpublished Tables of Population Census 2001.
9.6 Ecological and Regional Differentials in Economic Activity
In order to examine the ecological differences in activity rates the country has been classified into
three ecological zones viz., mountain, hill and terai. The differences in activity rates measured in
terms of both CAR and RAR among three ecological zones are presented in Table 9.7. In all the
three ecological regions the CAR has increased over time. In 1991 it has come down. This decline
is attributed to the change in the definition of economically active population in 1991 census.
Among the three ecological regions mountain has the highest CAR and RAR while terai has the
lowest and hill is in between. This pattern continued in 2001 census as well. Ecological
differences in the activity rates have widen over time. Sex differences in activity rates among
350
three ecological zones have continued. In mountain, however, the differences in the activity rate
between male and female have narrowed down from 23 percentage points in 1971 to merely one-
percentage points in 2001. In hill and terai the difference continue to prevail. As the data
presented in Table 9.7 shows the differences in the activity rate among male and female is more
pronounced in terai compared to other two ecological zones. This phenomenon is true for RAR
as well.
Table 9.7 : Crude and refined activity rates by sex for ecological regions, 1971-2001.
Census Crude Activity Rate (CAR) Refined Activity Rate (RAR)
Year Mountain Hill Terai Mountain Hill Terai
1971
Total 50.75 44.81 35.75 69.99 62.89 51.32
Male 62.43 58.43 58.97 85.51 81.99 83.33
Female 38.98 30.86 14.97 54.13 44.16 16.09
1981
Total 54.45 53.33 36.91 75.66 68.78 58.80
Male 61.83 61.45 54.50 85.91 82.03 83.80
Female 46.72 44.54 18.94 64.93 55.41 31.34
1991
Total 52.63 44.37 33.78 74.49 62.78 48.56
Male 52.62 47.02 47.85 74.92 67.54 68.87
Female 52.64 41.85 19.18 74.08 58.38 27.53
2001
Total 79.37 65.87 59.00 76.47 62.41 53.54
Male 79.88 70.16 71.92 76.89 66.49 66.76
Female 78.88 61.84 45.61 76.06 58.59 39.84
Source : Shrestha & Pant: Economically Active Population, Chapter VII in Population Monograph, CBS,
1995 page 209-210
CBS Unpublished Tables of Population Census 2001
The differences in activity rates measured in terms of both CAR and RAR among five
development regions are presented in Table 9.8. With the exception of MWDR, in other four
development regions the CAR has increased during 1981 – 2001, the increase is however very
marginal. The inter-regional differences in the CAR and RAR are minimal among all five regions.
Data presented in Table 9.8 reveal gender differences in the activity rate, which is more
pronounced in CDR. It should be further noted that FWDR recorded a significant achievement in
narrowing down the gender differences in CAR and RAR. The difference in CAR between male
and female was as high as 23-percentage points in 1981, which has come down to less than 2
percentage points in 2001. Given the gender differences in several other indicators in this region
this result needs further probing.
351
Table 9.8 : Crude and refined activity rate by sex and development region, 1981–
2001.
Crude Activity Rate (CAR)

1981+
Both Sexes 44.49 43.46 46.86 49.25 48.26
Male 57.43 58.63 56.95 59.91 59.29
Female 30.86 27.22 36.51 38.21 36.69
1991++
Both Sexes 39.13 38.03 40.36 42.74 44.72
Male 47.94 49.45 43.99 49.30 47.65
Female 30.28 26.20 36.98 36.23 41.90
2001+++
Both Sexes 47.38 44.36 47.34 48.41 51.01
Male 53.62 53.47 49.77 52.82 51.93
Female 41.15 34.82 45.10 44.03 50.10
Refined Activity Rate (RAR)

1981
Both Sexes 63.22 61.73 66.72 71.90 70.45
Male 81.14 83.02 81.27 87.50 87.64
Female 44.13 38.79 51.40 55.78 52.88
1991
Both Sexes 55.28 53.55 57.62 62.44 65.62
Male 68.09 69.83 64.19 72.13 70.81
Female 42.55 36.78 51.75 52.72 60.76
2001
Both Sexes 63.64 59.47 64.03 67.58 71.59
Male 72.41 71.54 68.65 74.05 73.64
Female 54.98 46.76 59.91 61.20 69.61
Source : + CBS, 1987 - Population Monograph of Nepal, Table 9.24, p. 234

++ Shrestha & Pant: Economically Active Population, Chapter VII in Population Monograph,
CBS, 1995, Table 22, p. 231
+++ Computed from Population Census 2001 National Reports Table 25, CBS, 2002
EDR = Eastern Development Region
CDR = Central Development Region
WDR = Western Development Region
MWDR= Mid-western Development Region
FWDR = Far-western Development Region
352
9.7 Structure of Economically Active Population
9.7.1 Industrial Classification of Economically Active Population
The population census of 2001 used the term industry to refer to the activity of the establishment
in which an employed person worked during the reference period or last worked if unemployed.
Like in the previous censuses, 2001 census also asked all 10 years and above economically active
person to mention the establishment (industry) of their occupation. Census followed International
Standard of Industrial Classification to classify jobs according to the type of industry (UN, 1990).
Accordingly, all activities that employed people engaged themselves were classified under 17
different industry groups (CBS, 2001). For the sake of analysis these categories were reclassified
into nine standard industry group types. Population Census 2001 data on industrial and
occupational classification of economically active population has been presented for the usually
active population. Therefore, caution should be exercised while making comparison with the
previous censuses.
The data presented in Table 9.9 illustrates that there has been a gradual shift of employment from
agriculture to non-agricultural occupation. In 1971 people employed in agriculture sector was as
high as 95 percent, which has come down to 66 percent in 2001. This decline was much larger for
males compared to females. Manufacturing and commerce industry recorded a significant
improvement in terms of employment of economically active population. In 1971 merely one
percent of the employed population was engaged in manufacturing and commerce industries. In
2001 the share of these industries rose to 9 and 10 percent respectively. This is indeed a
significant shift in employment structure in the country. Data further revealed that more and more
females are getting engaged in manufacturing (less than 1 % in 1971 to 10% in 2001) as
compared to males. Personal and community services also recorded a decline in its share of the
employed population during 1991-2001.
353
Table 9.9 : Percentage distribution of economically active population by type of major industries and sex, 1971-2001.
1971 1981 1991 2001*

Major Industry Both Both Both Both
Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing 94.35 92.81 98.17 91.15 88.71 95.75 81.23 74.93 90.53 65.70 60.25 72.83
Mining & Quarrying - 0.00 0.00 - 0.02 0.01 0.03 0.04 0.02 0.16 0.18 0.13
Manufacturing 1.07 1.32 0.46 0.50 0.63 0.21 2.04 2.64 1.16 8.81 8.15 9.67
Electricity, Gas & water 0.04 0.05 0.00 0.04 0.06 0.01 0.16 0.25 0.03 1.49 0.59 2.68
Construction 0.10 0.14 0.01 0.02 0.04 0.01 0.49 0.73 0.13 2.89 4.20 1.19
Commerce 1.32 1.62 0.55 1.60 2.10 0.69 3.49 4.47 2.04 9.94 10.72 8.94
Transport & Communication 0.21 0.27 0.02 0.11 0.16 0.01 0.69 1.12 0.07 1.63 2.78 0.14
Finance & Business Services 0.06 0.10 0.01 0.14 0.20 0.04 0.28 0.41 0.09 0.00 1.17 0.25
Personal & Community Services 2.84 3.69 0.78 4.58 5.98 1.92 10.25 13.58 5.32 6.70 9.63 2.88
Others - 0.00 0.00 - 0.00 0.00 0.38 0.60 0.06 1.65 2.09 1.07
Industry not stated - 0.00 0.00 1.86 2.13 1.35 0.96 1.23 0.55 0.22 0.23 0.22
Source : Shrestha & Pant: Economically Active Population, Chapter VII in Population Monograph, CBS, 1995 page 209-210; CBS: Population Census 2001 Unpublished
Tables
* Based on Tables of usually economically active population.
354
9.7.2 Ecological and Regional Variations in the Industrial Classification
of Economically Active Population
Although majority of the usually economically active population is engaged in agriculture in all
three ecological zones the proportion engaged in agriculture in Mountain is significantly higher
than Hill and Terai. Four-fifths (81%) of the Mountain population still rely on agriculture for their
employment showing the dominance of this sector. This proportion is much higher than the
national average of 65 percent. In other industry categories the proportion engaged in Mountain is
less than 5 percent except in commerce (6%). In Hill and Terai the employment structure shows
diversification of employment to non-agriculture sector. In Terai one in ten active populations are
engaged in manufacturing and commerce while in Hill the proportions are slightly lower. Data
presented in Table 9.10 thus reveal the ecological variations in active population engaged across
different industry groups.
Table 9. 10 : Percentage distribution of usually economically active population by major

industrial sectors for ecological region, 2001.
Major Industry Mountain Hill Terai

Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing 80.71 68.48 59.80
Mining & Quarrying 0.05 0.16 0.18
Manufacturing 5.32 8.14 10.20
Electricity, Gas & water 1.25 1.48 1.57
Construction 1.19 2.15 4.01
Commerce 6.19 8.93 11.76
Transport & Communication 0.56 1.38 2.10
Finance & Business Services 0.20 0.75 0.91
Personal & Community Services 3.82 6.91 7.03
Others 0.48 1.30 2.24
Industry not stated 0.19 0.27 018
Source : CBS, Unpublished tables of Population Census 2001
By development regions the proportion engaged in agriculture, forestry and fishing is highest
(77%) and the proportion engaged in manufacturing is lowest (6%) in FWDR among other
regions. In EDR, WDR and MWDR the proportion engaged in agriculture is close to the national
average of 65 percent while in CDR this proportion (58%) is lower than the national average but
proportion engaged in manufacturing (11.4%) is higher than the national average of 8.9 percent
and also highest among other regions. In trade and commerce the proportion engaged is more or
less equal among all the development regions except in FWDR that has the lowest of 6 percent
engaged (Table 9.11). By gender the proportion of females engaged in agriculture, manufacturing
355
and electricity gas and water industry group is higher than male in all the five development
regions. Males' involvement is higher in trade and commerce, construction and personal and
community services in all five regions (Annex 9.1).
Table 9. 11 : Percentage distribution of usually economically active population by major

industry groups for development region, 2001.
Major Industry EDR CDR WDR MWDR FWDR

Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing 67.42 58.39 68.18 68.33 76.76
Mining & Quarrying 0.17 0.14 0.21 0.20 0.08
Manufacturing 7.75 11.39 7.98 8.13 5.57
Electricity, Gas & water 1.64 1.35 1.43 1.83 1.37
Construction 2.22 3.53 2.93 3.36 1.78
Commerce 10.24 11.15 10.16 9.13 6.02
Transport & Communication 1.63 2.24 1.46 1.08 0.72
Finance & Business Services 0.64 1.14 0.63 0.61 0.42
Personal & Community Services 6.04 8.94 5.80 5.17 4.83
Others 2.03 1.46 1.05 1.95 2.20
Industry not stated 0.21 0.27 0.16 0.22 0.26
Total 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Source : CBS, 2002 Population Census 2001 National Reports Table 27.
9.7.3 Industrial Sectors
Various industry types are conventionally reclassified into three major sectors viz., primary,
secondary and tertiary sectors. Primary industry comprises mainly agriculture; forestry and
fishing. Secondary sector includes mining and quarrying; manufacturing and construction.
Tertiary sector consists of electricity, gas and water supply; wholesale and retail trade; transport,
storage and communication; finance intermediation; business; public administration and social
security; education and health; and social and community and personal services. In fact there is a
wide controversy concerning the validity of this classification (CBS, 1977). Yet the proportion of
the employed population engaged in these three sectors act as an index of economic development
of the country. Development Economist hold the view that with the growth of the economy the
shift in employment pattern is broadly in the nature of bringing down the proportion of
employment in the agriculture sector and some increase in the proportion of employment in
industrial sector.
356
The percentage distribution of employed population by three broad industry sectors and by urban
and rural areas is presented in Table 9.12. While the proportion of employed population engaged
in primary sector recorded a decline between 1971 and 2001, the proportion engaged in secondary
and tertiary sectors recorded marked increase. This clearly shows the shift in the functional
distribution of labour force and also socio-economic transformation in the country. More
noticeable decline may be witnessed between 1991 and 2001 during which primary sector
experienced decline to the tune of 16 percentage points whereas secondary and tertiary sector
experienced significant increase between 7 to 9 percentage points during the same period. When
these results are compared with the Nepal Labour Force Survey results carried out in 1998/99 the
primary sector showed higher proportion of people employed (76vs 66%) while secondary (10%
vs12%) and tertiary sector (14% vs 22%) revealed lesser proportion engaged (CBS, 1999). As the
experience indicates, when the economy moves ahead, the proportion of labour force engaged in
primary sector gradually declines and correspondingly the proportion of labour force engaged in
secondary and tertiary sector increases. This experience is becoming true in our case as well.
Table 9.12 : Percentage distribution of economically active population by major industrial

sectors and sex for rural and urban areas, 1971-2001.
Sex Year Primary Secondary Tertiary Unspecified
NEPAL
1971 94.37 1.17 4.45 -
Both Sexes 1981 91.15 0.53 6.47 1.87
1991 81.23 2.56 14.87 1.24
2001 65.70 11.86 22.21 0.23
1971 92.81 1.46 5.73 -
Male 1981 88.71 0.68 8.48 2.13
1991 74.93 3.41 19.83 1.83
2001 60.25 12.53 26.99 0.23
1971 98.17 0.46 1.36 -
Female 1981 95.75 0.22 2.68 1.35
1991 90.53 1.31 7.55 0.61
2001 72.83 10.99 15.96 0.22
RURAL
1971 96.26 0.84 2.89 -
Both Sexes 1981 92.74 0.33 5.14 1.78
1991 85.54 1.90 11.40 1.16
2001 72.25 10.17 17.37 0.21
1971 95.21 1.03 3.75 -
Male 1981 90.82 0.42 6.72 2.02
1991 80.37 2.62 15.39 1.61
2001 68.61 10.40 20.78 0.21
1971 98.75 0.38 0.86 -
Female 1981 96.30 0.16 2.20 1.34
1991 92.69 0.87 5.81 0.53
2001 76.70 9.89 13.19 0.22
357
Sex Year Primary Secondary Tertiary Unspecified
URBAN
1971 32.83 12.03 55.13 -
Both Sexes 1981 63.96 3.81 29.09 3.12
1991 24.07 11.40 60.86 0.63
2001 42.18 17.95 39.60 0.26
1971 29.53 12.78 57.68 -
Male 1981 57.00 4.54 34.74 3.70
1991 19.67 11.42 64.90 4.01
2001 33.70 19.29 46.70 0.30
1971 54.81 7.02 38.16 -
Female 1981 83.39 1.75 13.33 1.51
1991 30.12 11.43 47.96 2.58
2001 56.20 15.73 27.87 0.19
Primary Sector = 1,2 Secondary= 3,4, & 6 Tertiary = 5,7 thru 17 Unspecified = 18 (See Population
Census 2001 National Report table 30 for activities that correspond to the number belong to each sector)
Data presented in the table for urban areas raise some suspicion on the quality of data for 1991
census. In 1991 the proportion engaged in primary sector suddenly reduced to 24 percent, which
again rose to 42 percent in 2001. This pattern is difficult to explain. Likewise, between 1981 and
1991 the proportion of labour force engaged in tertiary sector more than doubled and reached 61
percent. Given the extent of urbanization in the country this phenomenon is difficult to explain. In
2001, however, the proportion came down to 40 percent. There could however be some problem
in the tabulation and processing of the data, which resulted in such unexpected trend and pattern
of functional distribution of labour force in urban areas.
The data in Table 9.13 indicate the proportion of active population engaged in secondary and
tertiary sector is highest in CDR and it is lowest in FWDR. In other three regions the proportion
engaged is more or less equal. The industrial classification of active population engaged indicates
that CDR is more diversified than any other development regions. It has relatively less proportion
of active population engaged in primary sector and more proportion in secondary and tertiary
sectors as compared to other development regions. .
Table 9.13 : Percentage distribution of usually economically active population by major

industrial sectors for development regions, 2001.
Development Region Primary Secondary Tertiary Unspecified

All Nepal 65.70 11.86 22.21 0.23
Eastern Dev. Region 67.42 10.14 22.23 0.21
Central Dev. Region 58.39 15.06 26.28 0.27
Western Dev. Region 68.18 11.12 20.54 0.16
Mid-Western Dev. Region 68.83 11.69 19.76 0.22
Far-Western Dev. Region 76.76 7.43 15.55 0.26
358
9.7.4 Occupational Distribution of Economically Active Population
In the population census of 2001, all economically active populations were further asked about
the nature of their work (occupation) and place of work. During the reference period of one year
an economically active population might be involved in more than one occupation. But the census
has considered the usual work (performed more usually during a year) to classify the population
based on their usual occupation. It should be noted that although information on occupation was
gathered in some details at the censuses, tabulations were however made only for the nine major
occupation groups including "not stated" category. In the census 2001 all jobs were classified
according to their occupation using the International Standard Classification of Occupations
(ISCO).
Table 9.14 presents the distribution of usually economically active population by major
occupation group, separately for males and females. The data presented in the table illustrates that
agricultural occupations continue to dominate as a major occupation of the economically active
population in 2001, though the share of this category of occupation in the total economically
active population declined significantly from 94 percent in 1971 to 60 percent in 2001. As may be
noted in the table while the proportion of employed population in production related occupation
declined from 4.23 percent in 1991 to 1.43 percent in 2001 the proportion engaged in "others"
category increased more than seven fold during the same period (from 2% to 15%). This marked
increase raises room for suspicion that some activities of "production related" might have been
put under "others" category resulting in the decline of the proportion of the former occupation
type.
"Others" category constituted about 15 percent of the economically active population in 2001.
The population census 2001 classified this under the category "elementary occupation". What
constitutes elementary occupation, however, is not clear in the census report. The other noticeable
change in the occupational structure witnessed in the 2001 census is the threefold increase in the
proportion of male involved in sales occupation. Likewise the women engaged in service
occupation also recorded threefold increase between 1991(3.84%) and 2001 (9.53%). This clearly
indicates that sales occupation is providing increasing opportunities of employment to males and
service occupations to females. The proportion of "not stated" category has reduced to its
minimum of less than one percent in 2001 census. This signifies that there has been improvement
in the data collection procedure in the 2001 census.
359
Table 9.14 : Percentage distribution of usually economically active population by sex and major occupation in Nepal, 1971 – 2001.
1971 1981 1991 2001

Major Occupational Groups Both Both Both Both
Professional & Technical 0.52 0.68 0.14 0.93 1.19 0.45 1.78 2.54 0.66 4.18 5.93 1.90
Administrative & Related 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.09 0.13 0.02 0.30 0.15 0.07 0.57 0.87 0.18
Clerical 0.97 1.13 0.13 0.71 1.03 0.12 1.06 1.60 0.26 2.03 3.13 0.60
Sales 1.24 1.54 0.51 1.25 1.62 0.53 2.98 3.87 1.66 7.89 10.49 4.49
Services 0.70 0.84 0.38 0.24 0.31 0.10 6.18 7.77 3.84 9.26 9.06 9.53
Agriculture 94.37 92.80 98.17 91.37 88.89 96.06 81.10 74.75 90.46 59.61 53.38 67.74
Production 2.18 2.80 0.67 3.12 3.86 1.73 4.23 5.76 1.96 1.43 2.19 0.43
Others* - - - - - - 2.09 2.96 0.82 14.95 14.88 15.03
Not Stated - - - 1.73 2.28 0.99 0.28 0.31 0.25 0.08 0.07 0.10
Source : Shrestha & Pant: Economically Active Population, Chapter VII in Population Monograph, CBS, 1995 page 209-210; CBS Unpublished Tables of Population
Census 2001
* Refers to "Elementary Occupation " category in Table 28 – National Report of the Population Census 2001. For ease of comparison with the previous censuses it
has been termed as "others" category.
360
9.7.5 Rural-Urban Differentials in the Structure of Usually Economically
Active Population
The rural-urban breakdown of the occupational distribution of the employed population in 2001 is
presented in Table 9.15. In rural areas two-thirds (66%) of the populations are employed in
agricultural occupation while in urban areas the proportion of such population was less than two-
fifths (38%). In both the areas more females are employed in agricultural occupation. In the rural
areas the proportion was as high as 72 percent. These finding are in the expected direction.
Furthermore, the proportion engaged in professional and technical occupation is much higher in
urban areas as compared to rural areas. The classification of occupation into agriculture and non-
agriculture reveals that majority of the economically active population (62%) in urban areas are
employed in non-agriculture while in rural area only one-third (34%) are employed in non-
agricultural activities.

occupational group and by residence, Nepal, 2001.
Rural Urban
Major Occupational Groups Both Both
Sexes Sexes
Professional & Technical 2.95 4.44 1.13 8.58 10.65 5.17
Administrative & Related 0.32 0.50 0.10 1.45 2.02 0.52
Clerical 1.43 2.31 0.36 4.18 5.71 1.65
Sales 5.67 7.70 3.18 15.86 19.33 10.12
Services 7.98 7.32 8.78 13.87 14.56 12.73
Agriculture 65.58 60.84 71.37 38.16 29.70 52.17
Production 0.98 1.52 0.31 3.02 4.32 0.94
Others* 15.01 15.29 14.68 14.70 13.59 16.55
Not Stated 0.08 0.44 0.09 0.10 0.09 0.12
Source : CBS, Population Census 2001 Unpublished Tables.
361
9.7.6 Ecological and Regional Variations in the Occupational
Classification of Economically Active Population
Overwhelmingly large proportion of the employed population (79%) in Mountain and Hill (66%)
has agriculture as their major occupation. As a result of this the population engaged in occupation
other than agriculture is very low. The occupational pattern of the employed population is more
diversified in Terai than in Hill and Mountain (Table 9.16). Only less than half of the employed
population in Terai is engaged in agriculture. Sales and service occupation together accounts one-
fifth of the employed population in Terai where as in Mountain it is less than 10 percent and in
Hill it is 15 percent. It should be noted here that elementary occupation, which has been
categorized under "others", constituted more than one-fifth (22%) of the employed population in
Terai. This proportion is more than double of Hill (10%) and almost two and half times higher
than in Mountain(9%).

occupation for ecological region, 2001.
Major Occupation Mountain Hill Terai

Professional & Technical 2.50 4.48 4.18
Administrative & Related 0.17 0.63 0.57
Clerical 0.99 2.16 2.09
Sales 3.28 7.02 9.72
Services 5.66 8.73 10.52
Agriculture 78.48 65.91 49.15
Production 0.30 1.43 1.63
Others* 8.56 9.53 22.01
Not Stated 0.05 0.08 0.09
Total 100 100 100
With regard to the occupational distribution of employment in CDR the proportion of population
having agriculture as their major occupation is lowest while sales and service as their occupation
is highest among others. FWDR has the highest proportion of employed population engaged in
agriculture (73%). Data presented in Table 9.17 revealed a more diversity in term of occupation
distribution of employed population in CDR as compared to other regions. With regard to the
gender differentials in occupational distribution across development regions, the proportion of
362
females engaged in agriculture, as their major occupation is higher than males in all the regions
while the proportion of males engaged in professional and technical and sales as their major
occupation is larger than females in all the regions (Annex 9.2).

occupation for development regions, 2001.
Major Occupation EDR CDR WDR MWDR FWDR

Professional & Technical 3.78 5.39 4.09 3.32 2.52
Administrative & Related 0.58 0.82 0.46 0.34 0.27
Clerical 1.58 2.98 1.49 1.47 1.83
Sales 7.13 10.09 7.52 6.40 5.22
Services 7.78 11.61 9.07 9.05 5.89
Agriculture 59.35 50.92 63.88 64.54 73.24
Production 1.16 2.26 1.22 0.87 0.50
Others* 18.56 15.85 12.20 13.94 10.44
Not Stated 0.09 0.09 0.07 0.07 0.11
Total 100 100 100 100 100
9.8 Employment Status
It has been customary to classify the employed population into four broad categories according to
their employment status. They are: (i) employer, (ii) employee, (iii) self-employed or own account
worker and (iv) unpaid family worker. 2001 population census also used similar classification.
This classification has been used for the employed population both in agriculture and non-
agriculture sectors. In many countries the classification of agriculture follow a different
employment categories. The percentage distribution of the employed population according to their
employment status has been shown in Table 9.18. Own account worker still constituted the
majority (63%) in 2001. This shows that a bulk of employed population is still self-employed in
the country. It is, however, encouraging to note that there has been a consistent decline in the
proportion over time. The proportion of employees has increased but modestly. Census results of
2001, however, indicated a marked difference in the proportion of male employees (34%) and
female employees (13%). Though the employers proportion is still quite low in 2001(4%) the
increase between 1991 and 2001 has been quite noticeable. It should be noted here that the
proportion of unpaid family workers has increased in 2001, and the increase is more conspicuous
for females. It shot up from 3.5 percent in 1991 to 12.8 percent in 2001. This sudden increase
could be attributed to the inclusion of extended economic activity under the definition of the
economically active population in 2001 census.
363
Table 9.18 : Percentage distribution of employed population (aged 10 + years) by employment status and sex, 1971-2001.
Employment 1971 1981 1991 2001
Status Both Male Female Both Male Female Both Male Female Both Male Female
Total 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Employees 9.34 11.69 3.65 9.07 11.84 3.85 21.41 27.81 11.96 24.63 33.72 12.75
Employers 0.45 0.55 0.21 0.69 0.86 0.36 0.56 0.70 0.36 3.80 3.85 3.73
Own Account Workers 85.82 84.66 88.98 85.54 83.21 89.95 75.25 69.53 83.69 62.73 56.69 70.63
Unpaid Family Worker 4.29 3.10 7.16 2.52 1.73 4.02 2.34 1.53 3.53 8.83 5.73 12.88
Unspecified - - - 2.18 2.36 1.82 0.44 0.43 0.45 - - -
Source : Shrestha & Pant: Economically Active Population, Chapter VII in Population Monograph, CBS, 1995; CBS Population Census 2001 National Report Table 32
364
9.9 Employed Population and Duration of Work
Census also solicited information from all economically active population about the duration they
worked during the one-year reference period. This information was gathered for the first time in
1991 census (Shrestha & Pant, 1995). This practice was repeated in 2001 census. While preparing
census tables CBS classified the duration of work into four broad categories as presented in the
Table 9.19. It is encouraging to note that more and more people are employed for longer duration
in the country. As may be observed in the table overwhelmingly large majority of usually
economically active population (84%) worked for more than 8 months during the reference year
and the increase is by 18 percentage points during last decade. This indicates that the extent of
underemployment in the country has reduced. Data further reveal that more females are
underemployed as compared to males. Duration worked by males is higher than females. As a
result the proportion worked for 6 to 7 months declined sharply. Interestingly, those who worked
for less than 3 months recorded marked increase, more importantly for females from 2.82 percent
in 1991 to 6.8 percent in 2001.
Table 9.19 : Percentage distribution of economically active population (10+ years) by

duration of work in the 12 months preceding the census by sex, 1991- 2001.
Duration of 1991 2001

Work
Both Sexes Male Female Both Sexes Male Female
< 3 Months 2.25 1.86 2.82 5.03 3.68 6.80
3 – 5 Months 6.01 5.02 7.47 6.72 5.04 8.91
6 – 7 Months 26.26 24.43 28.95 4.50 3.62 5.62
8 + Months 65.04 68.19 60.38 83.75 87.66 78.66
N 7339586 4375583 2964003 9900196 5606774 4293422
Source : Shrestha & Pant: Economically Active Population, Chapter VII in Population Monograph, CBS,
1995; CBS Population Census 2001 National Report Table 24
9.10 Unemployed Population: Comparisons with other Surveys
Strict comparison of the extent of unemployment in the country is constrained by the lack of
uniform definition of unemployment. The definition used to measure the extent of unemployment
differs from one census/survey to another. The unemployed are generally, defined as those who
do not have a job but are "actively looking for one". Official censuses and surveys usually define
a person as unemployed if he/she is out of work (involuntarily) during the reference period and is
365
looking for a job (CBS, 1985). The 1981 census defined unemployed as those who had not
worked for eights months (either at a single stretch or in intervals during the last (year) preceding
the day of census enumeration and also seeking job. Nepal Living Standard Survey 1996 defined
unemployed as "those who did not work during previous seven days, and was available and
looked for work, or did not look for the following reasons: awaiting reply from an agency, waiting
to start a new job, 'there is no work', "don’t' know how to look ". The international standard
definition of unemployment is based on three criterion viz., 'without work', 'currently available
for work', and 'seeking work'. All these three criterion needs to be satisfied simultaneously in
order to be considered anyone as unemployed (CBS, 1999). NLFS 1998/99 used the concept of
"currently unemployed". According to the NLFS currently unemployed is "made up of those
people who did not have a job or business or were not employed, and who did one of the
following:
either they looked for work in the last 30 days before the interview;
or they did not look for work in the last 30 days, but were available to work
and did not look for work because they thought no work was available or
they were awaiting the results of previous enquiries, or waiting to start
work , or considered that it was the off season for fishing or agriculture"
( CBS, 1999: 14)
The difference in the definition lies in the minimum hours/days of work done preceding the
survey. The Survey also made a distinction between "currently unemployed" and "usually
unemployed". The former is defined as the groups who have definitely done no work at all during
the reference period and are available for work while the later includes people who have done no
work during the year and are available for work.
The population census 2001 classified the economically active population into usually employed
and usually unemployed categories depending upon their length of employed and unemployed
periods. Census thus defined usually unemployed as those whose length of unemployment is
greater than their length of employment (CBS, 2002).
The estimates of unemployment rate obtained from recent census and surveys are illustrated in
Table 9.20. These estimates show that unemployment rate is gradually increasing in the country. 8
percent of the labour force is found to be unemployed in the country in 2001. In 1996 it was
estimated at 4.9 percent, which rose to 5.2 percent in 1998/99. With the exception in 1996
unemployment rate is higher among females than males. Compared to the estimates of 1998/99
366
made by NLFS the estimate for 2001 is slightly at an upper side. This could be partly due to the
improved definition adopted for the measurement of unemployment.
Table 9.20 : Comparison of unemployment rate by sources of estimates.
Unemployment Rate*
Census/Survey
Total Male Female
2001 Census 8.1 7.0 9.2
NLFS 1998/99 5.2 4.1 6.3
NLSS 1996 4.9 5.6 4.1
*Number of unemployed persons per 100 economically active populations
Source : CBS, Population Census 2001, Unpublished Tables

CBS, NLFS 1998/99; NLSS 1996
9.11 Reasons for Being Economically Inactive
Census also obtained information about the reasons for being economically inactive. 2001 census
recorded 8 million (3.2 million male and 4.8 million female) as usually inactive population. These
populations were asked to mention the reasons for remaining inactive. "Study" has emerged as the
leading factor for being economically inactive. This proportion has been consistently rising
overtime and has more than doubled from 22 percent in 1981 to 48 percent in 2001. This increase
is characterized by marked rise in the proportion of females. While the proportion of female
population stating study as the reason for remaining inactive almost doubled during 1991 and
2001, the proportion of male remained unchanged (Table 9.21). This signifies the changing
perceptions of the parents on the importance of female education in the country.
The increase in the proportion stating study has resulted in the decline of the proportion stating
"household chores" as the reason for remaining inactive. It has decline from 47 percent in 1991 to
33 percent in 2001 and the decline is more noticeable for females. Comparison of these results
with the estimates of NLFS 1998/99 showed some correspondence with respect to household
chores. But the proportion stating "study" in the census is much larger in comparison to the NLFS
estimate (47% vs 22%). Such a large differences is difficult to explain. Part of the variation could
be attributed in the difference of the minimum age considered for the measurement of active
population (10+ years in Census and 15+ in NLFS). Another possible reason could be due to the
367
differences in the terminologies used. Census used the terminology "study" while NLFS used
"attending school" as the reason for remaining inactive. One could suspect that the operational
definitions of these two terminologies might be different. Instruction manual of the census and the
survey could shed light in this issue.
The third major reason for inactivity is the age factor. About 8 percent of the population, both
male and female equally, stated that they are inactive because they are "old". Interestingly this
proportion has declined as compared with the results of 1991 census (Fig. 9.3). In the context of
increasing proportion of the old population in the country (from 5.9% in 1991 to 6.5% in 2001)
the decline in the proportion citing "old " as the reason for being inactive needs further
examination. The other less common reasons were sickness, physically and mentally handicapped
and pension and income recipient. NLFS 1998/99 has kept old and sick together and this
constituted one–third of the total inactive population. The proportion of old and sick taken
together in 2001 census accounts merely 10 percent of the total inactive population. Difference of
such a magnitude within 3 years span is very unlikely (See NLFS 1998/99). The reasons provided
for inactivity tend to vary by age of the person. Therefore the age distribution of the inactive
population vis-a vis the reasons cited could improve our understanding in this matter.
Table 9.21 : Percentage distribution of economically inactive population (10+ years) by

reasons for being inactive by sex, 1981- 2001.
1981 1991 2001

Reasons
Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
Students 22.15 65.12 8.01 36.29 65.84 19.68 47.30 66.94 34.19
Household
61.82 0.73 81.91 47.03 12.00 66.72 33.10 9.24 49.00
Chores
Aged 7.52 12.71 5.81 10.44 11.77 9.70 7.39 7.11 7.58
Physically &
Mentally 1.53 3.62 0.84 1.32 1.97 0.96 2.49 3.15 2.05
Handicapped
Pension &
2.66 3.83 1.88
Income Recipient
Sick 2.84 3.41 2.46
Others 3.43 10.87 0.98 3.50 6.75 1.68 2.41 3.16 1.92
Unspecified 3.56 6.95 2.45 1.41 1.67 1.26 1.80 3.13 0.91
N 8034164 3213311 4820854
Source : CBS, Population Census 2001, National Reports Table 36
368
Fig. 9.3 Reasons for being economically inactive by sex, 2001
Others
Sick
Reason
Pension & Income Recipient
Physically & Mentally Handicapped
Aged
Household Chores
Students
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Percent
Total Male Female
9.12 Summary, Conclusion and Discussion
This chapter examines the trends, patterns and structure of economically active population using
the 2001 population census tables. Census data on economically active population suffers from
several limitations and has created the problem of comparability. The limitation emanates from
the changes in definition, concept, age threshold and reference period used and type of questions
administered in the censuses. The 2001 census widened the definition of economically active
population considerably. Though the overall economic activity has increased the refined female
activity rate increased more sharply than male in 2001 as activities like collecting firewood for
household use, fetching water, food processing for household consumption etc was considered as
the economic activity under the title of extended economic activities.
The overall participation rate of population aged 10-14 years has declined significantly in the
country. It has been documented that the school enrolment of the students has increased and the
extent of child labour has also gradually reduced. The difference in crude and refined activity rate
between rural and urban area is gradually narrowing down. It is obviously encouraging. Various
development programs of poverty reduction launched both by government and non-government
organizations have helped to reduce this gap. Ecological differences in the activity rates have
widened while regional differences are minimal. Sex differences in activity rates among three
ecological zones have also continued. The gender differences in the activity rate are more
pronounced in CDR. FWDR recorded a significant achievement in narrowing down the gender
differences in participation rate.
369
Data revealed a gradual shift of employment from agriculture to non-agricultural occupation in
the country. Manufacturing and commerce industry recorded a significant improvement in terms
of employment of economically active population. Larger proportion of females as compared to
males is engaged in manufacturing and electricity and gas industry. Given the socioeconomic
condition this sudden shift in the structure need further probing. While the proportion of
employed population engaged in primary sector recorded a decline the proportion engaged in
secondary and tertiary sectors recorded marked increase. This clearly shows the shift in the
functional distribution of labour force and also socio-economic transformation in the country.
The industrial classification of active population indicates that CDR is more diversified than any
other development regions. This signifies the need for a more balanced regional development so
that more diverse employment opportunities are available in all development regions. It should be
noted that the proportion engaged in "others" category increased disproportionately. This marked
increase raises room for suspicion that some activities of "production related" might have been
put under "others" category. Own account worker still constituted the majority. This shows that a
bulk of employed population is still self-employed in the country. It is, however, encouraging to
note that there has been a consistent decline in the proportion over time. The proportion of unpaid
family workers has increased and the increase is more conspicuous for females. This sudden
increase could be attributed to the inclusion of extended economic activity under the definition of
the economically active population in 2001 census.
It is encouraging to note that more and more people are employed for longer duration in the
country. Overwhelmingly large majority of usually economically active population worked for
more than 8 months indicating that the extent of underemployment in the country has reduced.
The estimate of unemployment rate obtained from recent census shows that 8 percent of the
labour force is unemployed in the country. The unemployment rate is gradually increasing in the
country. This magnitude would be even much larger if youths going abroad especially in Arab
countries for employment would be reduced. Government should therefore focus more on
employment creation activities within the country.
"Study" has emerged as the leading factor for being economically inactive. This proportion has
more than doubled during 1981 to 2001. This increase is characterized by marked rise in the
proportion of females. This signifies the changing perceptions of the parents on the importance of
female education in the country.
370
References
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census Results in Gender Perspective Vol. II.
National Planning Commission Secretariat, HMG/Nepal.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2001). Population Census 2001 Instruction Manual, National
Planning Commission Secretariat, HMG/Nepal
Central Bureau of Statistics (1999). Report on the Nepal Labour Force Survey 1998/99, National
Central Bureau of Statistics (1977). The Analysis of the Population Statistics of Nepal, National

Commission Secretariat, HMG/Nepal
Central Bureau of Statistics (1995). Population Monograph of Nepal National Planning

Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census 2001: National Report National Planning
Niroula, B. P. (2003). Measurement of people's economic activity in census, The Kathmandu Post,
April 1.
Shrestha, P.P. and Pant, P. (1995). Economically Active Population in Population Monograph of
Nepal Chapter VII, Central Bureau of Statistics .
Shroyck, H. S. and Sigel, J. S. (1976). The Methods and Materials of Population, Analysis, New
York: Academic Press.
United Nations (1964). Determinants and Consequences of Population Trends, United Nations,
New York
United Nations (1990). International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic

Activities, Third Revision, New York
371
Annex 9.1: Percentage distribution of usually economically active population by major industrial sectors for sex and development region, 2001.

Industry
Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
Agriculture, Forestry &

Fishing 67.42 63.63 72.43 58.39 53.34 66.94 68.18 61.30 75.23 68.33 65.18 72.12 76.76 70.04 83.64
Mining & Quarrying 0.17 0.21 0.11 0.14 0.14 0.13 0.21 0.25 0.17 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.08 0.12 0.04
Manufacturing 7.75 7.28 8.38 11.39 10.41 13.04 7.98 7.72 8.24 8.13 6.45 10.17 5.57 4.60 6.57
Electricity, Gas & Water 1.64 0.48 3.17 1.35 0.73 2.39 1.43 0.61 2.28 1.83 0.52 3.41 1.37 0.40 2.36
Construction 2.22 3.08 1.08 3.53 4.85 1.30 2.93 4.60 1.22 3.36 5.02 1.35 1.78 2.63 0.92
Commerce 10.24 10.12 10.39 11.15 12.01 9.68 10.16 11.10 9.20 9.13 9.53 8.64 6.02 7.93 4.06
Transport & Communication 1.63 2.77 0.13 2.24 3.44 0.23 1.46 2.77 0.11 1.08 1.90 0.08 0.72 1.38 0.04
Finance & Business Services 0.64 0.98 0.19 1.14 1.55 0.46 0.63 1.04 0.21 0.61 0.98 0.16 0.42 0.74 0.09
Personal & Community

Services 6.04 8.77 2.43 8.94 11.49 4.63 5.80 9.02 2.50 5.17 7.83 1.95 4.83 8.14 1.42
Others 2.03 2.46 1.47 1.46 1.74 0.99 1.05 1.42 0.68 1.95 2.17 1.68 2.20 3.80 0.56
Industry Not Stated 0.21 0.21 0.22 0.27 0.30 0.20 0.16 0.16 0.17 0.22 0.20 0.25 0.26 0.21 0.30
372
Annex 9.2 : Percentage distribution of usually economically active population by major occupation for sex and development region, 2001.
Major Occupational EDR CDR WDR MWDR FWDR

Groups
Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
Professional &
Technical 3.78 5.47 1.54 5.39 6.81 2.97 4.09 6.30 1.82 3.32 4.93 1.37 2.52 4.21 0.78
Administrative &
Related 0.58 0.85 0.23 0.82 1.13 0.29 0.46 0.78 0.13 0.34 0.57 0.07 0.27 0.47 0.06
Clerical 1.58 2.43 0.44 2.98 4.10 1.09 1.49 2.52 0.43 1.47 2.37 0.37 1.83 3.28 0.34
Sales 7.13 9.12 4.51 10.09 12.53 5.95 7.52 10.18 4.79 6.40 8.85 3.45 5.22 8.82 1.52
Services 7.78 7.47 8.19 11.61 11.05 12.55 9.07 9.81 8.32 9.05 7.95 10.38 5.89 5.29 6.51
Agriculture 59.35 55.22 64.80 50.92 44.96 61.01 63.88 56.35 71.59 64.54 60.95 68.86 73.24 65.88 80.79
Production 1.16 1.79 0.33 2.26 3.13 0.80 1.22 2.09 0.33 0.87 1.39 0.25 0.50 0.84 0.14
Others* 18.56 17.59 19.85 15.85 16.22 15.22 12.20 11.91 12.50 13.94 12.91 15.18 10.44 11.09 9.76
Not Stated 0.09 0.06 0.12 0.09 0.07 0.12 0.07 0.06 0.08 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.11 0.13 0.09
373
CHAPTER 10
URBANIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT
- Dr. Pitamber Sharma*
10.1 Introduction
Urbanization refers to the process of growth in the proportion of population living in urban areas.
Historically, the concept of urbanization has been related to specialization, industrialization and
consequent economic development. Although the form of this relationship has remained
contested, there is a general consensus among scholars that a fundamental characteristic of
urbanization is the structural shift in employment from agriculture to non-agriculture pursuits. In
other words, urbanization is a territorial response to structural changes in the economy. A
distinctive division of labour, technology based production of goods, trade of a variety of goods
and service, high level of spatial and economic interaction, and relatively high density and
diversity of population are basic tenets associated with urbanization. The distinction between
town and country is not merely a distinction based on the nature of settlements, it is a distinction
rooted in the economic structure and social relations of production and reproduction, and in the
processes of social and political consciousness and its articulation. Therefore, urbanization is
often taken as a proxy for the level of development in general.
Nepal remains one of the least urbanized countries in the world and also in South Asia. While
this low level of urbanization is a matter of considerable concern for the economic development
of the country, the present state of urbanization and urban development also manifests distinctive
characteristics and problems that demand urgent attention. Urbanization and the consequent
process of economic, social and even political changes that it entails has to be very much part of
Nepal’s development vision because a large proportion of population live in far-flung settlements
without adequate infrastructure, facilities and services, and depend on traditional agriculture as a
source of livelihood. Diversification of agriculture, creation of off-farm employment
opportunities, creation of conditions where the comparative resource advantages of particular
regions can be fruitfully realized, and dealing with issues of gender and ethnicity, among others,
is facilitated by the process of urbanization. While the nature and form of urban development may
be debated, the fact that urbanization has to be an integral part of Nepal’s development agenda
can hardly be contested.
*
Dr. Sharma (Prof. in T.U. for many years) is currently a freelancing consultant on Regional/Urban
Planning and Urban Research.
375
It is in this context that the present chapter focuses on aspects of the level and tempo of
urbanization, the geographical pattern of urbanization, socio-economic characteristics of
urbanization, components of urban growth, various correlates of urbanization and development
and the future trends in urbanization in Nepal.
10.2 Problems of Definition
The problems of definition in the study of Nepal’s urbanization are considerable because the
areas designated “urban” have been defined and redefined over the years and there is evident lack
of consistency in the definition. The 1952/54 census provides data on 10 “prominent” settlements
with a population of over 5,000 but refrained from defining an urban area. The 1961 census for
the first time defined an urban area or a ‘sahar’ as “an area with a population cluster of 5,000 and
over and having an urban environment such as high school, college, judicial and administrative
offices, bazaar, communication facilities, mills, factories etc.” but also indicated that the
definition was not strictly followed [Bastola in CBS, 1995 ]. The Nagar Panchayat Act of 1962
provided the nomenclature of Nagar as the local level urban administrative unit or a municipal
area as distinct from a local level rural administrative unit. It stipulated the population size criteria
of “not less than 10,000” as a generally necessary, but not a sufficient condition, for providing the
municipal status to a locality.
Since 1962 an urban area has been interpreted in Nepal not as a settlement unit per se but as a unit
of local self-government. Since 1971 the Panchayat (now Village Development Committee or
VDC) has been taken as the basic unit of census enumeration. As a result the concept of
settlement configuration as a unit of census enumeration has been lost as the areal extent of a
VDC (Panchayat before 1990) includes many, often far flung, settlement units. Indeed the
concept of localities included in censuses since 1971 are a misnomer because these in fact are not
“localities” in the sense of settlement units but only Panchayats or VDCs. Further, the decision
regarding the designation and determination of the areal extent of localities is not made by the
Central Bureau of Statistics but by the Ministry of Local Development. Since 1971 areas with
municipal status have been ipso facto considered urban.
The fact that the population size criteria was not consistently followed in the designation of Nagar
Panchayat is revealed from the fact that at least four of the newly classified Nagar Panchayats in
1971 had a population of less than 10,000 while 12 other ‘localities’ in the country had a
population of over 10,000 but were not classified as Nagar Panchayats [Sharma, 1989]. In 1976
the population size criteria to receive the municipal status was reduced to 9,000. In 1990 with the
376
reestablishment of the multi-party system the Nagar Panchayats were renamed Nagarpalika. The
Municipality Act of 1992, and the Local Self Governance Act of 1999 redefine and classify
municipal areas. This is the first time that municipal areas have been classified into categories in
Nepal. But the universally accepted criteria of population size, density, contiguity and
occupational structure of population are given scant attention. Political ad hocism in the
designation of municipal urban areas is quite evident.
Municipalities according to the Local Self-Governance Act 1999 are classified into three
categories: Mahanagarpalika (Metropolitan city), Upa-Mahanagarpalika (Sub-Metropolitan
city), and Nagarpalika (Municipality). Mahanagarpalika is a municipality with a “minimum
population size of 300,000, annual revenue of at least Rs. 400 million, facilities of electricity,
drinking water, communication, paved main and subsidiary roads, provision of specialised health
services, essential infrastructure for international sports events, adequate opportunities for higher
education in different fields, at least one established university, adequate urban facilities, and an
area that has already received the status of a upamahanagarpalika”. Similarly a Upa-
Mahanagarpalika is a municipality with a “minimum population size of 100,000, annual revenue
of at least Rs. 100 million, facilities of electricity, drinking water, communication, paved main
roads, education and health services of a high standard, general infrastructure for national and
international sports events, provision of public parks and a city hall and similar urban facilities,
and an area that has already received the status of a nagarpalika”. The Act lays down (a)
minimum population size of 20,000 in the Tarai and 10,000 in the hill/mountains, (b) annual
revenue of 5 million in the Tarai and 500,000 in the hill/mountains and “minimum urban
facilities such as electricity, road, drinking water, communication and other similar urban
facilities” as necessary conditions for the designation of municipal status or a Nagarpalika. While
the double standard in designating municipal area between the Tarai and the hills remains
incomprehensible, Article 88 (2) C of the Act considers a Nagarpalika as only a “semi urban
area”. When the Act was promulgated there were one Mahanagarpalika (Kathmandu), four
Upamahanagarpalikas (Biratnagar, Lalitpur, Pokhara and Birganj) and 53 Nagarpalikas.
According to the spirit of the Act the 53 Nagarpalikas are semi-urban areas !
Table 10.1 provides a list of urban areas by region included in censuses since 1952/54 and the
year in which the municipal area was gazetted. It may be noted that Kirtipur, Thimi, Banepa,
Matihani and Malangwa were declassified in 1971. However, Kirtipur, Thimi, Banepa and
Malangwa were reclassified in 1991. Accordingly, the number of designated urban areas has
gone up from 10 in 1952/54 to 58 in 2001.
377
Table 10.1 : Municipal areas in Nepal, year gazetted and census year included. 1952/54-
2001
Regions / Year Gazetted
Municipalities
(Districts) (BS) AD 1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Hill/ Mountains
Dasrathchand (Baitadi) (2053) 1997 x
Amargadhi
(Dadeldhura) (2053) 1997 x
Dipayal (Doti) (2038) 1982 x x
Narayan (Dailekh) (2053) 1997 x
Baglung (Baglung) (2053) 1997 x
Waling (Syangja) (2053) 1997 x
Putalibazar (Syangja) (2053) 1997 x
Tansen (Palpa) (2014) 1957 x x x x x
Pokhara (Kaski) (2019) 1962 x x x x x
Lekhnath (Kaski) (2053) 1997 x
Byas (Tanahu) (2048) 1992 x
Prithvinarayan
(Gorkha) (2053) 1997 x
Bidur (Nuwakot) (2043) 1986 x x
Banepa (Kavre) (2039) 1982 x x x
Dhulikhel (Kavre) (2043) 1986 x x
Panauti (Kavre) (2053) 1997 x
Bhimeswar (Dolakha) (2053) 1997 x
Khandbari (Sankhua) (2053) 1997 x
Dhankuta (Dhankuta) (2035) 1978 x x x
Ilam (Ilam) (2019) 1962 x x x x
Kathmandu Valley
Kathmandu
(Kathmandu) (2009) 1953 x x x x x x
Kirtipur (Kathmandu) (2053) 1997 x x x
Lalitpur (Lalitpur) (2009) 1953 x x x x x x
Madhyapur Thimi
(Bhaktapur) (2053) 1997 x x
Bhaktapur (Bhaktapur) (2009) 1953 x x x
Inner Tarai
Birendranagar
(Surkhet) (2033) 1976 x x x
Tribhuvannagar
(Dang) (2035) 1978 x x x
Tulsipur (Dang) (2048) 1992 x
Bharatpur (Chitwan) (2035) 1978 x x x
Ratnanagar (Chitwan) (2053) 1997 x
Hetauda (Makwanpur) (2026) 1969 x x x x
Kamalamai (Sindhuli) (2053) 1997 x
Trijuga (Udayapur) (2053) 1997 x
378
Regions / Year Gazetted
Municipalities
(Districts) (BS) AD 1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Tarai
Mahendranagar
(Kanchanpur) (2034) 1977 x x x
Dhangadhi (Kailali) (2033) 1976 x x x
Tikapur (Kailali) (2053) 1997 x
Gulariya (Bardia) (2053) 1997 x
Nepalganj (Banke) (2019) 1962 x x x x x x
Kapilbastu
(Kapilbastu) (2039) 1982 x x
Butwal (Rupandehi) (2016) 1959 x x x x
Siddharthanagar
(Rupandehi) (2024) 1967 x x x x
Ramgram (Nawal
Parasi) (2053) 1997 x
Birganj (Parsa) (2009) 1953 x x x x x x
Kalaiya (Bara) (2039) 1982 x x
Gaur (Rautahat) (2048) 1992 x
Malangwa (Sarlahi) (2043) 1986 x x x x
Jaleswar (Mahottari) (2039) 1982 x x
Matihani (Dhanusha)) x
Janakpur (Dhanusha) (2019) 1962 x x x x x x
Siraha (Siraha) (2053) 1997 x
Lahan (Siraha) (2032) 1976 x x x
Rajbiraj (Saptari) (2016) 1959 x x x x x
Dharan (Sunsari) (2019) 1962 x x x x x
Inaruwa (Sunsari) (2043) 1986 x x
Itahari (Sunsari) (2053) 1997 x
Biratnagar (Morang) (2009) 1953 x x x x x x
Damak (Jhapa) (2039) 1982 x x
Bhadrapur (Jhapa) (2009) 1953 x x x x
Mechinagar (Jhapa) (2053) 1997 x
TOTAL 10 16 16 23 33 58
Source : Ministry of Local Development 2003.

Note : The gazetted dates of municipalities vary between Bastola (1995) and MLD (2003). Here the
MLD dates have been used.
Inner Tarai includes the six districts of Udaypaur, Sindhuli, Makwanpur, Chitwan, Dang and
Surkhet. Dang and Chitwan are normally included in the Tarai, and remaining four districts are
normally included in the hills.
Population of areas designated urban in different censuses is presented in Table 10.2. It provides a
comparative picture of the inclusion of new urban areas in different censuses and also the growth
of urban population in municipal areas over time. It may be noted that the area of municipal areas
have also been periodically revised although such data are neither available by census years nor
are the criteria for the revision of urban boundaries made explicit.
379
The area figures for municipal areas are made available for the 2001 census only. For earlier
censuses it is difficult to relate urban growth in particular municipalities with the expansion of
urban areas because of the lack of such data.
Table 10.2 : Population in designated urban areas 1952/54 - 2001

Population
Regions / Municipalities
1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Hill/ Mountains 0 16237 34344 83376 192558 576024
Dasrathchand (Baitadi) 18345
Amargadhi (Dadeldhura) 18390
Dipayal (Doti) 12360 22061
Narayan (Dailekh) 19446
Kalika (Baglung) 20852
Waling (Syangja) 20414
Putalibazar (Syangja) 29667
Tansen (Palpa) 5136 6434 13125 13599 20431
Pokhara (Kaski) 5413 20611 46642 95286 156312
Lekhnath (Kaski) 41369
Byas (Tanahu) 28245
Prithvinarayan (Gorkha) 25783
Bidur (Nuwakot) 18694 21193
Banepa (Kavre) 5688 12537 15822
Dhulikhel (Kavre) 9812 11521
Panauti (Kavre) 25563
Bhimeswar (Dolakha) 21916
Khandbari (Sankhua) 21789
Dhankuta (Dhankuta) 13836 17073 20668
Ilam (Ilam) 7299 9773 13197 16237
Kathmandu Valley 196777 218092 249563 363507 598528 995966

Kathmandu (Kathmandu) 106579 121019 150402 235160 421258 671846
Kirtipur (Kathmandu) 7038 5764 40835
Lalitpur (Lalitpur) 42183 47713 59049 79875 115865 162991
Madhyapur Themi
(Bhaktapur) 8657 9719 47751
Bhaktapur (Bhaktapur) 32320 33877 40112 48472 61405 72543
Inner Tarai 0 0 16194 96861 160529 392108

Birendranagar (Surkhet) 13859 22973 31381
Tribhuvannagar (Dang) 20608 29050 43126
Tulsipur (Dang) 33876
Bharatpur (Chitwan) 27602 54670 89323
Ratnanagar (Chitwan) 37791
Hetauda (Makwanpur) 16194 34792 53836 68482
Kamalamai (Sindhuli) 32838
Trijuga (Udayapur) 55291
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Population
Regions / Municipalities
1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Tarai 41498 101893 161837 412977 744104 1263781
Mahendranagar
(Kanchanpur) 43834 62050 80839
Dhangadhi (Kailali) 27274 44753 67447
Tikapur (Kailali) 38722
Gulariya (Bardia) 46011
Nepalganj (Banke) 10813 15817 23523 34015 47819 57535
Kapilbastu (Kapilbastu) 17126 27170
Butwal (Rupandehi) 12815 22583 44272 75384
Siddharthanagar
(Rupandehi) 17272 31119 39473 52569
Ramgram (Nawal Parasi) 22630
Birganj (Parsa) 10037 10769 12999 43642 69005 112484
Kalaiya (Bara) 18498 32260
Gaur (Rautahat) 25383
Malangwa (Sarlahi) 5551 6721 14142 18484
Jaleswar (Mahottari) 18088 22046
Matihani (Dhanusha)) 5073
Janakpur (Dhanusha) 7037 8928 14294 34840 54710 74192
Siraha (Siraha) 23988
Lahan (Siraha) 13775 19018 27654
Rajbiraj (Saptari) 5232 7832 16444 24227 30353
Dharan (Sunsari) 13998 20503 42146 66457 95332
Inaruwa (Sunsari) 18547 23200
Itahari (Sunsari) 41210
Biratnagar (Morang) 8060 35355 45100 93544 129388 166674
Damak (Jhapa) 41321 35009
Bhadrapur (Jhapa) 7499 9761 15210 18145
Mechinagar (Jhapa) 49060
TOTAL 238275 336222 461938 956721 1695719 3227879
Source : CBS [1995]. CBS [2003]

Note : Kirtipur and Thimi in the Kathmandu valley and Malangwa in the Tarai were declassified from
the urban category in 1971 but were reclassified again in 1991. Banepa in the hills was classified
as urban in 1961, declassified in 1971 and again reclassified in 1991. Matihani in the Tarai was
classified as urban in 1961 but was declassified in 1971.
10.3 Urbanization and Urban Growth in Nepal
Urbanization refers to the growth in population defined as urban, i.e., population residing in
designated urban areas. Increase in the number of urban areas and expansion of existing urban
areas are the two ways in which urbanization proceeds.
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10.3.1 Growth in Urban Population
The pattern of the growth in total, urban and rural population of Nepal in censuses since 1952/54
is presented in Table 10.3. In the last five decades or so Nepal’s population has increased from
nearly 8.3 million to 23.1 million, that is an increase by a factor of 2.8 times. Urban population in
the mean time has increased from about 238,000 to a little over 3.2 million, an increase by a factor
of 16 times. Urban population as percent of rural population has been growing steadily in the last
five decades. Between 1952/54 and 1971 urban population increased rather sluggishly from 3
percent of rural population to 4.2 percent. Since the eighties the growth has accelerated from 6.8
percent to 16.2 percent.
Table 10.3 : Total Population by urban-rural residence and urban population as a percent
of rural population. Nepal, 1952/54 - 2001
1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Urban Population 238,275 336,222 461,938 956,721 1,695,719 3,227,879
Rural Population 8,018,350 9,076,774 11,094,045 14,066,118 16,795,378 19,923,544
Total Population 8,256,625 9,412,996 11,555,983 15,022,839 18,491,097 23,151,423
Urban Population as
Percent of Rural 3.0 3.7 4.2 6.8 10.1 16.2
Population
Source: CBS [1995], CBS [2003]
The growth rates of urban and rural population presented in Table 10.4 shows that urban growth
rate in Nepal has been quite erratic. There was a decline in urban growth rate compared to the
preceding census in the sixties and then in the eighties. This process appears to have been
influenced by (a) classification and declassification of urban places, and (b) revision or lack of it
in urban boundaries. While urban centres like Kathmandu remain under bounded, almost all
newly inducted urban areas in the seventies and eighties remain over bounded. However, for total,
urban as well as rural population the decade of the seventies marks a watershed because it is in
this decade that the growth rates were highest. Urban –rural growth differential was the highest in
the 1970s and declined in the eighties. Since then the differential has been on the rise.
Table 10.4 : Growth rate of urban and rural population 1952/54 – 2001.
1952/54 -1961 1961-1971 1971-1981 1981-1991 1991-2001

Urban Population 4.40 3.23 7.55 5.89 6.65
Rural Population 1.56 2.03 2.40 1.79 1.72
Total Population 1.65 2.07 2.66 2.10 2.27
Urban-Rural
Growth Differential 2.84 1.20 5.15 4.10 4.93
Note: Growth rates are geometric rates.
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The growth in urban population and places in Nepal is shown in Table 10.5. In the five decades
since the 1950s urban population increased from 0.238 million to 3.23 million while the number
of designated urban places increased from 10 to 58. The percent of urban population in the
country has grown from 2.9 percent to 13.9 percent. Intercensal percentile increase in urban
population over the preceding census year was highest during the decade of the seventies. It may
be noted that average annual change in percent of urban population has been steadily increasing
since the seventies. It was 0.07 in the fifties, 0.04 in the sixties, 0.24 in the seventies, 0.28 in the
eighties, and 0.47 in the nineties.
Table 10.5 : Growth in urban population and urban places in Nepal ,1952/54 – 2001.
Intercensal
Urban Number of Percent of Increase in
Census Year Population Urban Population Urban
(in '000) Places Urban Population
(percent)
1952/54 238.3 10 2.9
1961 336.2 16 3.6 41.1
1971 461.9 16 4.0 37.4
1981 956.7 23 6.4 107.1
1991 1,695.7 33 9.2 77.2
2001 3227.9 58 13.9 90.4
A more realistic picture of urban growth is presented in Table 10.6 which shows that the average
annual growth rates dampen somewhat if we take into account the growth rates of urban places
that are comparable between the two censuses. This shows that new addition of urban places has
substantially influenced urban growth rates in Nepal.
Table 10.6 : Average annual growth rate of urban population common to intercensal
periods 1952/54- 2001.
Number of Average Annual

Urban places
Places Growth Rates
Common to Censuses 1952/54-61 10 2.73
Common to Censuses 1961-71 11 2.83
Note: Growth rates are geometric growth rates.
383
10.3.2 Geographical Pattern of Urbanization
The geographical pattern of urbanization in Nepal can be traced in different ways. One can look at
the pattern in terms of the three broad ecological regions, i.e., the mountains, the hills and the
Tarai. This, however, hides the enormous differences that exist in the hill region in general, more
particularly between Kathmandu valley, the traditional hub of Nepal’s urbanization, and the rest
of the hills. Similarly, there are substantial differences in the patterns of urbanization between the
Tarai and the Inner Tarai, more commonly known as Bhitri Madesh, which remains unnoticed if
Tarai is taken as one geographical region. A more meaningful way of looking at the pattern of
urbanization would therefore be to trace it in terms of hill/mountains, Kathmandu valley, Inner
Tarai and Tarai. Yet another way of analysing the pattern of urbanization would be in terms of
the five development regions.
Here the pattern of urbanization is explored in terms of the three ecological regions, four
geographical regions (Hill/mountains, Kathmandu Valley, Inner Tarai and Tarai), and five
development regions.
Table 10.7 : Percent distribution of urban population (and places) by ecological regions,
1952/54 -2001.
Ecological
1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
regions
Mountains .. .. .. .. .. 1.4 (2)
Hills 82.4 (5) 69.7 (8) 65 (7) 51.8 (9) 51.2 (13) 53.2 (27)
Tarai 17.6 (5) 30.3 (8) 35 (9) 48.2 (14) 48.8 (20) 45.5 (29)
Total 100.0 (10) 100.0 (16) 100.0 (16) 100.0 (23) 100.0 (33) 100.0 (58)
Note: Figures in parenthesis are number of urban places
Table 10.7 shows that the hill ecological region has had a major share of Nepal’s urban
population through out the last five decades, although the share has declined from 82.4 percent in
1952/54 to 53.2 percent in 2001. The mountain ecological region only recently has acquired a
meagre share of the urban population. However, in terms of the number of urban places the share
of the Tarai has been steadily growing from 5 in 1952/54 to 29 in 2001.
In terms of development regions conceived after the Fourth Plan (1970-75) the Central
development region (CDR) has consistently the largest share of urban population, as well as the
largest number of urban places in the last five decades. In 2001 the CDR had almost half of
Nepal’s urban population, and 20 urban places. In spite of the fact that the share of urban
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population in the CDR has been declining it still has the largest size of urban population in Nepal.
The Eastern development region has consistently ranked second in both the share of urban
population, and the number of urban places. The Mid western and the Far western development
regions have acquired urban population only in the last two decades.
Table 10.8 : Percent distribution of urban population by development regions, 1952/54–

2001.
Development
1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
regions
Eastern 3.4 (1) 16.2 (3) 19.1 (5) 24.5 (7) 20.3 (9) 19.4 (14)
Central 92.0 (8) 75.9 (10) 63.4 (6) 49.1 (7) 54.4 (13) 49.7 (20)
Western .. 3.2 (2) 12.4 (4) 11.9 (4) 12.4 (5) 16.1 (12)
Mid western 4.6 (1) 4.7 (1) 5.1 (1) 7.1 (3) 5.9 (3) 7.2 (6)
Far Western .. .. .. 7.4 (2) 7.0 (3) 7.6 (6)
Total 100.0 (10) 100.0 (16) 100.0 (16) 100.0 (23) 100.0 (33) 100.0 (58)
The pattern of urbanization would look different if we use the four geographical region
framework. This pattern presented in Table 10.9 shows that if the Kathmandu valley is taken out
of the hill/mountain region the share of urban population declines dramatically in the
hill/mountains. Historically, Kathmandu valley by virtue of its location and both internal as well
as external conditions for urban growth, has had the largest share of Nepal’s urban population. In
1952/54 nearly 83 percent of Nepal’s urban population was in the Kathmandu valley. Over the
years the share of urban population in the valley has declined, but still in 2001 nearly 31 percent
of Nepal’s urban population was in the valley. It may be noted that the Kathmandu Valley has
less than 0.5 percent of the total land area of Nepal. The share of Tarai proper in the urban
population has increased substantially in the last five decades. The share of urban population in
the hill region and the Inner Tarai has also increased.
Table 10.9 : Percent distribution of urban population (and places) by geographical region.
1952/54- 2001.
1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Hill/Mountains* .. 4.8 (3) 7.4 (3) 8.7 (4) 11.4 (8) 17.8 (20)
Kathmandu Valley 82.6 (5) 64.9 (5) 54.0 (3) 38.0 (3) 35.3 (3) 30.9 (5)
Inner Tarai .. .. 3.5 (1) 10.1 (4) 9.5 (4) 12.1 (8)
Tarai 17.4 (5) 30.3 (8) 35.0 (9) 43.2 (12) 43.9 (18) 39.2 (25)
Note : The Mountain region had no urban population until 2001 by which time two places (Khandbari,
and Bhimeswar) had received municipal status.
Inner Tarai includes the six districts of Sindhuli, Udaypur, Makwanpur, Chitwan, Dang and
Surkhet. Sindhuli, Udaypur, Makwanpur and Surkhet are normally included in the broad hill
ecological region, while Chitwan and Dang are included in the Tarai ecological region.
385
The share of urban population in different regions does not, however, tell the whole story. The
level of urbanization, or the percent of population in designated urban areas as a proportion of the
total population in the region, reveals a different picture. Table 10.10 and 10.11 show the level of
urbanization by development region, ecological region and the geographical region since 1981.
The level of urbanization is highest in the Central development region (20%). The Mid western
region remains the least urbanized region in Nepal, while the level of urbanization in the Far
western region has picked up due to the induction of new urban areas since the 1980s. In terms of
ecological regions the hill region, with 16.7 percent, is the most urbanized region in Nepal. The
mountains remain the least urbanized ecological region in the country. However, as seen earlier,
the high level of urbanization in the Central development region is mainly by virtue of the
Kathmandu valley.
Table 10.10 : Level of urbanization by development region and ecological region, 1981 –
2001.
Development Regions 1981 1991 2001
Eastern 6.3 7.8 11.7

Central 9.6 14.9 20.0
Western 3.6 5.6 11.4
Mid-western 3.5 4.1 7.7
Far –western 3.4 7.1 11.2
Ecological regions
Mountain 2.6
Hill 6.9 10.3 16.7
Tarai 7.0 9.6 13.1
Nepal 6.4 9.2 13.9
Among geographical regions Kathmandu Valley has witnessed a relentless growth in the level of
urbanization and remains the most urbanized region in Nepal.. In 1952/54 only 47.4 percent of the
valley’s population was urban. This has risen to 60.5 percent in 2001. The Inner Tarai situated as
the gateway to much of the hill region ranks second with 18% population urban. This is followed
by the Tarai with 12.3 percent. The least urbanized geographical region in the country is the
hill/mountain region. Inaccessibility and the lack of economic diversification contribute largely to
this process.
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Table 10.11 : Level of urbanization by geographical region, 1981 –2001.
REGION 1981 1991 2001

Hill / Mountains 1.2 2.5 6.4
Kathmandu Valley 47.4 54.1 60.5
Inner Tarai 7.6 9.5 18.0
Tarai 6.8 9.4 12.3
Nepal 6.4 9.2 13.9
The average annual growth rates of urban and rural population by geographical region is
presented in Table 10.12. It shows that in recent decades urban growth rates have remained very
high in the hill/mountain and the Inner Tarai region, while the growth rates are relatively subdued
in the Kathmandu valley and the Tarai. It may be noted that rural growth rates in these two
regions are among the highest in Nepal. Low base urban population is responsible for exceedingly
high urban growth rates seen in the hill/mountain region. An interesting feature is that urban
growth in the Kathmandu valley has accelerated only since the 1970s. In the fifties and the sixties
rural growth rates in the Kathmandu valley exceeded urban growth rates.
Table 10.12 : Average annual growth rates of urban and rural population by geographical
region, 1952/54 – 2001.
Geographical 1952/54 1961-1971 1971-1981 1981-1991 1991-2001

Region Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural
Hill/Mountains .. 1.37 7.78 0.89 9.27 1.31 8.73 1.00 11.58 1.12
Kathmandu
Valley 1.29 1.53 1.36 4.32 3.83 0.87 5.11 2.32 5.22 2.50
Inner Tarai .. 0.61 .. 5.24 19.59 3.19 5.18 2.64 9.34 1.56
Tarai 11.88 2.14 4.74 3.19 9.82 3.90 6.06 2.48 5.44 2.31
Nepal 4.40 1.56 3.23 2.03 7.55 2.40 5.89 1.79 6.65 1.72
Note: The growth rates are geometric growth rates.
Only 43 among the 75 districts of the country had municipal areas in 2001. Many have only one
municipal area in the district headquarter. Districts with more than one municipal area in 2001
include Syangja, Kaski and Kavre in the hills, Kathmandu and Bhaktapur in the Valley, Dang and
Chitwan in the Inner Tarai, and Kailali, Rupandehi, Dhanusha, Siraha, Sunsari and Jhapa in the
Tarai.
387
The district of Kathmandu which houses the capital of the country is the most urbanized district in
the Nepal. In 2001 about 66 percent of the Kathmandu district population was urban. Outside the
valley, the district of Kaski is highly urbanized with about 52 percent population living in urban
areas. Chitwan (27%), Sunsari (25%), Morang (20%), Parsa (23%), Kanchanpur (21 %),
Makwanpur, Kailali, and Dang (17% each) are among other districts which are relatively more
urbanized. Among districts that have witnessed rapid rise in the level of urbanization in the last
two decades are Kaski, Chitwan, Dang, Kailali, Sunsari and Jhapa. Some districts like
Kanchanpur, Banke have seen declines in the level of urbanization. In the case of newly inducted
urban areas in general, there has been substantial and in some cases unbelievable over bounding
of urban areas and consequent spurious rise in urbanization levels. It may also be noted that in
2001 eighteen districts including Dandeldhura, Syangja and Kaski in the hills, all three districts of
the Kathmandu Valley, Dang, Chitwan, Makwanpur and Udaypur in the Inner Tarai and
Kanchanpur, Kailali, Banke, Rupandehi, Parsa, Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa in the Tarai had
urbanization levels exceeding the national average.
Table 10.13 : Urbanization by districts 1981-2001.

1981 1991 2001
Districts
Percent Urban Percent Urban Percent Urban
Hill/ Mountain
Baitadi .. .. 7.8
Dadeldhura .. .. 14.6
Doti .. 7.4 10.7
Dailekh .. .. 8.6
Baglung .. .. 7.8
Syangja .. .. 15.8
Palpa 6.1 5.8 7.6
Kaski 21.1 32.5 51.9
Tanahu .. .. 9.0
Gorkha .. .. 8.9
Nuwakot .. 7.6 7.3
Kavre .. 6.9 13.7
Dolakha .. .. 10.7
Sankhuasabha .. .. 13.7
Dhankuta 10.7 11.7 12.4
Ilam 5.5 5.8 5.7
Kathmandu Valley
Kathmandu 55.7 62.4 65.9
Lalitpur 43.3 45.1 48.3
Bhaktapur 30.3 35.5 53.4
388
1981 1991 2001
Districts
Percent Urban Percent Urban Percent Urban
Inner Tarai
Surkhet 8.3 10.2 10.9
Dang 7.7 8.2 16.7
Chitwan 10.6 15.4 26.9
Makwanpur 14.3 17.1 17.4
Sindhuli .. .. 11.7
Udayapur .. .. 19.2
Tarai
Kanchanpur 25.9 24.1 21.4
Kailali 10.6 10.7 17.2
Bardia .. .. 12.0
Banke 16.6 16.7 14.9
Kapilbastu .. 4.6 5.6
Rupandehi 14.2 16.0 18.1
Nawal Parasi .. .. 4.0
Parsa 15.4 18.5 22.6
Bara .. 4.5 5.8
Rautahat .. .. 4.7
Sarlahi .. 2.9 2.9
Mahottari .. 4.1 4.0
Dhanusha 8.1 10.1 11.1
Siraha 3.7 4.1 9.0
Saptari 4.3 5.2 5.3
Sunsari 12.2 18.3 25.5
Morang 17.5 19.2 19.8
Jhapa 2.0 9.5 14.9
Source : CBS [1995], CBS [2003]
.. = not applicable
10.3.3 Urban Growth and Size of Urban Places
The nature and characteristics of urbanization is reflected in the size of urban places and has
bearing both on the scale and nature of urban problems and planning. Table 10.14 reveals that
over 39 percent of Nepal’s urban population in 2001 resided in 5 municipalities with a population
of over 100,000. These include Kathmandu and Lalitpur in the Kathmandu valley, Biratnagar and
Birganj in the Tarai, and Pokhara in the hills. Among the 11 municipalities with a population
between 50,000 to100,000 population, one (Bhaktapur) is in the Kathmandu Valley, seven in the
389
Tarai (Dharan, Mahendranagar, Butwal, Janakpur, Dhangadhi, Nepalganj and Sidhdharthanagar),
and three (Bharatpur, Hetauda and Trijuga) in the Inner Tarai. Nearly a quarter of Nepal’s urban
population lives in municipalities in this size class. The hills have no municipality in this
category. There were 34 municipalities in size-class III and only 8 municipalities in size-class IV.
Since the 1980s the number of municipalities in size-class III has been increasing and those in
size-class IV has been declining. Normally one would expect a larger number of urban places
with smaller population size and gradually small number of urban places with larger population
size. This process has been effectively reversed in Nepal in the lower rungs of the size-class
hierarchy not because of any inherent uniqueness in the nature of urbanization but because of the
truncated definition of urban places, which excludes places with 10,000 population, and
considerable over bounding of urban places due to the inclusion of whole VDCs and not just
settlement units in the induction of new municipalities for reasons of meeting the population size
criteria. As a result, the number of urban places with population of above 20,000 and the percent
of total urban population living in such places has been steadily increasing in each census. This is
clearly an artefact of the definition of urban places and the manner in which urban status is
conferred.
Table 10.14 : Urban growth by size class of urban places 1952/54-2001

Size Class 1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
100,000 and over 106,579(1) 121,019(1) 150,402 (1) 235,160(1) 666,511(3) 1,270,037(5)
Percent 44.7 36.0 32.6 24.6 39.3 39.4
50,000 – 99,999 0 0 59,049 (1) 173,419(2) 517,419 (8) 788,937 (11)
Percent 0 0 12.8 18.1 30.5 24.4
20,000 – 49,999 74,503 (2) 116,945 (3) 149,849 (5) 457,569 (13) 293,888 (14) 1,032,245 (34)
Percent 31.3 34.8 32.4 47.8 17.3 32.0
Less than 20,000 57,193 (7) 98,258 (12) 102,638 (9) 90,573 (7) 217,901 (8) 136,390 (8)
Percent 24.0 29.2 22.2 9.5 12.9 4.2
Total 238,275 (10) 336,222 (16) 461,938 16) 956,721 (23) 1,695,719 (33) 3,227,879 (58)
Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Above 20000 181,082 (3) 237,964 (4) 359,300 (7) 866,148 (16) 1,477,818 (25) 3,091,489 (50)
Percent 76.0 70.8 77.8 90.5 87.1 95.8
Note : Figures in parenthesis are the number of urban places.
The exceedingly high average annual growth rates of size-class II urban places in the seventies
and the eighties, the high growth rates for size-class III urban places in the nineties, and the
negative growth rates for size-class IV urban places in the seventies, and again in the nineties
reflects this process. The high growth rate for size-class I urban places in the last decade is a result
of the graduation of two more towns to this class (Table 10.15).
390
Table 10.15: Average annual growth rate of urban population by size-class of urban
places, 1952/54 - 2001
Average Annual Growth Rates

Size Class
1952/54-61 1961-71 1971-81 1981-91 1991-2001
100,000 and Over 1.60 2.20 4.57 10.98 6.66
50,000 – 99,999 11.38 11.55 4.31
20,000 – 49,999 5.80 2.51 11.81 … 13.39
Less than 20,000 7.00 0.44 … 9.18 …
Total 4.40 3.23 7.55 5.89 6.65
Source : CBS [1995], CBS [2003]

… = negative growth rate; Growth rates are geometric growth rates
Change in the rank hierarchy of urban places since 1952/54 is shown in Table 10.16. Since the
1980s the induction of new urban places has been in the middle and lower ranks of the hierarchy
than exclusively in the lower ends. For example, Mahendranagar was inducted as the 6th ranking
town in 1981, Damak as the 15th ranking town in 1991, and Trijuga and Mechinagar as the 15th
and 17th ranking towns in 2001.
Table 10.16 : Changes in rank hierarchy of urban places , Nepal. 1952/54 – 2001
S.No. 1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
1 Kathmandu Kathmandu Kathmandu Kathmandu Kathmandu Kathmandu
2 Lalitpur Lalitpur Lalitpur Biratnagar Biratnagar Biratnagar
3 Bhaktapur Biratnagar Biratnagar Lalitpur Lalitpur Lalitpur
4 Nepalganj Bhaktapur Bhaktapur Bhaktapur Pokhara Pokhara
5 Birganj Nepalganj Nepalganj Pokhara Birganj Birganj
6 Thimi Dharan Pokhara Mahendranagar Dharan Dharan
7 Biratnagar Birganj Dharan Birganj Mahendranagar Bharatpur
8 Kirtipur Thimi * Siddharthanagar Dharan Bhaktapur Mahendranagar
9 Janakpur Janakpur Hetauda Janakpur Janakpur Butwal
10 Malangwa Malangwa* Janakpur Hetauda Bharatpur Janakpur
11 Kirtipur * Birganj Nepalganj Hetauda Bhaktapur
12 Banepa * Butwal Siddharthanagar Nepalganj Hetauda
13 Pokhara Rajbiraj Bharatpur Dhangadhi Dhangadhi
14 Rajbiraj Bhadrapur Dhangadhi Butwal Nepalganj
15 Tansen Ilam Butwal Damak Trijuga
16 Matihani * Tansen Tribhuvannagar Siddharthanagar Siddharthanagar
17 Rajbiraj Tribhuvannagar Mechinagar
Madhyapur
18 Birendranagar Rajbiraj Thimi
19 Dhankuta Birendranagar Gulariya
20 Lahan Lahan Tribhuvannagar
391
S.No. 1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
21 Tansen Bidur Lekhnath
22 Ilam Inaruwa Itahari
23 Bhadrapur Kalaiya Kirtipur
24 Jaleswar Tikapur
25 Kapilbastu Ratnanagar
26 Dhankuta Damak
27 Bhadrapur Tulsipur
28 Malangwa Kamalamai
29 Tansen Kalaiya
30 Ilam Birendranagar
31 Banepa Rajbiraj
32 Dipayal Putalibazar
33 Dhulikhel Byas
34 Lahan
35 Kapilbastu
36 Prithvinarayan
37 Panauti
38 Gaur
39 Siraha
40 Inaruwa
41 Ramgram
42 Dipayal
43 Jaleswar
44 Bhimeswar
45 Khandbari
46 Bidur
47 Kalika
48 Dhankuta
49 Tansen
50 Waling
51 Narayan
52 Malangwa
53 Amargadhi
54 Dasrathchand
55 Bhadrapur
56 Ilam
57 Banepa
58 Dhulikhel
Note : Italicised names are new entrants in respective census years.

* Urban places declassified in 1971. Malangwa and Banepa were reclassified in 1991, and Kirtipur
and Thimi in 2001.
** Matihani was declassified in 1971
392
Among the municipalities in Nepal that have consistently retained position or gone up the rank
hierarchy are Biratnagar (from 7th in 1952/54 to 2nd in 2001), Pokhara (from 13th in 1961 when it
was inducted to 4th in 2001, Bharatpur (from 13 th in 1981 to 7th in 2001), and Dhangadhi 14th in
1981 to 13th in 2001). Likewise among the municipalities that have consistently gone down the
rank hierarchy include Bhadrapur (14th in 1971 to 55th in 2001), Ilam (22nd in 1981 to 56th in
2001), Tansen (from 15th in 1961 to 49th in 2001), Nepalganj (from 4th in 1952/54 to 14th in 2001)
and Bhaktapur (from 3rd in 1952/54 to 11th in 2001), among others.
The changes in rank hierarchy of urban places in the last five decades show that Kathmandu has
retained its supremacy all throughout. Among the first three largest cities Lalitpur gave way to
Birtatnagar as the second city in 1981. Since then the three positions have remained stable.
Bhaktapur, the third largest city in 1952/54 and the fourth largest city from 1961 to 1981 has
gradually slipped in the hierarchy. It was the 8th largest city in 1991 and the 11th in 2001.
Siddharthanagar and Hetauda ranked among the ten largest cities in 1971 but both lost their
positions in 1981 and 1991 respectively. Mahendranagar entered as the 6th largest city in 1981
and has been among the top ten since. Birganj, Janakpur and Dharan are the two other towns that
have remained within the top ten since 1952/54 and 1961 respectively. In 2001 among the ten
largest cities were Kathmandu and Lalitpur in the valley, Pokhara in the hills, Bharatpur in the
Inner Tarai and Biratnagar, Birganj, Dharan, Mahendranagar, Butwal and Janakpur in the Tarai.
The population of Janakpur the 10th largest town is in excess of 74,000.
10.3.4 Urban Primacy and Related Measures
Urban primacy is generally taken as an indicator of the nature of urban development. A high or
increasing level of urban primacy reflects a centralised pattern of urban development while a low
or declining level of primacy reflects a decentralised pattern of urban development. The most
common indices of primacy are the two city and four city indices.
Table 10.17 : Primacy indices 1952/54- 2001
Indices 1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001

Two City Index 2.53 2.54 2.55 2.51 3.26 4.03
Four City Index 1.25 1.03 1.04 1.06 1.24 1.38
Percent of Urban Population
in Ten Largest Towns 100.0 90.4 88.1 73.5 66.6 52.2
Note : The two city index and four-city index has been computed by using P1/P2 and P1/P2+P3+P4
respectively where p1 …. Pk are population of towns in respective ranks.
393
The two-city index for Nepal remained more or less stable from 1952/54 till 1981 but has been
steadily rising since then. This indicates a significant concentration of urban population in
Kathmandu. If the Kathmandu-Lalitpur urban complex were taken as one unit, which they are in a
functional sense, then the two city index would rise to 5. Table 10.17 shows that the four city
index has also been rising from 1.03 in 1961 to 1.38 in 2001. However, because of the increase in
the number of urban places the proportion of urban population in the ten largest towns has rapidly
fallen from 100 in 1952/54 to 88.1 in 1971, 66.6 in 1991 and 52.2 in 2001. Over half of Nepal’s
urban population is still concentrated in the ten largest towns.
10.3.5 Components of Urban Growth
Urban growth is generally contributed by natural increase of population, reclassification and

addition of new urban areas due to emergence of new towns, expansion of existing urban areas or
extension of urban boundaries, and migration (both internal, from rural areas, and external due to
international migration).
It is difficult to evaluate these various components of urban growth in Nepal with any accuracy
because of the lack of information. According to ESCAP report (quoted in CBS 1995) over 65
percent of urban growth in Nepal in the nineties can be attributable to migration and
reclassification. A very preliminary exercise shows that the population of reclassified towns alone
contributed 26, 18 and 44 percent respectively to the urban growth rate seen in the 1981, 1991 and
2001 censuses. This does not include urban population growth due to extension of urban
boundaries which has taken place particularly between the 1981 and 1991 censuses.
Table 10.18 : Reclassification and urban growth 1971-2001.

1971 1981 1991 2001
Total Urban Population 461,938 956,721 1,695,719 3,227,879
Population of Reclassified Towns in Each Census 160,788 166,983 787,165
Intercansal Growth Rate of Urban Population 7.55 5.89 6.65
Intercensal Growth Rate without Reclassified
Towns 5.59 4.80 3.71
Population of Reclassfied Towns as % of Census
Population 16.8 9.8 24.4
Contribtuion of Reclassification to Urban Growth
(3)-(4) as a % of (3) 25.9 18.5 44.2
National Intercensal Population Growth Rate 2.66 2.10 2.27
Contribution of Reclassification and Migration to
Urban Growth in the Intercensal Period[(3)-(7) as
a % of (3)] 64.8 64.3 65.9
Note: Growth rates are geometric growth rates.
394
If it were assumed that urban growth in excess of national population growth rates are attributable
to reclassification and migration then Table 10.18 suggests that in the 1971-81, 1981-91 and
1991-2001 intercensal periods the contribution of reclassification and migration to urban growth
comes to 64.8, 64.3 and 65.9 percent respectively, a figure similar to the one attributed by
ESCAP.
Tabel 10.19 : Population by place of birth in urban Areas, 2001
Same Other
Native Foreign
Population District District
Regions Born as % Born as %
2001 Born as % Born as %
of total of Total
of Total of Total
Hill/ Mountains 576024 98.2 83.1 15.1 1.8
Kathmandu Valley 995966 97.0 61.5 35.4 3.0
Inner Tarai 392108 97.2 69.9 27.3 2.8
Tarai 1263781 92.8 70.6 22.2 7.2
TOTAL 3227879 95.6 69.9 25.6 4.4
Source: Population Census 2001 (Development Regions) Selected Tables, Table 5., CBS 2002
The data on population by place of birth provided in the 2001 census gives some idea about the
extent of inter district lifetime migration into urban areas. Table 10.19 shows that 25.6 percent of
the total population of urban areas was born in districts other than the one in which the urban area
was located, and another 4.4 percent were foreign born. If the life time migration to urban areas
from rural areas of districts in which the urban area was located were taken into account the
proportion of such migration to urban areas would be much higher. This shows that internal
migration is a significant contributor to urban growth in Nepal. However, there are significant
variations. In hill/mountain urban areas life time inter-district migration to urban areas is the least
(15.1 percent), while it is the highest in Kathmandu valley towns (35.4 percent). Among the
municipalities that have a higher proportion of life time migrants (internal as well as foreign
born) are Kathmandu (44.1%), Pokhara (33.4%) in the hills, Bharatpur (45.2%), Hetauda (35.7%)
in the Inner Tarai and Dharan (46.1%), Itahari (44.4%), Butwal (52.9%), Damak (39.4%) and
Mahendranagar (38.4%) in the Tarai. The proportion of foreign born is highest in Birganj
(12.9%), followed by Siddharthanagar (11.1%), Bhadrapur (11.6%), Gaur (10.5%) etc. This
indicates that Kathmandu valley, and specific Inner Tarai and Tarai towns continue to be the
recipients of rural migration.
395
10.4 Urban-Rural Differences: Characteristics of Urban Areas in
Nepal
The nature of Nepal’s urbanization can be better appreciated by looking at some of the spatial,
economic and social characteristics of urban areas.
10.4.1 Urban Densities
In Nepal density and contiguity criteria are not taken into account in conferring municipal or
urban status to localities. Table 10.20 shows that the overall population density in urban areas in
Nepal is 985 per sq km compared to 136 for rural areas. But there are substantial differences in
terms of geographical regions. Inner Tarai and hill/mountain regions in general have lower
densities (402 and 550 respectively) compared to Kathmandu Valley (10265) and Tarai towns
(1092). The nature of regional urbanization is revealed from the fact that the density of valley
towns is over ten times than that of Nepal’s urban areas in general and 18 and 25 times more than
hill/mountain and Inner Tarai towns respectively. Urban densities in some of the newly inducted
municipalities are only slightly higher than that of rural areas. Examples are Amargadhi (132),
Kamalamai (158), Trijuga (173), Khandbari (239), Narayan (290), and Bhimeswar (239). The fact
that many municipalities are significantly over bounded reveals a predominantly rural character of
these municipalities. A study estimated that out of the 33 municipalities until early nineties 26 had
less than 20 percent of their population that could be considered urban. No town except those of
the Kathmandu Valley had population in excess of 50 percent that could be considered urban
[Joshi quoted in ADB 2000].
Table 10.20 : Urban densities 2001.
Regions Population 2001 Area (sq. km.) Density (per sq km)

Hill/ Mountains 576,024 1047 550
Kathmandu Valley 995,966 97 10265
Inner Tarai 392,108 975 402
Tarai 1,263,781 1158 1092
Urban Total 3,227,879 3276 985
Rural Total 19,509,055 143905 136
Source: CBS [2003]
396
10.4.2 Age Composition
There are substantial differences in the age composition of population between urban and rural
areas particularly in the below ten age groups and the 20-24 age groups (Table 10.21). Urban
areas generally tend to have a lower proportion of child population and higher proportion of aged
(above 60) population. In Nepal below 10 population comprised 21.2 percent of the total urban
population in 2001 while it was 27.1 percent for rural areas. The 20-24 age population is also
higher by 2.6 percentage points in urban areas. Contrary to expectations the proportion of aged
(over 60) population in urban areas is only 5.7 percent compared to 6.6 percent in rural areas. The
increased proportion of aged population in rural areas could well be a consequence of age-
selective migration from rural areas.
Table 10.21: Percent distribution of population by five-year age groups in urban and
rural areas, Nepal. 2001
Urban Rural
Age Groups
0-4 Years 9.5 9.4 9.6 12.6 12.8 12.3
5-9 Years 11.6 11.6 11.5 14.5 14.9 14.2
10-14 Years 12.0 12.0 12.0 13.3 13.8 12.8
15-19 Years 11.4 11.6 11.3 10.4 10.2 10.5
20-24 Years 11.1 11.0 11.3 8.5 7.9 9.1
25-29 Years 9.4 9.1 9.6 7.3 6.9 7.7
30-34 Years 7.9 8.0 7.8 6.3 6.1 6.5
35-39 Years 6.6 6.6 6.5 5.6 5.6 5.7
40-44 Years 5.1 5.3 4.9 4.7 4.7 4.8
45-49 Years 4.1 4.2 3.9 4.1 4.1 4.0
50-54 Years 3.2 3.3 3.1 3.4 3.5 3.3
55-59 Years 2.4 2.6 2.3 2.7 2.8 2.5
60-64 Years 1.9 1.9 2.0 2.4 2.4 2.3
65-69 Years 1.5 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.7
70-74 Years 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.2
75 + Years 1.3 1.1 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.3
TOTAL 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
All Ages 3,227,879 1,664,362 1,563,517 19,509,055 9,695,016 9,814,039
Source : CBS [2003]
397
The trends in the percent distribution of urban and rural population by broad age group (Table
10.22) show that the proportion of aged population in rural areas has been increasing since 1960.
The 2001 census shows that the proportion of active (15-59 age) population has increased relative
to 1991. Also since 1981 the proportion of under 15 population in urban areas shows a consistent
decline (from 39.1 percent in 1981 to 33.1 percent in 2001). These trends and patterns need to be
interpreted carefully because it is a result of an interplay of a variety of demographic and socio-
economic development processes.
Table 10.22 : Percent distribution of urban and rural population by broad age groups,
1961 - 2001 .
1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Urban
Under 15 Years 35.5 37.3 39.1 37.3 33.1
15-59 Years 59.3 57.6 55.8 57.7 61.2
60 Years and Over 5.2 5.1 5.1 5.0 5.7
Rural
Under 15 Years 40.2 40.6 41.5 42.9 40.4
15-59 Years 54.6 53.8 52.8 51.2 53.0
60 Years and Over 5.2 5.6 5.7 5.9 6.6
10.4.3 Sex Ratio
Urban-rural differences in sex ratio as seen in the 2001 census is shown in Table 10.23. It reveals
a predominance of males over females in age groups between 0-59. It is only in the 60 years and
over age group that the ratio of females is higher than that of males. This is also a pattern seen in
the 1991 census. It may also be noted that the male dominance is particularly higher in urban
areas in the age groups 40 to 59. In rural areas females predominate males in age groups15-44, a
reflection of the age and sex selective migration from rural areas.
Sex ratio for all ages for urban population shows a familiar pattern of the predominance of males
over females in censuses since 1952/54. However, since the 1981 census there has been a
conspicuous decline in male dominance in urban areas (Table 10.24).
398
Table 10.23 : Males per 100 females for total, urban and rural population by five year age
groups, Nepal, 2001
Age groups Nepal Urban Rural

0-4 Years 102.7 105.0 102.4
5-9 Years 103.5 107.0 103.0
10-14 Years 105.9 106.5 105.8
15-19 Years 98.6 109.0 96.8
20-24 Years 88.5 103.1 85.6
25-29 Years 90.8 101.2 88.7
30-34 Years 95.1 107.9 92.6
35-39 Years 98.8 107.7 97.2
40-44 Years 98.5 114.3 95.9
45-49 Years 103.5 115.6 101.7
50-54 Years 105.2 112.7 104.0
55-59 Years 112.4 119.0 111.4
60 Years and Over 101.7 93.9 102.8
All Ages 99.8 106.4 98.8
Source: CBS [2003]
Table 10.24 : Males per 100 females for urban, rural and total population, Nepal, 1952/54
– 2001.
1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001

Urban Population 104.1 112.4 116.6 115.2 108.4 106.4
Rural Population 96.6 96.5 100.8 104.4 98.5 98.8
Total Population 96.8 97.1 101.4 105.0 99.5 99.8
10.4.4 Caste/Ethnicity
The 2001 census reports 105 caste/ethnic groups in the country’s population. Only 60 caste/ethnic
groups were reported by the 1991 census. In both the censuses 11 caste/ethnic groups (Chhetri,
Hill Brahmin, Magar, Tharu, Tamang, Newar, Muslim, Kami, Yadav, Rai and Gurung) had over 2
percent of the national population. In the 2001 census 22 caste/ethnic groups had over 1 percent of
the total population.
399
There are differences in caste/ethnicity by urban and rural residence (Table 10.25). In 2001 Hill
Brahmin, Newar and Chhetri together make up 50.8 percent of the total urban population, while
these three groups together make up only 31.2 percent of the rural population. Other caste/ethnic
groups that constitute above 2 percent of the urban population include Magar, Muslim, Tharu,
Tamang, Gurung, Rai and Kami. With the exception of Yadav these caste/ethnic groups also
make up over 2 percent of the rural population.
Table 10.25 : Caste/ethnicity of urban and rural population, Nepal 2001
Urban Population Rural Population

S.No. Caste/Ethnicity Percent S.No. Caste/Ethnicity Percent
1 Brahman – hill 18.2 1 Chhetri 16.0
2 Newar 17.9 2 Brahman - hill 11.8
3 Chhetri 14.7 3 Magar 7.6
4 Magar 4.2 4 Tharu 7.2
5 Muslim 4.1 5 Tamang 6.0
6 Tharu 3.8 6 Yadav 4.3
7 Tamang 3.4 7 Muslim 4.3
8 Gurung 3.1 8 Kami 4.3
9 Rai 2.2 9 Newar 3.4
10 Kami 2.0 10 Rai 2.9
11 Yadav 1.8 11 Gurung 2.3
12 Thakuri 1.3 12 Damai/dholi 1.8
13 Damai/dholi 1.3 13 Limbu 1.7
14 Baniya 1.2 14 Thakuri 1.5
15 Teli 1.1 15 Sarki 1.5
16 Brahman - tarai 1.0 16 Teli 1.4
17 Marwadi 1.0 17 Chamar/ harijan/ ram 1.3
18 Sarki 0.9 18 Koiri 1.2
19 Sherpa 0.9 19 Kurmi 1.0
20 Sonar 0.8 20 Sanyasi 0.9
21 Limbu 0.8 21 Dhanuk 0.9
22 Sanyasi 0.8 22 Musahar 0.8
23 Others/unidentified 13.4 23 Others/unidentified 15.9
Total 100.0 Total 100..0
Source: CBS [2003]
400
Jaine, Marwadi, Halkhor, Munda and Bangali are caste/ethnic groups that have over half of the
respective total population in urban areas (Table 10.26). Nearly 73 percent of the total Marwadi
population is in urban areas. Other ethnic groups are quite small in terms of total population size.
There are a total of 18 caste/ethnic groups that have over 20 percent of their population in urban
areas. Among hill caste/ethnic groups Newars (46.5%), Thakali (39.6%) and Hill Brahmins
(20.2%) have significant presence in urban areas. Among Tarai caste/ethnic groups with notable
proportion of population in urban areas include Kayastha (41%), Baniya (29.6%), Tarai Brahmin
(24.4%).
Table 10.26 : Caste/ethnic groups with over 20 percent population residing in urban areas,
Nepal 2001.
Population Percent Urban in

Caste/Ethnicity
Total Urban Total Population
Jaine 1015 895 88.2
Marwadi 43971 31862 72.5
Halkhor 3621 2498 69.0
Munda 660 373 56.5
Bangali 9860 5548 56.3
Newar 1245232 578545 46.5
Kayastha 46071 18885 41.0
Thakali 12973 5137 39.6
Chidimar 12296 4714 38.3
Nurang 17522 5665 32.3
Darai 14859 4635 31.2
Baniya 126971 37563 29.6
Kisan 2876 819 28.5
Brahman – tarai 134496 32860 24.4
Gaine 5887 1294 22.0
Haluwai 50583 10949 21.6
Meche 3763 789 21.0
Brahman – hill 2896477 586467 20.2
401
Population Percent Urban in
Caste/Ethnicity
Total Urban Total Population
Other major caste/ethnic groups
Magar 1622421 134357 8.3
Tharu 1533879 123538 8.1
Tamang 1282304 110530 8.6
Muslim 971056 133333 13.7
Kami 895954 64136 7.2
Yadav 895423 56950 6.4
Rai 635151 71934 11.3
Gurung 543571 100367 18.5
Damai/dholi 390305 41031 10.5
Limbu 359379 25821 7.2
Thakuri 334120 42971 12.9
Sarki 318989 30131 9.4
Teli 304536 35498 11.7
Source: CBS [2003]
Among the major caste/ethnic groups in the country less than 10 percent of Magar, Tharu,
Tamang, Kami, Yadav, Limbu, Sarki reside in urban areas. Comparatively, Gurung, Muslim, Rai,
Thakuri and Teli have over 10 percent of their population in urban areas.
10.4.5 Literacy and Educational Attainment
In the 1991 census literacy rate for population 6 years of age and over for Nepal was 39.6 percent.
Urban literacy rate was 66.9 percent compared to the rural literacy rate of 36.8 percent. The 2001
census shows that there has been a nearly 14 percent increase in literacy bringing the figure to
about 54 percent of the total population ages 6 and above (Table 10.27). Urban literacy has
increased to about 72 percent while rural literacy has reached to over 50 percent of the population
ages 6 and above. However, the gulf between male and female literacy is still there although it has
somewhat narrowed in the intercensal decade. The gap between male and female literacy stands at
around 20 percent for total, urban as well as rural population. As would be expected female
literacy in urban areas is much higher than in rural areas.
402
Table 10.27 : Population 6 years and over by literacy status and sex for urban and rural
areas, 2001
Those Able to Read and Write
Areas
Total Male Female
Total 53.74 65.08 42.49
Urban 71.55 80.90 61.60
Rural 50.66 62.24 39.32
Source: CBS [2003]
A comparison of literacy rates over the last three decades shows a steady increase n literacy in
each census year (Table 10.28).
Table 10.28 : Literacy rates for population 6 years of age and over, Nepal 1971 -2001
Areas 1971 1981 1991 2001
Urban Population 48.3 50.5 66.9 71.6
Rural Population 12.5 21.4 36.8 50.7
Total Population 13.9 23.3 39.6 53.7
Source: CBS [2003]
Educational attainment of literate population (Table 10.29) shows that there are significant
differences between urban and rural areas. In urban areas 31 percent of the literate population has
educational attainment of a school graduate (SLC) or over while this percent is a little over 14
percent in rural areas. Over 8 percent of literates in urban areas are college graduates (Bachelors
and over). Two-thirds of the literates in rural areas have educational attainment of lower
secondary or less.
Table 10.29: Education attainment of literate population 6 years and over (in percent),
Nepal 2001
Urban Rural
Total 2029592 1183250 846342 8318837 5059710 3259127
No Schooling 7.7 7.2 8.5 9.0 8.8 9.3
Primary 29.7 27.6 32.6 44.9 42.0 49.3
Lower Secondary 10.6 10.0 11.5 21.3 21.0 21.7
Secondary 20.3 20.0 20.7 9.2 9.9 8.1
SLC & Equivalent 12.6 12.7 12.4 8.1 8.9 7.0
Cert. Level & Equivalent 9.6 10.7 8.2 4.0 5.0 2.6
Graduate & Equivalent 8.2 10.6 4.8 1.3 1.9 0.4
Post Graduate & Equivalent 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.9 1.2 0.4
Others 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.0
Level Not Stated 0.7 0.6 0.8 1.1 1.0 1.3
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: CBS [2003]
403
10.4.6 Economic Activity and Occupational Structure
Urban and rural economic activity rates show distinct differences. Activity rates in general are
much lower in urban areas than rural areas. However, male activity rates are higher in both urban
and rural areas than female activity rates. The total economic activity rate for urban areas is 52.2
percent compared to 65.4 percent for rural areas (Table 10.30). Male activity rates for urban areas
are also lower than in rural areas perhaps because a large pool of otherwise economically active
males is absorbed by the educational system. The most striking difference is with regard to female
activity rates. Rural female activity rates are higher by almost 20 percentage points than rural
activity rates. This indicates that females share more work in rural than in urban areas.
The pattern of economic activity rates seen in the 2001 census follows broadly the pattern seen in
earlier censuses but the activity rates for females is higher than seen in the 1991 census (perhaps
because of a more gender sensitive approach pursued in the 2001 census). The activity rates for
urban and rural females in the 1991 census was 20.3 and 48.1 percent respectively compared to
38 and 58.3 percent in the 2001 census.
Table 10.30 : Population 10 years of age and over by usually economic activity,2001
Total Economically Active

Nepal 16770279 8330576 8439703 10637243 5971024 4666219
Percent 63.4 71.7 55.3
Urban 2544494 1311324 1233171 1326972 858750 468226
Percent 52.2 65.5 38.0
Rural 14225785 7019252 7206532 9310271 5112274 4197993
Percent 65.4 72.8 58.3
Source: CBS [2003]
Change in labour force (economically active population 10 years of age and over) in the 1991-
2001 period shows that the growth rate of urban labour force has been phenomenal, nearly 158
percent, an addition of 812, 000 people (Table 10.31). Growth of female labour force was much
higher (281 percent) compared to their male counterparts (119.2). Growth of female labour force
has been higher relative to males in the rural as well as total labour force of the country. In the
intercensal period nearly 3.3 million people have been added to the labour force.
404
Table 10.31 : Change in urban, rural and total labour force of Nepal 1991 -2001
Absolute
1991 2001 Change (%)
Change
Urban Labour Force 514.6 1327.0 812.4 157.9
Male 391.8 858.8 467.0 119.2
Female 122.8 468.2 345.4 281.3
Rural Labour Force 6825.0 9310.3 2485.3 36.4
Male 3983.8 5112.3 1128.5 28.3
Female 2841.2 4198.0 1356.8 47.8
Total Labour Force 7339.6 10637.2 3297.6 44.9
Male 4375.6 5971.0 1595.4 36.5
Female 2964.0 4666.2 1702.2 57.4
Rural urban differences are seen more clearly in the occupational structure of population. It is
after all the economic activity that distinguishes an urban area from a rural area. There is a
preponderance of service workers, workers in craft and related trade, and professional, technical,
and clerical workers in urban areas (Table 10.32). Over 50 percent of the economically active
population in urban areas are in these occupations. In rural areas, on the other hand, 64 percent of
the economically active population are engaged in agriculture. There are also more males in non-
agricultural occupations than females in both urban and rural areas. An interesting point to note is
that as much as 40.6 percent of females in urban areas are engaged in agriculture and related
occupations. The burden of agriculture seems to be pretty much on females in urban areas.
Table 10.32 : Percentage distribution of economically active population by occupation.

Nepal 2001
Urban Total Rural Total
S.No. Occupational Group
1. Legislators, Senior Officials and 2.2 2.9 1.0 0.3 0.5 0.1
Managers
2. Professionals 5.8 6.0 5.3 2.0 2.9 0.9
3. Technicians and Associate 4.9 6.2 2.5 1.3 2.0 0.4
Professionals
4. Clerks or Office Assistants 5.1 6.4 2.5 1.6 2.6 0.4
5. Service Workers and Shop and 18.8 21.7 13.2 6.4 8.6 3.6
Market Sales Workers
6. Skilled and semi-skilled 28.2 21.9 40.6 64.0 58.6 70.6
Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery
Workers
7. Craft and Related Trade Workers 15.5 15.6 15.3 8.4 8.0 8.9
8. Plant and Machine Operators and 3.8 5.0 1.4 1.1 1.7 0.3
Assemblers
9. Elementary Occupations 15.6 14.2 18.2 14.9 15.0 14.7
10. Not Stated 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: CBS [2003]
405
Intra-urban differences in occupational structure are also notable (Table 10.33). For example,
nearly 46 percent of the labour force in mountain and hill urban areas and 38 percent in inner
Tarai have agriculture as their major occupation compared to less than 13 percent in the
Kathmandu valley. However, sales and service and production related occupations constitute the
major occupations in all urban areas, more so in the Kathmandu valley.
Table 10.33 : Economically active population (10 years and over) by major occupation
groups by regions, Nepal 2001.
Admin. Sales
Professional Agri- Produc- Not
Regions and Clerical and Others Total
and Technical culture tion Stated
Related Service
Mountain and
Hills 7.9 1.0 3.2 15.3 45.8 14.8 11.8 0.1 100.0
Kathmandu
Valley 15.8 4.3 7.6 23.3 12.8 24.9 11.1 0.2 100.0
Inner Tarai 8.0 1.3 3.8 14.6 37.8 16.7 17.7 0.1 100.0
Tarai 8.7 1.4 4.5 18.3 28.5 17.6 20.9 0.1 100.0
Total 10.7 2.2 5.1 18.8 28.2 19.2 15.6 0.1 100.0
Source: CBS [2003]
Table 10.34 : Population 10 years of age and over by marital status in urban and rural
areas, Nepal 2001
Urban Rural
Marital Status Both Both
Sexes Sexes
Total
Single 37.8 42.6 32.6 34.2 38.6 29.9
Married
Single spouse 56.9 51.7 62.4 58.4 52.8 63.7
More than one spouse 1.3 2.5 0.0 1.7 3.5 0.0
Remarried 1.0 1.3 0.7 2.4 2.7 2.1
Widow/widower 2.1 0.8 3.5 2.6 1.4 3.7
Separated 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1
Divorced 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2
Not Reported 0.6 0.8 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.3
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: CBS [2003]
406
10.4.7 Marital Status
The marital status of urban and rural population is given in Table 10.34. It shows that the
proportion of singles is higher in urban areas than in rural areas for both the sexes. A higher
proportion of males and females (42.6 and 32.6 respectively) are single in urban areas compared
to rural areas (38.6 and 29.9 respectively). The proportion of population with more than one
spouse is slightly higher (3.5 percent) for male population in rural areas than urban areas (2.5
percent). Among the married population over 50 percent of males had single spouse, while this
proportion was over 60 percent for females. Divorce and separation involve a very tiny fraction of
the married population.
10.5 Urbanization and Development
Urbanization and development have been synonymous concepts to the extent that higher levels of
urbanization lend to higher levels of development. The structural changes in the economy that
accompany the process of urbanization, and the demand and sustainability of higher levels of
services and facilities that is possible with higher levels of income contribute to make urban areas
locations with better levels of living. All human development and economic development
indicators tend to be higher in urban than in rural areas. Past decades have witnessed an
increasing rural to urban migration. This will continue to be the case as the transport infrastructure
continues to expand, as the pressure on limited land resources in the rural sector increases, as
literacy rates rise in rural areas and as the search for gainful employment opportunities in the non-
farm sector gathers increased momentum. Sustainable development in Nepal requires that the
pressure on rural environmental resources be reduced, that minimum infrastructural and service
facilities be provided to a rising population, and that opportunities for employment in the non-
agricultural sector be enhanced so that an increasing population can be absorbed in this sector.
Urban development is inescapable in this context. Also, urban areas provide employment,
marketing opportunities, and inputs and services to the rural hinterland and provide the basis for
diversifying agricultural production and increasing agricultural productivity.
Unregulated and unguided urbanization has its own problems as evidenced in the deteriorating
environmental conditions of many large cities such as Kathmandu. In Nepal’s context the
question is not one of promoting urban development per se, but one of fostering a process of
urbanization and urban development that is in tune with economic and environmental realities of
Nepal. This means that sustainable urban settlements have to be environmentally sound,
economically efficient, and socially contributing to the sense of community.
407
State policies with respect to industrialization, and other productive sectors and development of
transport and communication among others determine and influence this nature of urbanization.
In the last few decades the structure of the Nepali economy has changed considerably in terms of
the industrial origin of the Gross Domestic Product. In the 1960s over two-thirds of the GDP was
contributed by the agricultural sector. In 1990/91, 55.5 percent of the GDP originated in
agriculture. In 1999/2000 this had come down to 39.5 percent (Table 10.35). While this change in
the structure of the GDP has still to be reflected in the change in the occupational structure of the
labour force, the process of change in the economy has begun, and with it increases in the levels
of urbanization
Table 10.35 : Industrial origin of GDP, Nepal 1990 – 2000.

(in million Rs)
1990/91 Percent 1995/96 Percent 1999/2000 Percent
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishery 55368 55.5 85569 35.7 144644 39.5
Manufacturing 5956 6.0 22466 9.4 33550 9.2
Construction 11078 11.1 26093 10.9 37373 10.2
Trade/Restaurant/Hotel 12902 12.9 28317 11.8 42895 11.7
Other 14398 14.4 76943 32.1 107822 29.4
Total 99702 100.0 239388 100.0 366284 100.0
Source : MoF (2002). Economic Survey. Fiscal 2001/2002. Table 1..2
10.5.1 Urbanization and Selected Measures of Development
Selected measures of human development for urban and rural areas in Nepal show that the
performance of urban areas is much better than those in rural areas. Urban GDP per capita (in
PPP) is almost twice as that in rural areas. Human development index, education index, life
expectancy index all show a similar picture. Gender related indices also are better in urban areas
due perhaps to better education, better access to resources and better opportunities available in
urban areas. Human poverty index for urban areas also shows a similar trend (Table 10.36).
A comparison of basic facilities in urban and rural areas presents stark differences in facilities
between urban and rural areas in contemporary Nepal (Table 10.37). About 86 percent of urban
households have electricity connection compared to less than 18 in rural areas. In the area of
piped water supply the rural urban differences seem to be narrow. However, sanitation facilities
are much better in urban than in rural areas. While only 20 percent of households in urban areas
408
had no toilet facilities, over three-fourths of the households in rural areas had no such facility.
Also, there is an overwhelming dependence on wood as a source of fuel in rural areas (94
percent), compared to urban areas (39 percent). Exposure to the three mass media is also much
higher in urban areas.
Table 10.36 : Selected measures of human development in urban and rural areas.
Urban Rural
GDP per capita (PPP) US $ (2000) 2133 1094
Human Development Index (2000) 0.616 0.446
Education Index (2000) 0.568 0.376
Life Expectancy Index (2000) 0.769 0.562
Gender Related Development Index (2000) 0.605 0.426
Gender Empowerment Measure 0.443 0.333
Human Poverty Index (2000) 23.9 41.4
Chronic Malnourishment Among Children
Under 5 Yrs. (%) 36.1 56.3
Source : UNDP/NPC (2001). Nepal Human Development Report, 2001.Poverty Reduction and
Governance. Kathmandu: UNDP. Annex 1. Tables 1-4.
Table 10.37 : Basic facilities in urban and rural areas, Nepal 2001.
Urban Rural
Electricity Connection 85.7 17.4
Piped Drinking Water 55.2 33
Sanitation Facility
Flush Toilet 58.3 6.1
Pit Toilet 14.6 17.1
No Facility 20.1 75.3
Other 7.0 1.5
Fuel Used
Firewood 39.1 94.1
Kerosene 35.8 2.3
Other 25.1 96.4
Flooring Material
Earth/Mud 34.4 91.7
Other 65.6 8.3
Exposure to Mass Media
(Newspaper, Radio, TV. All three) 40.6 10.3
Source : Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2001. Kathmandu: MoH/New Era/ORC Macro, 2002.
Table 2.6 and 3.4.2
409
Fertility and health related indicators show a similar picture (Table 10.38). Total fertility rate in
urban areas as half that of rural areas. Contraceptive prevalence in urban areas is 66 percent
among women of reproductive age compared to 47 percent for rural areas. Childhood mortality
rates in rural areas remain high (111.0 for under fives) relative to urban areas (65.9). These
features go to indicate that urbanization as a process has complex but fundamental implications
for development in general.
Table 10.38 : Fertility, family planning and health related indicators, 2001.
Urban Rural
Total Fertility Rate* 2.1 4.4
Current Use of Contraception (any method) 66.0 46.8
Childhood Mortality**
Infant 50.1 79.3
Child 16.7 35.4
Under Five 65.9 111.9
Source : Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2001. Kathmandu: MoH/New Era/ORC Macro, 2002.
Table 4.2, 5.4.1 and 8.3.
* women age 15-49;

** per thousand live births
10.6 Future of Urbanization
The level of urbanization is still very low in Nepal. For the level of urbanization to increase there
has to be an economic transformation in the productive sectors. Agriculture has to be
commercialised, agro-based and other natural resource based industrialisation has to be
encouraged. The space economy has to be further articulated through the development of
transport and communication and a context has to be created for meaningful economic exchange
between different ecological regions of the country. There are enormous differences in the
regional levels of urbanization at the present. This can be addressed only through the realization
of the productive potentials of different regions. At the same time the tendencies of a centralised
urban process have to be countered not only to foster decentralised urban growth but also to
avoid the problems that accompany primate and very large cities particularly in fragile mountain
environments.
The capacity to manage even the low level of urbanization in Nepal is very limited. The absolute
level and quality of urban infrastructure and services remains very low in Nepal. Drainage,
sewerage, water supply and electricity are major problems in all urban areas. Urban congestion,
410
increase in industrial and vehicle emissions and consequent air and noise pollution is evident in
all major cities. The gap in other utilities is also considerable. There are no minimum standards
for infrastructure and services. Unplanned urban sprawl is characteristic of all urban areas, more
so in rapidly growing cities like Kathmandu, Pokhara, Bharatpur among others. The institutional
capacity of municipalities to manage urban infrastructure and urban growth remains severely
constrained. The legal basis and institutional capacity to enforce land use and zoning laws as well
as environmental standards has still to be created (ADB 2000). Indeed, in many cases the ad hoc
nature of designating urban areas and the considerable over bounding to provide municipal status
make it difficult to assess the true nature and character of Nepal’s urbanization. The revenue
potential of urban areas remains unexplored and unexploited to a large extent. Urban data base
also remains poor particularly with respect to the structure of the urban economy.
These features notwithstanding urbanization is likely to remain the most significant aspect of the
spatial distribution of Nepal’s population in the coming decades. A projection of Nepal’s urban
population made by New Era for the Ministry of Population and Environment shows that by 2016
Nepal’s urban population will nearly triple relative to 1991. The projected figures show a lower
proportion of population in urban areas for 2001 than enumerated in the census. But the medium
variant projection is based on the assumption that the average annual growth rate of urban
population will gradually slow down from 5.3 percent in 1991- 96 to 3.6 percent between 2011-16
(Table 10.39). Urban population is expected to reach 15.4 percent of the total population in 2016,
a scenario that is more subdued than the expectations of the 1980s. This is clearly a reflection of
the sluggish growth and the lack of prospects for fundamental structural changes in the economy.
Increased economic growth rates would speed up the process of urbanization.
Table 10.39 : Medium variant projection of Nepal’s urban population 1996- 2016.
Year Urban Population Average Annual Percent of

Growth Rate Population Urban
1991 1695719 - 9.2
1996 2207967 5.3 10.6
2001 2789092 4.7 11..9
2006 3420849 4.1 13.0
2011 4146855 3.8 14.2
2016 4975268 3.6 15.4
Source : New Era (1998). A brief description of the population projection of Nepal 1996-2016.
Kathmandu: New Era.
411
References
ADB, (2000). Nepal Urban Sector Strategy. Report prepared for ADB/HMG Ministry of Physical
Planning and Works. TA No. 3272. Kathmandu. Final Draft.
Bastola, T. S. (1995). Urbanization in CBS 1995. Population Monograph of Nepal. Pp. 239-300.

Central Bureau of Statistics (2003). Population Census 2001, Selected Table. National Planning
Ministry of Finance (2002). Economic Survey. Fiscal 2001/2002. Kathmandu, Nepal.
Ministry of Local Development (2003). Municipalities as formal institutions. A mimeographed

note. (personal communication).
New Era (1998). A brief description of the population projection of Nepal 1996-2016.
Kathmandu, Nepal.
Ministry of Health/New Era/ORC Macro (2001). Nepal Demographic and Health Survey.
Sharma, P. (1989). Urbanization in Nepal. Papers of the East West Population Institute. No. 110.
Honolulu, East west centre.
UNDP/NPC (2001). Nepal Human Development Report, 2001. Poverty Reduction and
Governance. Kathmandu: UNDP.
412
CHAPTER 11
POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT: A SITUATION
ANALYSIS OF POPULATION, CULTIVATED LAND AND
BASIC CROP PRODUCTION IN NEPAL IN 2001
- Dr. Bhim Prasad Subedi*
11.1 Introduction
For all practical purposes the territory of Nepal is finite. There is a limit to the environmental
resources within this territory that Nepalese citizen can utilize. The increasing presence of people
on its territory is presenting economic, social and ecological problems. It is only over the last two
decades that we have raised questions regarding multifaceted implications of our increasing
presence. At the world scale during 1980s the Brundtland Report (WCED, 1987) brilliantly
presented the idea of sustainable development. It stated that development should meet the needs
of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
This statement is ambiguous and as Sutton (2003:294) states “it is both difficult to disagree with
while at the same time imposes many implicit constraints as to how development should take
place.” Over the course of time, sustainable development has been interpreted differently for
reason that it contains ideas of environmental sustainability, economic efficiency and human
equity (Costanza and Folke, 1997). Subsequently for collective human objective the
environmentalists pursued “sustainability’ as the primary theme, while economists went on to
persue ‘efficiency’ and for many other social scientists and humanists ‘equity’ became the main
concern due to increasing presence of human beings on the specific territorial unit. In all these,
the concern remains of balancing human impact on earth’s ability to absorb the impact. In pursing
the interpretations and attempting to examine population-environment relations further measures
such as environmental sustainability index (see, Sutton, 2003; Samuel-Johnson and Esty, 2001)
have been developed. Likewise, the concepts such as ‘carrying capacity’ and ‘population
pressure’ have gained further attention in the literature (see, Daily and Ehrlich, 1992).
In Nepal there have been some attempts in the past to highlight the population environment
relations some explicitly while others implicitly (see, Shrestha and Sharma, 1980; Shrestha and
Conway 1982; Shrestha, Conway and Bhattarii 1999; Subedi 1995). These attempts are worth
*
Dr. Subedi is an Associate Professor of TU, Geography Department, Kirtipur.
1
mentioning. However, in the context of Population Census 2001 and other recent information the
need for updating and/or reassessing the population resource situation has become imperative.
This paper is based on the broader framework of population and environment relations using
Nepal as a case. Because the scope of human environment relation study is vast this paper
concentrates only on existing population, land resource and adequacy of basic crop production in
the country. The food crop production is considered as an expression of human effort to maximize
the utilization of available land resource amidst increasing presence of human number. For this
and for data limitation (discussed later) the conclusions should be taken as indicative rather than
comprehensive.
This paper is divided into six sections. The first section gives an introduction to population and
sustainable development issues. The second section briefly mentions the materials used in this
paper and methods of analysis. The third section discusses land resources situation in terms of
cultivated land in the country. The fourth section deals with basic crop production for the last five
years for which data are available. The fifth section is about cereal crop availability and
requirement in the district. The last section concludes the paper with some limitations and policy
implications.
11.2 Materials and Methods
Three main sources of data have been utilized. Population Census 2001 is the main data source
for size and distribution of population. Similarly data on proportion of cultivated land for 75
districts of Nepal is obtained from Japan Forest Technology Association (JAFTA) 2000. Data on
cropped area and production of food crops are taken from Statistical Information on Nepalese
Agriculture. Five crops namely barley, maize, millet, paddy and wheat are considered as primary
food crops in general. However, in the Mountain region potato is consumed as basic crop.
Therefore, inclusion of potato production as part of basic crop is considered desirable.
Consequently, production of potato is included in the figure on total food crop production.
Data quality and adequacy are always issues for the comprehensive analysis of population and
basic crop availability situation in Nepal. There are some inherent limitations of data on land
resources and crop production that are utilized in this paper. But under the given circumstances
these are the best available sources that provide district level information on land and crop
production covering all 75 districts. Department and Directorates within the Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperatives are the primary institutions responsible for providing reliable data
on cropped area and crop production. On the other hand JAFTA has provided data on land
2
resources through utilization of latest remote sensing technology. It would have been better if land
use data were available in the disaggregated form for agriculture and grassland. Apparently this
was not possible for 2000. Agriculture land in the data set included grassland also. The resulting
proportion of land under agriculture is thus higher than what it really is.
The adequacy of food production in the district is based on nutrition requirement of individuals in
the district. The Report of the Commission on Strengthening the Supplies System 2051 (pp. 146–
148) gives the calorie requirement of the individual. Individual calorie requirements are stated to
be different for the Tarai and the Hills (including Mountain). Accordingly in the Hills (including
Mountain region) the total calorie requirement is 2,344 calories per person per day. The
corresponding requirement in the Tarai is 2,144 calories. Of the total requirement it is also
estimated that 87.3 percent should be available from cereals (see, Gautam, 1993). Therefore, the
adequacy of food supply is based on the proportion of cereal needs in the total amount. Thus, the
cereal requirement is estimated at 2046.3 calories for the Hill and 1871.7 calories for the Tarai.
The national average is estimated to be 1999.7.
The calorie values for various basic crops differ. Annex 11.1 gives the calorie values of six crops
considered in this paper. This difference is taken into account while analyzing the adequacy of
basic crop production in the region and the districts. Details are discussed in the fifth section of
the paper.
11.3 Distribution of Cultivated Land
Land is the primary resource for agrarian economies. Nepal is no exception. The importance of
land as a resource is further warranted in Nepal since overwhelming majority of population i.e.,
more than 85 percent, live in rural areas and more than 60 percent economically active population
has agriculture as their primary occupation. Data on agriculture land for all 75 districts in the
country are available from two sources and for two time periods. These sources are: Land
Resource Mapping Project (LRMP) 1978/79 and Japan Forest Technology Association (JAFTA)
2000. These two sources are not necessarily comparable in the categories to which they report the
land use situation but these are the best available sources for data on distribution of land resource
by district at present in the country. The distribution of land resource situation in both these time
periods is discussed below.
3
11.3.1 Distribution of Cultivated Land in 1978/79
11.3.1.1 Cultivated Land 1978/79
Of the total land in the country only 18 percent was classified as cultivated land in 1978/79. This
proportion is based on air photo data of Land Resource Mapping Project 1978/79. Data on
proportion of land under cultivation is important because the size of rural population that can be
supported in a given area depends upon the proportion of land under cultivation at present and the
proportion that could be brought under cultivation in the near future. The proportion of cultivated
land varies by ecological regions and by districts in the country. Generally, the proportion
decreases from south to north. Districts located in the Tarai region have higher proportion. For
example on an average, districts in Tarai have 40 percent of their total land used for cultivation.
This high proportion is primarily because of the plain landform and high fertility of soil there. It is
also to be noted that most of the land brought under cultivation in the Tarai is also of recent
origin. On the contrary, districts in the mountain region have limited proportion of land suitable
for cultivation. More specifically, only 4.4 percent of the total land is used for cultivation in this
region. The rugged terrain, altitude and steep slope are the main limiting factors. Moreover, a
large proportion of land in the mountain region is rocky and barren. The hill region, which is
situated in between two extremes, occupies an intermediate position in the proportion of
cultivated land. Of the total land 17.2 percent is cultivated there. This proportion is less than half
of the proportion in the Tarai. There is also an east-west variation in this proportion. Districts
located in the east have higher proportion of cultivated land and the proportion gradually
decreases towards west. This applies to all ecological zones.
Jhapa district has the highest proportion of land under cultivation. Of its total land, 68.2 percent is
under cultivation. Manang represents the contrary with negligible proportion i.e., 0.3 percent
under cultivation. Among 75 districts, largest proportion of districts (26.6%) has 20-30 percent of
their total land under cultivation. Districts with 10-20 percent land under cultivation follow this
(25.3%). Districts from Mid-western and Far-Western Hills are among districts having this
proportion. Districts with higher proportion of cultivated land are located in the eastern Tarai.
Despite hilly terrain, districts in the eastern hills are almost comparable with Mid-western and
Far-western Tarai in the proportion of cultivated land. While long history of settlement, high
population growth and sufficient rainfall may have collectively resulted into relatively high
proportion of cultivated land in the Eastern hills, the Mid-western and Far-western Tarai are
among relatively newly inhabited areas in Nepal Tarai.
4
Almost one-fourth or eighteen districts have very limited proportion of cultivated land i.e., less
than ten percent. Generally districts in the Mountain region have this situation but a number of
hill districts in the Mid-west and Far west also fall in this category. More importantly, among
eighteen districts three have as low as less than one percent of their total land under cultivation.
Humla, Dolpa and Manang are among the districts having lowest proportion of land under
cultivation.
11.3.1.2 Cultivated Land Per Capita
The proportion of cultivated land gives an indication of land resource situation in the given
district or region. However, in the population resource context the per-capita distribution is more
meaningful. Table 11.1 gives the land resource per capita by ecological zones (regions) for 1981.
Cultivated land per capita at the national level was o.176 ha or roughly 3.5 ropani. This refers to
net cultivated land. In the mountain region and also in the high hills livestock farming is
important part of livelihood. Thus, it is desirable to include area under grassland while calculating
per capita land availability. With inclusion of grassland the per capita land availability is 0.29 ha
or 5.76 ropani (Table 11.1).
Table 11.1: Cultivated land per person by ecological zones, 1981.
Cultivated Land Per Capita (in ha)

Region (Zones)
Cultivated Land Only Cultivated Land Including Grass Land
Mountain 0.17438 1.04733
Hill 0.14718 0.22337
Tarai 0.20729 0.21861
Nepal 0.17578 0.29275
Note : In this table data on land is taken from LRMP 1978/79 and data on population is from Population
Census 1981.
Variation by ecological region is obvious. Per capita cultivated land (net) is highest in the Tarai
followed by the Mountain region. The Hill region has the lowest per capita net cultivated land.
This generalization does not hold true when grassland is included as part of cultivated area. The
Mountain ranks highest with more than a hectare of land per capita. Pastures (locally known as
kharka) are common features of overall landscape in the Mountain region. The area under
grassland decreases from north to south or from the mountain to the plains. Tarai with minimal or
no grassland ranks lowest. The Hill occupies a middle position with 0.22 ha per capita land.
5
11.3.1.3 Man-Land Ratio
Man-land ratio is a very common way of expressing population resource situation in the country.
In general this ratio is considered as indicative of the pressure of population on land resources.
Areas with high ratios are indicative of higher stress of population on land resources. Man-land
ratios discussed in this section is calculated using data for population and the land availability in a
roughly comparable time frame. While population data is for 1981, data on cultivated land refers
to 1978/79. Accordingly, at the national level man-land ratio is 5.6 persons per hectare. It is high
in the districts located in the Central and Western Hill. Kathmandu and Manang are two extremes.
Districts located in the Mountain region have relatively lower ratios.
Based on the value of man-land ratio in 1981, the seventy-five districts of the country have been
categorized into five categories (Table 11.2). There are four districts having less than four persons
per hectare. While three of them are from the Tarai one is from the Mountain. None of the Tarai
districts have more than six persons per hectare in 1981. They demonstrate moderate situation i.e.,
four to six persons per hectare. Some Tarai districts especially those from the Mid-west and Far-
west are among districts demonstrating low man-land ratios. On the contrary, the Hill districts in
general and Kathmandu valley districts and Kavrepalanchok in particular exhibit high man-land
ratios.
Table 11.2: Man-land ratio by districts 1981.

Categories Number
(persons per (percent) of Name of the Districts
ha) Districts
4 Mustang, Kailali, Bardiya, Kapilvastu
Less than Four
(5.3 %)
Humla, Mugu, Dolpa, Solukhumbu, Sankhuwasabha,
18 Jajarkot, Dhankuta, Tehrathum, Panchthar, Ilam,
Four to Five
(24.0 %) Kanchanpur, Banke, Dang, Rupandehi, Siraha, Saptari,
Sunsari, Jhapa
Bajhang, Jumla, Rasuwa, Taplejung,
Dadeldhura, Doti, Achham, Dailekh, Surkhet, Salyan, Rolpa,
27
Five to Six Rukum, Sindhuli, Ramechhap, Udayapur, Okhaldhunga,
(36.0 %)
Khotang, Bhojpur, Nawalparasi, Chitwan, Parsa, Bara,
Rautahat, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Morang
Darchula, Bajura, Kalikot, Manang, Sindhupalchok Dolakha,
22 Baitadi, Arghakhanchi, Pyuthan, Gulmi, Palpa,
Six to Ten
(29.4 %) Baglung,Myagdi, Parbat, Kaski, Syangja, Tanahun,
Lamjung, Gorkha, Dhading, Nuwakot, Makwanpur
4 Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Kavrepalanchok
More than Ten
(5.3 %)
Note : For the convenience of readers, whereas districts located in the Mountain region are underlined,
the Hill districts are italicized. Likewise the Kathmandu valley districts are both underlined and
italicized.
6
Over the past two decades the population has grown rapidly. Between 1981 and 2001 more than
8.1 million people have been added in the country. Two censuses have been conducted
successively in between. They have recorded more than 2.0 percent annual growth rate during
these years. On the other hand, comparable and comprehensive data on land resources as per
LRMP are not available. It is widely reported that with population increase some marginal areas
have also been brought to cultivation over these years. This leads to the likelihood of increase in
the proportion of cultivated land. In the mean time, several studies in Nepal have noted that the
amount of land that can be brought under cultivation at present in Nepal is limited (see, Ives and
Messerli, 1989).
11.3.2 Distribution of Cultivated Land in 2001
Japan Forest Technology Association (JAFTA) 2001 has provided area of agriculture and grass
land for 75 districts of the country. This data is used as the latest information on distribution of
cultivated land by district. In a strict sense, the categories of land use under LRMP and JAFTA
may not be comparable. Nonetheless, broader generalizations are possible in terms of direction
and extent of change. Moreover, in this section the focus is on the state of affairs than a
comparative assessment.
11.3.2.1 Cultivated Land 2000
According to JAFTA 2000 the total cultivated (agriculture) land including grassland in the
country is 4,061,631 ha which constitutes 27.6 percent of the total area of the country. This high
proportion is due to the inclusion of grassland in the same category. Separate categories of land
for agriculture and grassland are not available in this source. Unless specified, cultivated land in
the following discussion includes grassland.
Regional variation is evident in the proportion of cultivated land and grassland. The Mountain
region has 10 percent of its total area under cultivation in 2000. The corresponding proportions
are 27.2 percent and 55.2 percent in the Hill and the Tarai. Variation by 15 eco-development
regions is also apparent. The two extremes in this case include Western Mountain with 0.1
percent and Eastern Tarai with 75.6 percent of total area under cultivation. The proportion of
cultivated land decreases from East to West except Mid-western region. Of the fifteen eco-
development regions three namely Eastern, Central and Western Tarai have more than 50 percent
of their total land under cultivation. Similarly, three regions namely Eastern and Central Hills and
7
Far-western Tarai have 40-50 percent of their total land under cultivation. Eastern and Central
Mountains, and Western and Far-western Hills have 20-25 percent of their land under cultivation.
Mid-western Mountain has only 3.2 percent of total land under cultivation. Moreover, Mid-
western Hill and Far-western Mountain are roughly comparable with 14.5 and 13.6 percent of
their total land under cultivation respectively. In all eco-development regions north-south
variation is more distinct than the east-west variation.
At the district level the differences are far greater than the eco-development regions. Jhapa with
88 percent of its land under cultivation represents one end whereas Dolpa with less than 0.1
percent represents another extreme. On the whole, districts located in Tarai have higher
proportion of cultivated land compared with districts in the Hill and the Mountain. Generally
districts from Eastern and Central Tarai have more than 50 percent of their total land under
cultivation. Districts in the Hill demonstrate complex situation. The proportion of cultivated land
ranges from 4.5 percent (Rukum) to 54.8 percent (Okhaldhunga) excluding Kathmandu valley.
Specific generalizations are difficult to make except what the districts in the East, Center and
West have higher proportion, those in the Far-west have medium and those in the Mid-west have
lower proportions of total land under cultivation. Some Hill districts namely Tehrathum,
Dhankuta, Okhaldhunga and Kathmandu also have more than 50 percent of their land under
cultivation. More importantly, all Tarai districts have more than 40 percent of their total land
under cultivation by 2000. Banke (30.6%) and Dang (36.2%) are two exceptions.
11.3.2.2 Cultivated Land Per Capita
Cultivated land per capita for 2001 is 0.175 ha or 3.4 ropani for the country as a whole. Among
ecological regions the Hill has lowest per-capita land i.e., 0.163 ha or 3.2 ropani. The Mountain
on the other hand, demonstrates the highest value, a result of low population size. Although the
per capita land in the Tarai is higher than the Hill, the difference is rather minimal whereas the
difference between the Hill and the Mountain is far higher than the difference between the Hill
and the Tarai (Table 11.3).
8
Table 11.3: Cultivated land per person and per household 2000.
Cultivated Land Per Person Cultivated Land Per Household

Region (Zones)
(ha) (ha)
Mountain 0.307121 1.620500
Hill 0.162554 0.840429
Tarai 0.167393 0.962222
Nepal 0.175438 0.954954
Note : Population figures are from Population Census 2001 and the figures for area under cultivation is
taken from JAFTA 2001.
The distribution of cultivated land per household shows a similar situation. Land per household is
lowest in the Hill followed by the Tarai. Land per household in the Mountain is nearly double that
of the Hill. In the country as a whole, land per household is less than one hectare. This figure is
lower than the one available from the Land Resource Mapping Project. Although these two
sources are not strictly comparable, the decrease in the amount of land per household is quite
logical given the rapid increase of population over last two decades.
11.3.2.3 Man-Land Ratio, 2001
The overall man-land ratio for 2001 is 5.7 persons per hectare. Districts with highest and the
lowest man-land ratio are from the Mountain. Whereas Dolpa has the highest man-land ratio of
383.7 persons per hectare, Solukhumbu has the lowest value of 1.6 persons. Mustang, Dhading,
Kathamndu and Manang are among districts with high man-land ratios. On the contrary,
Taplejung, Mugu, Sankhuwasabha and Okhaldhunga are among districts with low man-land
ratios.
Broadly, districts in the Mountain and the Tarai demonstrate a special pattern. Majority Mountain
districts have less than four persons per hectare of cultivated land. Likewise, majority Tarai
districts have man-land ratios between six to ten persons (Table 11.4). The Hill districts are
complex and demonstrate diverse situation. On the one hand, there are eight districts having less
than four persons per hectare, there are five districts with more than ten persons per hectare on the
other. Kathmandu valley districts especially Kathmandu and Bhaktapur have very high man-land
ratio compared with other hill districts. Both these districts have more than 40 persons per hectare
while Lalitpur has about 22 persons per hectare. In the context of high-man-land ratio in
Kathmandu it should be noted that Kathmandu valley with the only metropolitan city is the most
urbanized section of the country.
9
Table 11.4: Man-land ratio by districts 2001.
Categories Number
(persons per (percent) of Name of the Districts
ha) Districts
Darchula, Bajhang, Bajura, Humla, Mugu, Dolakha, Solukhumbu,
Sankhuwasabha, Taplejung,
Less than Four 17 (22.7%)
Ramechhap, Makwanpiur, Khotang, Sindhuli, Bhojpur, Dhankuta,
Tehrathum, Panchthar
Jumla, Manang, Rasuwa, Sindhupalchok
Four to Five 14 (18.7%) Dadeldhura, Doti, Gorkha, Udayapur, Ilam,
Kailali, Bardiya, Dang, Kapilvastu, Jhapa
Baitadi, Achham, Surkhet, Jajarkot, Salyan, Lamjung, Tanahun,
Dhading, Nuwakot, Makwanpur,
Five to Six 13 (17.3%)
Kavrepalanchok,
Banke, Nawalparasi,
Kalikot, Dailekh, Myagdi, Pyuthan, Gulmi, Arghakhanchi, Palpa,
Syangja
Six to Ten 20 (26.7%)
Rupandehi, Chitwan, Parsa, Bara, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Mahottari,
Dhanusha, Siraha, Saptari, Sunsari, Morang
Dolpa, Mustang, Manang, Rukum, Rolpa, Baglung, Parbat, Kaski,
More than Ten 11 (14.6%)
Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur
Note : 1. For the convenience of readers, whereas districts located in the Mountain region are
underlined, the Hill districts are italicized. Likewise the Kathmandu valley districts are both
underlined and italicized.
2. While data on land resource refers to 2000, the population data refers to 2001.
With few extremes such as Dolpa, Mustang and Manang, the values of man-land ratios are
comparable for 1981 and 2001. Further investigation is necessary to elucidate the extreme values.
One likely explanation is the existence of large parcels of pasture in these mountain districts that
are included in the current data on agriculture land. Nevertheless, this comparability of man-land
ratio after two decades is a concern. As stated earlier there has been an addition of more than 8.1
million population over these years. If the cultivated land had remained the same, this additional
number would mean an addition of 3.0 persons per hectare by 2001 over 1978/79. Thus, the
comparability of man-land ratio therefore means a definite increase in the amount of land under
cultivation. Without longitudinal data with comparable categories and definitions, the extent of
increase cannot be elucidated. The specific assessment of changes in land resource in general and
cultivated land in particular is difficult and this paper, being a situation analysis is beyond its
scope.
Given three ecological zones (north-south) and five development regions (east-west) it is also
useful to analyze man-land ratio by eco-development regions. Among fifteen eco-development
regions, two regions demonstrate very high man-land ratios in 2001. These include Western
Mountain and Kathmandu valley. Limited availability of cultivated land for the former and large
10
population size in the latter can be attributed for the high ratios respectively. On the other hand,
Eastern Mountain has the lowest man-land ratio. On the whole, with an exception of Western
Mountain these ratios are low in the Mountains and high in the Hills. Tarai is in-between but
values of various Tarai regions are closer to the corresponding Hill regions than to the Mountain
regions (Table 11.5).
Table 11.5: Man-land ratio by eco-development region, 2001.
Eco-Development Cultivated Man-Land Ratio

Total Population**
Region Land* (ha) (p/ha)
NEPAL 4061631 23151423 5.7
Mountain 518377 1687859 3.3

Eastern 209705 401587 1.9
Central 131326 554817 4.2
Western 564 24568 43.6
Mid-western 68769 309084 4.5
Far-western 108013 397803 3.7
Hill 1666363 10251111 6.2

Eastern 470656 1643246 3.5
Central 441167 3542732 8.0
Western 387327 2793180 7.2
Mid-western 199545 1473022 7.4
Far-western 167668 798931 4.8
Tarai 1876891 11212453 6.0

Eastern 549214 3299643 6.0
Central 553045 3934080 7.1
Western 308707 1753265 5.7
Mid-western 264218 1230869 4.7
Far-western 201707 994596 4.9
Kathmandu Valley 43670 1645091 37.7
Note : Cultivated land in this column includes grassland. Disaggregated data for cultivated land only is
not available.
Source : * Japan Forest Technology Association (JAFTA), 2001. ** CBS, 2002.
Eco-development regions in the Hill primarily Central, Western and Mid-western hills are regions
with man-land ratio of more than 7 persons per hectare. Of the Tarai regions it is only Central
Tarai that has this ratio of more than 7 persons per hectare. This man-land ratio when considered
in the context of differences in terrain conditions, history of settlement, overall quality of soil and
yield of cereal crops (see tables below) by ecological zones, the pressure of population on land
resource is far higher in the eco-development regions of the Hill than in other regions.
11
11.4 Basic Crop Production
The proportion of cultivated land, per-capita availability and man-land ratios are expressions of
population resource relations since they reflect the resource availability in the given area.
Cultivated land is the prime resource for agrarian population because without this the production
of varieties of food and other crops necessary to meet the daily calorie requirement is not possible.
Thus, analysis of population situation must take into consideration of crop production and
availability situation in the country in order to regulate population growth especially when the
country such as Nepal is faced with rapid growth of population.
11.4.1 Basic Crop Production at the National Level
Six crops namely barley, maize, millet, paddy, wheat, and potato are considered as basic crops as
these crops are used to meet the basic food requirement of citizens in the country. Since potato is
consumed as basic crop in the Mountain region its inclusion, as part of basic crop is considered
desirable. As noted earlier the production figures of these six basic crops discussed below are
five-year averages of 1997/98 to 2001/02. The total basic crop production in the country is 8.04
million metric ton a year. Of all the crops, the amount of paddy production is highest in the
country. Of the total basic crop production, paddy shares nearly 50 percent. Maize, potato and
wheat come next with their shares 17.9 percent, 14.9 percent, and 14.1 percent respectively (Table
11.6). Paddy, maize and wheat are also the first three crops in terms of total cropped area in the
country (see Subedi et. al, 2003). The total production amount of barley and its share in the total
basic crop production is very small.
Table 11.6: Basic crops, their production and yield in Nepal.
Production (5-year Average 1997/98-2001/02)

Basic Crops Share in Total Yield (Mt/per ha)
Total (Metric ton)
Production (%)
Barley 31,603 0.4 1.12
Maize 1,438,135 17.9 1.74
Millet 287,357 3.6 1.11
Paddy 3,950,233 49.1 2.53
Wheat 1,137,187 14.1 1.77
Potato 1,198,862 14.9 7.35
Total 8,043,377 100 2.31
Source: Based on Statistical Information on Nepalese Agriculture, Various Dates (1997/98 – 2001/02).
12
Of the six crops mentioned above except paddy and millet all others are grown in all 75 districts.
However, there is a wide gap in the yields of these crops. Whereas yield of potato is more than
seven metric ton per hectare i.e., highest among all basic crops, the yield of millet per hectare is
only 1.1 metric ton. Moreover, yield of paddy is slightly over 2.5 metric ton per hectare. Wheat
comes next in yield per unit and is followed by maize.
11.4.2 Regional Variation in Basic Crop Production
The production of basic crops varies by ecological zones and by districts. Mountain region (zone),
which occupies 35 percent of the total territory, has 7.3 percent of total population in 2001,
contributes only 6.7 percent in the basic crop production. Similarly, the hill, which occupies 42
percent of the territory and has 44.3 percent of total population, produces 37.9 percent of the total
basic crop production. Moreover, the Tarai occupying 23 percent of the territory and 48.4 percent
of population produces 55.4 percent of basic crops.
All basic crops are grown in all three ecological zones though their yields differ. However, some
crops are more area specific than others. For example, there is high concentration of barley
production in the Mountain districts with Jumla producing the highest amount. Paddy is grown in
all districts except Manang and Mustang. Tarai districts dominate in the production of paddy
although it is also commonly grown in the Hill districts. Maize is grown in all districts but more
extensively in the Hill districts. Of all the crops, its share in the total cereal production is highest
in the Hill districts. Wheat is also produced as widely as maize. However, its production is higher
in Tarai districts. The districts of the Mid-western and Far-western Hills also produce
considerable amount of wheat. Of total cereal production, the role of wheat is more important in
the Hill than in other ecological zones. Potato is grown in all ecological zones and all 75 districts.
It is considered more important in the Mountain districts even if its production is higher in the
Hill and Tarai districts. Millet is important in the Hills and Mountain districts except Manang and
Mustang.
11.4.2.1 Production in the Mountain
Based on the production of the last five years the average annual basic crop production in the
Mountain is 540 thousand metric ton. By far the share of potato is highest (Table 11.7). It is
followed by maize. Paddy is also produced in the Mountain especially in the low-lying river
basins. Paddy contributes about 17 percent of total basic crop production in this region (zone).
13
Wheat and millet are other crops with their share of 11.6 percent and 10.6 percent respectively.
Moreover, among six basic crops the share of barley is lowest. But if its production per district is
taken into account Mountain ranks highest. Average barley production in the sixteen Mountain
districts is 838 metric ton per year.
Table 11.7: Basic crops, their production and yield in the Mountain.
Production (5-Year Average 1997/98-2001/02)

Basic Crops Share in Total Yield (Mt/per ha)
Total (Metric ton)
Production (%)
Barley 13,408 2.5 1.08

Maize 119,436 22.1 1.41
Millet 55,390 10.3 1.06
Paddy 91,119 16.9 1.54
Wheat 62,746 11.6 1.30
Potato 197,650 36.6 3.37
Total 539,749 100.0 1.71
Source : Based on Statistical Information on Nepalese Agriculture, Various Dates (1997/98 – 2001/02).
Compared with other ecological zones per unit yields of these basic crops are low in the
Mountain. Yield of crops depends upon nature of soil, rainfall, temperature, terrain condition,
duration of growing season, and other agricultural inputs. In most of these attributes the Mountain
region is not privileged. Nonetheless, of all these crops in the Mountain potato has highest yield
per ha. Its average yield is approximately 3.4 metric ton per ha. Barley, despite highest per district
production, has the yield of 1.1 metric ton per hectare.
11.4.2.2 Production in the Hill
Land in the Hill with its long history of human settlement has been used to produce varieties of
crops for centuries. Apart from hill landform the region also comprises of mid-land valleys and
flood plains, which produce crops whose yields are comparable to that of the Tarai. Kathmandu
valley is an exception where yields of most basic crops are highest in the country. On the average
the Hill (i.e. 39 districts) produces 3 million metric ton of basic crops annually. Maize is the
dominant crop there and its contribution is 32 percent in the total basic crop production. Paddy
comes next with its near 30 percent contribution (Table 11.8). The share of potato is also notable.
14
Millet contributes 7 percent only but of all ecological zones largest amount of millet is produced
in the Hill. Among 73 millet-producing districts Sindhupalchok has the highest millet production.
Table 11.8 : Basic crops, their production and yield in the Hill.
Production (5-Year Average 1997/98-2001/02) Yield (Mt/per

Basic Crops
ha)
Total (Metric ton) Share in Total Production (%)
Barley 16,639 0.5 1.16

Maize 983,619 32.3 1.72
Millet 218,878 7.2 1.11
Paddy 894,390 29.4 2.36
Wheat 381,445 12.5 1.58
Potato 550,964 18.1 9.56
Total 3,045,934 100.0 2.08
Source: Based on Statistical Information on Nepalese Agriculture, Various Dates (1997/98 – 2001/02).
Mid-western Hill is also notable for barley production although its share in the total crop
production is nominal. Wheat is as widely produced as that of maize. It is especially important in
the Mid-western and Far-western Hill. Hill districts namely Kavrepalanchok, Ilam and
Makwanpur are noteworthy for potato production. The yield of basic crops in the Hill in general
is moderate. It is higher than the mountain but lower than the Tarai all together.
11.4.2.3 Production in the Tarai
Tarai is the main basic crop producing area in the country. The plain terrain with fertile soil plus
its sub-tropical monsoon climate has facilitated the crop production in this region. Annually Tarai
produces 4.46 million metric ton of basic crop. Paddy is the main crop there. Of the six crops
paddy contributes 66 percent of the total production. It is for this reason Tarai is sometimes
called “rice-bowl” of the country. Tarai is noted not only for highest production of paddy but also
for highest yield per hectare (Table 11.9). Jhapa district ranks highest in the paddy production
and is closely followed by Morang. Wheat is second to paddy in the total crop production. All
Tarai districts produce wheat but it is produced in large quantity in the Western and Far-western
Tarai.
15
Table 11.9 : Basic crops, their production and yield in the Tarai.
Production (5-year Average 1997/98-2001/02)

Basic Crops Yield (Mt/per ha)
Total (Metric ton) Share in Total Production (%)
Barley 1,556 0.0 1.12
Maize 335,081 7.5 2.0
Millet 13,089 0.3 1.21
Paddy 2,964,724 66.5 2.63
Wheat 692,996 15.6 1.97
Potato 450,249 10.1 9.65
Total 4,457,695 100.0 2.61
Source : Based on Statistical Information on Nepalese Agriculture, Various Dates (1997/98 – 2001/02).
Potato is increasingly grown in all districts of Tarai. It may be more important in the Mountain
but its total production is highest in Tarai. No regional concentration is evident in its production.
While Bara is noted for highest potato production, Chitwan produces largest quantity of maize in
the country. As noted earlier the yield of crops is highest in the Tarai. This applies to all crops
considered in this study despite some crops are grown most widely in the Hill or in the Mountain.
11.4.2.4 Basic Crop Production by District
Above discussion on regional variation by ecological zones summarized the north south variation.
Discussion by districts is expected to add east-west variation within the ecological zones thereby
complementing the discussion above. Basic crop production varies by district. In many instances
average crop production in the district reflect larger intra-regional variation than interregional
variation. Districts are not always comparable in size and proportion of cultivated land. District
level variation of basic crop production should consider this variation. The average annual
production of six basic crops by district is given in Annex 11.2 and the figures are self-
explanatory. However, it is suffice to mention that irrespective of ecological zones the crop
production is higher in the districts located in the eastern part of the country than those in the
western part. Kathmandu valley districts are rather unique in crop production. For most of these
crops discussed above their production levels in the valley are far higher.
11.5 Population and Adequacy of Basic Crop Production
One expression of population resource relations is adequacy or inadequacy of basic crop

production in the region. This adequacy is assessed in terms of whether the production is adequate
to meet the nutrition requirement of the population living in the region. For this, the total
16
production from basic crops is converted into total calorie value they produce. To assess the
district situation, the nutritional calorie values of six crops are first calculated separately and
summed up latter1.
The calorie conversion (per 100 gram) of individual crop is based on conversion factor published
in the Agricultural Marketing Information Bulletin (Special Issue – 2002). As stated earlier Annex
11.1 gives the calorie conversion factor for basic crops considered in this study. For calorie
conversion of paddy, it is first converted into equivalent rice unit by using a conversion factor of
0.6175.
11.5.1 Adequacy by Ecological Zones
This calorie value is assessed against the calorie required for the population as of 2001. Since the
timeframe of both the data sources i.e., basic crop production and population census is
comparable; the results are expected to be robust. Table 11.10 gives the population and total
cereal calorie available from the basic crops produced in the respective zones. A total of 18,396
billion calorie is available from six basic crops in the country annually. Regional inequality is
evident (Fig.1). Of the total calorie available in the country, Tarai produces 63 percent. This is
against its population share of 48.4 percent. The Hill produces nearly 32 percent of available
calorie but its share of population is 44.3 percent. The Mountain has the least share both in
available calorie and in resident population. But its share of resident population is greater than its
share of available calorie.
Table 11.10 : Population and availability of cereal calorie by ecological zones, 2001.
Ecological Population 2001 Production of Basic Calorie Available

Zone Number Percent Crop (in mt) * Total (in 000) Percent
Mountain 1687859 7.3 539749 1033736940 5.6
Hill 10251111 44.3 3045933 5796400202 31.5
Tarai 11212453 48.4 4457694 11566199441 62.9
Nepal 23151423 100 8043376 18396336583 100
Note : * This includes 5-year average (1997/98-2001/02) production of barley, maize, millet, paddy,
potato and wheat.
** The calculation of total calorie required is based on total population in 2001 for respective
regions and districts.
1
Since this discussion is limited to resource availability over space, policy issues primarily the management and
distribution within the space (i.e., within the geographic unit), are beyond the scope of this paper.
17
Fig. 1. Proportional share of population and cereal calorie
available by ecological zones, 2001
70 62.9
60
48.4
50 44.3
40
Percent
Population
31.5
Available calorie
30
20
7.3
10 5.6
0
Mountain Hill Tarai
The proportional distribution of total cereal calorie required per person per day remains the same
for the Hill and the Tarai (Table 11.11). This resemblance despite differences in the proportional
share of total population is because of differential calorie requirement in the Hill and in the Tarai.
On the contrary, these two regions are far apart in the total calorie available per day. While the
Tarai produces 63 percent of the total calorie available in the country, the Hill produces
approximately 32 percent only. The Mountain and the Hill have shortage of total calorie
requirement.
Table 11.11: Adequacy of available cereal calorie and balance situation by ecological zones,
2001.
Total Calorie Total Calorie
Ecological Balance (in Balance in
Required Available per day*
Zone calorie) person
Total Percent Total Percent
Mountain 3453865872 7.6 2832155999 5.6 -621709872.5 -832.0
Hill 20976848439 46.2 15880548499 31.5 -5096299940 -6906.0
Tarai 20986348280 46.2 31688217648 62.9 10701869368 14328.0
Nepal 45417062591 100.0 50400922146 100.0 4983859555 6590.0
Note : * This calculation of calorie available per day is based on 5-year average (1997/98-2001/02)
production of barley, maize, millet, paddy, potato and wheat.
The balance situation in terms of total calorie requirement and availability suggests that Mountain
and Hill have negative balance and Tarai the positive balance. This balance situation when
translated into number of person suggests a positive balance of mere 6590 persons in the country.
18
Obviously, Tarai appears to be able to support additional 14 thousand people at the present level
of technology and production. On the contrary, the Hill has negative balance of 6906 persons and
the Mountain a negative balance of 832 persons.
11.5.2 Adequacy by Development Regions
The proportional share of population and cereal calorie available by development region also
shows regional inequality. But compared with inequality by ecological zones the level of
inequality by development region is less convincing. Of the five development regions three
namely, Eastern, Mid-western and Far-western exceed proportional share of available calorie to
population (Table 11.12). However, the differences are marginal in Mid-western and Far-western
region. It is only Eastern region where the difference is noticeable (i.e., 25.8 percent against 23.1
percent).
Table 11.12 : Population and availability of cereal calorie by development regions, 2001.
Population 2001 Calorie Available

Development Production of Basic
Region Crop (in mt) * Total (in
Number Percent Percent
000)
Eastern 5344476 23.1 2303281 4739526755 25.8
Central 8031629 34.7 2517549 5743552067 31.2
Western 4571013 19.7 1567539 3605410492 19.6
Mid-western 3012975 13.0 1008816 2443294140 13.3
Far-western 2191330 9.5 646192 1864553130 10.1
Nepal 23151423 100.0 8043376 18396336583 100.0
Note : * This includes 5-year average (1997/98-2001/02) production of barley, maize, millet, paddy,
potato and wheat.
** The calculation of total calorie required is based on total population in 2001 for respective
regions and districts.
Central development region is the only region that has noticeably higher share of population than
its share in available calorie (Fig.2). The Western development region shows almost identical
share. Overall it is Eastern and Central development region that show noticeable difference. While
the former exceeds its share in available calorie to its share of population, the latter shares more
population than the available calorie. It is to be noted that Central development region is the
region that has largest size of urban population including Kathmandu valley where a large
proportion is dependent on non-agricultural occupation.
19
Fig. 2. Proportional share of population and cereal calorie available
by development regions, 2001
40
34.7
35
31.2
30
25.8
25 23.1
19.7 19.6
20
15 13 13.3
9.5 10.1
10
0
Eastern Central Western Mid-western Far-western
Population Available calorie
To meet the calorie requirement of population as recorded by population census 2001 an average
of 45,417 million calorie per day is necessary in the country. The development regions differ in
the amount of calorie required per day and their proportional share reflects the difference. This
inequality is largely due to dissimilarity in proportion of cultivated land and population size of the
regions. Central region has highest calorie requirement followed by Eastern and Western region
respectively (Table 11.13). There is a mismatch between necessary calorie and total available in
the region. The available calorie per day clearly exceeds the requirement in Eastern region. No
other regions exceed the requirement as much as this region does.
Table 11.13: Adequacy of available cereal calorie and balance situation by development
regions, 2001.
Ecological Required Calorie/day Available Calorie/day* Balance Balance in

Zone (in calorie) Person
Total Percent Total Percent
Eastern 10360283571 22.8 12985004808 25.8 2624721237 3432
Central 15748232055 34.7 15735759088 31.2 -12472967 -17
Western 9047543833 19.9 9877836965 19.6 830293132 1112
Mid-western 5950541015 13.1 6693956547 13.3 743415531 995
Far-western 4310462117 9.5 5108364738 10.1 797902621 1068
Nepal 45417062591 100 50400922146 100 4983859555 6590
Note : * This calculation of calorie available per day is based on 5-year average (1997/98-2001/02)
production of barley, maize, millet, paddy, potato and wheat.
20
The balance situation in terms of total calorie requirement and availability shows a negative
situation for Central region only. All other regions have positive balance. This balance when
translated into number of person is highest for Eastern region and lowest or negative for Central
region. Inter-regional comparison in terms of development regions and ecological zones suggests
that inequality by ecological zones is far greater than inequality by development region. Of the
four development regions showing positive balance, the range is between 995 and 3432 persons
only. Even the negative balance is only of 17 persons for Central zone. This is in contrast with far
higher negative balance of more than 6,900 persons in the Hill.
11.5.3 Adequacy by Districts
Districts differ in their land resource and population size. As a result, they differ in their
proportional share of available calorie and of required amount. Population size in the districts
ranges from 9,587 for Manang to 1,081,845 for Kathmandu. In terms of their share in the total
population whereas Kathmandu shares nearly five percent of the total population in the country,
Manang’s share is less than 0.5 percent. There is huge difference in the amount of basic crop
production and it is reflected in the inter-district variation in total cereal calorie available by
district. Of all the districts Bara has highest available calorie and Manang the lowest. Bara,
topping the rank of districts is largely because of its wheat production. Bara ranks highest in
wheat production of all 75 districts and it is wheat that has highest calorie value per 100 gram.
Apart from Bara, other districts with high values with regards to available calorie include Jhapa,
Morang, Rupandehi, Saptari, Dhanusha, Sunsari, Kapilvastu, Parsa, Kailali and Kanchanpur
respectively (Map 11.1). Among districts falling at the bottom include, Dolpa, Mustang, Humla,
Mugu and Rasuwa. A detail of population and available calorie by district is presented in
Annex 11.3.
Because of the size and locational difference (ecological zones) in calorie requirement of the
residents, districts differ. Total calorie requirement in the districts ranges from 19.6 million per
day for Manang to 2.2 billion for Kathmandu. In the total calorie requirement of the nation as a
whole, the share of Manang comes out to be less than 0.5 percent whereas the share of
Kathmandu is almost five percent. Districts namely Morang, Rupandehi, Jhapa, Dhanusha,
Sarlahi, Sunsari, and Kailali are among districts that have higher calorie requirement (Map 11.2).
Since the production and yield of basic crops is high in Tarai districts, the available calorie per
day is also high there. The balance situation between requirement and availability suggests that 46
out of 75 districts have negative balance. Among districts with negative balance 13 (out of 16) are
21
Map 11.1
NE PAL
Cerea l Ca lori e Availabi lity by Di stri ct, 2001
46.77 N
208 .5 7
225 .4 9
282 .0 8 51.49
193 .8 7
329 .6 9
327 .0 6
145 .7 6
28.27 Cere al cal orie available per day ( in m ill ion)
403 .4 5 183 .5 7 More than 800
155 9.17 230 .3 2
39.85 400 - 800
270 .3 7
200 - 400
157 8.99
728 .8 0
390 .0 2
25.54
100 - 200
200 .7 4
Less than 100
536 .6 8
119 2.59 508 .7 4
352 .8 3 555 .1 2
422 .0 9
346 .9 0 315 .6 9 401 .3 6
386 .5 8 108 .9 4
101 8.40
586 .3 2 407 .0 7
302 .5 9 430 .3 8 595 .4 0
117 1.18
389 .0 0 570 .4 3
260 .4 7
367 .7 6 180 .6 6
164 6.64
290 .3 7 247 .1 4
220 6.88 148 3.63 928 .8 9 588 .0 2 298 .7 1
Maxim um = 2283.2 (B ara) 469 .2 6
324 .7 2
779 .7 1
Average = 672 460 .5 0
267 .7 0
Minim um = 25.5 (Manang ) 161 9.03 460 .8 3
392 .4 8
409 .2 2
228 3.23 262 .2 1
141 8.33 321 .8 2
135 4.06
120 8.86 334 .2 1 469 .1 2
166 8.74
100 0 100 Kilo m eters 143 4.21 169 0.87 228 0.22
166 3.32 228 0.97
Note : Th e av ailab ility figur es are bas ed o n 5 y ear a v era ge p rod uc tion ( 199 7/98 - 2 001 /02)
of cr ops na m ely b arley, m aiz e, m illet, p add y, whe at and p otato.
22
Map 11.2
NE P AL
Cereal Ca lorie Re quire m ent by D istrict, 200 1
83 .07 N
249.64
341 .79
479.69 89 .91
22 2.6 0
25 8.17 182.99 Ce re al ca l orie re qu irem en t pe r da y (in m illio n )

473.28 423.72 216 .05 60 .46 Mo re th an 80 0
30.66
40 0 - 8 0 0
707.31
46 0.83
275.98
20 0 - 4 0 0
1154.27 10 0 - 2 0 0
38 5.6 0
19.6 2
590.41 Le ss tha n 1 0 0
234.19
716.20 436.89
550.33 589.61
429 .73 77 8.67
322.96 362.50
72 2.18 91.53
434 .81 607.04 649.33
865.44 645.07 62 5.88
426.43 590.31 417 .9 1
54 9.55 69 3.0 0
461.36 325.78 275.63
902.11 1053.52 883 .53
132 5.95 22 13.78 220.36
80 3.3 9 691 .21 789.20
Maxim u m = 2 2 13 (K ath ma nd u ) 434 .65
Avera ge = 60 5 320.66
57 2.60 473 .48
Min im u m = 1 9 (Ma na ng ) 930.64 41 3.47
10 46.53
1189.84 231.46
1020.32 103 5.9 5 415.44
588.70 578 .7 1
1071.36
100 0 100 Kilo m eter s 12 56.59 15 78.25
10 67.4011 71.00
1287.93
Note : Th is m ap is ba s ed on 8 7.3 pe rc en t c er eal r equ ire m ent in the total c alo rie in ta ke p er d ay .
23
from the Mountain and 33 (out of 39) are from the Hill. Six districts in the Hill and three districts
in the Mountain have positive balance (see, Annex 11.4). All Tarai districts have positive
balance. The existing positive balance in terms of number of persons ranges from 1656 (Bara) to
six (Rukum). Likewise, the negative balance in the districts ranges from six in Panchthar to 2,177
in Kathmandu. The positive balance reflected in 29 districts shows that the available calorie is
adequate to supply necessary daily calorie for additional 14,328 persons. On the contrary, 46
districts with negative balance show calorie shortage equivalent to 7,738 persons. Therefore,
despite 61.3 percent districts showing shortage of necessary cereal calorie the overall national
balance appears positive equivalent to 6,590 persons. In other words if these 75 districts are to be
interpreted in terms of over population and under population 46 districts are over populated i.e.,
negative food balance. On the contrary, only 29 districts are under populated (Map 11.3). In its
entirety positive numerical balance of more than 6,500 persons suggested a positive direction but
for a nation of more than 23 million people with more than 2 percent growth rate per annum this
is not a situation to be content with.
11.6 Conclusion
Because of the multi-faceted and multidisciplinary nature plus multiplicity of approaches, the
experiences and interpretations related to population-environment relations are varied and often
contested. Environmental concerns are not only matters for natural scientists but also matters for
social scientists and therefore they are equally considered social issues (Blaikie 1995: 2). In
Nepal whereas there has been increasing realization of rapid growth of population in recent
decades as undesirable (NPC 1992; 1998), the implications of accelerated land degradation,
deforestation and depletion of other natural resources (see Blaikie and Brookfield, 1987; Ives and
Messerli 1989) is also being realized ever more. As a result, the population-environment issues
have gained attention in the public policy in Nepal over the last few years. However, in reality the
public programs has been largely dominated by epistemology of population and environment as
separate entities rather than population-environment as integrated entities.
Increasing presence of people on the finite territory of Nepal has multifaceted implications. For a
landlocked hill country with the territorial size of 147181 km2, population of 23.15 million (2001)
growing at the rate of 2.25 percent per annum, the cultivated land has been the main
environmental resource on which majority of its population depends for earning its livelihood.
Together with grassland only 27.6 percent of the territory is arable in which inequalities abound
by ecological zones, development regions and by districts. The average man-land ratio is 5.7
persons per hectare (2001). These ratios are high in the Tarai and low in the Mountains in general.
24
Map 11.3
Ov er and Un der Population b y District, 2001

N
[Bas ed on Bala nc e o f C er eal C rop Ava ilabilit y a nd C e real R eq uire me nt, 200 1]
-48 .6
-55 .0
-15 5.7
-26 4.6 -38 .5 -51 .4 Cereal calorie balance in pers on per day)
500 - 1656
95.8
-49 .8
250 - 500
-27 .1 -43 .5 -43 .1
-19 5.8 0.1 - 250
-0.1 - - 250
114 0.5 -25 5.0
-61 .1 12.3
-250 - - 500
568 .6 - 500 - - 2177
185 .3 5.9 7.9
-44 .8
637 .8 133 .6
-17 1.7 -29 9.3 -10 8.3
-10 3.0
-9.7 52.0
396 .6 -11 7.7 -29 5.2
23.3
-84 .4
409 .4 -31 8.7 -26 .6
-16 5.8 -35 1.6 -40 .8
-21 5.0 -21 76.7 -21 0.8
996 .8 -12 5.3 -53 .1
117 9.4 575 .9
60.7 -44 7.4 -49 0.7 -12 .7 -47 .4
-18 2.0 -38 .2
-70 .9
Maxim um = 1656 in Bara 921 .7
-10 8.5
60.3 -5.7
Average = 88 -14 9.6 -41 .2
305 .9
Minim um = -2177 in K athmandu 165 5.8 -34 0.7
-25 .2
252 .4
425 .9 -14 6.7
551 .8
485 .8 939 .8
100 0 100 Kilo m eters 834 .7
659 .2 132 9.5
Note : Fig ure s in n ega tiv e (-) su gge st over pop ulatio n whe re as fig ures in positive su gge st un der pop ulation .
25
The available land resource translated into cultivated land is primarily used to produce six basic
crops namely barley, maize, millet, paddy, potato and wheat. The crop produce of the district is
assumed to meet the minimum cereal calorie requirements of the resident population. The
requirements differ by ecological zones. The 75 districts in the country exhibit a wide range of
man-land ratios and available cereal calorie. There are still major disparities between ecological
zones and between districts. Disparities by development regions are less noticeable compared to
disparities by ecological zones.
Since there is little scope for expansion of cultivated land in the country there is no option in
future except producing more basic crops and other commodities from less per capita arable land.
This means the need for more cereal calorie has to be met through higher yields per unit of land
and better post-harvest management.
The discussion of land resources, its utilization by local population as reflected in the basic crop
production and the adequacy of cereal calorie available from these produces in the district and in
the regions is set in the broader framework of population-environment relations. Understanding
these relations becomes critical in planning for overall development of resident population.
Resources are for people and development is all about people. In countries such as Nepal the use,
over use and/or misuse of available resources depends upon individual behavior of population,
which in turn is governed by overall status of household economy i.e., shortage or surplus. The
rural population in Nepal is still building up in absolute number. This addition is likely to overuse
or degrade the productivity of resources especially that of land. Occupational changes from
agriculture to non-agriculture are expected to take place over time but the pace is likely to be slow
given stagnant economy of the country. Channels of communications plus inter-sectoral
coordination are imperfect and districts differ in the extent of their commitment to improving the
welfare of their resident population.
Rapid population growth and increasing pressure on land resources to earn the much-needed
calorie is a major challenge in the country. In this respect, strong efforts are needed to attain
stability in the level of population. In the mean time, large increases in basic crop production in
the country are essential to meet the basic calorie requirement of current as well as increasing
population. The environmental dimension of this increased presence of population especially the
one related to people’s attempts at using resources to meet basic requirement is a major policy
concern. The concerns are further worrisome due to individual behavior of people where priorities
are given to meeting immediate individual needs and broader community goals are pushed to the
periphery.
26
In order to regulate population so that they do not put additional stress on environment, the state
must place emphasis on improving family welfare. From the existing emphasis on family
planning there is a need to move towards family welfare. The programs of population should
never be an isolated activity. As Salim (1997) pointed out, the emphasis on family welfare
signifies things closely related to environment such as clean water and sanitation. One can link the
programs with what it signifies to daily activities of people. For example one can start programs
with the campaign that clean water is needed to wash hands to pray for which clean river is a
necessity. Ensuring clean rivers mean keeping forest cover or plantation of trees. Indonesian story
is an important lesson to learn. In this respect Salim (1997) putting forward the success story of
Indonesia stressed this approach of linking environment issues with daily activities and posits that
this way there is incentive to plant trees to ensure clean water for praying and thus ensure a clean
environment. All this in turn promotes family welfare.
This paper should be considered as preliminary cross-sectional assessment. Inclusion of temporal

aspect and further disaggregation of data would certainly give precision and further our
understanding of this critical issue. While discussing the adequacy of cereal calorie this paper
discussed availability of food, which is a function of production. This is only one of five major
dimensions of sustainable development and food security. Four other dimensions as highlighted in
Food Insecurity Atlas of Rural India (Vepa et al. 2001) include access to food, absorption of food
in the body, vulnerability to transient hunger and sustainability of production. These dimensions
need to be taken seriously in further analysis.
In sum the lessons from situation analysis of population, land and adequacy of food production in
Nepal implies that there is a need of population regulation together with ecological, social and
economic sustainability. The use of natural resources must be based on principles of ecological
sustainability and equity to save the children of today and tomorrow (see, also Swaminathan,
2002). Population growth should be regulated as per available resources and the level of
technology and that care must be taken so that social practices do not unnecessarily harm the
environment. Moreover, sound economic policies capable of addressing interregional inequalities
are also integral to attain sustainable development of the nation.
27
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29
Annex 11.1 : Calorie conversion factor for basic crops (per 100 gram).
Barley 336
Maize 342
Millet 309
Rice 345
Wheat 346
Potato 097
Note : Conversion factor of paddy to rice is 0.6175.

Source : Agricultural Marketing Information Bulletin (Special Issue – 2002), HMG, Department of
Agriculture, Marketing Development Directorate, Harihar Bhawan, Lalitpur, Nepal 2059.
Annex 11.2 : Basic crop production by districts (in metric ton).

Total Cereal Crop Production (5-Year Average 1997/98-2001/02)
District
Area Barley Maize Millet Paddy Wheat Potato Total
Mountain
Taplejung 3646 310 16466 5577 12903 2650 27019 64925
Sankhuwasabha 3480 131 19137 8141 20362 2966 17118 67855
Solukhumbu 3312 642 12219 1775 2142 3560 30145 50484
Dolakha 2191 182 9173 4006 6361 7097 20310 47129
Sindhupalchok 2542 597 33205 21554 19181 11782 27620 113939
Rasuwa 1544 338 3546 1417 2418 1161 21763 30643
Manang 2246 254 287 0 0 446 5565 6553
Mustang 3573 890 372 0 0 1110 4037 6409
Dolpa 7889 199 2668 688 464 272 4812 9103
Mugu 3535 990 382 1076 801 1356 1144 5749
Jumla 2531 3004 4761 3067 2544 2001 14896 30272
Kalikot 1741 1170 2803 1203 2850 7049 4935 20009
Humla 5655 892 115 1060 658 716 4612 8053
Bajura 2188 1269 1569 2689 6326 6073 3023 20949
Bajhang 3422 1473 3030 1927 7650 7390 4393 25863
Darchula 2322 1067 9704 1211 6458 7118 6258 31816
Hill
Panchthar 1241 461 26553 7629 19238 6676 38484 99040
Ilam 1703 78 43931 3842 26000 7859 51168 132878
Bhojpur 1507 65 37643 8237 42087 4758 20641 113430
Dhankuta 891 25 29524 7588 21369 4627 17084 80218
Tehrathum 679 129 18079 3471 19808 4050 14931 60468
Okhaldhunga 1074 106 15024 7542 15919 3404 17230 59225
Khotang 1591 183 32651 12308 24296 5563 15028 90028
Udayapur 2063 30 23040 2709 25888 7751 5189 64608
Ramechhap 1546 230 29182 6789 14537 4796 24034 79567
Sindhuli 2491 190 34610 12890 21185 9809 15584 94268
Kavre 1396 712 48855 1627 38501 20458 56088 166240
Bhaktapur 119 36 6159 1202 24110 9322 15361 56190
Lalitpur 385 222 11598 1685 21122 8693 8002 51322
30
Total Cereal Crop Production (5-Year Average 1997/98-2001/02)
District
Area Barley Maize Millet Paddy Wheat Potato Total
Kathmandu 395 9 16786 1144 50047 12556 18612 99155
Nuwakot 1121 36 32598 6921 43246 11344 17033 111178
Dhading 1926 346 30711 7439 31781 7350 15120 92746
Makwanpur 2426 35 38131 3327 29958 7526 46683 125660
Gorkha 3610 255 31616 15791 35431 6561 15894 105548
Lamjung 1692 187 19866 10264 25490 7407 9165 72379
Tanahu 1546 10 42085 8016 39892 4951 4875 99829
Kaski 2017 190 28294 12244 40710 10184 7580 99203
Syangja 1164 80 44921 17852 32721 12354 3990 111918
Palpa 1373 271 37768 3314 23280 10906 6395 81934
Gulmi 1149 613 30158 5498 24044 9807 3460 73581
Arghakhanchi 1193 713 27233 891 14678 10186 4067 57768
Myagdi 2297 714 13345 3070 8147 5054 9544 39873
Parbat 494 225 20642 8850 18685 5585 9170 63156
Baglung 1784 1446 22754 13205 13075 10411 9198 70089
Rukum 2877 1141 31485 1393 8751 15233 11104 69108
Rolpa 1879 1113 18054 940 8824 13334 11964 54229
Pyuthan 1309 244 17273 2458 11694 12834 5145 49649
Salyan 1462 1347 35192 4003 12206 21053 8398 82199
Jajarkot 2230 1873 14302 2645 6905 7337 4544 37607
Dailekh 1502 554 14578 3208 13781 7816 3899 43835
Surkhet 2451 1032 27622 1916 30824 26699 7490 95584
Achham 1680 270 7512 2068 15270 10881 4832 40833
Doti 2025 362 4531 2591 15232 14646 4967 42330
Baitadi 1519 754 12578 1289 9955 10226 5033 39835
Dadeldhura 1538 350 6735 1024 15703 11437 3977 39226
Tarai
Jhapa 1606 48 30663 2358 275302 28384 44668 381423
Morang 1855 12 24404 1355 261006 32560 49487 368823
Sunsari 1257 7 9065 945 163982 34112 20759 228870
Saptari 1363 4 3548 280 177720 29620 34940 246112
Siraha 1188 8 4060 836 156957 26135 6898 194895
Dhanusa 1180 11 4161 717 145012 41222 14744 205867
Mahottari 1002 78 5648 986 115810 31786 26306 180614
Sarlahi 1259 91 16427 612 108949 39807 9810 175697
Rautahat 1126 217 19396 116 114624 25768 19245 179366
Bara 1190 77 11244 119 173414 57948 66636 309437
Parsa 1353 87 11780 216 141728 40383 10534 204728
Chitwan 2218 343 61896 1790 95209 16244 18321 193803
Nawalparasi 2162 117 16990 2085 123464 38325 8234 189215
Rupandehi 1360 40 1795 58 194939 52706 28133 277670
Kapilbastu 1738 110 1541 111 160131 35562 14958 212413
Dang 2955 73 42296 241 109705 25463 18139 195917
Banke 2337 18 16600 0 89505 23739 18196 148058
Bardiya 2025 35 16671 10 95483 31456 15789 159444
Kailali 3235 134 20618 152 148721 35460 15066 220151
Kanchanpur 1610 46 16278 100 113063 46317 9386 185190
31
Annex 11.3 : Population and availability of cereal calorie by district, 2001.
Population 2001 Production of Basic Calorie Available
District
Number Percent Crop (in mt) * Total (in 000) Percent
Mountain
Taplejung 134698 0.6 64925 90205323 0.5
Sankhuwasabha 159203 0.7 67855 105983976 0.6
Solukhumbu 107686 0.5 50484 65941111 0.4
Dolakha 204,229 0.9 47129 95069969 0.5
Sindhupalchok 305,857 1.3 113939 217322489 1.2
Rasuwa 44731 0.2 30643 39764717 0.2
Manang 9587 0.0 6553 9320642 0.1
Mustang 14981 0.1 6409 14545170 0.1
Dolpa 29,545 0.1 9103 10317958 0.1
Mugu 43,937 0.2 5749 18793878 0.1
Jumla 89,427 0.4 30272 53202998 0.3
Kalikot 105,580 0.5 20009 67001989 0.4
Humla 40595 0.2 8053 17071893 0.1
Bajura 108,781 0.5 20949 70761966 0.4
Bajhang 167026 0.7 25863 82304825 0.4
Darchula 121996 0.5 31816 76128036 0.4
Hill
Panchthar 202056 0.9 99040 149363906 0.8
Ilam 282806 1.2 132878 171228398 0.9
Bhojpur 203018 0.9 113430 168084165 0.9
Dhankuta 166479 0.7 80218 117464525 0.6
Tehrathum 113111 0.5 60468 95706394 0.5
Okhaldhunga 156702 0.7 59225 97709186 0.5
Khotang 231385 1.0 90028 143254317 0.8
Udayapur 287689 1.2 64608 121985540 0.7
Ramechhap 212408 0.9 79567 109027505 0.6
Sindhuli 279,821 1.2 94268 168203194 0.9
Kavre 385672 1.7 166240 284594114 1.5
Bhaktapur 225461 1.0 56190 134234011 0.7
Lalitpur 337785 1.5 51322 118521539 0.6
Kathmandu 1081845 4.7 99155 214625930 1.2
Nuwakot 288478 1.2 111178 208205491 1.1
Dhading 338658 1.5 92746 157087394 0.9
Makwanpur 392604 1.7 125660 171279658 0.9
Gorkha 288134 1.2 105548 185691120 1.0
Lamjung 177149 0.8 72379 146495085 0.8
Tanahu 315237 1.4 99829 148579684 0.8
Kaski 380527 1.6 99203 202619406 1.1
Syangja 317320 1.4 111918 214005726 1.2
32
Population 2001 Production of Basic Calorie Available
District
Number Percent Crop (in mt) * Total (in 000) Percent
Palpa 268558 1.2 81934 141984514 0.8
Gulmi 296654 1.3 73581 141102743 0.8
Arghakhanchi 208391 0.9 57768 110444614 0.6
Myagdi 114447 0.5 39873 73271069 0.4
Parbat 157826 0.7 63156 115225379 0.6
Baglung 268937 1.2 70089 154064643 0.8
Rukum 188438 0.8 69108 142357276 0.8
Rolpa 210004 0.9 54229 128784365 0.7
Pyuthan 212484 0.9 49649 126618005 0.7
Salyan 213,500 0.9 82199 195886603 1.1
Jajarkot 134868 0.6 37607 84066468 0.5
Dailekh 225201 1.0 43835 98685472 0.5
Surkhet 288,527 1.2 95584 266012523 1.4
Achham 231285 1.0 40833 119375708 0.6
Doti 207066 0.9 42330 147258840 0.8
Baitadi 234418 1.0 39835 102960371 0.6
Dadeldhura 126162 0.5 39226 120335320 0.7
Tarai
Jhapa 688,109 3.0 381423 832553026 4.5
Morang 843220 3.6 368823 832279513 4.5
Sunsari 625633 2.7 228870 607112989 3.3
Saptari 570282 2.5 246112 617166711 3.4
Siraha 572,399 2.5 194895 523487675 2.8
Dhanusa 671364 2.9 205867 609091788 3.3
Mahottari 553481 2.4 180614 494231197 2.7
Sarlahi 635701 2.7 175697 517688974 2.8
Rautahat 545132 2.4 179366 441232636 2.4
Bara 559135 2.4 309437 833380670 4.5
Parsa 497219 2.1 204728 590946248 3.2
Chitwan 472048 2.0 193803 339044543 1.8
Nawalparasi 562870 2.4 189215 541525875 2.9
Rupandehi 708419 3.1 277670 805510084 4.4
Kapilbastu 481976 2.1 212413 601024737 3.3
Dang 462380 2.0 195917 427482398 2.3
Banke 385840 1.7 148058 371716460 2.0
Bardiya 382649 1.7 159444 435295854 2.4
Kailali 616697 2.7 220151 576329814 3.1
Kanchanpur 377899 1.6 185190 569098249 3.1
33
Annex 11.4 : Adequacy of available cereal calorie and balance situation by district, 2001.
Required Calorie/day Available Calorie/day*
Districts Balance Balance in
Total Percent Total Percent (in calorie) Person
Mountain
Taplejung 275632517 0.6 247137870 0.5 -28494647 -38
Sankhuwasabha 325777099 0.7 290367057 0.6 -35410042 -47
Solukhumbu 220357862 0.5 180660579 0.4 -39697283 -53
Dolakha 417913803 0.9 260465670 0.5 -157448133 -211
Sindhupalchok 625875179 1.4 595404079 1.2 -30471100 -41
Rasuwa 91533045 0.2 108944430 0.2 17411385 23
Manang 19617878 0.0 25536005 0.1 5918127 8
Mustang 30655620 0.1 39849781 0.1 9194161 12
Dolpa 60457934 0.1 28268378 0.1 -32189555 -43
Mugu 89908283 0.2 51490078 0.1 -38418205 -51
Jumla 182994470 0.4 145761638 0.3 -37232832 -50
Kalikot 216048354 0.5 183567092 0.4 -32481262 -43
Humla 83069549 0.2 46772309 0.1 -36297240 -49
Bajura 222598560 0.5 193868401 0.4 -28730159 -38
Bajhang 341785304 0.8 225492671 0.4 -116292633 -156
Darchula 249640415 0.5 208569961 0.4 -41070454 -55
Hill
Panchthar 413467193 0.9 409216181 0.8 -4251011 -6
Ilam 578705918 1.3 469118899 0.9 -109587019 -147
Bhojpur 415435733 0.9 460504560 0.9 45068827 60
Dhankuta 340665978 0.8 321820618 0.6 -18845360 -25
Tehrathum 231459039 0.5 262209299 0.5 30750259 -41
Okhaldhunga 320659303 0.7 267696399 0.5 -52962904 -71
Khotang 473483126 1.0 392477581 0.8 -81005545 -108
Udayapur 588698001 1.3 334206958 0.7 -254491042 -341
Ramechhap 434650490 1.0 298705494 0.6 -135944996 -182
Sindhuli 572597712 1.3 460830669 0.9 -111767043 -150
Kavre 789200614 1.7 779709901 1.5 -9490713 -13
Bhaktapur 461360844 1.0 367764414 0.7 -93596430 -125
Lalitpur 691209446 1.5 324716545 0.6 -366492901 -491
Kathmandu 2213779424 4.9 588016246 1.2 -1625763178 -2177
Nuwakot 590312531 1.3 570426003 1.1 -19886528 -27
Dhading 692995865 1.5 430376421 0.9 -262619444 -352
Makwanpur 803385565 1.8 469259338 0.9 -334126227 -447
Gorkha 589608604 1.3 508742796 1.0 -80865808 -108
Lamjung 362499999 0.8 401356397 0.8 38856398 52
Tanahu 645069473 1.4 407067626 0.8 -238001847 -319
Kaski 778672400 1.7 555121661 1.1 -223550739 -299
Syangja 649331916 1.4 586317059 1.2 -63014857 -84
Palpa 549550235 1.2 388998668 0.8 -160551567 -215
Gulmi 607043080 1.3 386582856 0.8 -220460224 -295
34
Required Calorie/day Available Calorie/day*
Districts Balance Balance in
Total Percent Total Percent (in calorie) Person
Arghakhanchi 426430503 0.9 302587984 0.6 -123842519 -166
Myagdi 234192896 0.5 200742655 0.4 -33450241 -45
Parbat 322959344 0.7 315685969 0.6 -7273375 -10
Baglung 550325783 1.2 422094913 0.8 -128230870 -172
Rukum 385600679 0.8 390019934 0.8 4419254 6
Rolpa 429731185 0.9 352833877 0.7 -76897308 -103
Pyuthan 434806009 1.0 346898645 0.7 -87907364 -118
Salyan 436885050 1.0 536675625 1.1 99790575 134
Jajarkot 275980388 0.6 230319089 0.5 -45661299 -61
Dailekh 460828806 1.0 270371155 0.5 -190457651 -255
Surkhet 590412800 1.3 728801433 1.4 138388633 185
Achham 473278496 1.0 327056735 0.6 -146221761 -196
Doti 423719156 0.9 403448877 0.8 -20270279 -27
Baitadi 479689553 1.1 282083208 0.6 -197606345 -265
Dadeldhura 258165301 0.6 329685810 0.7 71520509 96
Tarai
Jhapa 1287933615 2.8 2280967195 4.5 993033579 1330
Morang 1578254874 3.5 2280217844 4.5 701962970 940
Sunsari 1170997286 2.6 1663323259 3.3 492325973 659
Saptari 1067396819 2.4 1690867702 3.4 623470882 835
Siraha 1071359208 2.4 1434212808 2.8 362853600 486
Dhanusa 1256591999 2.8 1668744623 3.3 412152625 552
Mahottari 1035950388 2.3 1354058073 2.7 318107685 426
Sarlahi 1189841562 2.6 1418325956 2.8 228484394 306
Rautahat 1020323564 2.2 1208856537 2.4 188532972 252
Bara 1046532980 2.3 2283234713 4.5 1236701733 1656
Parsa 930644802 2.0 1619030816 3.2 688386014 922
Chitwan 883532242 1.9 928889160 1.8 45356918 61
Nawalparasi 1053523779 2.3 1483632534 2.9 430108755 576
Rupandehi 1325947842 2.9 2206876943 4.4 880929101 1179
Kapilbastu 902114479 2.0 1646643115 3.3 744528636 997
Dang 865436646 1.9 1171184651 2.3 305748005 409
Banke 722176728 1.6 1018401261 2.0 296224533 397
Bardiya 716204133 1.6 1192591382 2.4 476387248 638
Kailali 1154271775 2.5 1578985793 3.1 424714018 569
Kanchanpur 707313558 1.6 1559173284 3.1 851859726 1141
35
CHAPTER 12
FERTILITY LEVELS, PATTERNS AND TRENDS IN NEPAL
- Yagya B. Karki, Ph.D.*
12.1 Background
Population counting has a relatively long history in Nepal - the first count was taken in 1911 and
thereafter it was conducted roughly every ten years. However, the first four periodic censuses
(1911, 1920, 1930, and 1941) did not meet the requirements of a scientific census. The 1952/54
census was the first scientific count in the modern sense of the term. Because of political
instability the whole country could not be enumerated in one year in 1952 and therefore the
remaining parts were enumerated in 1954. The subsequent censuses of 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991
and 2001 were, however, conducted timely and 22nd June was maintained as the census day
throughout. Apparently census operation has successively improved over the years (Karki, 1992
and Karki 2002).
In 2001, despite the CBS was fully prepared to conduct the 2001 census enumeration, two major
events beyond the control of CBS affected census undertaking. Firstly, the tragic Royal Palace
incident of 1st June 2001 delayed the recruitment of field staffs and their training for a week and
secondly, the Maoists insurgency hampered complete enumeration in 12 districts (CBS and
UNFPA/Nepal, June 2002). In Kalikot only about 11% population could be enumerated while in
Salyan the corresponding figure was about 28%. In other 10 districts enumeration was affected in
varying degrees (Table 12.1). The four Mid-Western high mountain districts of Kalikot, Mugu,
Dolpa and Jumla were badly affected by the Maoists insurgency.
In general when a developing nation is not subject to war, famines, mass movement of people
across the political boundaries, natural calamities, etc., the population size can be expected to
grow steadily. The introduction of modern medicines and the onset of modernisation and socio-
economic development, be it at a slow pace, can contribute to mortality decline and sometimes
even to fertility increase in the absence or near absence of birth control practices. Such a
demographic process can only contribute to fast population growth. Nepalese society is neither
totally traditional nor completely modern it is in transitional period.
*
Dr. Karki is a renowned Demographer and a Freelance Consultant.
37
Table 12.1 : Status of enumeration of 12 districts, 2001 census.
Per cent enumerated
Ecological Region Development Region
Females Male Total
Central Development Dolakha 86.1 86.1 86.1
Region Sindhupalchok 95.8 96.3 96.0
Dolpa 73.6 75.3 74.4

Mid Western Jumla 76.9 77.9 77.4
Mountain
Development Region Kalikot 9.9 11.8 10.9
Mugu 70.4 72.2 71.3
Far-Western
Development Region Bajura 92.5 92.5 92.5
Central Development
Region Sindhuli 99.1 99.1 99.1
Hill
Mid-Western Salyan 27.8 29.0 28.4
Development Region Surkhet 93.3 93.8 93.5
Eastern Development Jhapa 91.9 92.1 92.0
Tarai
Region Siraha 99.5 99.6 99.6
Source: CBS and UNFPA/Nepal, June 2002
Fertility rates like Total Fertility Rate (TFR) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR) are available at national
(Bourini, 1977; MOH, 1977 and CBS, 1978), at development region and administrative zone
levels (Karki, 1984) for different years but not for 2001. Data referring to previous periods are
useful to look at the levels and trends over time. This exercise was carried out with a view to fill
this gap.
Attempting to influence human fertility behaviour is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks. In the
words of Eberstadt (1983) "formulating effective policy to influence human behaviour is difficult
in many spheres, but probably nowhere do policy-makers and planners encounter so many
problems as when attempting to alter human fertility". Population planning with the objective of
reducing fertility level therefore becomes most intractable of planning areas. In order to influence
the most sensitive area of human fertility behaviour calls for the clear understanding of various
ramifications of social, cultural, economic, psychological, biological and political aspects of
human life. It is no wonder that many nations fail to achieve fertility targets.
38
12.2 Methodology
Because of the paucity of reliable data fertility rates or for that matter any other demographic rates
in the context of Nepal, have to be estimated using indirect methods of estimation. Only the 1976
Nepal Fertility Survey data (Goldman et al, 1980), Family Health Survey 1996 (MOH, New Era
and Macro International, 1997) and Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2001 (MOH, New Era
and ORC Macro, 2002) were good enough to estimate fertility directly. For this reason, recourse
has been taken to indirect methods of fertility estimation techniques to estimate regional level
fertility rates in the present work.
A number of indirect methods are currently available for preparing fertility estimates. The
methods most often used are the Brass method (Brass and Coale, 1968), Palmore's regression
method (Palmore, 1978), Gunasekaran and Palmore method (Gunasekaran and Palmore, May
1984) and own-children method (Cho, et al, 1986). Other methods include "reverse survival"
techniques and methods based on stable and quasistable population theory (UN, 1967). Recently
many more methods are available among which some that can be cited here are those of Coale,
Hill and Trussel (1975), Feeny (1977) and Arriaga (1983).
Brass's method known as the P/F ratio method is widely used in estimating fertility when
available data are limited and defective. Underlying the method is the empirical observation that
respondents when asked about their fertility are likely to provide reports which contain at least
two types of errors: (a) in responding to the question on children ever born, older women
commonly omit some births, possibly a high proportion of the dead rather than the living children.
Therefore, the average parities of women 45-49 cannot be used to measure the life time fertility
(the total fertility rate) without some allowance for this omission; and b) although the information
on births in the 12 months preceding the census or survey (referred to as the reference period)
gives generally a fair idea of the age pattern of fertility, the level of fertility indicated by the data
can be over or underrepresented. This is because the respondents often misunderstand the
reference period.
Brass's solution to this problem is to compare the two sets of reports, children ever born and births
in the last year by age of mother and to use one set of results to correct the other. This procedure
compares lifetime fertility (P- the average parities by age) with current fertility (F) and hence the
correction is known as the P/F ratio method. There is, however, one basic assumption of this
method, i.e., the fertility level has not changed in the recent past. As regards Nepal's 1971 and
1981 data this assumption still holds true because until mid 1981 Nepalese women's fertility
39
behaviour was more or less natural because until then contraceptive prevalence rate was only
about 9 per cent (MOH, 1983). That the application of P/F ratio method was still valid is
supported by the 1976 fertility survey data, which showed the same TFR as the direct method
(Goldman et al, 1980).
For 1991 and 2001 regional level fertility estimates, as there was some evidence of fertility
decline in Nepal, the P/F ratio method as described in Manual X (UN, 1983) and further modified
by Arriaga (1983) which takes into account declining fertility, was used. Other indirect
techniques were not tried for regional analysis as the required types of information for those
techniques are not available at regional levels. From the analysis presented in Section 4 here it is
also clear that the fertility level arrived at by applying the P/F ratio method is very reasonable.
12.3 Data
The basic data for the present estimates come from Population Censuses of Nepal 1991 (CBS,
1993, Vol. I, Parts III and XII) and 2001. Both censuses contain information on children ever born
and births in the last year by age of mothers. These two types of fertility information are suitable
to apply the P/F ratio method to estimate fertility.
The problems associated with these fertility data are worth mentioning here. To begin with, age
reporting by women is bad. Age exaggeration by older women is common in Nepal which affects
fertility level. The second problem is the omission of children ever born. Since contraceptive
prevalence was low during the 1980s and the 1990s one would expect much larger number of
children ever born than what has been reported in the censuses. Because Nepalese women do not
generally recall dead infants or children the omitted infants and children are most likely to be the
dead ones. This phenomenon affects both children ever born and births last year data and because
of high infant mortality birth data are more extensively affected.
Despite these problems and limitations the present work is an attempt to estimate levels and trends
of national and regional fertility in Nepal. The last four censuses (1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001)
have made enormous investments in collecting the types of information suitable for the
application of indirect methods of fertility estimation. The present work is an effort to add some
meaning to the huge undertaking of HMG in collecting data. One wonders about the usefulness of
such a massive undertaking if they are not analysed at all.
40
12.4 Fertility Levels and Trends: National Level
To determine the level of fertility at the national level various methods were applied to the
available data. This was possible because various parameters required to use different methods are
available at the national level. For mid 2001 the Total Fertility Rate arrived at by applying
different methods to the census data are given in Table 12.2. For mid 2001 various methods of
estimation point at TFR slightly less than 4.00 per woman in Nepal. The lowest level is given by
the Rele’s method (TFR=3.66) and the highest is given by Gunsekaran and Palmore’s regression
method (TFR=3.87). The mean TFR value turns out to be 3.8 for 2001 and this very much squares
with the estimate arrived at by the P/F ratio method.
Table 12.2 : Fertility level in 2001, Nepal.
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) Method

3.77 Trussell's method
3.87 Gunasekaran and Palmore method
3.70 Palmore's method
3.66 Rele's method
3.79 Arriaga modified P/F ratio method
The Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys are carried out in Nepal every five years and among
other variables they also collect fertility related information. The researchers involved in
implementing and analysing data from the surveys claim that the data are good enough to estimate
fertility level directly from the responses given by the respondents. Having been convinced of the
reliability of the responses they have estimated TFR for the periods 1993-95 and 1998-2000
directly from the births in the recent past. The direct estimates and their reference periods are
given in Table 12.3. On the assumption that they are right the author has extrapolated the TFR
trend for mid 2001 which comes to 3.88.
Table 12.3 : Fertility trends based on direct estimates, 1993-2001

Based on DHS Direct Estimates
Period
TFR Mid Point
1993-95 4.64 1994
1998-00 4.10 1999
2001 3.88 2001, Based on linear extrapolation a
a
[4.10-[{(4.64-4.10)/5}*2]] Linear trend
Source : MOH, New Era and Macro International, 1997 and MOH, New Era and ORC Macro, 2002
41
However as several studies show once the decline of fertility level is initiated the speed is fast at
an early stage and later on it slows down. From mid 1994 to mid 1999 the average annual linear
decline was about 0.11. If this is assumed then by mid 2001 the TFR would be 3.8. As stated
above, it can be reasonably assumed that it is slightly faster than the trend observed in the recent
past. Therefore for mid 2001 the level of TFR was about 3.8 as indicated by the 2001 census data
(Table 12.2).
Nepal began setting fertility reduction targets as early as 1965 but they were never met. During
the Third Plan (1965-70) period, the target was to reduce the estimated CBR of 39.1 in 1967 to
38.1 in 1971. No such target was fixed for the Fourth Plan (1970-75) period though about 132,000
married couples were to be supplied with family planning services. During the Fifth Plan
(1975-80) period, the newly estimated CBR of 40 was to be reduced to 38 by 1980 (Joshi and
David, 1983). For 1980, the official estimate of CBR was 42, and the Planning Commission set
the target of reducing the official figure to 40 by the end of the Sixth Plan (1980-85) period (NPC,
1981). But the Fertility and Family Planning Survey of 1986 showed CBR of about 39 for 1986
which is a year later than the target year (MOH, 1987). The Seventh Plan (1985-90), as usual,
planned to achieve TFR of about 4 per woman by the end of the plan period (NPC, 1986/1987).
But the demographic information shows that Nepal's TFR was above 5, although not as high as
6.0, until early1990s (MOH, 1993).
The Eighth Plan (1991/92-1996/97) set the target of reducing TFR from an estimated 5.8 per
woman to 4.5 by 1996/97 (NPC, July 1992). The Family Health Survey 1996 showed TFR of 4.64
per woman. The Ninth Plan (1996/97-2001/02) aimed to reduce the fertility level to 4.2 by the end
of the plan period. Despite tumultuous political times during the Ninth Plan period and its
consequences on the health service delivery the level of fertility was more than achieved as the
last Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2001 showed TFR of 4.1 for the three year-period
1998-2000 (Table 12.3). In addition the fertility level has apparently continued declining and by
mid 2001 it is estimated to have declined to 3.8 per woman (Table 12.2).
In this work three types of fertility measures - Age-Specific Fertility Rate (ASFR), Total Fertility
Rate (TFR) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR) have been estimated at national and regional levels for
both 1991 and 2001 census years.
42
The fertility levels tempt one to conclude that the birth control programmes did not have much
effect on population growth rate until the early 1980s. These programmes were at best successful
in checking TFR from rising to a very high level of about, say, 7 or more per woman because
estimates of TFRs show consistent rise from about 5.7 in 1961 to well above 6 until early 1980s
(Table 12.4). This trend is perhaps due to improvements in general health standards (Langford,
1981). The other possible factor could be increasing co-operation from the people reporting their
vital events in the recent past. Further data collection method itself might have improved recently.
However, it is quite clear from Table 12.4 that the onset of fertility decline has begun in Nepal,
perhaps some where in the early 1980s.
Table 12.4 : Estimates of crude birth rate (CBR) and total fertility rate (TFR), Nepal:
1952/54-2001
Reference
CBR TFR Method Source
Year/Period
1952/54 45-50 n. a. Stable population analysis Vaidyanathan and Gaige (1973)
1961 47 5.74* Stable population analysis Krotki and Thakur (1971)
1971 43 5.83 Brass’s P/F Ratio method Karki (1984)
1976 46.8 6.33 Direct estimate Goldman, et al (1980)
1981 45 6.39 Brass’s P/F Ratio method Karki (1984)
1986 39 5.75+ Brass’s P/F Ratio method MOH (1987)
@
1991 39 5.16 Arriaga modified P/F Ratio method Karki (the present study)
1991 n. a. 5.12** Arriaga modified P/F Ratio method MOH (1993)
++
1993-95 37 4.64 Direct estimate MOH, New Era and Macro
International (1997)
1998-00 33.5 4.1 Direct estimate MOH, New Era and ORC
Macro (2002)
2001 30.5 3.8 Arriaga modified P/F Ratio method Karki (the present study)
n. a. Not Available
* GRR converted to TFR using sex ratio.
+
MOH 1986 survey data corrected for under-reporting.
@ 1991 Census data corrected for under-reporting. This estimate is quite robust in that the estimated
TFR matches well with Retherford and Thapa (August 1999) estimate of 5.16 for 1990/91.
++
Based on direct estimate.
** 1991 Survey data corrected for under-reporting
43
12.5 Fertility Pattern
The rate of childbearing starts from zero at about age 15, it rises to a peak in the late 20’s, and
then tapers off to zero again at about age 49. The age pattern of fertility varies from population to
population and in any one population varies from time to time depending on marriage habits,
incidence of sterility, the practice of family planning and other factors. However, most of the
variation in fertility takes place in the level of this curve rather than in its general shape which
remains fairly constant from population to population and from time to time. For instance, as
Figure 1 shows the shape of fertility curve is about the same for a high fertility country such as
Nepal and that of the low fertility country such as Chile but the difference is noticed in terms of
fertility level.
Figure 1: Age-Specific Fertiltiy Rates for Chile and

Nepal
0.300
Chile 1983
0.261
Age-specific fertiltiy per woman
Nepal 1991
0.250 0.248
0.200 0.195
0.150 0.138
0.141
0.129
0.100 0.089
0.088
0.073
0.062
0.050 0.045
0.027
0.015
0.002
0.000
15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49
Age group of women
Source : Arriaga, E. E. Population Analysis with Microcomputers, Vol. I. Bureau of the Census, USAID
and UNFPA, November 1994 and the present study.
Within Nepal it is seen that as fertility declines the age pattern of fertility does not change but the
level changes. Figure 12.2 shows for all seven age groups the level of fertility has gone down
while the age pattern of fertility has remained about the same.
44
Figure 2: Age pattern of fertiltiy, 1991 and 2001,
Nepal
0.300
1991
0.261
2001
0.250 0.248
0.236
Age specific fertiltiy rate
0.200 0.195
0.188
0.150
0.141
0.121
0.089
0.100
0.084 0.077 0.073
0.050
0.039
0.027
0.013
0.000
15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49
Age group of women
12.6 Fertility Differentials
Differential fertility is the study of fertility differences between specific population groups.
Common analyses are by socio-economic group, by religion, by education level, by race, by
occupation, by urban/rural region, by wife’s work experience and by husband’s income. Such
analyses are carried out in order to throw light on the causes of reproductive behaviour, to
interpret the changes which have taken place in the birth rate and as a guide to changes likely to
take place in the future. If, for instance educated persons experience lower fertility, and if the
proportions of the population in these classes are increasing, then this could be a factor causing
the overall birth rate to fall.
Differences in the fertility of specific population groups arise mainly from three sources, namely,
differences in the number of children which couples in the various population groups want,
difference in their knowledge, attitude and practice of fertility control which enable them to obtain
these desires, and difference due to the demographic characteristics of each population group. The
cultural differences in fertility is concerned with the examination of the factors, the ‘intermediate
variables’ of Davies and Blake (1955), through which cultural conditions can affect fertility.
These include age at entry into sexual unions, proportion of women never entering sexual unions,
45
periods of abstinence (voluntary or involuntary), fecundity or infecundity, use of contraception
and foetal mortality, etc.
For the present purposes differential fertility is examined with respect to residence ecological
belts and development regions as the census data are available for analysing fertility differentials
only for these categories.
12.6.1 Fertility by Residence
According to the population census of 2001 about 85.8% of the total population of Nepal resides
in rural areas (CBS and UNFPA/Nepal, 2002). In 1971 more than half of the total urban
population lived in the three cities of the Kathmandu valley, but by 2001 this proportion had
declined to about 30.9%. Now 45.5% of the total urban population lives in the Tarai areas.
Although according to the 1991 census of Nepal the proportion of urban population was 9.2% by
the end of 1997 this proportion had changed to 12.7% because of the reclassification of some rural
1
areas as urban centres (Bastola, July 2000). Although about 14.2% of the total population is
classified as urban residents more than 50% of them do not exhibit urban characteristics.
Urban total fertility rate in Nepal in 2001 based on the census data was estimated at 2.82 per
woman (Table 12.5) which is about three quarters of the national TFR of 3.8. In 1991 the urban
TFR was 3.4 while the national TFR was 5.2.
Table 12.5 : Estimates of the age-specific fertility rate (ASFR) and total fertility rate (TFR)
by residence, Nepal, 1991 and 2001.
Urban Rural
Age Group
1991 2001 1991 2001
15-19 0.085 0.075 0.089 0.079
20-24 0.212 0.201 0.267 0.243
25-29 0.181 0.146 0.257 0.212
30-34 0.106 0.079 0.204 0.148
35-39 0.058 0.037 0.149 0.126
40-44 0.026 0.018 0.076 0.050
45-49 0.011 0.007 0.028 0.015
TFR 3.40 2.82 5.35 4.37
The rural TFR of 4.37 in 2001 (Table 12.5) is about one and a half times the urban TFR. Ten
years ago the rural woman on average gave birth to about 5.35 children. It is clearly seen that both
in the rural as well as the urban areas the fertility level has gone down in the last ten years. Fewer
1
In 1991 there were 33 municipalities but at the beginning of 1992 an additional 3 areas were designated as urban
areas. Further, at the beginning of 1997, 15 more areas were designated as urban and at the end of 1997 still another
7 more areas were designated as urban areas.
46
younger women under 20 years of age bear children now compared to some 10 years ago.
However the peak age of fertility has remained the same. Women belonging to the age group 20-
24 are most active in reproduction. The second most reproductively active age group is 25-29 in
both rural and urban areas (Table 12.5). It is also seen that compared to the urban women the
rural women keep on producing children late in their 40’s up to about they are 50 years old.
12.6.2 Fertility by Ecological Belts
Nepal is characterized by three distinct geographic areas running east to west, referred to as the
Mountains, the Hills and the Tarai. The Mountain areas range in altitude from 16,000 feet (4880
metres) to 29,028 feet (8848 metres) above sea level and include such mountains as Everest,
Kanchanjunga, Makalu, Dhaulagiri and Annapurna. The area accounts for almost 35% of the total
land area of the country and according to the 2001 census about 7.3% of the country’s 23.2
million population live in this area.
The Hill areas range in altitude from above 1,000 feet (305 metres) to 16,000 feet (4880 metres).
The Hills account for 44% of the total land of the country and about 44.3% of the total population.
The Tarai areas range from about 200 feet (60 metres) to 1000 feet (305 metres) above sea level
and include some of the most fertile land in the country. Slightly over one-fifth of the total land
area and about 48.4% of the total population are located in the Tarai.
The high mountain area is sparsely populated and also less developed overall than the other
ecological regions. This region is remote and inaccessible. The fertility level in the mountain
region has remained high. In 1991 the TFR was estimated at 5.93 (Table 12.6), almost 15% higher
than the national rate of 5.16 (Table 12.4) and in 2001 the corresponding figures were 4.57 and
3.79. The mid hill region has the second highest fertility level. The TFR was 5.33 in 1991 and it
declined to 3.77 in 2001. The Tarai exhibits the lowest fertility level. The TFR was estimated at
4.72 in 1991 and this level further declined to 3.64 by 2001 (Table 12.6). Most Tarai settlements
are accessible by road and every year increasing number of migrants settle there. Socio-
economically too the Tarai region is better-off. More than half of urban populations are in the
Tarai.
The fertility peaked for the age group 25-29 in the mountain region in 1991 when the level of
fertility was nearly 6 per woman but when the level declined by 2001 the peak shifted to younger
age group, i.e., 20-24 (Table 12.6). In other regions the peak age of fertility is 20-24. In all
ecological belts more than 50% of all births take place in the age groups 20-24 and 25-29. It is
47
also seen that as the level of fertility declines fertility increasingly concentrates in the age group
20-24.
by ecological regions, Nepal, 1991 and 2001.
Mountain Region Hill Region Tarai

Age Group
1991 2001 1991 2001 1991 2001
15-19 0.068 0.074 0.076 0.054 0.103 0.099
20-24 0.258 0.243 0.260 0.219 0.254 0.235
25-29 0.283 0.223 0.258 0.196 0.228 0.182
30-34 0.250 0.173 0.210 0.137 0.165 0.107
35-39 0.190 0.126 0.158 0.091 0.111 0.061
40-44 0.100 0.055 0.078 0.045 0.058 0.031
45-49 0.036 0.020 0.027 0.012 0.024 0.013
TFR 5.93 4.57 5.33 3.77 4.72 3.64
12.6.3 Fertility Differentials by Development Regions
Nepal is divided into five development regions, which are further subdivided into 14 zones and 75
districts. Each development region spreads from North to South engulfing districts belonging to
all three ecological belts. Ecologically each development region is a mini Nepal. In general, the
level of social and economic development is the highest in the eastern region, followed by the
central region, the western region, mid-western region and the far-western region. However, three
big cities of Kathmandu valley belong to the Central Development Region. One would therefore
expect lowest fertility in the east and highest in the mid-west and far-west.
In 1991 as shown by Table 12.7 the fertility level in the Eastern Development Region was second
lowest (5.00) while for the Central Development Region it was estimated to be the lowest (4.37).
Although the highest fertility (6.00) was found in Far-Western Development Region the fertility
level in the Mid-Western Development Region (5.96) was nearly as high as that of the Far-
Western Development Region. In the Western Development Region the TFR was 5.13 in 1991.
In 2001 fertility levels have come down in all development regions compared to 1991. As in
1991 the lowest fertility was observed in the Central Development Region (3.56) and the highest
in the Far-Western Development Region (4.53). The second highest fertility level (4.31) was
found in the Mid- Western Development Region and the second lowest (3.60) in the Western
Development Region (Table 12.7). In the Eastern Development Region the total fertility rate was
3.68.
48
by development regions, Nepal, 1991 and 2001.
Eastern Central Western Mid-Western Far-Western
Age Development Development Development Development Development
Group Region Region Region Region Region
1991 2001 1991 2001 1991 2001 1991 2001 1991 2001
15-19 0.074 0.071 0.091 0.081 0.078 0.078 0.097 0.103 0.105 0.094
20-24 0.259 0.222 0.231 0.227 0.257 0.241 0.279 0.251 0.295 0.271
25-29 0.251 0.190 0.209 0.177 0.248 0.179 0.279 0.202 0.282 0.220
30-34 0.186 0.122 0.158 0.114 0.194 0.111 0.235 0.144 0.240 0.148
35-39 0.136 0.080 0.109 0.067 0.144 0.065 0.179 0.096 0.164 0.108
40-44 0.069 0.039 0.055 0.034 0.074 0.035 0.089 0.052 0.083 0.049
45-49 0.023 0.011 0.021 0.012 0.029 0.011 0.034 0.015 0.031 0.016
TFR 5.00 3.68 4.37 3.56 5.13 3.60 5.96 4.31 6.00 4.53
The age pattern of fertility is similar in all regions both in 1991 and 2001 in that it peaked in the
age group 20-24 except in the Mid-Western Development Region where in 1991 fertility level
peaked in both 20-24 and 25-29 age groups (Table 12.7).
12.7 Crude Birth Rates
Crude Birth Rates (CBRs) have also been calculated for 1991 and 2001 census years. These rates
are given in Table 12.8. Like TFRs, CBRs are also found decreasing after 1991. In general, high
TFR is accompanied by high CBR and low TFR by low CBR but this cannot be true for all areas.
CBR, as the phrase indicates, is only a "crude" measure. It is also affected by the composition of
the population as regards age, sex and other characteristics. Thus it can sometimes mislead if
used for comparing different populations or the same population at widely different times,
because they may vary greatly in their composition. Nevertheless it is a useful measure because
a) it is very easy to understand and b) it requires few data and it is easy to calculate. All that is
required are the total number of births and the total population.
49
Table 12.8 : Percentage change of crude birth rates between 1991 and 2001, Nepal and its
different regions.
Percent Change
Area 1991 2001
1991-2001
Nepal 38.7 30.5 -21.1
Mountain Region 42.5 33.5 -21.3

Hill Region 39.7 34.3 -13.6
Tarai Region 35.8 29.4 -17.9
Urban 29.9 23.6 -21.4

Rural 39.5 34.2 -13.5
Eastern Development Region 37.8 29.7 -21.5

Central Development Region 33.5 28.8 -13.9
Western Development Region 38.0 29.4 -22.8
Mid-Western Development Region 43.2 42.3 -2.0
Far-Western Development Region 44.2 35.1 -20.5
In 1991 the CBR for the country was estimated at 38.7 which declined to 30.5 by 2001 (Table
12.8). The CBR decline in 2001 compared to 1991 was about 21%. Among the three ecological
regions the CBR was the highest (42.5) in the Mountain region in 1991 but by 2001 the Hill
region was found having the highest CBR (34.3) although the level of fertility was lower in the
hills. By residence, the decline of CBR was higher in the urban areas (21.4%) than in the rural
areas (13.5%). Among the five development regions, highest CBR (44.2) was observed in the Far-
Western region in 1991 but by 2001 the highest CBR was found in the Mid-Western region
(42.3). During the last decade the decline of CBR was very minimal in the Mid-Western region
(2% - Table 12.8) although TFR declined by almost 28% (Table 12.7). This indicates that there
was heavy out-migration of population from this region to elsewhere. This is the breeding ground
of Maoist insurgency and it has been reported that this region was hit hardest by the political
insurgency (Karki, 2003).
50
12.8 Conclusion
It is clear from the above analysis that fertility level in Nepal has declined in the last decade, i.e.,
from 1991 to 2001. Individual regional level fertility estimates, however, indicate that the pattern
of fertility change was not uniform throughout the country. Many factors are responsible for this
uneven pattern of fertility change in the last decade.
Traditionally Nepalese society favours high fertility. Children are a symbol of well being both
socially and economically. This is evident from the popular saying which goes "may your
progeny fill the hills and mountains". Marriage is early and universal. It is a disgrace for a
couple, particularly the wife not to have children. High fertility is desired because by producing
children, preferably sons, a woman raises her status in the family. She avoids the chance of having
a co-wife, makes herself socially eligible to inherit some property from the family, and above all,
wins the support and affection from her husband and the other members of the family, particularly
the ever-dominating mother-in-law.
Although the fertility level has begun declining, the last census data show Nepal's TFR of 3.8
(Table 12.4), which is by the world standards still high. The high fertility level in Nepal can be
attributed to a number of contributing factors that continue to favour high fertility. They include
early and universal marriage, desire for sons for both religious (to perform religious rituals) and
economic reasons -- immediate economic gains and old age security (Karki, 1982). Besides,
various religions while do not prohibit the use of contraception may give a disposition to high
fertility. Many also hold the belief that in situations where life offers little but hardship to the
majority, sexual pleasure and the joy the children can bring, are one of the few sources of
satisfaction.
Age at marriage is one of the major factors influencing fertility change. Among the ever-married
women the median age at first marriage has remained at 16 (16.4 in 1991 and 1996 – MOH, 1993
and 1997 and 16.6 in 2001- MOH, 2002). As age at first marriage data at the national level for
males and females are not available the alternative to this is to estimate singulate mean age at
marriage (SMAM) using never married population by age and sex. The SMAM for males has
steadily increased from 19.5 years in 1961 to 22.9 in 2001 and the corresponding figures for
females were 15.4 and 19.5. The male female gap in SMAM was 4.1 years in 1961, which has
declined to 3.4 by 2001 (Bhattarai, D. P. and Gharty Chhetry, R. K. in CBS, 1995 and Gharty
Chhetry, R. K. and Niraula, B. P. - 2002). A study claims that women marrying between 20 and
24 have similar fertility to that of those marrying before age 20; only if the marriage age reached
51
25 or over would there be a significant reduction of fertility (Das, 1969). Perhaps this is one of
the reasons for persistent high fertility in Nepal.
The fertility transition is usually accompanied by some form of socio-economic change which
includes to varying degrees the spread of education, improved health, provision of income to the
deprived and exposure to modern ideas that promote fertility decline. Some argue that income to
the deprived would initially raise fertility, as they would use the extra income to have more
children to gain status in the society. Changing aspirations and opportunities for women who are
ultimately enabled to make fertility decisions on their own can perhaps check this.
Using various census and survey data the present study has established a certain fertility trend for
Nepal since the 1990s to 2001. Also for the first time, the author has made a sincere attempt to
arrive at different measures of fertility for different regions of Nepal using the census data of 1991
and 2001. For the local political leaders also it is very important to be aware of the volume and
magnitude of population problem especially that of reproduction and fertility as this is one of the
major components of population change.
In this work, the author has attempted to estimate fertility change in Nepal. Applying latest
indirect techniques of fertility estimation at the national level, fertility estimates were presented
for 1991 and 2001. Fertility levels and trends were also estimated for urban and rural areas, for
three ecological belts, and for five development regions. The fertility estimates, which are based
on children ever born, births last year and reported age-sex distributions of females from 1991 and
2001 censuses of Nepal, show that fertility in Nepal is declining in the recent past.
The people of Nepal are caught up in economic hardships due to the depletion of natural resource
base. This was realised in the early 1970s (Blaikie, et al, 1980) and in 1979 when this author was
conducting field work in Nepal. Then the author observed the respondents singling out the
deteriorating hill environment and the economic cost of raising children responsible for their
hardships; they spoke in support of a shift towards smaller family size if they could. Those
families who had good land are now only moderately well off. Inheritance customs continually
divide large estates between several sons; thus more sons mean less land for each. Many villagers,
therefore, linked the poverty of the people to large family size (Karki, 1982). Apparently the
poverty level has not changed since then rather it appears that it has even become worse as the
proportion of people living under the poverty line has risen from 37% in 1984/85 to 42% in 1996
(Karki, 2000). However, HMG of Nepal has set the target of reducing the proportion of
52
population under the poverty line to 30% by the end of the 10th Plan, i.e., by mid 2007 (NPC,
March 2003).
In order to reduce poverty in Nepal it is highly important to effectively implement fertility

reduction programmes. Studies show that since 1970, developing countries with lower fertility
and slower population growth have seen higher productivity, more savings and more productive
investment. They have registered faster economic growth. Investments in health and education,
and gender equality are vital to this effect. Family planning programmes and population
assistance were responsible for almost one third of the global decline in fertility from 1972 to
1994. These social investments attack poverty directly and empower individuals, especially
women. They enable choice (UNFPA, 2002).
In Nepal the birth rate can possibly be reduced by carefully designed population policies and
programmes that are correctly implemented. These should take into account the experience of
other countries with similar problems. What is now needed is the integrated, multidimensional
approach, which emphasises literacy, education (particularly for women), lowering infant
mortality and providing contraceptives along with follow-ups. Information, education and
communication programmes must be reinforced by health or community workers at the village
level who can teach the villagers - the involvement of women must be encouraged here. Perhaps
at this stage local NGOs can be effective as they can mobilise the community better locally. Even
appropriate government policies fail, however, because of administrative inefficiency.
53
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56
CHAPTER 13
LEVELS AND PATTERNS OF MORTALITY
*
- Late Dr. Gokarna Regmi
**
- Bishnu Dass Singh Dangol
13.1 Mortality
Like fertility mortality is also one of the factors, which affects the structure and size and growth
of a population. Mortality rates are based on death statistics. Note that the population studies
follows the definition of death put forward by UN and WHO which defines death as “the
permanent disappearance of evidence of life at any time after birth has taken place”. Here one
should note that birth refers to a live birth.
In Nepal earlier decline of mortality and later decline in fertility has resulted in relatively high rate
of natural growth of population. The mortality decline is relatively faster due to increased access
and improved health services. There has been consequential decline in mortality during recent
past, but the pace of decline in fertility is slower than that of mortality. Consequently Nepal’s
population is increasing over the years.
Like fertility there are different indices for the description of trend and level of mortality. Here we
discuss some of these indicators. These indicators are:
a) Crude death Rate
b) Infant Mortality Rate
c) Child and under 5 mortality rate
d) Maternal Mortality Ratio and
e) Life expectancy
*
Late Dr. Regmi was an eminent Demographer of the country who passed away on 4th Oct, 2003 before he was
able to complete this chapter.
**
Mr. Dongol who is currently a freelance Demographer has kindly volunteered to complete this chapter.
57
13.2 Source of Data
Main source of death data generally is the vital registration system. In Nepal though the system
was implemented firstly in 1977 in 10 districts and had made universal by 1990, the recording
system is still immature. Despite the continuous effort of government for exhaustive coverage of
death statistics, it remained highly under reported. As of the system-report the death rate is about
3.0 deaths per thousand. The country has not yet developed its social and economical status so as
to meeting the crude death rate as low as 3 per thousand in 2000. So the data from the system
could not reflect actual mortality level of Nepalese people. Under such situation, mortality indices
have to be continually derived either from frequently conducted surveys or decennial censuses.
Note that the sample surveys have proved to be better sources than in censuses in terms of
coverage and quality. In the survey, collection of mortality related data had generally given less
attention compared to fertility related data collection as it is closely linked with family planning,
which is more often interested. However the mortality indicators discussed below are either based
on stable or quasi-stable population analysis or data based on survey, where both the direct and
indirect measures of estimation are employed.
13.3 Crude Death Rate (CDR)
Crude death rate (CDR) is defined as ratio of annual number of deaths to the person years of
exposure to death during that period multiplied by a constant (usually 1000). Note that for
simplicity, person-years of exposure is usually approximated by the mid-year population. Like
crude birth rate this is usually widely understood and is very frequently used summary measure of
mortality. However, like CBR, CDR is also heavily affected by the age and other compositional
structure of the population. For example, note that age specific death rate at age 15-19 is very low
compared age specific death rate at 0-4 or 60-64 years of age. Therefore, combining all the deaths
into one and calculating the rate for all population ignores the age composition of the population.
In two populations even if the age specific death rates are exactly the same, if age-sex structure is
different then they will have different crude death rate (CDR).
13.3.1 Crude Death Rate for Different Years
Different estimates of CDR for Nepal available since 1954 are provided in Table 13.1. Because
most of these estimates are based on stable population techniques, these estimates do not present a
very consistent trend. Moreover, this could be also due to the use of different data that come
either from censuses or surveys. It should be borne in mind that both of these sources of data
suffer from inherent errors.
58
Table 13.1 : Crude death rate, Nepal, 1954 - 1999
Estimated Crude Death Rate

S.N. Source
Duration Total Male Female
1. Vaidhyanathan & Gaige, 1973 1954 36.7 - -
2. CBS, 1977 1953-61 27.0 28.0 24.8
3. Guvaju, 1975 1961 22.0 - -
4. CBS, 1977 1961-71 21.4 21.3 22.6
5. CBS, Demographic Sample Survey, 1976 1974-75 19.5 18.6 20.4
6. CBS, Demographic Sample Survey, 1977 1976 22.2 21.5 22.8
7. CBS, Demographic Sample Survey, 1978 1977-78 17.1 17.9 16.2
8. CBS, 1977 1971-81 13.5 12.2 14.9
9. New Era, 1986 1984 10.9 10.8 11.0
10. CBS, Demographic Sample Survey, 1986 1986-87 16.1 - -
11. CBS 1991 13.3 12.9 13.6
12. CBS 1996 11.6 - -
13. MOPE 1999 10.3 - -
Source: CBS, 1995; CBS, 1998; MOPE, 1998
The table indicates that CDR was a little over 35 in 1950s, which decreased to less than 20 in
1970s, and further reduced to 10.3 by 1999. Despite fluctuations in the estimate of CDR, it can
easily be concluded from the table that mortality in Nepal has been declining over the years.
Another thing that emerges from the table is that these estimates consistently indicate higher
female mortality than males. Nepal is one of the few countries in the world where female
mortality is higher than males.
There is no reliable information on Age Specific Death Rates (ASDR) in Nepal, which could
provide mortality information for different age groups. The lack of reliable estimates of adult
mortality by age has led us to use CDR.
13.3.2 Crude Death Rate 2001
Direct estimation of crude death rate is not possible because of data dearth. Despite of poor
reporting in the vital registration system, the census of 2001 also showed under reporting of
deaths. For example the rate was found to be 4.7 per thousand populations in 2001. Health
services available, prevailing living standard of population (more than 90 percent population are
in the area which is of rural characteristics) and high poverty level (about 42 %) should led high
59
death rate. The rate does not reflect crude death rate of Nepalese population in 2001. Therefore
this asks for indirect estimates of death rates in the country.
As of the computation made in the forth-coming population projection of the Central Bureau of
Statistics, the crude birth rate is about 33.3 per thousand populations (TFR is 4.0) in 2001.
Population growth rate is 2.25 percent during the period 1991 to 2001. These statistics, the
population growth rate and crude birth rate put Nepalese crude death rate at 10.8 per thousand
populations (assuming net international migration is nil). Note that beside this type of crude and
general rate, no information is available on mortality separately for adults.
13.4 Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)
The IMR is the number of deaths under one year of age per 1000 live births during a period of
time, usually one year. Although it is called a rate, in fact, it is the probability of survival to age
one since birth. Several factors affect the IMR of a country and these are:
a) Nutrition of mothers and children

b) Birth intervals
c) Parity
d) Age of the mother at child’s birth
e) Basic health services including
i. Immunization
ii. ARI
iii. Diarrhea
iv. Safer motherhood programmes etc;
In other words IMR usually declines with a certain level of socio-economic development as
reflected by the above-mentioned services. Therefore IMR has been considered as an indicator of
socio-economic development and general health condition of a society. Since the adult mortality
is relatively lower even in developing countries and smaller proportion of population is in older
group, a substantial number of deaths occur during the first five years of life. In developing
countries where medical health systems are not fully developed infant death is a substantial part of
under five-age deaths. Therefore, reduction of IMR is needed to achieve a significant reduction in
the overall morality. Moreover the interdependent relationship between fertility and infant
mortality suggests that a reduction in infant child mortality will trigger a subsequent decline in
fertility (Regmi, 1994), it has also found that lower IMR motivates couples to produce less
number of children.
60
Table 13.2 : Infant mortality rate, Nepal, 1954 – 1999.
Estimated Infant Mortality Rate

S.N. Source
Duration Total Male Female
1. Vaidhyanathan & Gaige, 1973 1954 - 260 250
2. Guvaju, 1974 1961-71 - 200 186
3. CBS, 1974 1971 172 - -
4. Nepal Fertility Survey, 1977 1976 152 - -
5. CBS, 1985 1978 144 147 142
6. New Era, 1986 1981 117 136 111
7. Fertility and Family Planning Survey 1983-84 108 117 98
8. Fertility and Family Planning Survey, 1991 1989 102 - -
9. Census, 1991 1991 97 94 101
10. Family Health Survey,1996 1993-96 79 - -
11. Nepal demographic Health Survey 1998-2001 64 - -
Source : CBS, 1995; MOH, 1997; NDHS2001
In Table 13.2 provides estimates of infant mortality based on different sources have been
provided. Note that except for the census estimate for 1991 all the estimates before 1989 have
either been based on indirect techniques of estimation. Since the 1991 survey it has been argued
that the quality of pregnancy history data has improved and there is very little omission of births
and deaths especially during the recent past. As the effect of these omissions on the calculation of
demographic rates is minimal, direct method of estimation has been used since then.
The Table 13.2

indicates that a high Figure 13.1 : Infant mortality rate, 1954-1999
IMR of around 250 300
per thousand live

250
births prevailed in
the country during 200
the fifties. In the

Mortality Rate
sixties it decreased 150 Male
Female
to around 150 to 200 Total
100
per thousand live
births. Since the mid 50
seventies decline in
IMR is secular and 0
1954 1961- 1971 1976 1978 1981 1983- 1989 1991 1994 1999
71 84
by 1998-2001 it has
Year
reached 64 per 1000

live births. Figure 13.1 shows the success in lowering IMR more clearly.
61
Infant mortality is affected by various socio-economic and demographic factors. These factors are
particular interest, since these provide clues for the identification of priority groups in policy
formulation and programme implementation. Differentials in IMR in Nepal has been presented in
Table 13.3
Table 13.3 : Infant mortality rates by socio-economic & demographic characteristics,

Nepal, NFHS 1996 and NDHS 2001.
(for ten years period preceding the survey)
Characteristics NFHS 1996 NDHS 2001
Residence
Urban 61.1 50.1
Rural 95.3 79.3
Ecological Region
Mountain 136.5 112.0
Hill 87.4 66.2
Terai 90.9 80.8
Development Region
Eastern 79.4 77.5
Central 86.3 77.4
Western 84.3 60.1
Mid-Western 114.8 72.9
Far Western 124.3 112.2
Education
No Education 97.5 84.6
Primary 80.0 61.0
Secondary 53.4 49.9*
Age of Mother at Birth
< 20 120.1 108.2
20-29 79.5 67.6
30-39 103.9 72.9
Previous Birth Interval
< 2 yrs 141.4 124.4
2-3 yrs 78.8 67.8*
3 yrs - 45.2
4+ yrs 44.7 38.9
Sex of Child
Male 101.9 79.2
Female 83.7 75.2
Source : MOH, 1997, NDHS2001
Note : *Refers to two year birth interval
Before the data in Table 13.3 is discussed we would like to remind the readers that the estimate of
IMR from NFHS 1996 and NDHS 2001 presented in Table 13.2 were based on births that
62
occurred during the preceding 5 years. The estimate of infant mortality differentials presented in
Table 13.3 is based on births that occurred during the preceding 10-year period. Both of these
surveys indicate that mother's education, place of residence; birth interval and age of mother have
great impact on IMR. IMR for mothers whose age is less than 20 or the duration of birth interval
is less than two years, is much higher than those aged 20+ and have longer birth interval. In
general the differentials observed during the 1996 survey seem to have decreased in the 2001
survey. This indicates that decrease in IMR is somewhat faster in groups where IMR used to be
higher.
13.5 Child and Under 5 Mortality
Before we present the data from the two recent surveys i.e. NFHS1996 and NDHS2001 definition
of these mortality indicators would be in order. Child mortality rate is defined as the probability
of surviving from age 1 to age 5. This assumes that the child has already survived to age 1 to
begin with. Under-five mortality rate is defined as follows. Of the 1000 children born today how
many will die before their 5th birthday. In other words, it is probability of dying between birth and
their fifth birthday. Note, once again that the estimate of these indicators are based on the births
that occurred during the last 5 years. Data on child and under age-5 mortality obtained from
NDHS 2001 have been summarized in Table 13.4.
Table 13.4: Child and under age-5 mortality rates for five year periods preceding the
survey, Nepal 2001.
Years Preceding the Survey Child Mortality Under 5 Mortality

0-4 28.6 91.2
5-9 39.7 126.2
10-14 57.0 158.0
The table indicates that the child mortality 0-4 years preceding the survey is 50 percent of what it
was 10-14 years preceding the survey. In other words there has been an impressive decline in
child mortality during the last 15 years. A very similar picture in decline in under 5 mortality has
also been seen.
Note that current (i.e. for 1998) estimate of child mortality in Nepal is 28.6 indicating that of the
1000 babies surviving to age 1, 28.6 die before they reach the age of 5. In a likewise manner
under 5 mortality is 91.2 indicating that of the 1000 children born today 91.2 will die before they
reach the age of 5.
63
Table 13.5 : Child and under 5 mortality rates by socio-economic & demographic
characteristics, Nepal, NFHS 1996 and NDHS 2001.
(for ten years period preceding the survey)
NFHS 1996 NDHS 2001
Characteristics Child Under 5 Child Under 5
Mortality Mortality Mortality Mortality
Residence
Urban 22.5 82.2 16.7 65.9
Rural 53.2 143.4 35.4 111.9
Ecological Regions
Mountains 82.2 207.5 51.2 157.4
Hill 43.3 126.9 29.7 93.9
Terai 53.0 139.1 34.8 112.8
Development Regions
Eastern 36.3 112.8 29.6 104.8
Central 56.1 137.5 36.4 110.9
Western 37.6 118.8 25.1 83.7
Mid Western 71.2 177.8 41.2 111.0
Far Western 62.3 178.9 41.7 149.2
Education
No Education 56.8 148.8 39.5 120.7
Primary 21.0 99.3 13.4 73.5
Secondary 7.7** 60.7** 14.3 63.5
S.L.C.+ - - 3.7 14.9
Age of the Mother at Birth of

the Child
<20 44.1 158.9 28.5 133.6
20-29 52.4 127.7 32.6 98.0
30-39 54.5 152.8 42.5 112.3
Previous Birth Interval

< 2 Years 74.7 205.5 54.8 172.4
2-3 Years 52.4 127.1 40.0* 105.1*
3 Years - - 22.4 66.6
4 or More Years 32.1 75.4 20.1 58.2
Sex of the Child

Male 45.5 142.8 27.8 104.8
Female 56.5 135.5 40.2 112.4
Table 13.5 provides the differentials in child and under5 mortality for Nepal obtained from NFHS
1996 and NDHS 2001 surveys. Note once again that for the differentials births that occurred
during the last ten year period has been taken into account.
64
The same factors, which were important in the differentials of infant mortality, are also important
for child and under age-5 mortality. These are mother’s education, mother’s age, previous birth
interval and ecological regions.
Like the infant mortality the differentials in child and under5 mortality has decreased over the last
five years again suggesting that the programmes aimed at reducing child mortality is also reaching
those groups where child and under 5 mortality used to be higher, however the differentials still
persist in child and under-age 5 mortality.
13.6 Maternal Mortality
Maternal deaths are defined as any death that occurred during pregnancy, childbirth or within six
weeks after the birth or termination of pregnancy. Maternal mortality is defined as the ratio of
maternal deaths and number of live births during the same period multiplies by 100,000. The
hospital record on maternal mortality shows that maternal mortality was 189 per 100,000 live
births (Malla, 1986 as cited in MOH, 1993, pp.142) in 1979 to 1985. Taking time reference into
consideration, the hospital record is inappropriate for estimation of maternal mortality rate.
Because such low rate in the time prior to 1985 is no way to endorse it. The fertility, mortality
and morbidity survey carried out some time in 1997-78 in the three rural areas of Katmandu,
Rupendehi and Kavre revealed maternal mortality ratio of 850 per 100,000 live births (FP/MCH
as cited in CBS, 1987, pp250).
Table 13.6: Maternal mortality ratio 1987 - 1998

Reference Year Ratio per 100,000 Sources
1991 515 NFHS, 1991, MOH
1990-1996 539 NFHS, 1996, MOH
1998 596-683 MMMS, 1998, MOH
NFHS, 1991 and 1996 had collected data on maternal mortality through sisterhood method in
1991 and direct method in 1996. Estimation of maternal mortality ratio utilizing the methods
mentioned above yielded a ratio of 519 and 539 deaths per 100,000 live births respectively. The
slight increased in ratio in the latter year may be due to differences in methods adopted and
inherent errors. However the difference is very small. The survey from MMMS, 1998 estimated
maternal mortality ratio at 596-683 per 100,000 live births. Note that this study was on the basis
of Hospital Death Audits of two districts hospitals. Result of the later survey has problems,
basically of reporting from the area outside the concerned district, which seriously effect on
65
deciding the denominator. Nevertheless, maternal mortality ratio is still continuing to be as high
as 500 to 550 per 100,000 live births in the country. This ratio is one of the highest in the world
indicting that a sizable number of mothers die during childbirth.
In order to combat this high ratio of maternal mortality His majesty’s government has embarked
on a number of programmes under Family Health division’s safer motherhood programmes. In
this effort the government is also being supported by different donor agencies such as UNICEF,
DFID, USAID, GTZ and other INGOs.
13.7 Life Expectancy at Birth in the Past
Life expectancy at birth is defined as the average number years a newborn baby will survive if
s/he is subjected to current mortality pattern. Note that like the TFR this is also a synthetic cohort
measure. This measure of mortality like the IMR is free from distortions of age composition and
thus international comparisons can readily be made.
To calculate life expectancy we need the age specific mortality rates, which are difficult to obtain,
as it requires a survey of large sample size. Because the birth registration data is not available,
life expectancy in Nepal is usually estimated based on the census data, employing indirect
techniques. Table 13.6 provides estimated life expectancy at birth from 1954 to 1999.
Table 13.6 : Expectation of life at birth, Nepal, 1954 - 1996
Estimated Life Expectancy

S.N. Source
Duration Male Female Total
1. Vaidhyanathan & Gaige, 1973 1954 27.1 28.5 -
2. CBS, 1974 1953-61 35.2 37.4 -
3. CBS, 1977 1961-71 37.0 39.9 -
4. Gubhaju, 1982 1971 42.1 40.0 -
5. Demographic Sample Survey, 1977 1976 43.4 41.1 -
6. CBS, 1986 1981 50.9 48.1 -
7. CBS, 1987 1983 51.8 50.3 -
8. CBS, 1993 1991 55.0 53.5 -
*
9. CBS, 1996 1996 - - 56.5
10. MOPE, 1999 2000 58.9
*
Not a census year. Estimates are based on a projection.
Source : CBS, 1995; MOPE, 1999.
66
As indicated by the table expectation of life at birth for both the males and females has been
increasing gradually over the years. The expectation of life at birth for males was 27.1 in 1954.
Corresponding figure for females was 28.5 years. This figure increased to 55 and 53.5 years in
1991, respectively for male and females. Mortality estimates used in the population projection
(MOPE 1999) life expectation of life at birth for the Nepalese has reached 58.9 years. Such a
significant change in life expectancy is due to the improvement of health facilities that has
reduced death rates, especially infant and child death rate during recent decade.
F ig u re 1 3 .2 : L ife e x p e c ta n c y , 1 9 5 4 -1 9 9 9
70
60
50
40
Life Expectancy
Source: Table 18
30
20
10
0
1954 1961 1971 1981 1991 1996 1999
Year
13.8 Mortality Pattern
As explained earlier vital registration system though exists in operation, its coverage is very low.
Therefore one has to depend upon either the censuses or sample surveys conducted in the country.
Sample surveys so far conducted in the country, focus only on childhood mortality rather than
adolescent and adult mortality. Therefore the censuses were the only sources that would provide
mortality pattern by age. The censuses included questions on mortality like deaths in the year just
prior to the census. So if some one is interested to see mortality pattern on the basis of census data
of 2001, he or she can refer the Table 13.7. Though the death statistics are very poor in term of its
completeness, we can analyze death statistics in term of death rate and mortality pattern. We will
67
see then what it looks like. Age specific death rates and mortality curve drawn by sex are shown
in Table 13.7 and figures 4 and 5. Shapes of the curves, though tend to represent mortality pattern
of Nepalese people, high in the child hood and much more high at the old ages, might not exhibit
exact Nepalese mortality pattern. If we assume deaths were being under reported by the same
factor, the inflated structure will also be of the same pattern. Only difference will be in magnitude.
But the assumption is unlikely as there are several evidences that show under reporting mostly in
the childhood. Besides, we cannot avoid overall inherent under reporting through out all ages.
No other method can be employed to estimate age specific death rate and other mortality indices
with the exception of indirect techniques. Therefore different indirect techniques as given by
United Nations will be used to compute mortality indices in Nepal.
Table 13.7: Age specific mortality rates, 2001

Age Specific Death Rate Fig. 13.4: Age specific mortality rate,
Age
Male Female male, 2001
<0 27.55 25.10
100.00
1-4 4.89 3.76
80.00
mortality rate
5-9 1.06 1.01

60.00
10-14 0.87 0.67 40.00
15-19 1.09 1.02 20.00
20-24 1.53 1.21 0.00
0 5 10 15 20
25-29 1.74 1.39
age
30-34 1.79 1.54
35-39 2.45 1.89
40-44 3.39 2.08 Fig. 13.5: Age specific mortality rate,
female, 2001
45-49 4.32 3.36
50-54 7.06 5.06 80.00
mortality rate
55-59 11.34 8.83 60.00

60-64 17.96 14.02 40.00
20.00
65-69 24.30 20.42
0.00
70-74 38.91 30.98 0 10 20
75+ 80.41 63.13 age
CDR 5.24 4.15
When we talk of the use of indirect estimates for estimating mortality indices, we have to borrow
life table model that fits good to our country from other sources.
If we look at the past history of indirect techniques used, we will see up to 1991 demographers
and researchers have used West Model of Coal and Demeny Model life table. But it was found
68
that Nepal fits very close to General pattern of United Nations model rather than West model of
Coal and Demeny model1. The study was done using data of the Nepal Fertility Survey, 1976.
Question is now “how about in 2001”. Is this model still fit in 2001? So our first task is to
investigate “which model fits well to the country?” For this investigation we will use information
from the latest survey data of Demographic Health Survey 2001.
For this purpose we will use the cross sectional data of IMR and corresponding CMR as described
by the same manual.
Following attempts were being made to investigate this issue:
Table 13.8: IMR and corresponding CMR from west model and observed data from DHS,
2001
From West Model From Observed Report
IMR is 67.35 For CMR is 26.79
IMR is 64.4 For CMR is 24.942 IMR is 64.4 For CMR is 28.6
Note that the survey report shows that CMR is 28.6 for the IMR of 64.4. But from the West
model, it is found that CMR is 24.94 corresponding to the same IMR of 64.4 (Table 13.8). This
reveals that CMR obtained from the survey deviate from that of the West model by 3.66 (28.6 –
24.94) per thousand.
Table 13.9: IMR and corresponding CMR from general model and observed data from
DHS, 2001
From General Model From Observed Report
IMR is 64.4 For CMR is26.482 IMR is 64.4 For CMR is 28.6
Similarly referring to the Table 13.9, the General model shows that CMR is 26.48 (Table 13.9)
corresponding to the same value of IMR of 64.4. This reveals that CMR obtained from the survey
deviate from that of the General model by 2.12 per thousand. This tells that General model has the
least deviation compared to west Model. Therefore the General model fits best than West Model.
Therefore general model is widely used to derive mortality related indices.
1
United Nations, 1990: “Indicators of Mortality in Childhood” Step by Step Guide to the Estimation of Child
Mortality, New York.
2
Interpolated value from the model
69
In fact it is not enough to establish the suitability of the model life table on the basis of infant and
child mortality only. The basis of establishing a suitable model should include adult mortality and
elderly mortality also. But there is no such study ever taken to provide adult and elderly mortality
rate.
13.9 Determination of Mortality Level
When we say certain particular mortality Level of a country, it will be very technical term. So we
will translate it into “life expectancy at birth” so that every body could understand what does it
mean?
There are various indirect techniques to determine life expectancy at birth. We will use those
techniques only that are permissible by the available statistics in the country. Among the different
methods stable population technique is also one. But in the context of Nepal where fertility as
well as mortality level is declining since the last several years, the population is no longer stable.
13.9.1 Survivorship Ratio Method
Theoretically this method can be applied to sexes, male and female separately. But due to
substantial size of out migration, particularly of males this method would not hold good for
estimating level or life expectancy at birth of male during inter census period (in 2001 male
absentees were 679468). Similarly age distribution of females also could have been affected by
out migration (in 2001 female absentees were 82712). However the statistics shows that females
out migration are comparatively less (ratio of out migration to total present population is about 0.7
percent females against 6.0 percent males). Therefore here an attempt is being made to study
mortality level or life expectancy at birth by using female’s ten years survivorship ratio method
from 1991 to 2001.
The Table 13.10 reveals that life expectancy at birth for females varies from the lowest value of
42 years to highest value of 67 years during 1991 to 2001. The ranges can be divided into two set
of life expectancy at birth. One set is below 54 years and another is more than 60 years with a
large gap.
If we assume the reference year as 1996, the values of life expectancy at birth below 54 years
cannot be accepted as the study done already based on population census of 1991 showed
Nepalese life expectancy at birth had reached 54 years in 1991. Of course it could be less than 54
years if health services had worsened dramatically during 1991 to 1996, which is unexceptional
70
case as well as beyond the reality. Another set of figures showed life expectancy at birth lies
between 61 years and 67 years in 1996. Even if we accept the lowest value of 61 as life
expectancy at birth in 1996, the statistics showed that the life expectancy at birth increased by 7
years (54 years in 1991 to 61 years in 1996) in 5 years period, which ruled out universal annual
increment rate in life expectancy at birth.
Table 13.10: Ten-year female life table survival ratio (1991-2001)
Female Population3 Survival Ratio (General Pattern)

Age
1991 2001 From To SR eo
0-'4 1,435,313 1,539,450 0-4' 10-14' 0.9950 GT
5-'9 1,266,523 1,492,620 5-'9 15-19 0.9988 GT
10-'14 1,116,166 1,428,130 10-'14 20-24 0.9897 67.0
15-19 970,968 1,264,950 15-19 25-29 0.9743 60.7
20-24 851,512 1,104,720 20-24 30-34 0.9323 49.6
25-29 741,834 946,027 25-29 35-39 0.8908 42.6
30-34 618,453 793,883 30-34 40-44 0.8869 43.6
35-39 508,384 660,789 35-39 45-49 0.8864 46.0
40-44 421,205 548,518 40-44 50-54 0.8712 47.6
45-49 347,913 450,638 45-49 55-59 0.8629 53.9
50-54 284,128 366,953 50-54 60-64 0.8546 61.9
55-59 231,759 300,197 55-59 65-69 0.7953 62.9
60-64 183,005 242,828 60-64 0.6714
65-69 128,602 184,311 65-69 0.6187
70 + …… ……
There would be several constraints in using survivorship ratio for determining mortality indices.
Most common problem is that both set of population were suffering from net migration.
Population who were out in 1991 could already be back in 2001. Similarly some of the population
who were present in the cohort in 1991 might had gone out during 10 years period, 1991 to 2001.
Therefore though they were counted in 1991, they would be among the absentees in 2001.
13.9.2 Translation of Under-Age 5 Mortality into Life Expectancy at Birth
As explained earlier Nepal Life Table is not available due to paucity of data. It was also already
described that General Model Life Table suits the Nepalese population. Therefore indirect
technique is used to estimate life expectancy at birth using the General Model.
3
Population data has been smoothed
71
It is possible to estimate life expectancy at birth in any country using probability of surviving to
age 5. The advantage of this method is that results hold good even when the population in
question is far from stable (United Nations: 1983).
Table 13.11: Translations of under-five mortality rate into life expectancy at birth.
Under Five4 Probability of Surviving

Mortality to Under 5 (λ5) Translation of Reference
Sex
(λ5) into eo Year
(Per 1000 Live Birth) (Per 1000 Live Births)
Male 104.8 895.2 58.8 years 1996
Female 112.4 887.6 59.3 years 1996
According to Griffith Feeney increment of life expectancy at birth in developing countries is

about 2.3 years (refer Annex 1) during five-year period when the life expectancy at birth
approaches 59 years. This would place life expectancy at birth for the country in 2001 as
followings:
a) 61.1 years for males and
b) 61.6 years for females
13.9.3 Translation of Proportion of Population Under Age-15 into Life

Expectancy at Birth
As we did translation of probability of surviving to under-age five among the live births into life
expectancy at birth, similarly proportion of population under-age 15 can be translated into life
expectancy at birth by sex. The advantage of this method also is that results hold good even when
the population in question is far from stable (United Nations: 1983). The main problem in
computation of life expectancy at birth is that detail works has not yet been done to make the
Model Life Tables for developing countries user friendly as were done in Coale and Demeny
model life tables. In this case, therefore West Model life table of Coale and Demeny has been
used. Note that the statistics has to be adjusted to fit the figures in the General model.
4
Under-five mortality rates for 10-years period preceding the survey
72
Table 13.12: Translations of proportion of population under age-15 into life expectancy at
birth.
Proportion of Population Translation of C (15) into

Sex Under Age-15 Life Expectancy at Birth Reference Year
C (15) (eo)
Male 0.401660 58.8 years 2001
Female 0.385494 59.5 years 2001
Annex 2 shows that when life expectancy at birth is at the range of 58 to 59 the life expectancy at
birth is higher by 0.3 years in the case of General model than in the West model. This figure can
be used to adjust life expectancy at birth when West model is translated to General model.
Consequently life expectancy at birth as of General model will be as given below:
a) 59.1 years for males
b) 59.8 years for females
The computations mentioned above provides two sets of data for life expectancy at birth, one set
derived from survival from birth to under age-5 and another from proportion of the population
below the age-15 separately for males and females. These were derived fitting Nepalese people’s
mortality pattern in the United Nations general model. Note that the difference in figure obtained
from first indirect technique and second indirect technique is about 1 year. Average of the two
statistics worked out separately for males and females, therefore gives best fit of life expectancy
at birth for Nepalese people. Finally life expectancy at birth for 2001 is accounted as given below:
a) Life expectancy at birth for males is 60.1 years
b) Life expectancy at birth for females is 60.7 years
13.9.4 Indirect Estimate of Mortality Indices Based on Children Ever

Born and Children Still Surviving.
Statistics on children ever born and children still alive can be used for indirect estimate of
mortality indices. The exercises were being attempted with input data from the census, 2001 and
DHS, 2001. The results from two sources of data, thus obtained are extremely inconsistent
though the input data refer to the same year 2001. The census showed typically low mortality
indices, where as the DHS showed unexceptionally high mortality indices. For example as of
General Model, life expectancy at birth was 68.6 (q2) years from population census, 2001 and
58.2 (q2) from the DHS, 2001 (refer annex 3 and 4). Note that the technique was developed under
the assumptions that fertility and mortality were constant in the recent past and also childhood
mortality did not depend upon number of births and age of mother. But trends of fertility and
73
mortality level showed that the fertility level is declining and mortality rate is decreasing over the
years significantly (see fertility chapter). Similarly childhood mortality rate depends also on
number of births and age of mother (see Table 13.5). These evidences clearly tell that under lying
assumptions of the technique do not hold good any more. It is also evident from the results
(Appendices 3 and 4) that the census of 2001 is highly affected by under reporting of children
deaths to the mothers, whereas survey work of 2001 is less likely affected.
13.10 Model Life Table
On the basis of general model life table, which is found to be most appropriate for Nepalese
people in 2001 Abridge Life Table has been computed separately for male and female (refer
Annex 5 and 6). This life tables showed that IMR is slightly more than what has been computed
directly from the survey data of 2001. The figure from the table IMR is about 71.4 for males and
70.9 for females in 2001 against 79.2 for males and 75.2 for females in 1996 (see Table 13.3). It
is to be noted that the life table provides indirect estimate of IMR rather than direct method.
13.11 Conclusion
In Nepal though vital registration system has been universally implemented since 1990, the
recording of events are so poor that we cannot use them to estimate vital rates. Under such
situation, mortality indices have to be continually derived either from frequently conducted
surveys or decennial censuses. Note that the sample surveys have proved to be better sources than
the censuses in terms of coverage and quality. In the survey, collection of mortality related data
had generally given less attention compared to fertility related data collection as it is closely
linked with family planning, which is more often of interest. However mortality indicators are
particularly computed from the survey based data. Both direct and indirect measures of estimation
are employed depending upon the quality of data.
Probability of surviving to under-age five among the live births and proportion of population
under-age 15 are being translated into life expectancy at birth by sex. This explains mortality level
of Nepalese people by sex in 2001. General model for developing countries of United Nations fits
best the Nepalese mortality experience. Life expectancy at birth of Nepalese female is found
higher than that of males in 2001. The figure was 60.1 years for males and 60.7 years females in
2001.
Limitation of this study is that due to lack of any information on mortality indices of adult and
elderly persons, defining mortality level estimation derived at in this present study may not able to
take into account, in precision, the mortality pattern of adult and elderly persons.
74
References
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) (1998). Environmental Statistics of Nepal, National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) (1994). Environmental Compendium of Nepal, National

Planning Commission Secretariat, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) (1994). Population Projection of Nepal 1991-2011, National
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) (1987). Population Monograph of Nepal, National Planning
East West Center (1999). Asia - Pacific Population and Policy, Program on Population, Number
49.
Nepal Living Standard Survey Report (NLSS) (1996). Central Bureau of Statistics, National
Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Study (MMMRS) (1998). Family Health Division (FHD),
Ministry of Health, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Nepal Family Health Survey (NFHS) (1996). Ministry of Health Family Health Division,
Ministry of Health, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Nepal Fertility, Family Planning and Health Survey (NFFHS) (1991). Family Planning and
Maternal Child Health Division, Ministry of Health, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Nepal Fertility and Family Planning Survey (NFFPS) (1986). Family Planning and Maternal
Child Health Division, Ministry of Health, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Department of Health Service, (DHS) (1996/97). Annual Report, Ministry of Health, Kathmandu,
Nepal.
Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) (2001). Family Health Division, Ministry of
Health, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Ministry of Population and Environment (MOPE) (1998). Population Projection for Nepal, 1996-
2016, Kathmandu, Nepal.
National Planning Commission (NPC) (2002). The Tenth Plan, 1997-2002, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Gwatkin, D.R. (1980). Indication of Change in Developing Country Mortality Trend, The End of
an Era, Population Development Review, vol.6, no.4
United Nations (UN) (1990). Step to Step Guide to the Estimating of Child Mortality, New York.
United Nations (UN) (1983). Indirect Techniques for Demographic Estimation, Manual X, New
York.
United Nations (UN) (1982). Model Life Table for Developing Countries, New York .
75
Annex 13.1: Rate of change in expectation of life at birth at different levels of life
expectancy.
Initial Base Rescaled
Level Change Change
40 2.10 3.13
41 2.14 3.19
42 2.18 3.24
43 2.21 3.30
44 2.25 3.36
45 2.29 3.42
46 2.31 3.45
47 2.33 3.48
48 2.35 3.51
49 2.38 3.55
50 2.40 3.58
51 2.42 3.61
52 2.44 3.63
53 2.45 3.65
54 2.45 3.65
55 2.44 3.64
56 2.42 3.62
57 2.40 3.58
58 2.37 3.53
59 2.33 3.48
60 2.28 3.39
61 2.20 3.28
62 2.11 3.15
63 2.00 2.98
64 1.88 2.81
65 1.78 2.65
66 1.66 2.48
67 1.54 2.30
68 1.44 2.14
69 1.32 1.98
70 1.18 1.78
Notes: Estimated form United Nations Population Division estimates of life expectancy for 181
countries for five year periods from 1950-55 through 1985-90. See text for further explanation.
The two columns show the relationship between level of expectation of life at birth in a given
five year period and the change in expectation of life at birth between this and the following
period. To illustrate using the first scaling, if expectation of life at birth for 1986-91 is 50 years,
expectation of life at birth for 1991-96 would be 50 + 2.40 = 52.40 years. Alternative scaling
allow for the very different rates of increase observed in different countries. The second scaling
is used for extrapolating expectation of life at birth in Nepal for future periods based on the rate
of increase estimated in previous sections.
Source: Griffith Feeney, 1998: Population Projection for Nepal 1996 – 2016, Volume 1, Ministry of
Population and Environment HMG, June 1998.
76
Annex 13.2: Transformation of IMR into life expectancy at birth from West Model and
General Model.
q (0-1)*1000 eo* eo **
108.20 52.36 51
104.03 53.15 52
99.91 53.94 53
95.84 54.74 54
91.81 55.54 55
87.84 56.34 56
83.92 57.15 57
80.04 57.95 58
76.21 58.76 59
72.43 59.57 60
68.70 60.38 61
65.03 61.20 62
61.41 62.02 63
57.85 62.82 64
54.35 63.64 65
50.90 64.46 66
47.54 65.27 67
44.24 66.05 68
41.01 66.83 69
37.87 67.57 70
34.82 68.34 71
31.85 69.15 72
28.99 69.93 73
26.24 70.70 74
23.60 71.50 75
* Transformation from West Model compatible to General Model

** General Model.
Computed by B.D.S. Dongol
77
Annexes 13.3: Indirect estimation of early age mortality for Nepal
Enumeration of Sep. 2000 (DHS 2001) Probability of Dying Before Age X
Average No. United Nations Models Coale Demeny Models
Age of Proportion Age
of Children (Palloni-Heligman Equations) (Trussell Equations)
Woman Dead X
Born Surviving LAT AM Chilean So Asian Far East General West North East South
15-20 0.180 0.160 0.111 1 0.118 0.129 0.118 0.117 0.117 0.127 0.125 0.127 0.122
20-25 1.320 1.200 0.091 2 0.096 0.098 0.097 0.095 0.096 0.096 0.092 0.096 0.096
25-30 2.710 2.430 0.103 3 0.104 0.106 0.105 0.103 0.104 0.102 0.097 0.103 0.104
30-35 3.710 3.240 0.127 5 0.128 0.128 0.13 0.126 0.127 0.126 0.123 0.126 0.128
35-40 4.480 3.740 0.165 10 0.171 0.167 0.171 0.167 0.170 0.167 0.170 0.168 0.169
40-45 5.160 4.260 0.174 15 0.173 0.174 0.177 0.173 0.173 0.174 0.177 0.175 0.175
45-50 5.710 4.370 0.235 20 0.235 0.233 0.236 0.233 0.235 0.233 0.235 0.233 0.233
Mean Age at Childbearing = 27.0
Corresponding Mortality Indices

United Nations Models Coale Demeny Models
Age of Reference (Palloni-Heligman Equations) (Trussell Equations)
Woman Date Reference
Lat AM Chilean So Asian Far East General Date West North East South
Infant Mortality Rate
15-20 AUG 1999 0.118 0.129 0.118 0.117 0.117 OCT 1999 0.127 0.125 0.127 0.122
20-25 JUN 1998 0.078 0.089 0.079 0.080 0.080 JUN 1998 0.081 0.074 0.085 0.081
25-30 OCT 1996 0.077 0.092 0.079 0.080 0.079 JUN 1996 0.079 0.070 0.086 0.081
30-35 MAY 1994 0.085 0.104 0.088 0.088 0.088 DEC 1993 0.089 0.077 0.098 0.091
35-40 SEP 1991 0.099 0.126 0.104 0.102 0.103 MAR 1991 0.106 0.090 0.119 0.107
40-45 AUG 1988 0.097 0.126 0.105 0.099 0.100 APR 1988 0.104 0.088 0.118 0.106
45-50 FEB 1985 0.118 0.153 0.129 0.115 0.121 MAY 1985 0.126 0.106 0.147 0.125
78
Probability of Dying Between Ages 1 and 5

15-20 AUG 1999 0.086 0.039 0.076 0.071 0.074 OCT 1999 0.069 0.097 0.048 0.079
20-25 JUN 1998 0.042 0.020 0.038 0.036 0.037 JUN 1998 0.036 0.047 0.025 0.031
25-30 OCT 1996 0.041 0.021 0.038 0.036 0.037 JUN 1996 0.035 0.043 0.026 0.032
30-35 MAY 1994 0.048 0.027 0.046 0.043 0.044 DEC 1993 0.041 0.050 0.031 0.041
35-40 SEP 1991 0.063 0.037 0.062 0.055 0.057 MAR 1991 0.053 0.062 0.043 0.058
40-45 AUG 1988 0.060 0.037 0.062 0.052 0.055 APR 1988 0.052 0.060 0.042 0.058
45-50 FEB 1985 0.084 0.053 0.088 0.067 0.075 MAY 1985 0.069 0.077 0.059 0.083
Life Expectancy at Birth

15-20 AUG 1999 49.8 52.3 54.0 43.1 48.5 OCT 1999 48.9 46.4 53.4 52.5
20-25 JUN 1998 60.3 60.6 62.9 52.9 58.2 JUN 1998 57.9 57.9 60.3 63.2
25-30 OCT 1996 60.6 60.1 62.9 52.9 58.3 JUN 1996 58.1 58.8 60.1 63.0
30-35 MAY 1994 58.5 57.4 60.8 50.8 56.2 DEC 1993 56.2 57.1 58.1 60.6
35-40 SEP 1991 54.7 53.1 57.1 47.1 52.4 MAR 1991 52.9 53.9 54.7 56.5
40-45 AUG 1988 55.4 53.1 57.0 47.9 53.1 APR 1988 53.2 54.5 54.8 56.6
45-50 FEB 1985 50.1 48.0 51.9 43.9 48.1 MAY 1985 49.0 50.4 50.4 51.7
79
Annexes 13.4: Indirect estimation of early age mortality for
Enumeration of June 2001 (Census) Probability of Dying Before Age X
Average No. United Nations Models Coale Demeny Models
Age of Proportion Age
of Children (Palloni-Heligman Equations) (Trussell Equations)
Woman Dead X
Born Surviving LAT AM Chilean So Asian Far East General West North East South
15-20 0.154 0.147 0.045 1 0.046 0.051 0.046 0.047 0.047 0.049 0.048 0.049 0.046
20-25 0.969 0.924 0.046 2 0.049 0.050 0.049 0.048 0.049 0.049 0.046 0.049 0.048
25-30 2.059 1.947 0.054 3 0.055 0.056 0.056 0.055 0.055 0.054 0.052 0.055 0.055
30-35 2.870 2.683 0.065 5 0.067 0.067 0.068 0.066 0.066 0.066 0.064 0.066 0.067
35-40 3.442 3.166 0.080 10 0.084 0.082 0.084 0.083 0.084 0.082 0.084 0.083 0.083
40-45 3.821 3.433 0.102 15 0.102 0.103 0.105 0.103 0.103 0.103 0.105 0.103 0.103
45-50 4.037 3.535 0.124 20 0.126 0.126 0.126 0.127 0.127 0.125 0.126 0.125 0.125
Mean Age at Childbearing = 27.0

Infant Mortality Rate
15-20 MAY 2000 0.046 0.051 0.046 0.047 0.047 MAY 2000 0.049 0.048 0.049 0.046
20-25 FEB 1999 0.042 0.047 0.043 0.043 0.043 FEB 1999 0.043 0.039 0.045 0.044
25-30 JUL 1998 0.044 0.051 0.045 0.045 0.045 MAR 1997 0.045 0.040 0.048 0.048
30-35 MAY 1995 0.049 0.058 0.051 0.050 0.050 DEC 1994 0.050 0.044 0.055 0.055
35-40 DEC 1992 0.056 0.068 0.058 0.057 0.057 JUN 1992 0.056 0.050 0.063 0.063
40-45 FEB 1990 0.063 0.080 0.068 0.065 0.065 SEP 1989 0.065 0.056 0.074 0.073
45-50 SEP 1986 0.072 0.090 0.077 0.070 0.073 OCT 1986 0.071 0.060 0.083 0.081
80
Probability of Dying Between Ages 1 and 5

15-20 MAY 2000 0.017 0.008 0.015 0.014 0.015 MAY 2000 0.017 0.024 0.010 0.007
20-25 FEB 1999 0.015 0.007 0.013 0.013 0.013 FEB 1999 0.013 0.018 0.008 0.007
25-30 JUL 1998 0.016 0.008 0.015 0.014 0.014 MAR 1997 0.014 0.018 0.010 0.009
30-35 MAY 1995 0.019 0.009 0.018 0.017 0.017 DEC 1994 0.017 0.021 0.012 0.013
35-40 DEC 1992 0.024 0.012 0.023 0.020 0.021 JUN 1992 0.020 0.025 0.015 0.018
40-45 FEB 1990 0.029 0.017 0.030 0.025 0.027 SEP 1989 0.025 0.030 0.020 0.025
45-50 SEP 1986 0.036 0.021 0.037 0.029 0.032 OCT 1986 0.029 0.034 0.024 0.031
15-20 MAY 2000 0.017 0.008 0.015 0.014 0.015 MAY 2000 0.017 0.024 0.010 0.007
Life Expectancy at Birth

15-20 MAY 2000 69.3 69.5 71.0 62.6 67.5 MAY 2000 64.9 64.8 67.0 72.4
20-25 FEB 1999 70.6 70.6 72.0 63.9 68.6 FEB 1999 66.2 67.2 67.8 72.7
25-30 JUL 1998 69.9 69.5 71.3 63.0 67.8 MAR 1997 65.8 67.0 67.2 71.7
30-35 MAY 1995 68.5 67.8 69.8 61.5 66.3 DEC 1994 64.6 65.8 65.9 70.0
35-40 DEC 1992 66.4 65.5 67.9 59.4 64.2 JUN 1992 63.2 64.3 64.3 67.7
40-45 FEB 1990 64.3 62.7 65.4 57.2 62.0 SEP 1989 61.3 62.6 62.4 65.3
45-50 SEP 1986 62.0 60.4 63.2 55.6 59.9 OCT 1986 59.9 61.4 60.8 63.2
81
Annex 13.5: Abridge life table for male, 2001
AGE M(X,N) Q(X,N) I(X) D(X,N) L(X,N) S(X,N) T(X) E(X) A(X,N)
0 0.07540 0.07135 100000 7135 94632 0.91952 /A/ 6014280 60.1 0.248
1 0.00677 0.02662 92865 2472 365127 0.97875 /B/ 5919648 63.7 1.438
5 0.00176 0.00874 90393 790 449990 0.99268 5554521 61.4 2.500
10 0.00118 0.00589 89603 528 446695 0.99285 5104532 57.0 2.500
15 0.00181 0.00900 89075 802 443499 0.98905 4657837 52.3 2.660
20 0.00259 0.01286 88273 1135 438642 0.98610 4214337 47.7 2.599
25 0.00298 0.01480 87138 1290 432545 0.98392 3775696 43.3 2.560
30 0.00356 0.01763 85849 1514 425588 0.97994 3343151 38.9 2.585
35 0.00464 0.02297 84335 1937 417049 0.97315 2917563 34.6 2.612
40 0.00637 0.03139 82398 2586 405850 0.96260 2500514 30.3 2.626
45 0.00908 0.04443 79811 3546 390671 0.94622 2094664 26.2 2.635
50 0.01334 0.06464 76265 4930 369659 0.92174 1703993 22.3 2.633
55 0.01965 0.09387 71336 6696 340728 0.88788 1334334 18.7 2.618
60 0.02861 0.13388 64639 8654 302527 0.83508 993606 15.4 2.612
65 0.04469 0.20164 55985 11289 252633 0.75966 691079 12.3 2.582
70 0.06636 0.28491 44697 12734 191914 0.66903 438446 9.8 2.521
75 0.09598 0.38556 31962 12323 128396 0.56211 246532 7.7 2.451
80 0.13686 0.50296 19639 9878 72173 0.38906 /C/ 118135 6.0 2.366
85 0.21238 ..... 9761 9761 45962 ..... 45962 4.7 4.709
/A/ Value given for survivorship of 5 cohorts of birth to age group

0 - 4 = L(0,5)/50
/B/ Value given for S(0,5) = L(5,5)/(0,5)
/C/ Value given for S(80+,5) = T(85)/T(80)
82
Annex 13.6: Abridge life table for female, 2001
AGE M(X,N) Q(X,N) I(X) D(X,N) L(X,N) S(X,N) T(X) E(X) A(X,N)
0 0.07476 0.07085 100000 7085 94775 0.9157 /A/ 6069810 60.7 0.263
1 0.00912 0.03565 92915 3312 363077 0.9733 /B/ 5975035 64.3 1.409
5 0.00213 0.01057 89603 947 445645 0.9915 5611958 62.6 2.500
10 0.00128 0.00640 88655 567 441859 0.9923 5166313 58.3 2.500
15 0.00192 0.00958 88088 844 438454 0.9886 4724454 53.6 2.646
20 0.00264 0.01313 87244 1146 433471 0.9855 4286000 49.1 2.599
25 0.00318 0.01580 86099 1360 427190 0.9826 3852529 44.7 2.572
30 0.00385 0.01909 84738 1618 419766 0.9789 3425338 40.4 2.573
35 0.00470 0.02325 83121 1933 410920 0.9742 3005572 36.2 2.577
40 0.00584 0.02880 81188 2338 400309 0.967 2594652 32.0 2.591
45 0.00773 0.03795 78850 2992 387110 0.9551 2194343 27.8 2.614
50 0.01091 0.05317 75858 4033 369725 0.9358 1807233 23.8 2.629
55 0.01602 0.07715 71824 5541 345996 0.9061 1437509 20.0 2.631
60 0.02405 0.11376 66283 7540 313500 0.8606 1091513 16.5 2.624
65 0.03697 0.16981 58743 9975 269803 0.7932 778013 13.2 2.603
70 0.05709 0.25053 48768 12218 214013 0.7012 508209 10.4 2.559
75 0.08680 0.35639 36550 13026 150070 0.5853 294197 8.0 2.491
80 0.13040 0.48694 23524 11455 87842 0.3905 /C/ 144127 6.1 2.400
85 0.21443 ..... 12069 12069 56285 ..... 56285 4.7 4.664
/A/ Value given for survivorship of 5 cohorts of birth to age group

0 - 4 = L(0,5)/50
/B/ Value given for S(0,5) = L(5,5)/(0,5)
/C/ Value given for S(80+,5) = T(85)/T(80)
83
CHAPTER 14
INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP IN
NEPAL
- Vidya Bir Singh Kansakar, Ph.D.*
14.1 Introduction
Geographically and demographically, Nepal is landlocked between the two of the most populous
countries of the World, China in the north and India in the south both of which rank the first and
the second largest countries of the world respectively in the size of the population. Historically,
Nepal has remained as a cultural transition zone between the two super cultural traditions of Asia,
the Chinese Buddhist culture in the north and the Indian Hindu culture in the south. Despite being
exposed to these two super cultural traditions, Nepal has been able to develop its own distinct
culture and civilisation.
Nepal is a land of ethnic diversity. The proper understanding of Nepal's ethnic diversity is not
possible without understanding the role of international migration. The population of Nepal
represents waves of migration from the north and the south at different periods of history. As
such, Nepal contains the Mongoloid and the Indo-Aryan races as well as their admixture. The
existence of Nepal, like most of the countries of the world, had been recognised even before the
international boundaries had been fully and finally established. Nepal's present boundary evolved
after the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1816 with India and completed in 1861 after the return to
Nepal of the territory of the Far Western Terai which was ceded to the British East India
Company in 1816; and border agreement with China was first signed in October 5, 1961 and
ultimately in 1982 by conducting more scientific and accurate ground surveys as well as using
latest satellite photographs. Nepal's international boundary with India and China almost remained
open for the movement of the people from both of her neighbours. With China, it became closed
one after 1950, while it has remained opened with India to date with no restriction on the
movement of people of both countries. Though Nepal India boundary was opened for nationals of
the both countries, it was restricted for the nationals of the other countries, for whom visa is
required to enter into Nepal. Considering her world's most populous neighbour and particularly
the large-scale influx of population from India, has remained a serious concern for Nepal. Since
*
Dr. Kansakar is Professor at Central Department of Geography of Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur
85
the early 1960s, Nepal has been showing concern over her high growth of population resulting
from high birth rate and international migration. The result was the initiation of Family Planning
programme since the mid-1960s and the formulation of Population Plan and Policy in the Fifth
Plan (1975-80) for regulating and controlling international migration (National Planning
Commission, 1975:42-43). As demographic data constitutes the important component for the
formulation and implementation of population policy, it is important to review the strength and
weakness of migration database to oversee Nepal's capabilities and constraints in formulating and
implementing population plan and policies regarding international migration in particular.
14.1.1 Census of Nepal and Migration Data
Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher established the precedence of population census in Nepal for
the first time in 1911. The government notification on the census of 1911 is not available. The
notification of the census of 1920 indicated the intention of the government to conduct census at
an interval of ten years. However, the censuses since 1911 to 1952/54 were not conducted at an
interval of 10 years. They were conducted in 1920, 1930, and 1942 and 1952/54. Since 1961,
Nepal had a decennial census. The census of 2001 reckoned from 1911 represents the tenth
census or in the other words the history of Nepal census is 9 decades old.
The result of the census from 1911 to 1942 was not published for public use. The census
schedules of the 1911 census indicated no recording on migration. Migration data was collected
for first time in the census of 1920 and 1930, and had recorded only male emigrants on the basis
of employment outside the country in the form of a) army service and b) other services. The need
of collecting the emigration data was necessitated by the large number of Nepalese hill people
recruited in the Indian army during the World War I. During the World War I Nepal helped to
raise large numbers of its people for recruitment. The numbers of men taken out of the country
had exceeded 200,000, and of these 55,000 were enlisted in the regular Gurkha battalions of the
Indian army. Nepal had suffered some 20,000 casualties and its men had fought in almost every
theatre of War cheerfully enduring the tropical heat and the cold of the northern winters. The
magnitude of the movement of the Gurkhas for recruitment in the British and the Nepalese armies
was so great that able-bodied males from the village of the martial races (Magars and Gurungs)
were difficult to get during the War (Northey and Morris, 1928:26). The drain of manpower led to
the deterioration of agriculture and food supply in the hills as well as loses of government revenue
from land. Moreover, there was difficulty of getting back the Gurkhas discharged from the army
after the War. Large number of Gurkhas having been to India as also having seen a great deal of
foreign countries, were loath to go back to their hardworking life in the mountains. When these
86
men found that they could earn several times more than what they would earn in the hills and also
could lead life in great comfort, they stayed back in India to work either as watchman or even in
the police under government or in many other positions available to them, for many Indian
merchants had a good great belief in the Gurkha as an honest and loyal servant. (Bruce; 1934:267)
Of the 10,932 Gurkhas discharged after the War, only 3,838 returned home in 1919. (Mojumdar;
1971:198). In recognition of the contribution of Nepal in the World War I, the Treaty of
Friendship between Great Britain and Nepal signed at Kathmandu on 21 December 1923
recognised Nepal as a sovereign independent country, and this treaty erased from the mind the
apprehension of invasion by the British. In order to meet the food grains need of the country and
to resettle the landless, Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher initiated the development of the Tarai.
The clearing of the forests in the Tarai provided agricultural lands on the one hand and on the
other hand, the fell down sal tree provided much needed timber for the slippers in the expansion
of the Indian railways. Due to the fear of malaria and unbearable heat of the Tarai, the hill people
were reluctant to move to the Tarai and the programme rather benefited the immigrants from
India. Moreover, the development programmes of the Tarai during the period of Chandra
Shumsher like railways from Amlrkhganj to Raxaul and Janakpur to Jayanagar, Chandra canal etc
attracted more immigrants from India.
The census of 1942 (conducted in the month of Falgun 1998 B.S.) had recorded emigrants by sex
(Department of Statistics, 19522/54: Appendix pp.12-25). The involvement of the Gurkhas in the
Second World War was even at a grander scale. The 20 Battalions were expanded to form a total
of 51 Battalions comprising 44 Infantry and Parachute Battalions, 6 Training Battalions and one
Garrison Battalion. (Mansergh and Moon 1979:885). The two hundred thousand men, each
carrying his curved knife, went out from her mountains between 1939 to 1945 to wander at large
over half of the world during the Second World War and the casualties of the Gurkhas was 24,000
men. (Bishop, 1952:83) During the World War II, recruitment for the army service had to be
carried out in extensive areas of Nepal, because large numbers of Nepalese were already serving
the Indian army, police, para-military force as well as in different services available for them. As
a result enlistment in the army was also made from the communities like Newar, Tamang,
Sunuwar, Dotiyal, Bahun, etc. This time also the deterioration of agriculture and shortage of
able-bodied males was felt not only in the land of Gurungs and Magars, but also in the land of
Rais and Limbus. (Joshi, 1957 II: 86).
The fifth census must be regarded as the benchmark of modern scientific census in Nepal. For the
purpose of conducting census in 1951 in consonance with the objectives of the United Nations to
87
synchronise the population census methodology for comparative study, the government sent five
officers of the department to participate in the International Training Centre on Census and
Statistics for South-East Asia and Oceania held at New Delhi in 1950. After completing the
training the officers prepared census plan, census schedules and even conducted pilot census
survey. As a result of ensuing political instability in the country after the political change in 1951
on the one hand, and the lack of educated manpower in the country on the other, the census had to
be conducted in the Eastern part of the country in 1952 and in the Western part in 1954. The result
of the census of 1952/54 was published for general use along with analysis of the census data.
However, the data on international migration is available only by total in the countries of
destination. The data on international migration is therefore, confined to emigration only and
there is no data on immigration as there was no question in the census schedule for immigrants.
As regards the destination of emigrants, the countries mentioned were India, Malaya, Burma,
Tibet, Pakistan, other countries, and countries unknown. The country of destination has been
provided in the analysis on "Absentee (gone elsewhere from home) Population" (Joshi, 1957: II,
84).
14.1.2 Census of 1961
The census of 1961 for the first time collected data on migration both on internal and international
migration within Nepal on the basis of citizenship and place of birth. The data on citizenship
provided information on Nepalese citizen and foreign citizens. The data on foreign citizens is
available for the countries like India, China, Pakistan, others and not stated. The data on
citizenship of the population is available for total but not by sex.
The data on population by place of birth available by sex is categorised into native born and
foreign born. As for native born the data is available by sex and by districts and regions. But the
data on foreign-born population is available by sex only for the total, while the data on country
specific is available for total only. The countries of birth of the foreign born population contain
five countries (India, Pakistan, China, Burma and Malaya) as against the three countries under
foreign citizens (India, China and Pakistan).
The census of 1961 also has data on absentee population (gone outside the country). The
countries of destination of absentee population were India, Malaya, Burma, China and Pakistan as
in the case of foreign-born population.
88
14.1.3 Census of 1971
The census of 1971 was conducted after the political division of the country into 75 districts and
the censuses of 1952/54 and 1961 had only 33 administrative districts divided into 54 census
districts in 1952/54 and 55 in 1961. In the 1971 census, the administrative districts also became
census districts. However, the census has to be carried out in the absence of the well-demarcated
boundaries of the Panchayat of the districts. In the census of 1971, migration data was collected
only for the population present (de jure population) not absentee population (de facto population).
Migration data has to be derived on the basis of citizenship and by place of birth. The data on
place of birth is available by sex and by age groups. Place of birth has been categorised into two:
native-born population and foreign-born population. As the place of birth of the native born
population is concerned, it is available by geographic regions of the country. For the foreign born
population, the country of birth is confined to India, Burma and China and the rest are lumped
into three broad groups: 1) other Asian, 2) European, and 3) other countries. However, as for the
data on foreign citizen is concerned, citizenship by country is available for India only, while the
rest are lumped into two groups: a) other Asian and b) other countries.
14.1.4 Census of 1981
The census of 1981 has also migration data by sex and by broad age groups (0-15 years, 15-59
years and 60 years and above). The birthplace data has these additional information, a) duration
of stay in Nepal, b) duration of stay in present place of residence and b) reasons of stay in the
present place of residence. Regarding the reasons of stay in the present place of residence of the
foreign born population, they were a) trade and commerce, b) agriculture, c) service, d)
study/training, e) marital relations, and f) others/ not stated. As for the birthplace, only two
countries have been mentioned: a) India, and b) China, the rest have been, lumped into two-
category a) other Asian and b) other countries/not stated.
As for the tables on citizenship of population is concerned, it has only four-category a) Nepalese,
b) Indians, and c) Chinese and d) others/not stated. Others and not stated accounted for 2.39
percent of the total population.
Migration data has been made available by urban and by development and by geographic regions
as well. One of the notable features of the 1981 census is the data on absentee population within
and outside the country and the reasons for absent by geographic regions. The classified reasons
89
are a) Trade and Commerce, b) Agriculture, c) Service, (d) Study or training, e) Marital Relations,
and f) other not stated. The category on others/ not stated accounted for 48.82 percent of the total
absent. As for the destination of the absentees outside the country is concerned, they had been
categorised into four a) India, b) China, c) other Asian countries, and d) others.
14.1.5 Census of 1991
The census of 1991 has several tables regarding migration. Migration data is available by
birthplace, citizenship and by regions and countries of destination for absentee population. There
are three separate parts or parts of volume on migration: a) Volume I. Part II regarding place of
birth and residence one year ago, b) Volume I. Part II on native born population by education,
marital status and activity, and c) Foreign born population by education, marital status and
industry. Migration data is available by sex and age (five-year age) and destination. Countries of
foreign-born population have been broadly categorised into five groups a) SAARC countries, b)
other Asian countries, c) European countries, d) other countries, and e) countries not stated. Data
on individual specific countries is available for the SAARC countries only and they are India,
Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan, while Sri Lanka and Maldives are lumped together. No data is
available for individual countries for the other groups.
Data on foreign-born population is also available by duration of residence, education and marital
status. Period of the duration of residence of the foreign-born population has been categorised
into 7 starting from a) below 6 months, b) 6 months to one year, c) 1-5 years, D) 5-10 years, e)
11-15 years, f) 15+ years, and g) not stated. Another table with duration of residence contain the
major occupation of foreign born population by sex and it includes a) Professional/Technical, b)
Administrative, c) Clerical, d) Sales, e) Service, f) Farming and fishing, g) Production and labour,
h) other occupation and I) not stated. In the table under educational attainment, the levels of
education of the foreign born population is available by different levels of education of the literate
among the foreign born population. Table on marital status of foreign-born population provides
data by sex and by five-year age groups.
In the 1991 census, migration data has not been published for urban areas.
Data on citizenship of the population is available by sex and by age. Age group under citizenship
starts from below 5 and continues with the grouping under 10 years of age up to 64 years and
ends after 65+ years along with category of not stated. As for the data on foreign national by
90
citizenship has been made available for countries like India and China only with rest grouped into
other and the not stated categories.
In the 1991 census in the household tables, there are tables on absentee population and destination
abroad by age, sex, and country of destination. The age grouping is available by five years group.
The only one country specified in the destination category is India, while the other have been
grouped into seven categories: a) South Asia, b) others (Asia), c) Arab countries, d) Europe, e)
North America, f) others and g) Not stated. In the tables on reason for being absent, the reasons
included are a) Agriculture, b) Trade, c) Employment, d) Education/Training, e) Dependency, f)
Others, and g) Not stated. In the table on duration of absence, the periods have been grouped into
11 age group categories. Starting from below 1 year: to 40 years and above and also age not
stated.
14.1.6 Census of 2001
In the census of 2001, data on international migration are of two types:
1) Based on complete enumeration
a) Population absent from home by countries of destination and by sex. The foreign
countries included are: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives,
China, Korea, Russia and others (former Soviet Republics), Japan, Hong Kong,
Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait. UAE, Bahrain, other
Asian countries, United Kingdom, Germany, France, other European countries, USA,
Canada and Mexico lumped together, and other countries.
b) Citizenship of the population by countries, by sex and by age
Countries of the foreign citizens included are: India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, other countries of Asia, Europe, North America,
South America, Africa and Australia/New Zealand.
2) International migration based on sample questionnaire
It is confined to the place of birth of the population. Countries incorporated of the foreign
born population are India, China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, other Asians, other European
countries and other countries.
91
The following table (Table 14.1) indicates the availability of data on foreign born and foreign
citizen in different censuses since 1961.
Table 14.1 : Countries included in the census of Nepal for the foreign born and the foreign
citizens.
1961 1971 1981 1991 2001

Foreign Countries
FB FC FB FC FB FC FB FC FB FC
India • • • • • • • • • •
China • • • • • • • • •
Bhutan • • •
Bangladesh • • •
Pakistan • • • •
Sri Lanka •
Maldives •
Burma •
Malaya •
Other Asian countries •
European countries • •
North American countries • •
South American countries • •
African countries • •
Australia/New Zealand • •
Other countries • • • • • • • • •
Countries not stated • • • • • • • • • •
Source: Population Census of Nepal, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001
FB - Foreign Born Population
FC - Foreign Citizens
The lack of consistency in the migration data both internal and international has posed serious
difficulty in the analysis of migration to find out the trend, magnitude, volume, destination and
origin of the migrants in Nepal.
14.2 Immigration in Nepal
As already noted the population of Nepal and its ethnic diversity is the clear example of the role
of international migration into Nepal in different periods of history. After the demarcation and
delineation of Nepal India international border under the provision of the Sugauli Treaty in 1816
and the existence of the High Himalayas as natural boundary between Nepal and China, Nepal
emerged as the politically established state. The British East India Company kept the Nepal India
92
border open with the objectives to easily get the Nepali hill people for the enlistment in the Indian
army, and for the free flow of raw material from Nepal into India as well as the free flow of
English and Indian goods into Nepal. The British East India Company had already started
recruiting Nepalese from among the Gorkhali prisoners-of-war in 1815. Sikh King Ranjit Singh of
Punjab also started recruiting Gorkhalis in the Khalsa (Sikh) army and Bal Bhadra Kuwar, the
Gorkhali hero who fought against the British East India Company in the Malaun war and
frustrated with the Sugauli Treaty joined the Khalsa army. The large-scale recruitment of
Nepalese in the Sikh army had been the result of a special treaty between Nepal government and
Khalsa (Sikh) government in 1839 regarding the recruitment of Nepalese hill people in Sikh
army. (Nath and Basnyat, 1964:21-22). The Nepalese hill people went to Lahore, the Capital of
Punjab, to join the army of Sikh King Ranjit Singh and since then the Nepalese hill people serving
foreign armies are called “Lahure” (one who goes to Lahore).
The need of more Nepalese hill people in the Indian army was realised by the British Government
after the Sepoy Mutiny in1857 (the Indians call it the first war of Independence of India).
However, up to the period of Prime Minister Ranodip Singh, it was very difficult to get Nepalese
hill people in the Indian army as Nepal Government was strictly against the joining of the
Nepalese hill people in the Indian army and those joining were punished and even executed and
their property confiscated once it came to the notice of the Government. In order to make the
recruitment of the Nepalese hill people easy, the British Government encouraged the Gorkhalis to
migrate to India along with their families. For that purpose, the British Government established
Gorkhali settlements all along the hill areas of north India extending from the border of
Afghanistan eastward to Burma, such as Abbotabad, Murree, Bakloh, Simla, Bhaksu,
Dharmashala, Darjeeling, Kalingpong, Shillong, Mandalay, etc. In 1861 in recognition of the
assistance of Nepal by providing 12000 Nepalese army to quell the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, the
British Government gave back to Nepal the territory of the Far Western Terai, which was ceded to
India under the Sugauli treaty. In order to develop the newly got territory known as Naya Muluk
(new territory) for appropriating income for his family members and relatives, Prime Minister
Jung Bahadur made provision in the first Civil Code of Nepal in 1862 that foreigners residing in
Nepal could purchase and sell land in Nepal. This resulted in large-scale migration of Indian
businessmen and entrepreneur to purchase land in Nepal and was followed by migration of the
tillers as well. In 1942 During the World War II when the Japanese overran Burma, a large
numbers of Nepalese settled in Burma fled into India and Nepal, and in India special camps were
established in Motihari, Bihar. After the war, some of them came into Nepal and lot of them
93
returned to Burma. The provision in the Nepal India Treaty of 1950 in the Article VII encouraged
large-scale immigration of the Indians into Nepal. The article states, "The Government of India
and Nepal agree to grant, on reciprocal basis, to the nationals of one country in the territory of the
other the same privilege in the nature of residence, ownership of property, participation in trade
and commerce, movement and other privileges of a similar nature." In 1951 after the installation
of democracy, a large number of people politically exiled in India and apprehensive of the
persecution by the Rana regime returned to Nepal. However, there exists no record of
immigration from India. Even the censuses of Nepal from 1911 up to 1952/54 have not collected
immigration data.
The data on migration in the censuses of Nepal were available since the census of 1961 both in
the form of foreign-born population and foreign nationals or citizens. The trends of international
migration in Nepal in relation to place of birth indicated that it increased from 337,620 persons in
1961 to 608,092 persons in 2001, an increase of 370,472 persons or 110 percent within 4 decades.
The figure on foreign-born population is marked by uneven growth. It is marked by decrease from
337620 persons in 1961 to 337448 in 1971.But in 1981; it recorded 234039 persons, a drastic
decrease of 103409 persons or 30.4 percent. There exists no reason to indicate this sudden
decrease. There might be one plausible reason of the sensitivity regarding international migration
in which migrants usually try to conceal the foreign place of birth and nationality and to report as
citizen as well as country of birth in the place of work Usually in data on international migration,
the total number of persons with foreign place of birth exceeds the number of foreign citizens and
this has been the usual trend also in Nepal from 1961 to 2001 except for 1981. In the census of
1981, the number of foreign citizens exceeded by 248980 persons or 206.4 percent. This
anomaly will be discussed in the countries of birth and nationality or citizenship of the
immigrants in Nepal.
The trend of immigration of the foreign citizens or nationals in Nepal is on increase since 1961
and drastically increased in 1981, but drastically decreased in 1991. It recorded 483019 persons in
1981 and drastically went down to 90427 persons in 1991, a drastic decrease of 392592 persons
or 81.3 percent as compared to 1981. In 2001, the number of foreign citizens increased again as
compared to 1991, but less that that of 1971 and far less than that of 1981 (Table.14.2) The
sensitive issue of international migration and policy measures to control and regulate international
migration particularly from Nepal India open border sparked diverse pro and anti sentiments
resulting in the misreporting of the immigrants of their true identity.
94
Table 14.2 : Trends of international migration in Nepal from 1961- 2001 (Based on foreign
countries as birth place and citizenship).
Foreign Citizens
Census Total Foreign born % of total Foreign % of Total
as % of
Year Population Population Population Citizens Population
Foreign born
1961 9412996 337620 3.57 110061 1.17 32.6
1971 11555983 337448 292 136477 1.18 40.4
1981 15022839 234039 1.56 483019 3.21 206.4
1991 18491097 439488 2.38 90427 0.49 20.6
2001 22736934 608092 2.67 116571 0.59 19.2
Source : Population Census of Nepal 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001
14.2.1 Countries of Birth and Citizenship of the International Migration

in Nepal
Though Nepal is sandwiched between the two most populous countries of the world: China with
the largest population in the world lying in the north and India the second largest populous
country of the world in the south, migration from these two countries had been governed by
density of population in the States of India and Province of China adjoining Nepal. The Tibet
Autonomous Region was very sparsely populated region of China and since early 1950s, the
Nepal China border became restricted with the requirement of visa for the people of the two
countries to travel. Moreover, the existence of very high Himalayas and the Trans Himalayan
ranges, there existed very few high altitude passes and river gorges to make travel between Nepal
and China difficult. As Nepal India border is bounded in the south by the plain area of the Terai in
the south, hills and river in the east and river in the west, travel between the two countries can be
made easily from all directions and from almost all locations in the Terai plain in the south.
Historically Nepal India border had and has remained as open and free border for both the
people of Nepal and India and further reinforced the free movement by the 1950 Treaty between
the two countries. Moreover, among the five States of India bordering Nepal except Sikkim and
Uttaranchal, the States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal represent the most populous
States of India and from these densely populated States migration into sparsely populated Nepal
took place in different time and different forms (Kansakar, 1984:49). The resulting social, cultural
and economic relations between Nepal and India have resulted in the large-scale migration of
each other’s population between the two countries. The data on immigration as revealed by the
census clearly indicates main country of the largest number of foreign born and foreign citizens as
95
India and as Nepal in the case of India. However, before the partition of India, Nepal born
population constituted the largest number of foreign-born population in India. After the Partition
when India and Pakistan were created, the population born in undivided India were exchanged
between the two newly created countries and in the 1951 census of India, they were termed as
Pakistan born population in India and they out numbered Nepal born population.
The countries of birth of the foreign population in 1961 were overwhelmingly dominated by India
born population (Table 14.3). Of the total 337620 foreign-born persons, India born population
constituted 324159 persons or 96 percent of the total foreign-born persons in Nepal, followed by
8061 China born persons (2.4 percent), 2302 Pakistan born persons (0.7 percent) and persons born
in other individual countries constituting less than half percent. The China born persons in 1961
seems to be related with the Tibetan refugees who entered into Nepal after China established
control over Tibet in 1959. China born population was marked by overwhelming concentration of
96 percent in the Hill region. 97 percent of the Pakistan born population was concentrated in the
Table 14.3 : Regional distribution of foreign born population by countries of birth in Nepal
1961.
Countries of Birth
Regions Not
Total India Pakistan China Burma Malaya Others
Stated
337620 100 324159 96.0 2302 0.7 8061 2.4 1052 0.3 1531 0.5 285 0.1 230 0.1
Total
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
21511 100 11818 54.9 35 0.2 7756 36 451 2.1 1336 6.2 101 0.5 14 0.1
Hills 96.2
6.37 3.65 1.52 42.87 87.26 35.44 6.1
2
10092 2673 2 7021 33 331 25 7
Eastern
2.99 0.082 0.09 87.1 3.14 21.62 8.77 3.0
8758 6921 32 408 362 958 72 5
Western
2.59 2.14 1.39 5.06 34.41 62.57 25.26 2.2
2661 2224 1 327 56 47 4 2
Far-Western
0.79 0.69 0.04 4.06 5.32 3.07 1.4 0.9
2235 100 2145 96.0 16 0.7 4 0.2 32 1.4 35 1.6 1 0 2 0.1
Inner Terai
0.66 0.66 0.7 0.05 3.04 2.29 0.35 0.9
95 70 - - 4 19 - 2
Eastern
0.03 0.02 - - 0.38 1.24 - 0.9
728 672 11 3 28 13 1 -
Central
0.22 0.21 0.48 0.04 2.66 0.85 0.35 -
1412 1403 5 1 - 3 - -
Western
0.42 0.43 0.22 0.01 - 0.19 - -
96
Countries of Birth
Regions Not
Total India Pakistan China Burma Malaya Others
Stated
311791 100 308516 90.0 2242 0.7 7 0.0 505 0.2 152 0.1 155 0.1 214 0.1
Terai
9235 98.17 97.39 0.09 48 9.93 54.39 99.0
216334 213230 2198 6 418 115 155 212
Eastern
6408 65.78 95.48 0.07 39.73 7.51 54.39 92.2
78319 78162 33 - 85 37 - 2
Western
23.2 24.11 1.43 - 8.08 2.42 - 0.9
17138 17124 11 1 2 - - -
Far Western
5.08 5.28 0.48 0.01 0.19 - - -
Kathmandu 2083 100 1680 80.7 9 0.4 294 14.1 64 3.1 8 0.4 28 1.3 -
Valley 0.62 0.52 0.22 3.65 6.08 0.52 9.82 -
Source: Population Census of Nepal 1961
Terai mostly in the eastern Terai District of Jhapa, which is at a distance of 14 kilometres from
erstwhile East Pakistan or present Bangladesh border. It accounted for 1889 Pakistani born
persons constituting 82 percent of the total Pakistan born population in Nepal. After the Partition
of India and formation of Pakistan, the non Bengali Muslims and Hindus seemed to have migrated
into Nepal from East Pakistan. Burma born population was mostly concentrated in Eastern Terai
and Western Hill, while Malaya born population was mostly confined to the Western Hill
indicating the stationing of the British Gurkha and their families in Malaya.
The total number of foreign-born population decreased from 337620 persons in 1961 to 337448 in
1971, an absolute decrease of 172 persons or 0.05 percent. There exist no plausible reason to
indicate this decline.
The distribution of the foreign born population in Nepal was marked by overwhelming
concentration in the Terai. Of the total 337448 foreign persons in the country, the Terai had
313564 persons or 92.9 percent of the total followed by 19948 persons or 5.9 percent in the Hill
region and 3939 persons or 1.2 percent in the Mountain region (Table 14.4). Among the foreign
born population, India born population accounted for 94.8 percent of the total followed by Burma
(Myanmar) 1.9 percent and China 0.5 percent. There had been a drastic decrease in the number of
China born population from 8061 in 1961 to 1534 in 1971, a decrease of 6527 persons. It appears
that the Tibetan refugees might have reported themselves as Nepal born or they had not been
enumerated. In the census of 2001, the Bhutanese refugees living in the refugee camps in Jhapa
and Morang were not enumerated. Moreover, the non-existence of data on Chinese citizens in
97
1971 makes it further difficult to verify the drastic decrease in the number of China born
population between 1961 and 1971.
In March 1971, Bangladesh emerged as an Independent country from erstwhile East Pakistan and
a large number of non-Bengali speaking Muslims were driven out from Bangladesh and fled into
Nepal via India in order to go to Pakistan. At that time only passage available to Pakistan was air
flight from Kathmandu to Karachi. Those who were economically capable to afford to fly by air
went to Pakistan and those who were poor stayed in Nepal. The migration of non-Bengali
Muslims continued in Nepal for many months. In 1971 the annual growth of population was 2.07
whereas that of Muslim population was 2.27. The reflection of influx of Muslims in Nepal
appeared in the census of 1981and 1991.
Table 14.4 : Regional distribution of foreign born population by countries of birth 1971.
Countries
Person % Person % Person % Person %
337448 3939 19945 313564
Total
100.0 1.2 5.9 92.9
322718 95.6 2090 53.1 14811 74.3 305817 97.5
India
100.0 0.7 4.6 94.8
6364 1.9 276 7.0 467 2.3 5621 1.8
Burma
100.0 4.3 7.3 88.3
1534 0.5 281 7.1 1219 6.1 34
China
100.0 18.3 79.5 2.2
6131 1.8 1560 39.6 2573 12.9 1998 0.6
Other Asian Countries
100.0 25.4 42.0 32.6
207 0.1 - - 197 1.0 10
European Countries
100.0 - - 95.2 4.8
494 0.1 3 0.1 406 2.0 85
Other Countries
100.0 0.6 82.2 17.2
The largest number of Burma born population was also confined to the Terai (88.3 percent).
When Burma enforced the Citizenship Act in 1964, Nepalese living in Burma who opted for
Burmese citizenship stayed in Burma and those who opted to retain Nepalese citizenship returned
to Nepal. For the Nepalese returned from Burma, they were resettled in the first planned
resettlement project launched in 1964 by Nepal Resettlement Company in Nawalpur of
Nawalparasai district (Kansakar, 1979:65) and later on in other project areas of Jhapa, Banke,
Bardia, Kailali and Kanchanpur. The China born population is concentrated mostly in the Hill
region
98
In general, the sex composition of the foreign born population marked by preponderance of males
over females, the characteristic of male selectivity in migration, does not hold true for Nepal. In
Nepal, the foreign born females constituted nearly two-third of the total foreign-born population
in 1971. Female preponderance existed in foreign-born population having countries of birth in
India and China, while it is male dominance for Burma born.
Table 14.5 : Regional distribution of foreign born population by countries of birth and by
sex 1971.
Countries
123480 213968 2075 1864 10452 9493 110953 202611
Total
36.6 63.4 52.7 47.3 54.4 47.6 35.4 64.6
115606 207112 894 1196 7744 7067 106968 198849
India
35.8 64.2 42.8 57.2 52.3 47.7 35.0 65.0
3253 3111 155 121 237 230 2861 2760
Burma
51.1 48.9 56.2 43.8 50.7 49.3 50.9 49.1
757 777 155 126 584 635 18 16
China
49.3 50.7 55.2 44.8 47.9 52.1 52.9 47.1
3503 2628 1019 541 1433 1140 1051 947
57.1 42.9 65.3 34.7 55.7 44.3 52.6 47.4
100 107 - - 96 101 4 6
European Countries
48.3 51.7 - - 48.7 51.3 40.0 60.0
261 233 1 2 209 197 51 34
Other Countries
33.3 66.7 33.3 66.7 51.5 48.5 60.0 40.0
There existed no significant difference in the sex composition in the case of China and Burma
born population. However, for India born population, females constituted 64.2 percent at the
national level and 64.5 percent in the Terai. The overwhelming concentration of India born
population in the Terai with the overwhelming preponderance of females over males is the clear
indication of marriage migration across Nepal India border because of social and cultural
relations.
The census of 1981 indicated a drastic decline in the foreign born population in Nepal. The total
number of foreign-born population decreased from 337448 persons in 1971 to 234039 person in
1981, an absolute decline of 103409 persons or 30.6 percent.
The distribution of foreign-born population in Nepal in 1981 was marked by over whelming
concentration in the Terai accounting for 93.8 percent of the total with 5.4 and 0.8 percent
99
respectively in the Hill and the Mountain regions. Foreign-born population in the country was
also marked by overwhelming preponderance of India born population accounting for 95 percent
with China born accounting for 1.1 percent. There is no data for foreign born on specific other
countries. As for the India born population it is marked by overwhelming concentration of 95.2
percent in the Terai, while 51.9 percent of the China born population were concentrated in the Hill
(Table: 14.6).
Table 14.6 : Distribution of foreign born population in Nepal by country of birth 1981 .
Total Other
India China Other Asian
Region Foreign % % % % Countries/ %
Born Born Countries
Born Not Stated
Total 234039 100.0 222278 95.0 2484 1.1 7827 3.3 1453 0.6
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Mountain 1873 100.0 916 4.9 705 3.7 205 1.1 46 0.2
0.8 0.4 28.4 2.6 3.2
Hill 12581 100.0 9805 77.6 1288 10.2 1107 8.8 382 3.0
5.4 4.4 51.9 14.1 26.3
Terai 219585 100.0 211557 96.3 488 0.2 6515 3.0 1025 0.5
93.8 95.2 19.6 83.2 70.5
The sex composition of the foreign born population in Nepal is marked by overwhelming
preponderance of females over males with females accounting for 69.4 percent of the total foreign
born population in Nepal. This is basically related to marriage migration particularly from India
to a greater extent and from China to a limited extent. Because of the open border between Nepal
and India coupled with social and cultural relations, marriage migration between Nepal and India
on either side of the border in the east, west and south is common with highest number of
marriage migration taking place along the southern border. In the Mountain region as well as in
the Hill region also female preponderance exists in the India born population. However, for the
China born population, female preponderance is confined to the Mountain region. Formerly when
Nepal China border was not strictly restricted for the movement of the people on both sides of the
border marriage migration was common due to social, cultural and economic relation between the
people on both sides. Despite the provision of movement for the people along the 30 kilometres
on either sides of the border permitted by the Nepal China boundary treaty, the major settlement
lies far ahead of the prescribed limit and as such movement of people is not significant to be
noticed.
100
Table 14.7 : Regional distribution of foreign born population by country of birth and by
sex 1981.
Geographic Regions
Countries Total Mountain Hill Terai
71555 162484 773 1100 6387 6194 64395 155190
Total
30.6 69.4 41.3 58.7 58.8 41.2 29.3 70.7
65285 156993 285 631 4813 4992 60187 151370
India
29.4 70.6 31.1 68.9 49.1 50.9 28.4 71.6
1369 1112 343 362 780 508 246 242
China
55.2 44.8 48.7 51.3 60.6 39.4 50.4 49.6
4186 3641 118 87 583 524 3485 3030
53.5 46.5 57.6 42.4 52.7 47.3 53.5 46.5
715 738 27 19 209 173 479 546
Other/Not Stated
49.2 50.8 58.7 41.3 54.7 45.3 46.7 53.3
The distribution of foreign-born population by country of birth in 1991 is marked by the usual
dominance of India born population accounting for 96 percent of the total foreign-born population
in Nepal (Table: 14.8). In 1991 census, data on China born population is not available. Bhutan
born population constituted the second largest foreign-born population in Nepal. Since 1991,
Nepal is faced with the influx of Bhutanese refugees and they are put up in the refugee camps in
Jhapa and Morang and they were not enumerated in the census of 1991 and 2001.Data Bhutan
born population and Bhutanese citizens do not include refugees put up in the camps in Jhapa and
Morang. Bangladesh born population constitutes the third largest group and the Pakistan born the
fourth largest one. Among all the foreign born population with birthplace in India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Bhutan, the overwhelming proportion is confined to the Terai region (Table:
14.8).
Table 14.8 : Foreign born population in Nepal by countries of birth and by sex 1991.
Foreign Countries Person % Male % Female %

Total 439488 100.0 123560 28.1 315828.0 71.9
India 418982 95.33 113405 27.1 305577 72.9
Pakistan 279 0.06 123 44.1 156 55.9
Bangladesh 547 0.12 241 44.1 306 55.9
Bhutan 3159 0.72 1297 41.1 1862 58.9
Sri Lanka and Maldives 56 0.01 33 58.9 23 41.1
Other Asian Countries 14523 3.3 7599 52.3 6924 47.7
European Countries 989 0.23 497 50.3 492 49.7
Other Countries 953 0.22 465 48.8 488 51.2
101
The sex composition of the foreign born population in Nepal is marked by overwhelming
proportion of females accounting for 71.9 percent of the total foreign born population, while India
born population has 72.9 females at the national level and in the Terai 74 percent of the India born
population is females. The main reason for overwhelming India born females is due to marriage
migration. Female preponderance is also to be found among the population born in Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Bhutan and the reason for it might be related with marriage migration.
Table 14.9: Sex wise distribution of foreign born population by countries of birth and by
geographic regions 1991.
Nepal Mountain Region Hill Region Terai Region
Foreign Countries
123660 315828 1828 2660 28487 27821 93345 285347
Total
28.1 71.9 40.7 59.3 50.6 49.4 24.6 75.4
113405 305577 1253 2098 23821 23664 88331 279815
India
27.1 72.9 37.4 62.6 50.2 49.8 24.0 76.0
123 156 3 4 45 33 75 119
Pakistan
44.1 55.9 42.9 57.1 57.7 42.3 38.7 61.3
241 306 3 0 20 29 218 277
Bangladesh
44.1 55.9 100.0 40.8 59.2 44.0 56.0
1297 1862 63 62 342 393 892 1407
Bhutan
41.1 58.9 50.4 49.6 46.5 53.5 38.8 61.2
33 23 0 0 21 11 12 12
Sri Lanka & Maldives
58.9 41.1 65.6 34.4 50.0 50.0
7599 6924 470 470 3601 3048 3528 3406
52.3 47.7 50.0 50.0 54.2 45.8 50.9 49.1
497 492 15 20 386 360 96 112
European Countries
50.3 49.7 42.9 57.1 51.7 48.3 46.2 53.8
465 488 8 9 265 279 192 200
Other Countries
48.8 51.2 47.1 52.9 48.7 51.3 49.0 51.0
The distribution of the foreign born population in Nepal by Development regions shows that the
largest number is concentrated in the Central Development Region with 42.5 percent followed by
Eastern Development Region (28.6 percent), Western development Region (18.8 percent), Mid
Western Development Region (6.7 percent) and Far Western Development Region (3.4 percent).
Largest number of India born population is concentrated in the Central Development Region,
while largest number of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan born populations are concentrated in
the Eastern Development Region and is related with the proximity of these countries from Eastern
Development region and the Pakistan born population might be those born in erstwhile East
Pakistan.
102
Table 14.10 : Regional distribution of foreign born population by country of birth 1991.
NEPAL EDR CDR WDR MWDR FWDR

Country
Person Person Person Person Person Person
439488 125520 186955 82584 29296 15135
Total
100.0 28.6 42.5 18.8 6.7 3.4
418982 117976 180977 76640 28730 14659
India
100.0 28.2 43.2 18.3 6.9 3.5
279 123 95 27 16 18
Pakistan
100.0 44.1 34.1 9.7 5.7 6.5
547 330 87 50 20 60
Bangladesh
100.0 6.0 15.9 9.1 3.7 11.0
3159 1910 906 210 66 67
Bhutan
100.0 60.5 28.7 6.6 2.1 2.1
56 19 26 8 1 2
Sri Lanka and Maldives
100.0 33.9 44.6 14.3 1.8 3.6
14523 4741 4180 4932 374 296
100.0 32.6 28.8 34.0 2.6 2.0
989 235 285 408 49 17
European Countries
100.0 23.8 28.8 41.3 5.0 1.7
953 186 397 309 40 21
Other Countries
100.0 19.5 41.7 32.4 4.2 2.2
Source : Population Census of Nepal 1991.
The number of foreign citizens has drastically declined in Nepal not because of Nepal’s strict
policy on immigration, but because of the sensitivity of the issue of immigration. In 1991, foreign
citizens in Nepal were 90427 persons only as against 4830190 persons in 1981. In 1981 foreign
citizens constituted 3.21 percent of the total population of Nepal, while in 1991 it was just 0.49
percent only. Since mid 1975 Nepal indicated its concern on immigration particularly
unrestricted inflow of Indian migrant and as such, policy to control international immigration was
one of the policies of the Fifth Plan. Moreover, the statement made by the Indian External Affairs
Minister in the Indian Parliament regarding the Indian in different parts of the world with the
remark on Nepal sparked off considerable reactions in Nepal. According to the reply given by the
External Affairs Minister, Mr. P.V. Narshingha Rao, in Indian Parliament on 24 July, 1980, there
are 3.8 million people of Indian origin in Nepal out of which 23,87,973 persons have already
acquired Nepalese citizenship (Dinman, 1980:42:38). In 1983, a Task Force on the Study of
International Migration was formulated and carried surveys and the report of the Task Force
(Better known as Harka Gurung repoprt) sparked off reaction from India. Since then Migration
103
has become a very sensitive issue in Nepal and the result was the inability to get proper
information regarding international migration in the census. It is not possible to find out the
reasons behind the drastic increase in the foreign citizens as against foreign-born population in
1981. This seems to be basically related with mis-reporting relating to birthplace and citizenship.
There is no doubt that there has been large-scale migration into Nepal from Nepal India border. It
is substantiated by the religious composition of population between 1981 and 1991 particularly by
the Muslim population in Nepal. In the recent period the conversion of Nepalese Hindu or
Buddhist into Islam do not exist. The Muslims or the followers of Islam in Nepal increase from
399197 in 1981 to 653218 in 1991, 254021 persons or 63.6 percent indicating a growth rate of
5.05 as against 2.1 at the national level. This high growth of Muslim population might be
basically related with migration of non-Bengali and Bihari Muslims from Bangladesh as well as
from India. Migrant Muslim workers from India find Nepal as a more secured place to work than
other places in India, which are marked by occasional communal riots. In the census of 2001, the
total number of Pakistani citizens in Nepal was 2536 persons; most of them might be those that
came into Nepal from Bangladesh after 1971 (Table 14.12).
Table 14.11 : Regional distributions of foreign citizens in Nepal 1991.
Foreign Nepal Mountain Region Hill Region Terai Region

Citizens
Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
90427 46205 44222 2016 958 1058 19392 11062 8330 69019 34185 34834
Total
100.0 51.1 48.9 100.0 47.5 52.5 100.0 57.0 42.0 100.0 49.5 50.5
68489 35363 3316 840 384 456 14085 8008 6077 53564 26971 26593
Indian
75.7 51.6 48.4 1.2 45.7 54.3 20.6 56.9 43.6 78.2 50.4 49.6
6395 2725 3670 699 318 381 1817 1012 805 3879 1395 2484
Chinese
7.1 42.6 57.4 10.9 45.5 54.5 28.4 55.7 44.3 60.7 36.0 64.0
12210 6144 6066 394 215 179 1824 971 853 9992 4958 5034
Others
13.5 50.3 49.7 3.2 54.6 45.4 14.9 53.2 46.8 81.8 49.6 50.4
3333 1973 1360 83 41 42 1666 1071 595 1584 861 723
Not Stated
3.7 59.2 40.8 2.5 49.4 50.6 50.0 64.3 35.7 47.5 54.4 45.6
Source: Population Census of Nepal 1991.
In the census of 1991, data on foreign citizens is available for individual countries like India and
China only, while individual countries included for birthplace of the foreign born population are
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan (Table: 14.10 and 14.11). The data on Chinese citizens is
available but not on China born population.
104
Table 14.12 : Foreign born populations by country of birth and sex 2001.
Country Total % Male % Female %
Total 608092 100 183037 100 425055 100
India 583599 95.97 171224 93.55 412375 97.02
China 1295 0.21 766 0.42 529 0.12
Bangladesh 556 0.09 180 0.1 376 0.09
Bhutan 2446 0.40 1142 0.62 1304 0.31
Other European Countries 1497 0.25 650 0.36 847 0.2
Other Countries 1015 0.17 464 0.25 551 0.13
Source : Population Census of Nepal 1981, 1991 and 2001
Foreign-born population by countries of birth indicates usual pattern of dominance of India born
persons accounting for 96 percent of the total population (Table: 14.12) followed Bhutan born
(0.40 percent), China born (0.21 percent) and Bangladesh born (0.09 percent).
The census of 2001 also indicated the preponderance of females over males indicating large-scale
marriage migration. At the national level the proportion of females among the foreign born
population is 70 percent, while it is highest in the Terai with 73.8 percent and lowest in the
Mountain with 59.4 percent. However the Hill region is characterized by preponderance of males
accounting for 51.5 percent.
The sex composition of the foreign born population by countries of birth indicates the 70.7
percent females in India born population, 75.6 percent in Bangladesh born and 53.3 percent in
Bhutan born. In the case of China born population it is marked by dominance of males, 59.2
percent.
Foreign citizens in Nepal increased from 90427 persons in 1991 to 116571 persons in 2001, an
increase of 26144 persons or 28.9 percent and representing 0.59 percent of the total population of
Nepal. Of the total foreign citizens, more than 98 percent are from the Asian countries and the rest
from the other continents of Europe, Africa, North America, South America and Australia/New
Zealand accounted for 1.96 percent (Table: 14.13). The highest number of foreign citizens is
naturally from India accounting for 87.95 percent followed by Bhutan (3.28 percent), Pakistan
(2.26 percent) and China (1.15 percent). One interesting fact about foreign citizens is about the
Pakistani citizens numbering 2628 persons and constituting the third largest foreign citizens in
Nepal. There exists no reason to indicate the immigration of large number of Pakistani citizens in
Nepal. It might be that large number of them represents those who fled into and strayed in Nepal
after the emergence of Bangladesh. Regarding Chinese citizens, their number has gone down from
105
Table 14.13 : Foreign citizens in Nepal by countries 2001.
Country of Foreign Citizens Persons Percent
Total 116571 100.00
India 102468 87.95
China 1344 1.15
Pakistan 2628 2.26
Bangladesh 79 0.07
Bhutan 3827 3.28
Sri Lanka 89 0.08
Maldives 77 0.07
Other Countries in Asia 3777 3.24
European Countries 708 0.61
North American Countries 626 0.54
South American Countries 348 0.30
African Countries 293 0.25
Australia/New Zealand 307 0.26
Source: Population Census 2001
6395 persons in 1991 to 1344 persons in 2001. Moreover, Chinese citizens outnumbered the
China born persons in 2001 and the same case occurs with Bhutanese citizens and Bhutan born
population. Among the continents, citizens from European countries represent the second largest
followed by North American countries, South American countries, Australia/New Zealand and
Africa.
14.2.2 Emigration
Despite the collection of census data on migration started in 1920 as revealed by the census
schedule of 1920 census and subsequent censuses, the data were not published even for the total
population. The population data of Nepal published for the first time in Nepal was in the
Appendix of the speech made by Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana in the
booklet Maharaja Chandra Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana's Appeal to the People of Nepal
for the Emancipation of Slave and Abolition of Slavery in the Country in 1925. Some of the
data and references appeared in the publication of Population Census data of 1952/54(Department
of Statistic: 1957 in Nepali). The report contains analysis of different characteristics of the
population of Nepal. In the analysis on Population Absent, it has data of population absent abroad
numbering 81,722 persons (Joshi, 1957:84).
106
Table 14.14 : Population gone abroad for livelihood by regions 1942.
Population Gone Abroad

Regions Percent
for Livelihood
Nepal 81,722 100.0
Eastern Hill* 9,227 11.2
Kathmandu Valley 315 0.4
Western Hill* 71,059 86.9
Inner Terai 543 0.7
Terai 678 0.8
Source : Joshi in Population Census of Nepal 1952/54, Part I,. P. 84

* Includes Mountain regions as well
The census of 1942 was conducted in February 1942 during the period of World War II Nepal
also sent its own troops to assist the allied forces and they seemed to have not been recorded in
the census. The largest number of population absent was from the Western hill with 71059
persons accounting for 2.79 percent of the total population and if the males are to be counted the
figure must be double (Table: 14.14). The largest number of migrants from the Eastern hills was
the Rais and the Limbus ethnic groups. The census seems to have not recorded the Nepali troops
sent from Nepal in different fronts to assist the allied forces and might have been included only
those who went abroad for service (livelihood).
Table 14.15 : Source areas of emigrants from Nepal 1952/54 and 1961.
1952/54 1961
Regions
Person % of Total % of TP Person % of Total % of TP
Nepal 198120 100.00 2.34 328470 100.00 3.35
Eastern Hill 49553 25.01 2.8 80532 24.52 4.07
Western Hill 96639 48.78 5.2 150502 45.82 7.12
Far Western Hill 43725 22.07 2.8 74164 22.58 4.18
Eastern Terai 1544 0.78 0.09 7155 2.18 0.32
Western Terai 163 0.08 0.05 1899 0.58 0.47
Far Western Terai 123 0.06 0.05 475 0.14 0.17
Eastern Inner Terai 1928 0.97 1.01 3341 4.15 1.68
Central Inner Terai 1318 0.67 0.67 2825 0.86 1.11
Western Inner Terai 216 0.11 0.24 519 0.16 0.52
Kathmandu Valley 2911 1.47 0.7 7089 2.16 1.41
Source: Population Census of Nepal 1952/54 and 1961.

TP = Total Population
The regions are not comparable with the present ones, because there were 55 census districts in
1961.
107
The emigrants from Nepal were characterised by universal phenomenon of preponderance of
males accounting for 87.8 percent of the total population. The total persons emigrated abroad as
revealed by the census of 1952/54 and 1961 were 198120 and 328470 respectively. As for the
major sources of emigrants from Nepal was the hill region accounting for 95.9 percent of the total
emigrants in 1952/54 and 92.9 percent in 1961 and the percent decrease does not mean decrease
in absolute number (Table: 14.15). The number of emigrants from western hill increased from
96639 persons in 196264 to 150502 persons in 1961 and increase of 53863 persons or 55.7
percent. Emigration from Nepal to the foreign countries continued to increase in all the regions
(Kansakar, 1974:68-69).
In the census of 1961, data on total emigrants is available, but it is not available by countries of
destination as well as by sex. The total number of persons absent was 328470, which accounted
for 3.37 percent of the total population as against 2.34 percent in 1952/54. Between 1952/54 to
2001, the number of population absent abroad has increased almost four times. Though the trend
of emigration is continuously increasing in absolute term, but as percentage to the total population
has not increased as compared to the percent of 3.37 in 1961. The number of emigrants from
Nepal increased from 328470 persons in 1961 to 402977 in 1981, an increase of 74507 persons or
22.7 percent between two decades. In 1991, the total number of emigrants from Nepal was
658290 persons, and increase of 255313 persons or 63.4 percent within a decade and accounting
for 3.44 percent of the total population, the highest percent so far recorded (Table: 14.16). In
2001, the total number of emigrants from Nepal went up to 762181 persons, and increase of
103891 persons or 15.8 percent and accounting for 3.24 percent of the total population.
Table 14.16 : Out-migration of population from Nepal (outside the country) (Based on
population absent abroad).
Total Population
Year Percent Male Percent Female Percent
Population* Absent
1911 5638749 NA NA NA
1920 5573788 NA NA NA
1930 5532564 NA NA NA
1942 6283649 87722** 1.4 NA NA
1952/54 8473478 198120 2.34 173619 87.6 24501 12.4
1961 9741466 328470 3.37 NA NA
1971 NA NA NA NA
1981 15425816 402977 2.61 328448 81.5 74529 18.5
1991 19149387 658290 3.44 548002 83.2 118288 16.8
2001 23499115 762181 3.24 679489 89.2 82712 10.8
Source: Population Census of Nepal 1952/54, 1961, 1971, 1981,1991 and 2001
NA : not available
* : Including absent population
108
Emigration from Nepal in 1952/54 was marked by overwhelming proportion of male accounting
for 87.6 percent of the total. Data on population absent gone abroad or emigration is not available
for the census of 1971.Census data on population absent abroad available since the census of 1981
by countries of destination by sex, age and occupation indicated females constituting 18.5 percent
of the total emigrants and the percentage declined in 1981 but not in absolute term. The
proportion of females among the emigrants indicated gradual increase. It increased from 24501 in
1952/54 to 118288 in 1991, but declined in 2001 to 82712 persons, an absolute decline of 35,576
or 30 percent.
The census of 1952/54 recorded for the first time the population absent from household by sex
and by age and classified into migrated within and outside the country. The countries of
destination of the population absent abroad were India, Malaya, Burma, China and Tibet,
Pakistan, and others and not stated (Table: 14.18). As usual, because of the open border between
Nepal and India, largest number of emigrants' destination was India accounting for 79.4 percent of
the total emigrants. The second largest number of emigrants had their destination in Malaya. After
the Independence of India and subsequent of sharing of Gurkha army in India between India and
the United Kingdom, the British established main camp for the British Gurkha troops in Malaya.
Moreover, during Communist insurgency in Malaya, the British recruited large number of
Nepalese in British Gurkha army from 1948 to 1956 (Kansakar, 1982:96). Beside this since early
period, Nepalese were working as plantation labourers in plantation areas in rubber, sugar, and
palm cultivation in Malaya. These were the reasons of migration of Nepalese in Malaya. Burma
represented the third largest destination of Nepalese emigrants, but it was the largest destination
of Nepalese after India, because Burma is adjacent to India, while Thailand lies between Burma
and Malaya. Thus when Malaya became the main station of the British Gurkhas and the
accompanying recruitment of Nepalese during the period of emergency between 1948 to 1956,
Malaya emerged as the second important destination of Nepalese emigrants. Emigrants to China
and Tibet represents mainly the trades, while those in Pakistan might represent those that had
gone to East Pakistan now Bangladesh. In Thailand also there are Nepalese in certain important
market places in Bangkok and they are citizens of neither Thailand nor of Nepal. The Thai
Government considers them as illegal migrants.
109
Table 14.17 : Countries of destination of emigrants from Nepal 1952/54 .
Countries Person Percent Male Percent Female Percent

Total 198120 100.0 173919 87.8 24501 12.2
India 157323 79.4 137942 87.7 13381 12.3
Malaya 6621 4.2 5657 85.4 964 14.6
Burma 1849 0.9 1584 86 258 14
China and Tibet 422 0.3 361 85.5 61 14.5
Pakistan 153 0.1 138 90.2 15 9.8
Others and not stated 31,759 20.2 27937 88.0 3822 12.0
Source : Population Census of Nepal 1952/54
Since the census of 1981 when population data on emigration were made available by source
regions in Nepal by sex and destination by countries and by reasons of absence, the countries of
destination of the emigrants from Nepal are marked by overwhelming number that migrated to
India. In 1981, out of a total of 402977 emigrants from Nepal, 375106 persons or 93.1 percent of
the total emigrants went to India, 265 persons or, 07 percent to China, 9054 persons or 2.3 percent
to other countries of Asia and rest in other countries (Table: 14.18).
Table 14.18 : Countries of destination of emigrants from Nepal 1981.
Countries Total Percent Male Percent Female Percent

Total 402977 100.00 328448 81.5 74529 18.5
India 375196 93.11 307946 82.1 67290 17.9
China 265 0.07 225 84.9 40 15.1
Other Asian countries 9054 2.25 7068 78.1 1986 21.9
Other countries 18462 4.58 13209 71.5 5253 28.5
Similarly in 1991 also, the destination of overwhelming proportion of emigrants from Nepal was
India with a total of 5872434 persons or an increase of 212047 persons or 56.5 percent and
accounting for 89.21 percent of the total emigrants from Nepal. In the census of 1991, the data on
China, Nepal’s neighbouring country was not available.
110
Table 14.19 : Countries of destination of emigrants from Nepal 1991.
Countries Total Percent Male % Female %

Nepal 658290 100 548002 83.2 110288 16.8
India 587243 89.21 492079 83.8 95164 16.2
South Asian Countries 4977 0.76 3652 73.4 1325 26.6
Arab countries 6345 0.96 6345 93.8 394 6.2
European Countries 6404 0.97 4581 71.5 1823 28.5
North American Countries 2150 0.33 1484 69.0 666 31.0
Other Countries 581 0.09 445 76.6 136 23.4
Not stated 30566 4.64 23446 76.7 7120 23.3
Source : Population Census of Nepal 2001
Emigration of Nepalese to Asian countries including India accounted for 93.18 percent of the total
in 1981 and went up to 935 percent in 1991. The total for the other Asian countries excluding
India was 9319 persons, accounting for 2.25 percent of the total emigrants from Nepal in 1991, it
went up to31347 persons, an increase of 22028 persons or 236.4 percent. It clearly indicated
changing trend of emigration of Nepalese to other countries of Asia, such as West Asia (Arab
countries), East and South East Asia. The second largest number emigrated to European countries
and was followed by North American countries.
In the census of 2001, emigration data were collected for a large number of countries of the world.
Emigration data is available for 17 individual Asian countries, 3 European countries and
Australia, whereas some of the countries were lumped together such as Russia and other; and
USA including Canada and Mexico (Table 14.20).
Table 14.20 : Populations absent from Nepal and destination of foreign countries by sex
2001.
Nepal 762181 100.00 679469 89.15 82712 10.85
India 589050 77.28 520500 88.4 68550 11.6
Pakistan 552 0.09 466 84.4 92 11.6
Bangladesh 952 0.12 784 82.4 168 11.6
Bhutan 610 0.10 511 83.8 99 16.2
Sri Lanka 201 0.03 176 87.6 25 12.4
Maldives 370 0.06 334 90.3 36 9.7
China 1354 0.18 1018 75.2 336 24.8
Korea 2679 0.45 2433 90.8 246 9.2
Russia and others 747 0.10 633 84.7 114 15.3
111
Japan 3726 0.63 3087 82.9 639 17.1
Hong Kong 12001 1.57 8143 67.9 3858 32.1
Singapore 3363 0.44 2679 79.7 684 20.3
Malaysia 6813 0.89 6742 99.0 71 1.0
Australia 2491 0.42 1991 79.9 500 20.1
Saudi Arabia 67460 8.85 66629 98.8 831 1.2
Qatar 24397 4.14 24208 99.2 189 0.8
Kuwait 3688 0.48 3044 82.5 644 17.5
United Arab Emirates 12544 2.13 12298 98.0 246 2.0
Bahrain 2737 0.36 2616 95.6 121 4.4
Other Asian countries 3849 0.65 3130 81.3 719 18.7
United Kingdom 7221 0.95 5997 83.0 1274 17.0
Germany 1638 0.28 1420 86.7 218 13.3
France 250 0.03 197 78.8 53 21.2
Other European Countries 1998 0.34 1640 82.1 358 17.9
USA, Canada and Mexico 9557 1.25 7227 75.6 2330 24.4
Other Countries 1877 0.32 1566 83.4 311 16.6
In the census of 2001, the total number of emigrant from Nepal has slightly increased from
587243 persons in 1991 to 589050 in 2001, an increase of 1807 persons or 0.3 percent only, and
the Nepalese emigrants to India as percent of the total emigrants has gone down from 89.21
percent in 1991 to 77.28 percent in 2001. This indicates the increasing trend of emigration of
Nepalese beyond India to other countries. The second largest destination of the Nepalese
emigrants was Saudi Arabia, which accounted for 8.85 percent of the total emigrants followed by
Qatar and United Arab Emirates. The total number of Nepalese emigrants to Gulf countries
including other countries like Kuwait, UAE and Bahrain accounted for 16 percent of the total.
Hong Kong is the fourth largest destination of the Nepalese emigrants followed by Japan, Korea
and China and the Nepalese emigrants to these East Asian countries together accounted for 2.83
percent of the total emigrants. Malaysia represents the sixth largest destination of Nepalese
emigrants and the UK represents the fifth largest destination.
The major source regions of the Nepalese absent abroad indicates that Western Development
Region is the largest sending region accounting for 43.5 percent of the total followed by Central
Development Region (14.1 percent), Eastern Development Region (16.0 percent), Far Western
Development Region (13.9 percent and Mid Western Development Region (12.4 percent). The
Nepalese emigrants with highest proportion in the countries from the Eastern Development
Region are Maldives, Singapore, Kuwait and Bahrain (Table: 14.22). The countries with highest
112
percentage of Nepalese emigrants from Eastern Development Regions are Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka, China, Russia and its former republics, Australia, Germany, France, other European
countries, USA including Canada as well as Mexico and other countries indicating significant
number going for study and training. The countries with highest proportion from Western
Development Regions are India, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, other
Asian countries and UK. Both the Mid Western and Far Western Development Regions do not
have any country having largest percentage of migrant from these regions. Both for the Eastern
and Western Development Regions as well as Mid Western and Far Western Development
Regions, most of the migrant seems to be engaged in services (Table: 14.22).
Table 14.21 : Source regions of population absent in Nepal and countries of destination 2001
NEPAL EDR CDR WDR MWDR FWDR
Countries
Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Total %
Total 762181 100.0 121911 16.0 107631 14.1 331880 43.54 94724 12.43 106035 13.91
India 589050 100.0 67338 11.4 63508 10.9 263180 44.68 90006 15.28 105018 17.83
Pakistan 558 100.0 107 19.2 232 41.6 138 24.73 36 6.45 45 8.06
Bangladesh 952 100.0 133 14.0 410 43.1 239 25.11 69 7.25 101 10.61
Sri Lanka 201 100.0 44 22.0 82 40.8 62 30.85 8 3.98 5 2.49
Maldives 370 100.0 130 35.1 86 23.2 129 34.9 17 4.59 8 2.2
China 1354 100.0 225 16.6 706 52.1 305 22.5 58 4.28 60 4.4
Korea 2679 100.0 484 18.1 567 21.2 1541 57.5 67 2.50 20 0.8
Russia and
747 100.0 126 16.9 358 47.9 183 24.5 41 5.49 39 5.2
others
Japan 3726 100.0 358 9.6 1569 42.1 1725 46.3 47 1.26 27 0.7
Hong Kong 12001 100.0 4111 34.3 1821 15.2 5952 49.6 87 0.72 30 0.3
Singapore 3363 100.0 1288 38.3 628 18.7 1221 36.3 213 6.33 13 0.4
Malaysia 6813 100.0 2562 37.6 1026 15.1 2983 43.8 183 2.69 59 0.9
Australia 2491 100.0 365 14.7 1476 59.3 556 22.3 53 2.13 41 1.7
Saudi Arabia 67460 100.0 23179 34.4 13873 20.6 27775 41.2 2475 3.67 158 0.2
Qatar 24397 100.0 9256 37.9 4547 18.6 10164 41.7 376 1.54 54 0.2
Kuwait 3688 100.0 1457 39.5 692 18.8 1450 39.3 69 1.87 20 0.5
United Arab
12544 100.0 4157 33.1 2590 20.7 5408 43.1 321 2.56 68 0.5
Emirates
Bahrain 2737 100.0 1511 55.2 272 9.9 918 33.5 33 1.21 3 0.1
Other Asian
3849 100.0 921 23.9 1334 34.7 1440 37.4 127 3.30 27 0.7
Countries
United
7271 100.0 1646 22.6 2602 35.8 2811 38.7 160 2.20 52 0.7
Kingdom
Germany 1638 100.0 270 16.5 671 41.0 653 39.9 33 2.01 11 0.7
France 250 100.0 40 16.0 156 62.4 50 20.0 4 1.60 0 0.0
Other
European 1998 100.0 210 10.5 931 46.6 818 40.9 22 1.10 17 0.9
Countries
USA,
Canada and 9557 100.0 1147 12.0 6661 69.7 1566 16.4 116 1.21 67 0.7
Mexico
Other
1877 100.0 534 28.5 617 32.9 568 30.3 86 4.58 72 3.8
Countries
Source: Population Census of Nepal
113
The census data on population absent from Nepal and gone abroad in 2001 and the reason for
absence indicated 66.4 percent engaged in personal service followed by institutional service (12.4
percent), study/training (4.2 percent), marriage (1.9 percent Business (1.6 percent) and agriculture
(1 percent). All the persons engaged in agriculture are confined to India only (Table: 14.22). Of
the total Nepalese emigrants abroad engaged in different activities, all the total in agriculture, 89.9
percent of the total in business, 76.5 of the total in personal services, 73.3 percent in institutional
services, 60.9 percent of the total in study/training, 90.6 percent of the total in marriage and 87.7
percent of the total in other activities have their destination in India (Table: 14.22). Among the
individual countries, the largest number of Nepalese emigrants involve in study and/training are in
Australia/New Zealand, USA, Russia and others, and Bangladesh. In most of the other countries,
overwhelming proportion of the Nepalese emigrants is engaged in personal services and
institutional services. Significant number of Nepalese emigrants to China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
Japan, Singapore, UK, Germany, and France are engaged in study/training.
Table 14.22 : Distribution of the population absent from Nepal by countries of destination
and by reasons for absence 2001.
Reasons for Absence
Country of
Destination Personal Institutional Study/
Total Agriculture Business Marriage Others
Service Service Training
762181 7763 12050 506221 94329 31747 14101 95970

Total
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
589050 7763 10832 385062 69102 19337 12772 84182
India
77.28 100.00 89.89 76.07 73.26 60.91 90.58 87.72
558 0 66 211 41 160 12 68
Pakistan
0.07 0.54 0.04 0.04 0.50 0.08 0.07
952 0 40 277 71 411 14 139
Bangladesh
0.12 0.33 0.05 0.08 1.29 0.10 0.14
610 0 28 328 71 33 15 135
Bhutan
0.08 0.23 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.11 0.14
201 0 7 88 22 50 6 28
Sri Lanka
0.03 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.16 0.04 0.03
370 0 8 268 46 7 9 32
Maldives
0.05 0.01 0.05 0.05 0.02 0.06 0.03
1354 0 44 587 154 382 16 171
China
018 0.37 0.12 0.16 1.20 0.11 0.18
2679 0 28 1990 462 83 16 100
Korea
0.35 0.23 0.39 0.49 0.26 0.11 0.10
Russia and 747 0 12 142 53 330 11 199
Others 0.10 0.10 0.03 0.06 1.04 0.08 0.21
114
Reasons for Absence
Country of
Destination Personal Institutional Study/
Total Agriculture Business Marriage Others
Service Service Training
3726 0 88 2172 492 585 97 292

Japan
0.49 0.73 0.43 0.52 1.84 0.69 0.30
12001 0 111 8249 1902 331 224 1184
Hong Kong
1.57 0.92 1.63 2.02 1.04 1.59 1.23
3363 0 30 1249 1044 347 145 548
Singapore
044 0.25 0.05 1.00 1.09 1.03 0.57
6813 0 18 5521 892 37 5 340
Malaysia
0.89 0.15 1.09 0.95 0.12 0.03 0.35
2491 0 20 579 176 1487 62 167
Australia
0.33 0.16 0.11 0.19 4.68 0.44 0.17
67460 0 123 54902 8907 56 18 3454
Saudi Arabia
8.85 1.02 10.85 9.44 0.18 0.13 3.60
24397 0 38 19728 3351 17 4 1259
Qatar
3.20 0.31 3.90 3.55 0.05 0.03 1.31
3688 0 4 2957 543 4 2 178
Kuwait
0.48 0.03 0.58 0.58 0.01 0.01 0.19
United Arab 12544 0 28 9963 1932 50 10 561
Emirates 1.65 0.23 1.91 2.05 0.16 0.07 0.58
2737 0 6 2180 421 9 2 119
Bahrain
0.36 0.05 0.43 0.45 0.03 0.01 0.12
Other Asian 3849 0 70 1947 917 453 79 383
Countries 0.50 0.58 0.38 0.97 1.43 0.56 0.40
United 7271 0 101 2513 2088 1631 200 738
Kingdom 0.95 0.84 0.50 2.21 5.14 1.42 0.77
1638 0 37 948 207 262 28 156
Germany
0.21 0.31 0.19 0.22 0.83 0.20 0.16
250 0 9 86 26 75 9 45
France
0.03 0.07 0.02 0.03 0.24 0.06 0.05
Other 1998 0 35 892 339 504 56 172
European
Countries 0.26 0.29 0.18 0.36 1.59 0.40 0.18
USA, Canada 9557 0 238 2482 770 4930 261 876

and Mexico 1.25 1.98 0.49 0.82 15.53 1.42 0.91
Other 444 0 1877 29 900 300 176 28
Countries 0.06 15.58 0.0 0.95 0.94 1.25 0.03
Source : Population Census of Nepal 2001
115
14.2.3 Immigration versus Emigration
On the basis of the available census data on migration data of 2001 based on foreign citizens in
Nepal and population absent abroad comparison between Nepal and foreign countries can be
made. The comparison has been made between Nepal and visa required countries (excluding
India) indicated emigration exceeding immigration at the national level by 159028 persons
(Table: 14.20). The countries having more of their nationals in Nepal than Nepalese in their
countries were China, Pakistan, and Bhutan, while in other countries and regions, there was more
Nepalese than citizens of these countries in Nepal.
Table 14.23 : International migration to and from Nepal 2001 (includes passport and visa
required countries only).
Foreigners Nepalese
Countries % %
in Nepal Abroad
Total 14103 100.00 173131 100.00
China 1344 9.53 1354 0.78
Pakistan 2628 18.63 558 0.32
Bangladesh 79 0.56 952 0.55
Bhutan 3827 27.14 610 0.35
Sri Lanka 89 0.63 201 0.12
Maldives 77 0.55 370 0.21
Other Countries in Asia 3777 26.78 143257 82.74
European Countries 708 5.02 11904 6.88
North American Countries 628 4.45 9557* 5.52
South American Countries 348 2.47
African Countries 293 2.08
Australia/New Zealand 307 2.18 2491** 1.44
Other Countries 1877 1.08
*Includes USA, Canada and Mexico only

**Includes Australia only
The census data since 1961 indicate that immigration into Nepal is on increase with immigrants
from different countries of the world. The largest number of immigrants into Nepal is from India.
Similarly, largest number of Nepalese has also their destination in India. However, the destination
and magnitude of emigration from Nepal is increasing in the countries beyond India and has been
116
the result of the demand for labour in the oil rich West Asian countries, developed and developing
countries of East and South East Asia as well as in developed countries of Europe, Australia and
Norrth America. Emigration from Nepal has been characterized by both brain and brawn drain
and foreign labour migration has emerged as the major source of earning for the migrant
households and the nation.
The population censuses of Nepal is characterized by lack of consistent plans and policies relating
to quality and importance of population data and other data relating to international migration.
The frequent changes in census schedules and definition on migration both internal and
international has not only resulted in the poor quality and unreliability of migration data for
qualitative analysis, and understanding the trend, magnitude and implication of migration
particularly the international migration to formulate any pragmatic policy on international
migration. The need of consistency, continuity, coordination and monitoring of the data collection
has become very urgent in Nepal particularly in relation to international migration.
117
References
Bishop, R.N.W. (1952). Unknown Nepal, London, Luzac and Co.
Bruce, C.G. (1928). Foreword in The Gurkhas, by W. B. Northey and C. J. Morris, London, J.
Lane
Bruce, C.G. (1934). Himalayan Wanderer, London, Maclehose,
Central Bureau of Statistics (1961). Population Census of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Dahal, D. R. (1978). Indian Ethnic Groups in the Nepal Tarai, CNAS., Kathmandu Nepal.
Davis, K. (1951). The Population of India and Pakistan, New Jersey, Princeton University Press
Department of Statistics (1957). Population Census of Nepal 1952/54, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Dinman (1980), New Delhi, Issue 42. In The Economic Times, 16 August 1980, There is a Data
on the People of Indian Origin and Indians in Different Countries of the World Including
Nepal.
Joshi, S. (1957). Absentee Population in Population Census of Nepal 1952/54, Kathmandu,

Department of Statistics, Part II, pp. 83-86.
Kansakar, V.B.S. (1974), Population Change in Nepal: A Study of Population Mobility during
1952/54 - 1961 Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis, Patna University, Patna, India.
Kansakar, V.B.S. (1973-74). History of Population Migration in Nepal, The Himalayan Review,
Vol. VI, No. 5 & 6.
Kansakar, V.B.S. (1977). Population Censuses and Problems of data Analysis in Nepal, Centre
for Economic Development and Administration, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Kansakar, V.B.S. (1979). Effectiveness of Planned Resettlement in Nepal, Centre For Economic
Development and Administration, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Kansakar, V.B.S. (1979). Internal Migration and Population Distribution in Nepal, Report of the
Mission on Needs Assessment for Population Assistance (Appendix Report Number 21,
UNFPA, pp. 137-147.
118
Kansakar, V.B.S. (1979). A Review of Policy and Research on Migration in Nepal, National
Seminar on Employment and Population Planning )Kathmandu, November 14-16, 1978)
edited by Madhukar Shumshere J. B. Rana, Kathmandu; CEDA
Kansakar, V.B.S. (1982). Emigration, Remittances and Rural Development, Centre for Economic
Development and Administration, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Kansakar, V.B.S. (1984). Indo-Nepal Migration: Problems and Prospects, Contribution to

Nepalese Studies, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Kansakar, V.B.S. (1985). Migration and Employment in the Tea Estates of Nepal, Centre for
Economic Development and Administration, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Kansakar, V.B.S. (1987). Migration into the Tarai Region of Nepal, in Recent Population Trends
in South Asia edited by P. Padmanabha, Leejay Cho and Robert D. Retherford, Delhi, The
Controller of Publication,.
Kansakar, V.B.S. (1989). Population Data Collection Systems in Nepal, International Population
Conference, New Delhi 1989, Volume I New Delhi: International Union for the Scientific
Study of Population, pp.101-110.
Kansakar, V.B.S. (2003). Nepal India Open Border; Prospects, Problems and Challenge, Key
Note Paper presented in the Conference on Nepal India Open Border, Positive and
Negative Aspects and published by Institute of Foreign Affairs, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Manserngh, Nicholas and Moon, Panderaral (eds) (1979). India: The Transfer of Power.1942-47,
Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, London.
Mojumdar, K. (1971). Anglo-Nepalese Relations in the Nineteenth Century, Firma K. l.

Mukhopadhyay, Calcutta, India.
Myron, W. (1971). The Political Demography of Nepal, Seminar on Population and Development,
CEDA Study Series, Seminar Paper No. 2, pp.99-113, Centre for Economic development
and Administration, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Nath, Y. N. and Basnyat, N. M. S. (1964). Itihas Prakashma Sandhiptra Snagraha (Collectrion

of Treaties for the Publication of History), Kathmandu, Nepal.
National Planning Commission, (1975). The Fifth Plan 1975-1980, Kathmandu, Nepal.
New Era, (2000). Migration Policy in Nepal Review and Recommendation, Research Report
submitted to the Ministry of Population, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Northey, W.B and Morris C.J. (1928). The Gurkhas, London, J. Lane
119
CHAPTER 15
INTERNAL MIGRATION IN NEPAL
- Dr. Bal Kumar KC*
15.1 Introduction
Migration is one of the three components of population change. Any change in the volume and
flow of migration will change the size, growth, and other characteristics of the population both in
sending and receiving areas. Migration within a country does not affect its the total size of the
population and growth rate but it affects regional and sub-regional population and growth rate
within the country. But migration into and/or outside the country does affect the size and the
growth of a country's population. Migration unlike fertility and mortality is the least researched
and understood component of demographic dynamics in Nepal despite the fact that many of
Nepal's socio-economic and political problems are interwoven with the process of both internal
and international migration (KC, 1998).
This chapter is devoted to the discussion of internal migration of native born population within
the country, primarily based on the data collected during the 2001 census of Nepal. First, it
examines the volume and pattern of life-time internal migration by zones, regions and districts.
Second, it analyses various streams of migration. Third, it introduces the concept of period
migration. Fourth, the chapter examines some reasons and characteristics of internal migrants and
non-migrants with respect to literacy, occupational and ethnic status.
Before interpreting data on internal migration, this chapter provides geographical and
demographic background of Nepal under which migration plays its role. It also provides
definition of various types of migration used in this chapter. The major argument at the end of this
chapter is that the major population and development issue in Nepal in the first decade of the
twenty-first century is not going to be fertility but population movement (See Skeldon, 1992: 4;
Hugo, 1992; Bose, 1992: 21).
*
Prof. Dr. K.C. is Head of Central Department of Population studies (CDPS), Tribhuwan University, Kirtipur.
121
15.1.1 Geographical Background
Nepal is an independent country situated on the southern slopes of the middle Himalayas. It
stretches over a length of 885 kilometers (east-west) and a width of 145 to 241 kilometers (north-
south) surrounded by the sparsely populated Tibetan autonomous region of China in the north and
India in the east, south (Gangetic plain) and west. The country is divided into three ecological
zones namely mountain, hills and Tarai (Figure 15.1). These zones are broad bands of elongated
horizontal regions, each separated by a combination of altitude, climate, district boundaries and
drainage basins from south to north and east to west.
Figure 15.1: Three zones, five development regions, 15 sub-regions and 75 districts, Nepal
The mountain zone ranging in altitude from 4,877 meters to 8,848 meters has sixteen
administrative districts. Out of the total area of 147,181 square kilometers of land space area of
sovereign Nepal, the mountain zone occupies 35.2 per cent land space with a density of
population of only 32.6 persons per square kilometer [CBS, 2002: 1]. Most part of this zone falls
under the lap of high Himalayas with hostile climate (temperate to cool temperate) with snowy
mountains and peaks. This zone generally inhabits people in agglomerated settlements located far
apart from one another. This zone had only 7.3 per cent of the total population of the country (See
Table 15.1).
122
The hill ranges in altitude from 610 meters to 4,877 meters with moist sub-tropical climate. It is
the meeting place of people coming from the north and the south of the country. It occupies 41.7
per cent of the total area with a population density of 167.1 persons per square kilometer and has
44.3 per cent of the total population. This zone has 39 districts with many of the large urban
centres in the country.
The Tarai zone ranges in altitude of less than 610 meters with humid tropical and sub-tropical
climate. It has 20 districts with only 23.1 per cent of the total area of the country but has a density
of population almost twice greater (329.6 persons per square kilometer) than in the hills. In 2001,
this zone had accommodated 48.4 per cent of the total population of Nepal.
These ecological zones are important in the discussion of the patterns and trends of internal
migration in the country. This is in the sense that there is a mountain zone with sufficient land
space and sparse population due to rugged topography, sloppy terrain and inhospitable
environment and there is the hill zone in between the mountain and Tarai with low agricultural
productivity but is strategically located in terms of defense and development initiatives. The
proportion of area and population in this hill zone almost match but high environmental
degradation, landslides, deforestation, haphazard development of both rural and urban settlement
have made it difficult to develop. But people of all kinds and creed join and run the mainstream of
national life in this zone. The Tarai has a relatively hot climate with adequate rainfall during the
monsoon season. It has rich and fertile agricultural land and has become the prime destination of
the mountain and the hill people of Nepal since the very campaign of malaria eradication during
the late fifties.
These three zones have been sub-divided into 15 regions on the basis of five development regions
and three ecological zones. Then there are 75 administrative districts belonging to three zones and
five development regions. In 2001 census, data on internal migration were provided at the district
level as well as by individual towns. Nepal has now 58 urban centres located in various districts
of Nepal with a total urban population 14 per cent in 2001. Rural to rural migration stream getting
gradually shifted towards rural to urban followed by urban to urban and urban to rural represents
different stages of development of the Nepalese population.
15.1.2 Demographic Background
In 2003, Nepal's population is estimated to have reached 25.1 million with a density of 179
persons per square kilometer [United Nations, 2003]. Nepal ranked 143rd in human development
index of 2003 [UNDP, 2003]. Every two in five persons in Nepal lives below absolute poverty
123
line and every other person in the rural area is poor (NPC, 2003). Very high unemployment and
underemployment rates of 17.4 and 32.3 per cent (NPC, 2003: 58, 99) have compelled people to
remain either under severe poverty or migrate to other places within and outside the country for
better opportunity for livelihood. The population of Nepal grew at an annual rate of 2.25 per cent
between 1991 and 2001 (Figure 15.2) with a sex ratio of 99.8. Nepal has a huge population of
females in the reproductive age group (49.2%) with high fertility rate (4.1 children per woman).
Marriage among girls before the age of 18 years is prevalent. Population momentum created by
the young age population (39.4% below 15 years) will contribute more to population growth and
migration in the country. Eighteen per cent of all births is attributed to women under 20 years of
age in Nepal (United Nations, 2003). This may severely limit the scope of reducing population
growth rate and poverty in Nepal.
Figure 15.2: Annual population growth rate in Nepal, 1911-2001
3.0 2.62
2.28 2.25
2.5 2.05 2.08
2.0 1.64
1.16
1.5
1.0
0.5 0 -0.13 -0.07
0.0
-0.5
1911
1920
1930
1941
1952/
1961
1971
1981
1991
2001
Nepal's demographic indicators are still very low compared to those of the other South Asian
countries (See United Nations, 2003), For example, Nepal at present has a crude birth rate of 33
and a crude death rate of 10. Infant mortality rate of 64.4 and maternal mortality ratio of 539 are
still very high. Mortality under age 5 years is still high at 98 (United Nations, 2003). The literacy
rate for the population 6 years and above has reached 53.7 per cent, while the female literacy of
the same age is very low at 42.5 per cent in 2001. Life expectancy at birth for females is now 61
years and that of males is 60.1 years, registering the life expectancy of 60.8 years for the total
population in the country (CBS, 2003). Females in Nepal are slowly showing the tendency of
living longer than males like in most other countries.
Nepal still has a low level of urbanization compared to many other countries in Asia. Nepal's
urban centres increased from 16 in 1971, 23 in 1981, 33 in 1991 and 58 in 2001. In 2001, Nepal
had 86.1 per cent rural population and 13.9 per cent urban. With increasing number of urban
124
centres and the level of urbanization, Nepal is experiencing increasing volume of both internal
and international migration in the urban areas during the 1990s.
15.1.3 Definitions
Migration: Migration is a spatial mobility of people by changing usual place of residence to a

well-defined destination. A migrant is a person who moves either from his place of birth to
another area or keeps on moving stepwise or circular by changing his residence more or less
frequently by being either seasonal, temporary, semi-permanent or permanent migrant depending
upon the duration of migration and reasons for migration within a defined geographical area.
Life-Time Migration: A life-time migrant is one who has moved from his place of birth to the
present place or destination where he is enumerated at the time of the census irrespective of the
number of times he migrates.
Migration Stream: Number of migrants identified on the basis of their volume within a given
period of time from one geographical area to another such as mountain to hill, hill to Tarai or
Tarai to mountain and hill and mountain to Tarai. Another typical migration stream is usually
measured on the basis of migration from rural to rural, rural to urban, urban to urban and urban to
rural areas.
In-Migrants: In-migrants are defined as those internal migrants who have migrated to the
destination from the origin. All migrants who may have migrated and settled in the destination
from various origins are called in-migrants in the destination.
Out-Migrants: Out-migrants are those internal migrants who leave their place of origin and
migrate to different destination areas. For the district or the place of origin, they are defined as
out-migrants.
Net-Migration: Net-migration is the difference between out-migration and in-migration in any

defined geographical areas within a specified period of time. Districts, for example, may have
either negative or positive net-migration. With positive net-migration, the district gains more
population than it sends out and with net negative migration, the district looses more population
than it receives. Net-migration makes difference in the size of the population in a particular
district but nationally the balance between in and out migration is zero.
125
Gross Migration: Gross migration indicates the magnitude of total mobility in a defined
geographical area or district in this case. This is the sum total of in and out migration and
measures the extent to which people are mobile within a certain period within the geographical
boundary.
Period Migration: Period migration in the 2001 census of Nepal has been defined as those
people 5 years and above prior to the census whose place of residence was different from the
place of enumeration during the census period.
Ecological Zones: Census Bureau of Statistics has delimited ecological zones of Nepal on the
basis of the boundary of administrative districts that are constructed with due consideration of
local topography and drainage basins. The mountain has 16 districts, the hill has 39 and the Tarai
has 20 districts. Inter-zonal migration here refers to migration occurring between these three
zones. Thus larger the migration field, smaller is the volume of migration.
Regions: Regions in this study consist of the cross product of three zones and five development
regions or each of the five development regions split into three sub-regions belonging to the
respective ecological zone. The three zones are mountain, hill and the Tarai and five development
regions are eastern, central, western, mid-western, and far-western. The total inter-regional
migration volume by 15 regions becomes greater than in the case of ecological zones. As the
number of migration field increases, the volume of migration also increases. It is because inter-
regional migration within the mountain, for example, becomes intra-regional for the mountain
zone and vice versa.
Districts: Nepal has 75 districts. The present study frequently addresses the inter-district
migration. This increases the volume of migration substantially and represents intra-regional
migration because one region may have several districts.
Village and Towns: Inter-village migration flow is not available in the 2001 census. One zone
has five regions, one region has many districts, one district has many villages and one village has
nine wards. Nepal has 58 designated urban areas. The census of 2001 collected migration data
that are strictly defined by the district boundary. Hence, even if people moved from rural to urban
and vice versa within that district, it is not recorded even though the rural and urban mobility does
not get confined within the district boundary only. Smaller the field of migration, larger is the
volume of migration.
126
15.2 Population Size and Growth
The first modern census of Nepal was conducted in two phases, eastern half in 1952 and the
western half in 1954. This census recorded about 8.3 million people in the country (Table 15.1,
Figure 15.3). The doubling time of the population based on the 1952/54 census results was 60
years but in 2001 it came down to only 32 years.
Table 15.1 : Population size, growth rate and doubling time, Nepal, 1961-2001
Census Year Total Population Growth Rate Doubling Time

1911 5,638,749 - -
1920 5,573,788 -0.13 -
1930 5,532,574 -0.07 -
1941 6,283,649 1.16 60
1952/54 8,256,625 2.30 31
1961 9,412,996 1.65 42
1971 11,555,983 2.07 34
1981 15,022,839 2.66 26
1991 18,491,097 2.10 33
2001 23,151,423 2.25 32
Population (in '000) Figure 15.3 Population size in Nepal, 1911-2001 23

25,000,000 5 1,4
2 3,1
9 7
9 1,0
20,000,000
1 8,4
9
,83
,0 22
15
15,000,000
83
5,9
,5 5
9 6 11
5 1 2,9
,62 9,4
10,000,000 56
49 8 ,2
,74
9
,78
8
,57
4
8 3 ,6
38 73 32 6 ,2
5 ,6 5,5 5,5
5,000,000
0
1911 1920 1930 1941 1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Year
Source: CBS, 1995.

Source: Table 15.1.
127
15.2.1 Population Distribution and Density
According to 1991 population census the largest share of the population was found in the Tarai
(46.7 %) followed by hill and mountain zones with 45.5 per cent and 7.8 per cent respectively
(Figure 15.4).
Figure 15.4: Distribution of population by ecological zones in Nepal,

1991 and 2001
7.3
7.8
48.4 46.7
45.5
44.3
Mountain Hill Tarai
In terms of land area the Tarai has the lowest share of land (23.1 %), followed by hill (41.7 %)
and mountain (35.2%). The mountain and hill zones had been losing their proportionate share of
population while the Tarai had been gaining this share since 1950’s (Table 15.2).
Table 15.2 : Geographical distribution of population, Nepal, 1952/54-2001

Region 1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Mountain - - 9.9 8.7 7.8 7.3
Hill - - 52.5 47.7 45.5 44.3
Tarai 35.2 36.4 37.6 43.6 46.7 48.4
Total - - 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: CBS, 1995.
The growth rate of population in the Tarai remained consistently higher since the inter-census
period of 1961 and 1971 with a peak during 1971-1981. The growth rates of population in
mountain and hill zones increased with a slight decline in the Tarai during 1991-2001 (Table
15.3).
128
Table 15.3 : Population growth rate by ecological zones, Nepal, 1961-1971, 1971-1981,
1981-1991, and 1991-2001
Ecological Zones
Intercensal Nepal
Mountain Hill Tarai
1961-1971 - - 2.42 2.07
1971-1981 1.36 1.67 4.20 2.66
1981-1991 1.02 1.62 2.79 2.10
1991-2001 1.58 2.00 2.65 2.25
Source: CBS, 1995.
The uneven distribution of population has led to a high disparity in population density in different
ecological zones. The Tarai zone had the highest density of population since 1952/54 followed by
hills and mountains. Population density in Nepal increased dramatically over time reaching at 157
persons per square kilometer in 2001 (Table 15.4). But because of the run away population inside
and outside the country, the density would probably reach at 200 persons per square kilometer by
2005. Increase in the density of population has been dramatically accelerated in all the ecological
zones in 2001 (Figure 15.5).
Table 15.4 : Population density (persons per square kilometre) of Nepal in different
censuses by ecological zones
Census Year Mountain Hill Tarai Total
1952/54 - - 85 56
1961 - - 101 64
1971 22 99 128 79
1981 25 117 193 102
1991 28 137 254 126
2001 33 167 330 157
Source: CBS, 1987, 1995.
Figure 15.5: Density of population by ecological zones, Nepal, 1991 and

350
2001 330
Mountain Hill Tarai Total
Density of Population per sq. km.
300
254
250
200
167
157
137
150 126
100
50 28 33
0
1991 2001
Census Year
129
15.3 Internal Migration
Migration has been an important component of population redistribution in Nepal. People have
been migrating from rural-to-rural and rural-to-urban areas in search of employment and
educational opportunities. Occasional natural calamities like floods and landslides have also
forced people to flee from their birth place to other potential areas for their livelihood. Internally
displaced persons have remained in vulnerable situations expecting urgent rescue and help.
Important causes of internal migration in Nepal have been poverty, inequitable distribution of
income, unemployment, difficult livelihood, and food insecurity.
15.3.1 Age and Sex Structure of Migrants and Non-migrants
Figure 15.6 shows that the age sex structure of the total population of Nepal is broad based. The
0-4 years age group is relatively narrower than the successive two age groups belonging to 5-9
and 10-14 years of age. The pyramid tapers upward getting narrower and narrower demonstrating
a typical pyramid of most developing countries. The large percentage of adolescents and youth
especially, among women indicates that the population in the reproductive age is both ready and
about to be ready for entering reproductive years. This kind of pyramid does not allow population
growth to reduce rapidly unless a vigorous population programmes are implemented for a
sustained period of time.
Figure 15.6 Age-sex structure of total population, non-migrants and migrants, Nepal, 2001
Female Male
130
Female Male Female Male
There is a significant difference between the pyramid of the total population and those of migrants
and non-migrants. There is also a significant difference between the age and sex composition of
migrants and non-migrants. The pyramid of non-migrants is broad based like that of the total
population and it tapers upward but with a cap of 65+ years. The pyramid of migrants is narrow-
based. As expected, migrants are positively selected in term of both age and sex. Especially 20-34
years age group dominates among migrants with domination of males. Surprisingly a proportion
of 65+ age group looks similar to the age group 45-49 years. More economically active
population, higher proportion of elderly (mostly retired) and narrow base of the pyramid among
migrants are quite contrasting to the age and sex composition of non-migrants. Further analysis is
needed to examine in detail the regional and district level variation in the population pyramid.
However, the present picture of the age and sex composition of migrants shows that still there is a
high demand for primary and secondary level schools in the rural areas of origin of migrants.
Nepal has been experiencing increasing volume of internal migration after the control of endemic
malaria in the Tarai (Plain) and Inner Tarai Valleys since the early 1950s. Table 15.5 provides the
volume and percentage of native-born, foreign born and inter-district and inter-regional migration
from 1961 to 2001. From 1961 onward, the absolute volume of inter-district migration increased
by 7 times during the last 40 years and that of inter-regional migration volume increased by 4
times since 1971. Despite broad base of native born population, the percentage increase in both
inter-district and inter-regional migration has been substantial.
131
Table 15.5 : Inter-district and inter-regional life-time migration trends, Nepal, 1961-2001
Year Districts Regions Native Born Foreign Inter- Inter- Inter- Inter-
Born District Regional District Regional
1961 55 10 9,075,376 337,620 422,402 - 4.65 -
1971 75 10 11,218,535 337,448 - 506,925 - 4.52
1981 75 15 14,788,800 234,039 1,272,288 1,038,862 8.60 7.02
1991 75 15 18,046,302 439,488 1,736,808 1,418,206 9.60 7.80
2001 75 15 22,128,842 608,092 2,929,063 2,047,350 13.24 9.25
Source: Niraula, 1995: Table 2 and CBS, 2002.
15.3.2 Inter-Zonal Life-Time Migrants
The census data of 1961 showed 170,137 as inter-zonal migrants [KC, 1998], which increased to
445,128 in 1971 (Table 15.6). The loss of population due to net-migration in the mountain and
hill zone was respectively 39,959 and 359,966, all gained by the Tarai (399,925).
Table 15.6 : Inter-zonal life-time migrants, Nepal, 1971
Place of Enumeration % Out- Net-

Place of Birth
Mountain Hill Tarai Total Migration Migration
Mountain - 15,667 33,990 49,657 11.1 -39,959

Hill 9,258 - 376,074 385,332 86.6 -359,966
Tarai 440 9,699 - 10,139 2.3 399,925
Total 9,698 25,366 410,064 445,128 100.0
% In-migration 2.2 5.7 92.1 100.0
Source: CBS, 2002.
In 1981, Inter-zonal migration volume more than doubled that of the inter-zonal migration volume
of 1971. Out-migration from the mountain increased from 11.1 per cent to 32 per cent and that of
the hill decreased from 86.6 per cent to 64 per cent (Table 15.7). Consequently, the proportion of
in-migration in Tarai decreased in 1981 from the level of 1971 due to increased volume of in-
migration in the hill.
132
Place of Enumeration % Net-

Place of Birth
Mountain Hill Tarai Total Out-Migration Migration
Mountain - 134,254 162,832 297,086 32.0 -261,467
Hill 33,423 - 561,211 594,634 64.0 -424,711
Tarai 2,196 561,211 - 37,865 4.1 686,178
Total 35,619 169,923 724,043 929,585 100.0
% In-migration 3.8 18.3 77.9 100.0
Source: CBS, 2002.
In 1991, the inter-zonal migration volume was 1,228,356. The Tarai gained additional 915,578
persons from the mountain and hill, whereas the mountain and the hill lost 161,655 and 653, 923
persons as result of out-migration to the Tarai (Table 15.8). The comparative picture of the
magnitude of inter-zonal migration from 1971 to 2001 is presented in Figure 15.7.
Place of Enumeration % Net-

Place of Birth
Out-Migration Migration
Mountain Hill Tarai Total
Mountain - 76,503 121,826 198,329 16.1 -161,655
Hill 32,003 - 895,888 927,891 75.5 -753,923
Tarai 4,671 97,465 - 102,136 8.3 915,578
Total 36,674 173,968 1,017,714 1,228,356 100.0
% In-migration 3.0 14.2 82.9 100.0
Source: CBS, 2002.
In 2001 the total volume of inter-zonal migration by three ecological zones increased to 1,727,350
persons (Table 15.9). Females constituted 51 per cent of the total inter-zonal migrants between
1991-2001 [CBS, 2003]. In 2001, mountain (-14.8 net-migration) and hill (-48 net-migration) lost
1,085,862 persons, all gained by the Tarai (+62.8 net migration). Unlike in earlier decades, the
total volume of out-migration from the Tarai zone (14%) has been increasing, especially to the
hills by 2.5 times than in the previous decade. In 2001, the proportion of out-migrants and in-
migrants by gender is similar. Volume of inter-regional migration by 15 regions would be
2,047,350. The difference between in-and-out migration is presented in Figure 15.8 and Appendix
15.1.
133
Figure 15.7 Percentage of life-time migration by ecological zones, Nepal, 1971-2001
Inter-zonal life-tim e m igrants, Nepal, Inter-zonal life-tim e m igrants, Nepal,

1971 % 1881
% 100
100 92.1
86.6 77.9
80 80
In migrants 64.0
In migrants
60 60 Out migrants
Out migrants
40 32.0
40
18.3
20 11.1 20
2.2 5.7 2.3 3.8 4.1
0 0
M ountain Hill Tarai M ountain Hill Tarai
Source: Table 15.7. Source: Table 15.8.
Inter-zonal life-tim e m igrants, Nepal, Inter-zonal life-tim e m igrants,

% 1991 % Nepal, 2001
100 82.9 100
75.5 76.8
80 In migrants 80 In migrants 68.9
60 Out migrants 60 Out migrants
40 40
17.1 20.9
16.1 14.2 14.0
20 8.3 20
3.0 2.3
0 0
M ountain Hill Tarai M ountain Hill Tarai
Source: Table 15.9. Source: Table 15.10.
Table 15.9: Inter-zonal migrants for both sexes, Nepal, 2001

Destination % Out- Net-
Origin
Mountain Hill Tarai Total Migration Migration
Nepal
Mountain - 125,597 169,825 295,422 17.1 -255,103
Hill 33,895 - 1,157,035 1,190,930 68.9 -830,759
Tarai 6,424 234,574 - 240,998 14.0 1,085,862
Total 40,319 360,171 1,326,860 1,727,350 100.0
% In- 2.3 20.9 76.8 100.0
migration
Male
Mountain - 57,170 84,783 141,953 16.8 -127,610
Hill 10,822 - 567,513 578,335 68.4 -400,001
Tarai 3,521 121,164 - 124,685 14.8 527,611
Total 14,343 178,334 652,296 844,973 100.0
% In- 1.7 21.1 77.2 100.0
migration
Female
Mountain - 68,428 85,040 153,468 17.4 -127,511
Hill 23,061 - 589,528 612,589 69.4 -430,746
Tarai 2,896 113,415 - 116,311 13.2 558,257
Total 25,957 181,843 674,568 882,368 100.0
% In- 2.9 20.6 76.4 100.0
migration
Source: CBS, 2002.
134
Figure 15.8 Percentage of in and out-migration by 15 sub-regions, census 2001
Eastern Mountain Eastern Hill Eastern Tarai
Out
In
(10.9%) (24.4%)
In
(14.8%)
Out
Out (85.2%) In
(89.1%)
(75.6%)
Central Mountain Central Hill Central Tarai
Out
Out (32.9%)
In (32.8%)
(12.9%)
In In
Out (67.2%) (67.1%)
(87.1%)
Western Mountain Western Hill

Western Tarai
Out
(11.3%)
In
Out (10.4%)
(57.3%)
Out
In
(89.6%)
(42.7%)
In
(88.7%)
Mid-We stern Mountain Mid-Weste rn Hill Mid-We ste rn Tarai
Out
In (21.2%)
(10.5%) In
Out
(79.8%) (20.2%)
In
Out (78.8%)
(89.5%)
Far-We stern Mountain Far-western Hill Far-We ste rn Tarai Out

(4.5%)
In
In
(9.1%)
(12.6%)
Out Out
In
(87.4%) (90.9%)
(95.5%)
135
15.3.3 Inter-Regional Life-Time Migrants, 1981-2001
In 1981, the total volume of life-time migrants by 15 regions constituted 1,038,862 (Table 15.10).
Among the out-migrants from these 15 regions, the highest proportion originated from eastern hill
(25.5%) followed by eastern mountain (22.7), central hill (14.4%), and western hill (11.5%). The
major destination regions were eastern Tarai (29%), central Tarai (20.6%), western Tarai 10.7%)
and far-western Tarai (8.9). The interrelationship between origin and destination is very obvious
among these 15 regions. Eastern mountain sent highest number of migrants to eastern Tarai
(69,869), western hill (33,890) and central hill (32,602). Majority of migrants from the central
mountain was destined to central hill (10,186) and central Tarai (8,651). Migrants from the
western mountain concentrated in western Tarai (22,659), central Tarai (5,953) and western hill
(5,526). Majority of migrants from the mid-western and far-western mountain had their
destination in far-western Tarai. Out-migrants from each of the five mountain regions have
created a definite migration trajectory through which they tend to migrate to their respective hill
and Tarai regions. This trajectory changed its direction in case of the mountain out-migrants were
destined to central and western hill because these two regions are relatively more developed than
other hill regions.
Major destination areas of the migrants from the eastern hill were eastern Tarai (76.3%) followed
by eastern mountain (8%), central Tarai and central hill (3.7%). Migration trajectory from central
hill to central Tarai (69.8%) and eastern Tarai (10.7%) is the most dominant. This is even more
dominant in case of migrants from the western hill destined to central Tarai (42.9%) and central
Tarai (42.1%). An overwhelming majority of the migrants from mid-western and far-western hill
migrated to mid-western Tarai (57.1%) and far-western Tarai (22.9%), whereas far-western Tarai
is the single most dominating region for receiving 87.2 per cent of the total out-migrants from far-
western hill.
The case of Tarai is different in the sense that horizontal mobility from one region to another
within Tarai is prevalent in the case of eastern to central Tarai, central to eastern Tarai, and mid-
western to far-western Tarai. Otherwise, out-migrants from eastern Tarai to eastern hill and
central hill and from central Tarai to central and western hill created a dominant trajectory. The
total magnitude of out-migration from the western and far-western Tarai is very small in number
indicating that these regions are at the receiving end.
A clear migration trajectory is clearly seen in the case of the inter-regional life-time migrants in
1981. If the same trend is persisting in the successive decades can be seen in the successive
periods.
136
Table 15.10: Life-time migrants by place of birth and place of enumeration for 15 Sub-regions, Nepal, 1981
Mountain Hill Tarai Out- Per
Region
EDR CDR WDR MWDR FWDR EDR CDR WDR MWDR FWDR EDR CDR WDR MWDR FWDR Migration Cent
Mountain
Eastern - 5,558 126 4,655 6,183 18,220 32,602 33,890 18,282 7,971 69,869 16,939 9,567 6,402 5,723 235,987 22.7
Central 53 - 17 12 21 411 10,186 400 102 90 1,146 8,651 224 241 182 21,736 2.1
Western 15 29 - 49 21 96 1,377 5,526 138 100 415 5,953 22,659 1,174 667 38,219 3.7
Mid-Western 12 8 3 - 651 37 185 508 1,153 846 96 163 133 651 1,466 5,912 0.6
Far-Western 6 8 2 580 - 33 131 61 65 1,844 248 197 52 114 9,900 13,241 1.3
Hill
Eastern 21,290 408 58 354 1,352 - 9,766 5,411 2,622 887 202,592 15,270 1,654 1,368 2,328 265,360 25.5
Central 1,047 3,800 101 149 149 3,815 - 4,448 767 440 12,803 83,290 4,010 1,976 2,480 119,275 11.5
Western 65 124 648 158 97 343 5,512 - 1,638 300 2,627 63,210 64,328 6,968 4,086 150,104 14.4
Mid-Western 621 34 9 859 649 121 607 1,537 - 910 327 709 4,549 31,110 12,486 54,528 5.2
Far-Western 17 11 4 145 1,274 52 330 134 2,364 - 347 264 173 971 41,285 47,371 4.6
Tarai
Eastern 639 213 13 142 371 7,414 4,206 2,399 2,351 349 - 18,140 970 672 1,076 38,955 3.7
Central 108 174 18 138 57 713 5,123 6,884 653 195 9,715 - 2,651 1,889 735 29,053 2.8
Western 23 39 78 34 32 99 761 1,174 253 91 332 843 - 613 300 4,672 0.4
Mid-Western 9 16 2 46 13 44 994 158 1,014 95 189 742 430 - 9,486 13,238 1.3
Far-Western 2 3 1 9 16 25 93 42 98 441 129 102 35 215 - 1,211 0.1
In-Migration 23,907 10,425 1,080 7,330 10,886 31,423 71,873 62,572 31,500 14,559 300,835 214,473 111,435 54,364 92,200 1,038,862 100.0
Percent 2.3 1.0 0.1 0.7 1.0 3.0 6.9 6.0 3.0 1.4 29.0 20.6 10.7 5.2 8.9 100.0
Source: KC, 1998.
137
In 1991, the total volume of the inter-regional migration was 1,418,206, which was bigger by
379,344 migrants than in 1981 (Table 15.11). This represented an annual growth rate of 3.1 per
cent. Some significant differences have been noticed in the in-and out-migration pattern between
1981 and 1991. Out-migration from the eastern mountain was the second most dominant
phenomenon from the eastern hill in 1981. The scenario of out-migration changed in 1991. The
magnitude of out-migration was dominated by eastern (22.3%), western (21.6%) and central hill
(21.6%). Even mid-western and far-western hill exceeded other regions in the total volume of out-
migration in 1991.
Out-migrants from eastern mountain heavily concentrated in eastern Tarai (71.9%) and eastern
hill (15.8). This is the first trajectory. From the central mountain, the trajectory was towards
central hill (62.4%) and central Tarai (30%).
In 2001, the total volume on inter-regional migration was 2,047,350 persons with a gross
migration of twice this number (4,094,700). Like in the earlier decades, the migration streams
from one region to another were directed towards their own neighbouring regions (Table 15.12).
Migration from eastern mountain was directed towards eastern hill (21,887), central hill (16,589)
and eastern Tarai (86,028). Migration from the central mountain was directed to central hill
(59,282) and central Tarai (15,123). Similarly, the destination areas for the out-migrants of mid-
western and far-western mountain were mid-western and far-western hill and Tarai. The stream of
out-migration from far-western mountain to far-western hill (59,282) and far-western Tarai
(45,670) was much bigger than in other regions.
Migration from the eastern hill was directed, to a lesser extent, to eastern (12,499) and central
mountain (8,237) and, to a greater extent, to central hill (55,212), eastern Tarai (298,929), and
central Tarai (26,667). From central hill, the migration stream was dominantly directed to central
Tarai (99,563) and was spread moderately to central mountain (8,237), eastern hill (6,213),
western hill (15,490) and eastern (18,458), western (12,706), mid-western (6,659) and far-western
Tarai (5,671). Migration from western hill was heavily concentrated in central hill (66,459) and
central (106,791), western (242,852) and mid-western Tarai (29,071). Mid-western to mid-
western Tarai (96,355) and far-western hill to far-western Tarai (162,316) were the dominant
migration streams between neighbouring regions.
Like in the preceding decades, out-migration from five regions of Tarai was directed more to the
eastern (55,798) and central hill (74152). Tarai to Tarai migration through sub-regions has been
moderate with relatively more concentration in central (29,008), western (13,942) and far-western
Tarai (17,797).
138
Table 15.11: Life-time migrants by place of birth and place of enumeration for 15 sub-regions, Nepal, 1991
Region
Mountain
Eastern - 321 53 34 20 14,923 7,719 378 119 93 67,987 1,309 302 360 950 94,568 6.7
Central 91 - 29 17 22 309 32,802 628 87 57 1,902 15,555 412 418 231 52,560 3.7
Western 1 4 - 15 3 14 2,160 1,807 46 21 38 254 625 94 58 5,140 0.4
Mid-Western 8 9 60 - 1,260 24 462 154 3,808 570 73 72 80 2,808 3,323 12,711 0.9
Far-Western 1 8 0 1,121 - 17 440 92 161 9,612 71 91 88 439 24,286 36,427 2.6
Hill
Eastern 9,738 574 40 68 59 - 26,222 1,339 267 217 256,797 16,701 1,140 710 1,794 315,666 22.3
Central 729 8,575 210 173 122 4,764 - 9,505 822 355 13,805 100,964 7,163 3,996 4,115 155,298 11.0
Western 94 492 1,978 795 147 537 27,971 - 4,253 612 3,050 71,691 165,367 21,504 8,330 306,821 21.6
Mid-Western 12 23 29 1,419 102 55 1,397 4,565 - 2,029 220 675 9,031 84,080 20,493 124,130 8.8
Far-Western 6 11 3 444 6,160 56 1,444 244 6,494 - 213 210 293 2,819 100,727 119,124 8.4
Tarai
Eastern 1,542 531 45 295 135 17,924 22,094 1,454 750 341 - 23,934 1,774 1,514 2,306 74,639 5.3
Central 183 698 86 228 98 1,581 28,217 4,927 738 498 17,430 - 8,816 5,040 3,096 71,636 5.1
Western 10 49 44 56 21 116 3,495 4,391 410 93 463 3,076 - 2,198 788 15,210 1.1
Mid-Western 14 33 6 232 52 75 2,265 821 4,133 197 230 577 2,620 - 16,896 28,151 2.0
Far-Western 10 5 1 34 263 38 747 147 359 1,654 207 204 204 2,252 - 6,125 0.4
In-Migration 12,439 11,333 2,584 4,931 8,464 40,433 157,435 30,452 22,447 16,349 362,486 235,313 197,915 128,232 187,393 1,418,206 100.0
Percent 0.9 0.8 0.2 0.3 0.6 2.9 11.1 2.1 1.6 1.2 25.6 16.6 14.0 9.0 13.2 100.0
Source: CBS, 2002
139
Table 15.12: Life-time migrants by place of birth and place of enumeration for 15 regions, Nepal, 2001
Region
Mountain
Eastern - 220 81 6 9 21,887 16,589 886 174 95 86,028 1,599 752 681 1,439 130,446 6.4
Central 203 - 37 26 8 824 59,282 1,049 206 160 2,390 15,123 659 638 540 81,145 4.0
Western 0 19 - 3 0 8 2,039 1,584 113 15 26 220 738 150 62 4,977 0.2
Mid-Western 0 5 150 - 1,032 13 1,006 190 7,993 510 29 140 262 5,972 5,837 23,139 1.1
Far-Western 0 1 1 607 - 31 1,661 80 295 8,907 51 62 81 676 45,670 58,123 2.8
Hill
Eastern 12,499 689 58 44 76 - 55,212 3,111 434 276 298,929 26,667 1,802 860 2,723 403,380 19.7
Central 863 8,237 353 113 82 6,213 - 15,490 1,659 815 18,458 99,563 12,706 6,659 5,671 176,882 8.6
Western 88 626 2,578 432 178 1,263 66,459 - 6,486 810 4,272 106,791 242,852 29,071 9,088 470,994 23.0
Mid-Western 31 75 147 745 218 191 6,038 4,914 - 1,926 343 906 9,338 96,355 15,756 136,983 6.7
Far-Western 16 20 7 45 5,675 135 3,869 208 4,733 - 559 321 527 4,502 162,316 182,933 8.9
Tarai
Eastern 2,001 691 92 207 192 35,268 55,798 3,369 1,030 530 - 29,008 4,001 2,598 5,755 140,540 6.9
Central 220 1,269 110 151 117 3,876 74,152 11,409 1,868 1,024 22,432 - 13,942 7,152 5,109 142,831 7.0
Western 16 73 62 40 32 312 9,820 10,077 980 165 960 8,158 - 5,262 1,619 37,576 1.8
Mid-Western 20 54 40 265 81 177 7,935 1,648 7,779 411 647 1,749 5,514 - 17,797 44,117 2.2
Far-Western 0 12 0 26 653 132 2,676 427 961 2,750 535 761 638 3,713 - 13,284 0.6
In-Migration 15,957 11,991 3,716 2,710 8,353 70,330 362,536 54,442 34,711 18,394 435,659 291,068 293,812 164,289 279,382 2,047,350 100.0
Percent 0.8 0.6 0.2 0.1 0.4 3.4 17.7 2.7 1.7 0.9 21.3 14.2 14.4 8.0 13.6 100.0
Source: CBS, 2002
140
All regions of Tarai received out-migrants from mountain and hill with net positive migration.
Among the mountain and hill regions, only the central hill region had net positive migration
because of the location of the Kathmandu Valley. Other mountain and hill regions had all net
negative migration. The magnitude of total out-migrants and in-migrants from 1981 to 2001 is
presented in Appendix 15.1.
15.3.4 Inter-District Life-Time Migration
The volume of life-time migration at the district level increased from 1.7 million in 1991 to 2.9
million in 2001. This constituted 13.2 per cent of the total native born population in Nepal [CBS,
2002: Table 7] as against 22 per cent (Inter- VDC) reported in the National Migration Survey of
1996 (KC et al., 1997: 86). This very wide margin was due to the fact that data were collected in
1996 at the village level, whereas the census considered migration phenomenon occurring only at
the district level. When the migration field becomes smaller from the district to the village level,
the total volume of life-time migration increases dramatically because of the dominance of intra-
district migration involving a relatively short distance. For example, the percentage of life-time
migrants among females as the percentage of the total native born population in 1996 was 32.7 as
against only 14.6 in 2001. The similar figure for males in 1996 was 12.1 against 11.9 in 2001
indicating probably the trend of inter-district migration among males. The differences have
resulted in that the 1996 survey reported data by smaller level of spatial unit, VDC, whereas the
census reported the migration data by district. The incidence of higher mobility among females as
revealed in the 1996 survey was that intra-district migration of females for the purpose of
marriage was very prevalent. Most of the mid-western and far-western regions and districts have
more out-migrants than in-migrants with net loss of population. These areas are largely rural and
the most vulnerable with rampant poverty. Also these areas were hard hit by the Maoist
insurgency during the last seven years. Regions and districts of net gain of migration are the
districts with large urban areas like the Kathmandu valley and the Tarai region of Nepal
(Appendix 15.4). It means that migration and poverty are associated with rural-to-urban
migration. Details on the magnitude of in-migration at the district level are presented in Appendix
15.2.
15.3.5 Migration Streams
The 2001 census of Nepal has provided enough information to calculate four streams of migration
within the country (Table 15.13). In Nepal, the major streams of internal migration are rural-to-
rural (68.2%) and rural-to-urban (25.5% in 2001 and 31.2% in 1996). Urban-to-urban (2.8%) and
141
urban-to-rural (3.5) are of lesser importance. Migration streams at the district level are provided in
Appendix 15.3.
Table 15.13 : Rural-urban, urban-urban, rural-rural and urban-rural migration streams by

sub-regions, Nepal, 2001
Migration Streams
Region Total
Rural-Urban Urban-Urban Rural-Rural Urban-Rural
Stream
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
Mountain 2,150 4.5 188 0.4 42,364 89.0 2,884 6.1 47,586
Eastern 1,523 9.1 81 0.5 14,522 86.5 656 3.9 16,782
Central 627 4.7 107 0.8 11,483 85.6 1,204 9.0 13,421
Western 3,516 93.7 237 6.3 3,753
Mid-
Western 3,999 95.2 200 4.8 4,199
Far-
Western 8,844 93.8 587 6.2 9,431
Hill 424,801 38.8 60,031 5.5 565,527 51.6 44,851 4.1 1,095,210
Eastern 16,500 11.4 1,529 1.1 118,905 82.2 7,659 5.3 144,593
Central 334,951 52.3 53,097 8.3 225,908 35.3 26,246 4.1 640,202
Western 61,673 29.4 4,495 2.1 136,518 65.1 6,860 3.3 209,546
Mid-
Western 9,107 12.8 580 0.8 58,657 82.6 2,677 3.8 71,021
Far-
Western 2,570 8.6 330 1.1 25,539 85.6 1,409 4.7 29,848
Tarai 319,334 17.9 21,206 1.2 1,389,956 77.8 55,770 3.1 1,786,266
Eastern 114,262 20.5 7,927 1.4 420,504 75.4 14,841 2.7 557,534
Central 74,202 17.5 6,232 1.5 328,274 77.5 14,846 3.5 423,554
Western 44,475 13.8 2,930 0.9 265,278 82.0 10,714 3.3 323,397
Mid-
Western 27,480 14.2 1,876 1.0 157,394 81.2 7,022 3.6 193,772
Far-
Western 58,915 20.5 2,241 0.8 218,506 75.9 8,347 2.9 288,009
Total 746,285 25.5 81,425 2.8 1,997,847 68.2 103,505 3.5 2,929,062
Source: CBS, 2002.
142
The magnitude of these streams can not be compared with data provided in the previous censuses
as the number of urban centres have drastically increased with many of the newly designated
urban centres being rural in character. Therefore, Nepal still has an overwhelming rural-to-rural
migration. Rural-to-urban migration is gaining more visibility in districts with large urban areas
such as Kathmandu (71.8%), Kaski (82.7%), Lalitpur (56.6%), and Bhaktapur (44.6%). Internal
migrants to urban areas has increased over time from 13.4 per cent in 1971, 16.3 per cent in 1981,
17.2 per cent in 1991 (KC, 1998:20) and 26.8 per cent (746,285 VDC+81,425 municipality) in
2001 (CBS, 2002: Table 21).
15.3.6 Migration to Urban Areas
Nepal has at present 58 designated urban centres with a total population of 3,227,879. Out of this
total, 95.6 per cent are native born and 4.4 per cent are foreign born (Table 15.14). Out of the total
native born (3,085,104), 73.2 per cent (2,257,392) were internal migrants from other districts in
rural areas, whereas 24.2 per cent migrated from other municipalities. These numbers and
associated proportions are strictly based on the definition of internal migrants migrating or
crossing the boundary of one district of birth place to another district of enumeration at the time
of the census in 2001.
143
Table 15.14: Population by place of birth by municipalities, Nepal, 2001
% of
Non- Non- Internal Internal
Native Internal Internal Foreign Born
Native Migrants Migrants Migrants Migrants Foreign
Total Born as % Migrants as Migrants Population as
Towns Born in the as % of from VDC from Towns Born
Population of Total % of Native from Towns % of Total
Population Same Native of Other of Other Population
Population Born of Other Population
District Born Districts Districts
Districts
Mountain Towns (2) 43,705 43,539 99.62 41,201 94.63 2,150 4.94 188 0.43 166 0.38
Col. % 1.4 1.4 1.8 0.3 0.2 0.1
Hill Towns (22) 720,311 706,113 98.03 574,307 81.33 119,348 16.90 12,457 1.76 14,198 1.97
Col. % 22.3 22.9 25.4 16.0 15.3 9.9
Valley Towns (5) 995,966 965,809 96.97 612,781 63.45 305,453 31.63 47,574 4.93 30157 3.03
Col. % 30.9 31.3 27.1 40.9 58.4 21.1
Tarai Towns (29) 1,467,897 1,369,643 93.31 1,029,103 75.14 319,334 23.32 21,206 1.55 98,254 6.69
Col. % 45.5 44.4 45.6 42.8 26.0 68.8
All Towns (58) 3,227,879 3,085,104 95.58 2,257,392 73.17 746,285 24.19 81,425 2.64 142,775 4.42
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: Appendix 15.4.
144
Tarai has 29 urban centres with 45.5 per cent of the total urban population of Nepal. The
Kathmandu Valley with five urban centres including Kathmandu (the capital) has 30.9 per cent of
the total urban population. The hill except the Kathmandu Valley has only 22.3 per cent of the
total urban population even though it has 22 urban centres. The mountain zone has only two urban
centres possessing only 1.4 per cent of the urban population in the country. Detail examination of
the growth and development of urbanization in Nepal has been included in chapter 10 of this
monograph. Aspect of international migration that includes the magnitude and growth of foreign
born population has also been examined in chapter 14 of this monograph.
For the sake of simplicity, four groups of towns belonging to three ecological zones and one
separate region of Kathmandu Valley have been referred here. Ninety five per cent of populations
living in two urban areas of mountain were non-migrants. Internal migrants from rural areas of
other districts constituted 31.6 per cent in Kathmandu Valley towns followed by 23.3 per cent in
Tarai towns and 16.9 per cent in hill towns. Internal migrants to Kathmandu Valley towns from
urban areas of other districts were only about 5 per cent. Internal migrants coming from urban
areas of other district to other zones constituted less than two per cent.
Looking at individual towns in the hill, almost one quarter of the population in Illam, Dhankuta,
and Udayapur comprised of internal migrants from both rural and urban areas of other districts.
Hetauda (33.5%), Pokhara (30.9%) and Birendranagar (29.5%) have been the destination of
migrants from their neighbouring districts (See Appendix 15.4).
In Kathmandu Valley, Kathmandu city had almost 42 per cent internal migrants from both rural
and urban areas of other districts (44% with foreign born) in 2001. If intra-district migration were
to be considered, this city had more than 50 per cent in-migrants in 2001. Of the total Valley in-
migrants, Kathmandu city alone received 78.6 per cent of the total rural migrants and 64.8 per
cent of the urban migrants from other districts (Column percentage from Appendix 15.4 not
shown). Except Bhaktapur, other cities of the Kathmandu Valley such as Lalitpur (32%),
Madhyapur (27.6) and Kirtipur (23.2%) have been receiving increasing proportion of in-migrants
during the last decade.
Among the 22 hill towns, Pokhara in the western hill has 36.4 per cent of all rural in-migrants and
24.6 per cent of all urban in-migrants of other districts followed by Hetauda with 16.1 per cent
from rural and 23.7 per cent from urban. Biratnagar, Dharan and Butwal are the Tarai towns with
more proportion of in-migrants among the Tarai towns. Among towns in the Tarai zone, Butwal
(49%), Bharatpur (42.6%), Dharan (41.3%) and Itahari (41.6%) have been the most dominant in
receiving internal migrants. Many other towns in the Tarai zone have internal migrants exceeding
25 per cent. Birgunj, Gaur, Siddarthanagar, Bhadrapur, Nepalgunj, Kapilbastu, Kalaiya,
145
Malangwa, Jaleswor, Bhadrapur, Mechinagar, Biratnagar, Lahan, Siraha, Janakpur and Damak
have foreign born migrants exceeding five per cent of their respective total population. Even
Lalitpur in the Valley has 7.5 per cent foreign born migrants. In the hill towns Banepa and
Hetauda have about 5 per cent foreign born migrants.
15.3.7 Reasons for Migration
The 2001 census included five main reasons for migration such as trading, agriculture,
employment, study/training and marriage (CBS, 2002: Table 4; See also Niraula, 2003). The
category in other reasons comprised 31.3 per cent (Table 15.15). Marriage (27%), agriculture
(15.8%), employment (10.6%), study and training (9.3%) and trading (6%) follow this. The
dominant reason for migration of females was marriage (47.1%). As a result of this, all other
reasons for migration were dominantly in favour of males because males did not report marriage
as one of their reasons for migration. Among the inter-district migrants, similar proportions in
terms of gender were reported by the 2001 census. However, when the reason in other category
for both sexes and especially, marriage for females assumed such a high proportion that other
reasons were significantly underrated in the response during the census operation. One high
proportion but not unusual is the reason of marriage among foreign born females (65.8%).
Table 15.15: Percentage distribution of internal and foreign migrants by reasons of

residence, Nepal, 2001
Reasons Percent Inter-District Migrants Foreign Born
Trading 6.03 5.53 8.43
Agriculture 15.79 18.08 4.77
Employment 10.58 11.50 6.13
Study/Training 9.33 10.34 4.47
Marriage 26.95 22.99 45.99
Others 31.32 31.55 30.21
Total Number 3,537,155 2,929,064 608,092
Males
Trading 10.26 8.61 22.24
Agriculture 21.25 22.84 9.66
Employment 20.65 21.13 17.12
Others 33.96 32.72 42.91
Females
Trading 2.87 2.97 2.49
Agriculture 11.71 14.12 2.66
Employment 3.05 3.49 1.40
Marriage 47.10 42.13 65.79
Others 29.35 30.58 24.74
Source : CBS, 2002.
146
15.3.8 Duration of Migration
Internal migration in Nepal has been very much a permanent phenomenon as 44.1 per cent of the
total inter-district migrants were living in the destination for more than 10 years in 2001 (CBS,
2002: Table 3). Those staying in the destination for 1-5 and 6-10 years respectively comprised
28.3 and 22.7 per cent (CBS, 2002: Table 3). Migrants staying less than 1 year were 4.9 per cent.
Two third of the total migrants were living in the destination for more than 6 years, whereas 56
per cent had been living since the last ten years (Table 15.16). Especially, females in Tarai
(51.4%) reported to have resided at the place of enumeration for more than ten years. Generally,
migration in Tarai is more permanent than in other regions.
Table 15.16: Internal migration by duration of stay for ecological zones, Nepal, 2001
Ecological Duration of Stay

Total
Zones < 1 Year 1-5 Years 6-10 Years > 10 Years
Both sexes
Mountain 7.7 33.4 21.6 37.3 47,587
Hill 6.5 34.1 24.2 35.3 1,095,210
Tarai 3.8 24.7 21.9 49.7 1,786,266
Nepal 4.9 28.3 22.7 44.1 2,929,063
Males
Mountain 5.3 29.0 21.3 44.4 31,420
Hill 5.5 31.1 24.1 39.3 609,116
Tarai 3.5 25.3 23.0 48.1 958,183
Nepal 4.3 27.6 23.4 44.7 1,598,719
Females
Mountain 12.3 42.1 22.1 23.5 16,167
Hill 7.8 37.7 24.3 30.2 486,094
Tarai 4.1 24.0 20.5 51.4 828,083
Nepal 5.5 29.2 21.9 43.3 1,330,344
Source : CBS, 2002.
Internal migration by duration of stay in the western mountain is relatively a recent phenomenon
in that almost 62 per cent were residing there for less than 5 years in 2001 (Table 15.17). In all
regions of mountain, the duration of stay for majority of migrants was either temporary (less than
one year) or semi-permanent (1-5 years). For other regions in the mountain, it was either semi-
permanent (1-5 years) or permanent (more than 10 years). In all the regions, duration of stay of
internal migrants was either of semi-permanent of 1-5 years or permanent for more than 10 years.
147
Table 15.17: Internal migration by duration of stay for eco-development regions, Nepal,
2001
Duration of Stay
Region Total
< 1 Year 1-5 Years 6-10 Years > 10 Years
Mountain
Eastern 6.5 31.8 20.9 40.9 16,782
Central 6.2 35.8 24.1 34.0 13,422
Western 20.5 41.4 18.8 19.3 3,753
Mid-Western 7.7 33.0 25.6 33.6 4,199
Far-Western 6.9 30.1 18.5 44.4 9,431
Hill
Eastern 6.5 32.7 22.3 38.4 144,593
Central 6.4 34.4 25.9 33.2 640,202
Western 6.4 34.1 21.7 37.8 209,546
Mid-Western 8.0 33.2 20.1 38.7 71,021
Far-Western 6.4 34.5 21.9 37.2 29,848
Tarai
Eastern 3.5 23.4 22.2 50.9 557,535
Central 3.5 24.9 22.0 49.6 423,554
Western 4.3 26.9 21.5 47.3 323,397
Mid-Western 5.8 28.7 22.2 43.3 193,772
Far-Western 2.7 21.8 21.3 54.2 288,008
Total N 142,547 830,259 665,408 1,290,849 2,929,063
Total % 4.9 28.3 22.7 44.1 100.0
Source: CBS, 2002.
15.3.9 Characteristics of Migrants
15.3.9.1 Literacy Status and Educational Attainment of Migrants and Non-

Migrants
A comparison between the literacy status of migrants and non-migrants revealed that among male
migrants 75.8 per cent were literate in 2001, whereas the literacy status among male non-migrants
was 63.2 per cent (Table 15.18). This meant there were more illiterate people among non-
migrants in 2001 (36.6%). Literacy level among female migrants was higher (44.2%) than among
female non-migrants (42%). The proportion of migrants among males having no schooling
(12.1%), primary level of education (21.6%), secondary level of schooling (28.4%) and SLC and
equivalent (14.1%) appeared lower compared to their female counterparts. However, higher
proportion of male migrants than female migrants in certificate and equivalent (11.3% vs. 7.6%),
graduate and equivalent (8.9% vs. 3%), and post-graduate and equivalent (3% vs. 0.7 %)
indicated that female migrants were highly discriminated in higher education above the SLC
148
level. A comparison between the literacy status of male migrants and non-migrants revealed that
higher proportion of male migrants had no schooling (12.1%) than male non-migrants and that
higher proportion of male non-migrants had primary (43.1% vs. 21.6%) and secondary level of
education (31.3 vs. 28.4%). Migrant males were consistently better off in SLC and above level of
education than male non-migrants. A higher proportion of female non-migrants had no schooling
(14.7%) than female non-migrants (7.%). However, among non-migrant females, 51.2 per cent
had acquired primary level of education compared to 26 per cent among female migrants. Female
non-migrants were only one per cent better off than female migrants in secondary level of
education (29.5% vs. 28.4%). The position of female migrants was proportionately better than
female non-migrants in education above the SLC level. The reason behind this can be examined
only by cross tabulating literacy variable with age, duration of stay, ethnicity and other
background variables, which is beyond the scope of this chapter. The literacy status and
educational attainment of both migrants and non-migrants presented here revealed that a
significant discrimination between males and females among both migrants and non-migrants
exists in education. The status of women among both migrants and non-migrants has somewhat
improved in 2001 compared to earlier decades (See Niraula, 1995).
Table 15.18: Distribution of population 6 years and above by literacy, educational

attainment and migration status, 2001
Educational Migrants Non-Migrants

Attainment
Male Percent Female Percent Male Percent Female Percent
Literate 1,110,062 75.80 875,509 44.24 5,132,898 63.15 3,229,960 42.03

Illiterate 346,945 23.69 1,097,177 55.45 2,947,609 36.26 4,395,681 57.20
Not Reported 7,524 0.51 6,096 0.31 47,530 0.58 58,813 0.77
Total 1,464,532 100.0 1,978,782 100.0 8,128,037 100.0 7,684,454 100.0
No Schooling 134,605 12.13 129,062 14.74 394,043 7.68 246,720 7.64

Primary (1-5) 239,642 21.59 229,570 26.22 2,211,271 43.08 1,653,484 51.19
Secondary (6-10) 315,057 28.38 290,819 33.22 1,606,238 31.29 952,171 29.48
SLC & Equivalent 156,420 14.09 124,784 14.25 442,522 8.62 207,858 6.44
Certificate Level & 125,271 11.29 66,392 7.58 253,645 4.94 86,925 2.69
Equivalent
Graduate & 98,393 8.86 26,215 2.99 125,466 2.44 27,090 0.84
Equivalent
Post Graduate & 33,436 3.01 6,389 0.73 29,418 0.57 5,837 0.18
Equivalent
Others 2,003 0.18 1,043 0.12 19,165 0.37 2,904 0.09
Level Not Stated 5,236 0.47 1,235 0.14 51,132 1.00 46,970 1.45
Total 1,110,062 100.00 875,509 100.00 5,132,898 100.00 3,229,960 100.00
Source: CBS, 2002.
149
15.3.9.2 Migration and Occupational Status
In 2001, male migrants were reported to be better off than female migrants as well as male and
female non-migrants in various occupational categories such as senior officials, professionals,
technicians, clerks and office assistants, and service workers. Both male and female non-migrants
were better off than their migrant counterparts in skilled and semi-skilled jobs (Table 15.19).
However, except for skilled and semi-skilled jobs, crafts and related trade and elementary
occupation, female migrants were far behind male migrants in other occupational categories.
Among non-migrant females, 71.1 per cent were involved in skilled and semi-skilled jobs, 14.5
per cent in elementary occupation and 8.7 per cent in craft and related trade. Male non-migrants
were more involved in service work than their female counterparts. Females in both categories of
migrants and non-migrants were less involved in high paying job than the males. Further research
is needed to unravel the real extent of gender discrimination by migration status between males
and females in various occupational groups.
Table 15.19: Distribution of economically active population 10 years of age and over by
migration status, major occupation and sex, 2001
Migrants Non-Migrants
Major Occupation
Male Percent Female Percent Male Percent Female Percent
Legislators, Senior 24,103 2.38 3,834 0.43 24,610 0.54 3,988 0.12
Officials
Professionals 58,309 5.75 23,498 2.63 128,480 2.80 33,376 0.98
Technicians and 58,278 5.74 10,910 1.22 87,398 1.90 13,599 0.40
Associates
Clerks and Office 59,821 5.90 10,457 1.17 115,405 2.51 15,370 0.45
Assistants
Service Workers and 183,510 18.09 78,275 8.75 404,681 8.81 114,539 3.37
Shop
Skilled and Semi- 330,611 32.59 493,108 55.14 2,662,369 57.97 2,415,289 71.06
Skilled
Craft and Related 126,104 12.43 113,778 12.72 381,624 8.31 295,339 8.69
Trade
Plant and Machine 39,002 3.84 6,447 0.72 83,991 1.83 11,915 0.35
Operators
Elementary 133,717 13.18 152,818 17.09 700,659 15.26 492,623 14.49
Occupation
Not Reported 1,037 0.10 1,118 0.13 3,065 0.07 3,135 0.09
Total 1,014,492 100.00 894,243 100.00 4,592,282 100.00 3,399,174 100.00
Source: CBS, 2002.
150
15.3.9.3 Ethnic Composition of Migrants
Table 15.20 presents ethnic composition of migrants in relation to the total population of Nepal by
gender. Among the males, a high proportion of Brahmin (27.6%) and Chhetri (19.3%) were
shown to be migratory as against only 13.8 and 16.1 per cent in the total population. A higher
proportion of Brahmin than Chhetri among both male and female migrants contrary to the
proportion of these two groups in the total population might have resulted from a very high
proportion of male population grouped in other category (23.8%). The proportion among male
migrants in other category was reported to be only 13.8 per cent, a ten percentage point difference
between the proportion of migrations and that of the total population. In case of total population
of females, the other category was 22.6 per cent, whereas other category among female migrants
was only 20.6 per cent, only two percentage point difference. Since the ethnic distribution by
migration status can be examined only in relation to the ethnic distribution of the total population,
the proportions allocated for other caste and ethnic groups could have been severely distorted [See
chapter on ethnicity in this monograph]. For example, Brahmin and Chhetri together constituted
30 per cent of the total male population, whereas these two groups constituted 46.9 per cent of the
total male migrants. Similarly, these groups comprised of 30.5 per cent of the total female
population, similar to the proportion of total male population. Among female migrants, these two
groups constituted 39.2 per cent. The spurious nature of data tends to convey that Brahmin and
Chhetri among males were 16.9 percentage point more migratory than their actual distribution in
the total population. Similarly, females tend to be more migratory by 8.7 percentage points than
their actual distribution in the total population. This leads one to believe that males are more
migratory than females by discounting the effect of a huge proportion of marriage migration by
females.
Table 15.20: Ethnic composition of migrants and total population by gender

Caste/Ethnic Male Female
Group Migrants % Total % Migrants % Total %
Brahmin (hill) 414,263 (26.48) 27.63 1,564,365 13.77 446,553 (28.22) 22.40 1,582,369 13.91
Chhetri 289,192 (15.82) 19.29 1,827,628 16.09 334,089 (17.75) 16.76 1,881,636 16.54
Newar 98,277 (12.69) 6.55 774,560 6.82 141,996 (18.92) 7.12 783,487 6.89
Magar 95,437 (13.26) 6.36 719,650 6.34 112,067 (14.46) 5.62 775,120 6.81
Tamang 66,098 (11.76) 4.41 562,220 4.95 72,805 (12.85) 3.65 566,733 4.98
Kami 42,766 (10.57) 2.85 404,621 3.56 56,419 (12.98) 2.83 434,599 3.82
Rai 44,3361 (15.28) 2.96 290,150 2.55 50,159 (16.66) 2.52 301,140 2.65
151
Caste/Ethnic Male Female
Group Migrants % Total % Migrants % Total %
Gurung 43,688 (17.04) 2.91 256,381 2.26 54,123 (18.99) 2.72 285,028 2.51
Tharu 37,976 (5.96) 2.53 637,399 5.61 46,872 (7.47) 2.35 627,084 5.51
Thakuri 33,071 (19.71) 2.21 167,797 1.48 41,269 (23.83) 2.07 173,168 1.52
Damai 21,158 (11.41) 1.41 185,491 1.63 30,184 (15.18) 1.51 198,804 1.75
Limbu 22,439 (14.24) 1.50 157,604 1.39 33,050 (19.73) 1.66 167,477 1.47
Yadav 18,695 (4.27) 1.25 438,164 3.86 46,150 (11.97) 2.32 385,681 3.39
Sanyashi 15,789 (15.39) 1.05 102,606 0.90 22,634 (21.14) 1.14 107,047 0.94
Mushlim 31,489 (6.80) 2.10 462,985 4.08 68,453 (15.83) 3.43 432,366 3.80
Brahmin(Tarai) 17,811 (17.96) 1.19 99,144 0.87 26,990 (30.73) 1.35 87,818 0.77
Others 207,045 (7.64) 13.81 2,708,614 23.84 409,552 (15.83) 20.55 2,588,000 22.75
Total 1,499,532 100.0 11,359,378 100.0 1,993,364 100.0 11,377,556 100.0
(13.52) (17.52)
Source: CBS, 2002.

Note: Figures in parentheses indicate column percentage.
In 1991, the other category for total male population was 22.4 per cent and that of the total
population of females was 19.8 per cent (See Niraula, 1995: 161). The proportion of male
migrants among Chhetri as being only 19.3 per cent in 2001 as against 22.2 per cent in 1991 and
that of female migrants being 16.8 per cent in 2001 as against 21.1 per cent in 1991 indicates that
during the 1990s, a large number of Chhetri caste among both males and females might have
migrated to urban areas of Nepal for work and education. Some of them even might have
migrated abroad.
Table 15.20 also shows migrants as proportion of the total population for both males and females.
Hill Brahmin (26.5%), exceeded 25 per cent among male migrants followed by Thakuri (19.7%),
Tarai Brahmin (18%), Gurung (17%), Chhetri (15.8%), Sanyashi (15.4%) and Rai (15.3%). Other
migrant groups among males exceeding 10 per cent were Newar, Magar, Tamang, Kami, Damai
and Limbu. The least migratory group among male migrants belonged to Tharu, Muslim and
Yadav. Among female migrants, Tarai Brahmin was the most dominant caste (30.7%) followed
by hill Brahmin (28.2%), Thakuri (23.8%), Sanyashi (21.1%), Limbu (19.7%), Gurung (19%),
Newar (18.9%), Chhetri (17.8%)Rai (16.7%), Mushlim (15.8%), and Damai (15.2%). Tharu and
Yadav were the least migratory among female migrants.
152
15.3.10 Period Migration
Period migration simply indicates the mobility patterns of internal migrants five years ago in
terms of where they were living then. The magnitude of period migration representing those
native born population 5 years and above by place of residence five years ago for 15 regions is
presented in Table 15.21. Five years ago 95 per cent of those destined to foreign countries went to
India. Internally, the migration pattern was overwhelmingly rural, especially in the Tarai. Urban
bound migration five years ago was dominant among internal migrants in the mountain and hill.
In 1991 census, this period migration was limited to one year ago and hence can not be compared
with the period migration in 2001 census.
Table 15.21: Native born population 5 years of age and above by place of residence 5 years
ago for regions, Nepal, 2001
Non- Different District Foreign Country

Migrant
Region
as % of Other
Total Rural Urban Total India
Native Born Countries
Mountain
Eastern 98.7 4,631 89.7 10.3 536 80.8 19.2
Central 99.2 3,770 80.2 19.8 399 92.2 7.8
Western 92.7 1,655 85.2 14.7 39 69.2 30.8
Mid-Western 99.1 1,283 88.1 11.9 80 81.3 18.8
Far-Western 99.2 2,571 80.0 20.0 645 90.2 9.9
Hill
Eastern 97.4 37,845 87.5 12.6 2,699 90.7 9.3
Central 94.4 176,039 84.1 15.9 11,259 88.2 11.8
Western 97.7 57,118 89.9 10.1 9,076 90.0 10.0
Mid-Western 98.3 18,731 89.2 10.8 1,637 88.3 11.7
Far-Western 98.9 7,637 85.4 14.6 1,722 93.3 6.7
Tarai
Eastern 97.0 86,327 90.4 9.6 18,375 97.0 3.0
Central 98.1 64,937 89.4 10.6 19,585 97.3 2.7
Western 95.8 63,700 92.4 7.6 13,406 97.0 3.0
Mid-Western 96.2 40,265 92.7 7.3 4,640 94.7 5.3
Far-Western 95.7 36,852 93.7 6.3 4,070 98.2 1.8
Total 97.0 603,361 88.6 11.4 88,168 94.5 5.6
Source: CBS, 2002.
153
In all, 88.6 per cent internal migrants five years ago were living in the rural areas of Nepal and
only 11.4 per cent were living in the urban areas. After 1996, 23 more urban centres were added
to the list of 33 urban areas in 1991 and 3 in 1992. Hence, the period migration is indicative of
rural and urban residence five years ago based on 36 urban areas. Any conclusive analysis on the
volume and pattern of the period migration based on this limited information can not be carried
out at this stage, nor can it be compared with the volume, trends and characteristics of life-time
migration. A separate analysis on period migration based on the census data of 2001 is suggested.
Internal migration has led to both positive and negative social and economic implication for the
place of origin and destination. Initially, low density and economic potentialities in Tarai area
prompted migration from the mountain and hill to the Tarai. However, at present Tarai has low
capacity to absorb additional population. Urban areas are also overcrowded through rural- to-
urban migration. The Tenth Plan has emphasized on balanced spatial distribution of population by
promoting socio-economic development both in the sending and receiving areas.
15.4 Migration and Development
A number of development variables are found useful for interpreting both internal and
international migration. Three levels of development indicators such as an overall composite
index, composite indices, and individual indices related to poverty and deprivation, socio-
economic development, and women's empowerment have been used to examine their
interrelationships with migration variables (See ICIMOD, 1997; KC, 2003).
Gross mobility is positively associated with development. More developed districts in terms of
socio-economic development, women's empowerment, and other development variables have
higher inter-district migration. Among the composite indices, HDI, GDI, OCI, and SEIDI are the
ones which have correlation coefficients of .50 or higher. At the individual level, all the
development variables are positively correlated with migration variables. The deprivation
variables such as child illiteracy rate (r=-.4185), child labour rate (r=-.3421), households without
land and with a marginal farm (r=-.2788), infant mortality rate (r=-.3778), and share of girls
dropouts at primary school (r=-.2471) are negatively correlated with gross mobility. Among the
variables used, gender imbalance ratio in literacy, mean years of schooling, and per capita income
are significantly correlated with migration variables. Except three deprivation variables, all other
variables are positively correlated with in-migration. Negative correlation coefficients indicated
that non-migration of a district is associated with lower level of development.
154
15.5 Summary and Conclusion
15.5.1 Summary
In 2001, Nepal had a population of 23.15 million with an annual growth rate of 2.25 per cent.
High fertility rate of 4.1 children per woman and a huge population in the reproductive age will
continue to exasperate poverty and increase migration in Nepal.
In 2003, Nepal's population is estimated to have reached 25.1 million with a density of 179
persons per square kilometer. Nepal ranked 143rd in human development index of 2003. Every
two in five persons in Nepal lives below absolute poverty line and every other person in the rural
area is poor. Poverty, high unemployment and underemployment (17.4 and 32.3%) have
compelled people to remain either under severe poverty or migrate to other places within and
outside the country for better opportunity for livelihood.
The uneven distribution of population has led to a high disparity in population density in different
ecological zones. The Tarai zone had the highest density of population since 1952/54 followed by
hills and mountains. Population density in Nepal increased dramatically over time reaching 157
persons per square kilometer in 2001 and would reach 200 persons per square kilometer by 2005
at the present rate of population growth rate.
The absolute volume of inter-district migration increased by 7 times during the last 40 years and
that of inter-regional migration volume increased by 4 times since 1971. The volume of life-time
migration at the district level increased from 1.7 million in 1991 to 2.9 million in 2001. This
constituted 13.2 per cent of the total native born population in Nepal. Migration streams from one
region to another were directed towards their own neighbouring regions.
Preliminary analysis suggests that there is a high incidence of poverty in the regions experiencing
net negative migration and that regions of in-migration are relatively better off in development
indicators. People in Nepal are migrating from poverty stricken rural areas of low density to urban
areas of high density and to areas of fertile agricultural land in the Tarai.
In Nepal, the major streams of internal migration are rural-to-rural (68.2%) and rural-to-urban
(25.5% in 2001 and 31.2% in 1996). Urban-to-urban (2.8%) and urban-to-rural (3.5) are of lesser
importance. Nepal has at present 58 designated urban centres with a total population of 3,227,879.
Out of this total, 95.6 per cent were native born and 4.4 per cent were foreign born in 2001. Out of
155
the total native born (3,085,104), 73.2 per cent (2,257,392) were internal migrants from other
districts in rural areas, whereas 24.2 per cent migrated from other municipalities. Internal
migrants from rural areas of other districts constituted 31.6 per cent in Kathmandu Valley towns
followed by 23.3 per cent in Tarai towns and 16.9 per cent in hill towns.
The 2001 census included five main reasons for migration such as trading, agriculture,
employment, study/training and marriage. The category in other reasons comprised 31.3 per cent.
Marriage (27%), agriculture (15.8%), employment (10.6%), study and training (9.3%) and trading
(6%) follow this. The dominant reason for migration of females was marriage (47.1%). Important
causes of internal migration in Nepal not captured by the census data have been poverty,
inequitable distribution of income, unemployment, difficult livelihood, and food insecurity.
Internal migration in Nepal has been very much a permanent phenomenon as 44.1 per cent of the
total inter-district migrants were living in the destination for more than 10 years in 2001. Those
staying in the destination for 1-5 and 6-10 years respectively comprised 28.3 and 22.7 per cent.
Migrants staying less than 1 year were 4.9 per cent. Two third of the total migrants were living in
the destination for more than 6 years, whereas 56 per cent had been living since the last ten years.
A comparison between the literacy status of migrants and non-migrants in 2001 revealed that
among male migrants 75.8 per cent were literate in 2001, whereas the literacy status among male
non-migrants was 63.2 per cent. Literacy level among female migrants was higher (44.2%) than
among female non-migrants (42%). Higher proportion of male migrants than female migrants in
certificate and equivalent (11.3% vs. 7.6%), graduate and equivalent (8.9% vs. 3%), and post-
graduate and equivalent (3% vs. 0.7 %) indicated that female migrants were highly discriminated
in higher education above the SLC level.
In 2001, male migrants were better off than female migrants as well as male and female non-
migrants in various occupational categories such as senior officials, professionals, technicians,
clerks and office assistants, and service workers.
A high proportion of Brahmin (27.6%) and Chhetri (19.3%) were reported to be migrants in 2001.
Hill Brahmin exceeded 25 per cent among male migrants followed by Thakuri (19.7%), Tarai
Brahmin (18%), Gurung (17%), Chhetri (15.8%), Sanyashi (15.4%) and Rai (15.3%). Other
migrant groups among males exceeding 10 per cent were Newar, Magar, Tamang, Kami, Damai
and Limbu. The least migratory group among male migrants belonged to Tharu , Muslim and
Yadav. Among female migrants, Tarai Brahmin was the most dominant caste (30.7%) followed
156
by hill Brahmin (28.2%), Thakuri (23.8%), Sanyashi (21.1%), Limbu (19.7%), Gurung (19%),
Newar (18.9%), Chhetri (17.8%)Rai (16.7%), Mushlim (15.8%), and Damai (15.2%). Tharu and
Yadav were the least migratory among female migrants.
In all, 88.6 per cent internal migrants five years ago were living in the rural areas of Nepal and
only 11.4 per cent were living in the urban areas. A number of development variables are found to
be associated with migration variables. The correlation coefficients show significant relationships
of development indices with migration variables. In-migration and net positive migration show
positive signs of development. Even emigration tends to be good for the country in terms of
reducing unemployment and increasing remittances. Any poverty strategy in Nepal is bound to be
more successful with a strong component of migration policy integrated with it.
Further research in this area should focus on developing more recent indicators of development
and relating these with migration at the very district level and below. Poverty mapping exercise
should be incorporated with spatial distribution of in- and-out-migrants as well as foreign born
and absentee population with special focus on gender and children. Migration and the spread of
HIV/AIDS should be examined in relation to its effect on non-migrant population.
15.5.2 Conclusion
In 2003, Nepal's population is estimated to have reached 25.1 million with a density of population
approaching 200 persons per square kilometer by 2005.
Every two in five persons in Nepal lives below absolute poverty line and every other person in the
rural area is poor. Even if the present level of poverty (38%) were reduced to 30 per cent, the
absolute number of people below the poverty line will not decrease because of run away
population growth rate. Only those under extreme poverty will remain in the villages but a large
majority will migrate.
High unemployment and underemployment will force people to remain either under severe
poverty or migrate to other places within and outside the country for better opportunity for
livelihood.
The volume of inter-district migration may double in the next census from the present 2.9 million.
Urban areas will be the destination of more than 50 per cent in-migrants. This will create a severe
shortage of services and security in urban areas, especially in the valley towns.
157
• Important causes of internal migration in Nepal in the present decade will poverty,
inequitable distribution of income, unemployment, difficult livelihood, and food insecurity.
This will push more and more people to foreign countries.
• Internal migration in Nepal has been very much a permanent phenomenon as 44.1 per cent
of the total inter-district migrants were living in the destination for more than 10 years in
2001. Those staying in the destination for 1-5 and 6-10 years respectively comprised 28.3
and 22.7 per cent. Migration for less than five years is picking up and will dominate in the
future.
Migrants are more literate than non-migrants and the level of education in general among migrant
males is higher than that of female migrants. Female migrants will increase in the future for
aspiration of higher education in order to bridge the gap of gender discrimination or face the
consequences of severe social and economic problems in the origin, especially among
adolescents. If the latter occurs, there will be an increasing number of child labour migrations in
the urban areas.
Out-migration of hill ethnic groups both to urban areas and abroad will dominate with both
negative and positive consequences. In urban areas, poor and non-migrants will not compete with
returnees for space with extremely high land value and exorbitant cost of other services. This will
benefit the government as a source of revenue. It will, however, exacerbate urban population
density unless the government initiates alternate urban land use zoning for accommodating in-
migrants. The present scheme of commercial housing in urban areas is only for the rich people
with a price twice greater than the actual cost which the middle class and the poor can not afford.
Economy housing scheme heavily subsidized by the government for the middle class and the poor
will be inevitable in order to avoid public unrest and increase confidence in the government.
In-migration and net positive migration show positive signs of development. Even emigration
tends to be good for the country in terms of reducing unemployment and increasing remittances.
Any poverty strategy in Nepal is bound to be more successful with a strong component of
migration policy integrated with it.
Further research in this area should focus on developing more recent indicators of development
and relating these with migration at the village and the district level. Consequences rather than
causes of migration in the urban areas, especially in the Kathmandu Valley would be an important
topic for further investigation.
158
References
Bose, A. (1992). Review of the Trends and Patterns of Rural-Urban Migration: Outline of a
Regional Study, Paper Presented at the Expert Group Meeting on Trends, Patterns and
Implications of Rural-Urban Migration, Bangkok, 3-6 November 1992.
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) (1967). Population Census 1961, National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) (1984), Population Census 1981, National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) (1987), Population Monograph of Nepa , National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) (2002), National Population Census, National Report,
Hugo, G. (1992). Migration and Rural-Urban Linkages in the ESCAP Region, Paper Presented at
the Pre-Conference Seminar, Seoul, January 1992.
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) (1997), Districts of Nepal,
Indicators of Development, Kathmandu, Nepal.
KC, B.K. et al. (1997). Migration Situation in Nepal, Central Department of Population Studies,
Kathmandu, Nepal.
KC, B. K. (1998). Trends, Patterns and Implications of Rural-to-Urban Migration in Nepal,

Kathmandu, Nepal.
KC, B.K. (2003), Migration, Poverty and Development in Nepal Economic Commission for Asia
and the Pacific.Bangkok, Thailand.
Ministry of Population and Environment (MOPE) (1997). Status of Population in Nepal

Kathmandu, Nepal.
National Planning Commission (NPC) (2003). The Tenth Plan, 2002-2006, Kathmandu, Nepal.
159
Niraula, B. (1995). Internal Migration, Population Monograph of Nepal, Central Bureau of
Skeldon, R. (1992). International Migration in the ESCAP Region: A Policy Oriented Approach,
Asia-Pacific Population Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 3-22.
Skeldon, R. (1997). Rural to Urban Migration and Its Implications for Poverty Alleviation, Asia-
Pacific Population Journal, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 3-16.
Skeldon, R. (2002). Migration and Poverty. Asia-Pacific Population Journal, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp.
67-82.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2003). Human Development Report, New
York.
United Nations (UN) (2003). World Population, 2003, Population Division, Department of
Economic and Social Affairs, New York.
160
Appendix 15.1: In-migration, out-migration, net-migration and gross-migration by regions, Nepal, 1981-2001
2001 1991 1981
Region In- Out- Net- Gross In- Out- Net- Gross In- Out- Net- Gross-
Migrants Migrants Migration Migration Migrants Migrants Migration Migration Migrants Migrants Migration Migration
Mountain 259,894
Eastern 15,957 130,446 -114,489 146,403 12,439 94,568 -82,129 107,007 23,907 235,987 -212,080
Central 11,991 81,145 -69,154 93,136 11,333 52,560 -41,227 63,893 10,425 21,736 -11,311 32,161
Western 3,716 4,977 -1,261 8,693 2,584 5,140 -2,556 7,724 1,080 38,219 -37,139 39,299
Mid-Western 2,710 23,139 -20,429 25,849 4,931 12,711 -7,780 17,642 7,330 5,912 1,418 13,242
Far-Western 8,353 58,123 -49,770 66,476 8,464 36,427 -27,963 44,891 10,886 13,241 -2,355 24,127
Hill
Eastern 70,330 403,380 -333,050 473,710 40,433 315,666 -275,233 356,099 31,423 265,360 -233,937 296,783
Central 362,536 176,882 185,654 539,418 157,435 155,298 2,137 312,733 71,873 119,275 -47,402 191,148
Western 54,442 470,994 -416,552 525,436 30,452 306,821 -276,369 337,273 62,572 150,104 -87,532 212,676
Mid-Western 34,711 136,983 -102,272 171,694 22,447 124,130 -101,683 146,577 31,500 54,528 -23,028 86,028
Far-Western 18,394 182,933 -164,539 201,327 16,349 119,124 -102,775 135,473 14,559 47,371 -32,812 61,930
Tarai
Eastern 435,659 140,540 295,119 576,199 362,486 74,639 287,847 437,125 300,835 38,955 261,880 339,790
Central 291,068 142,831 148,237 433,899 235,313 71,636 163,677 306,949 214,473 29,053 185,420 243,526
Western 293,812 37,576 256,236 331,388 197,915 15,210 182,705 213,125 111,435 4,672 106,763 116,107
Mid-Western 164,289 44,117 120,172 208,406 128,232 28,151 100,081 156,383 54,364 13,238 41,126 67,602
Far-Western 279,382 13,284 266,098 292,666 187,393 6,125 181,268 193,518 92,200 1,211 90,989 93,411
NEPAL 2,047,350 2,047,350 - 4,094,700 1,418,206 1,418,206 - 2,836,412 1,038,862 1,038,862 - 2,077,724
Source: KC, 1998; CBS, 2002.
161
Appendix 15.2: In-migration by sex and district, Nepal, 2001
Population In-Migration as a Percentage of District Population
S.
Districts Total Male Female Total Male Female
No.
No. No. No. No. % No. % No. %
1. Taplejung 134,698 66,205 68,493 3,972 2.95 821 1.24 3,152 4.60
2. Sankhuwasabha 159,203 77,853 81,350 8,450 5.31 3,140 4.03 5,311 6.53
3. Solukhumbu 107,686 53,173 54,513 4,358 4.05 1,382 2.60 2,978 5.46
4. Panchthar 202,056 99,042 103,014 12,350 6.11 3,055 3.08 9,297 9.02
5. Ilam 282,806 142,434 140,372 32,039 11.33 14,388 10.10 17,651 12.57
6. Dhankuta 166,479 81,841 84,638 22,181 13.32 9,839 12.02 12,342 14.58
7. Terhathum 113,111 54,932 58,179 9,350 8.27 1,735 3.16 7,615 13.09
8. Bhojpur 203,018 97,762 105,256 7,021 3.46 1,722 1.76 5,299 5.03
9. Okhaldhunga 156,702 75,361 81,341 4,736 3.02 673 0.89 4,062 4.99
10. Khotang 231,385 112,821 118,564 5,769 2.49 1,210 1.07 4,559 3.85
11. Udayapur 287,689 143,756 143,933 51,149 17.78 24,713 17.19 26,436 18.37
12. Johanna 633,042 314,627 318,415 162,293 25.64 78,453 24.94 83,839 26.33
13. Mooring 843,220 422,895 420,325 181,981 21.58 84,505 19.98 97,476 23.19
14. Sensor 625,633 315,530 310,103 159,785 25.54 74,388 23.58 85,399 27.54
15. Spatter 570,282 291,409 278,873 18,679 3.28 5,600 1.92 13,079 4.69
16. Siraha 569,880 292,679 277,201 34,796 6.11 10,941 3.74 23,855 8.61
17. Dolakha 175,912 86,110 89,802 4,383 2.49 1,877 2.18 2,507 2.79
18. Sindhupalchok 293,719 146,341 147,378 6,222 2.12 1,459 1.00 4,763 3.23
19. Rasuwa 44,731 23,355 21,376 2,817 6.30 1,280 5.48 1,537 7.19
20. Sindhuli 277,259 138,037 139,222 27,393 9.88 12,936 9.37 14,457 10.38
21. Ramechhap 212,408 100,853 111,555 6,109 2.88 1,022 1.01 5,087 4.56
22. Kavre 385,672 188,947 196,725 33,514 8.69 8,741 4.63 24,772 12.59
23. Lalitpur 337,785 172,455 165,330 68,512 20.28 30,620 17.76 37,892 22.92
24. Bhaktapur 225,461 114,798 110,663 40,645 18.03 17,967 15.65 22,678 20.49
25. Kathmandu 1,081,845 576,010 505,835 346,191 32.00 187,466 32.55 158,724 31.38
26. Nuwakot 288,478 142,731 145,747 12,366 4.29 4,027 2.82 8,339 5.72
27. Dhading 338,658 165,864 172,794 13,949 4.12 3,072 1.85 10,878 6.30
28. Makwanpur 392,604 199,144 193,460 91,523 23.31 45,396 22.80 46,126 23.84
29. Dhanusha 671,364 349,422 321,942 71,014 10.58 31,017 8.88 39,997 12.42
30. Mahottari 553,481 287,905 265,576 30,241 5.46 7,490 2.60 22,753 8.57
31. Sarlahi 635,701 329,182 306,519 51,874 8.16 20,814 6.32 31,061 10.13
32. Rautahat 545,132 282,246 262,886 26,229 4.81 7,500 2.66 18,728 7.12
33. Bara 559,135 289,397 269,738 49,624 8.88 17,144 5.92 32,481 12.04
34. Parsa 497,219 260,411 236,808 32,044 6.44 13,702 5.26 18,342 7.75
35. Chitwan 472,048 235,084 236,964 162,528 34.43 80,343 34.18 82,185 34.68
36. Manang 9,587 5,034 4,553 1,253 13.07 879 17.46 373 8.19
37. Mustang 14,981 8,180 6,801 2,500 16.69 1,896 23.18 604 8.88
38. Gorkha 288,134 134,407 153,727 11,667 4.05 4,214 3.14 7,453 4.85
39. Lamjung 177,149 83,406 93,743 10,877 6.14 2,929 3.51 7,948 8.48
162
Population In-migration as a percentage of district population
S.
Districts Total Male Female Total Male Female
No.
No. No. No. No. % No. % No. %
40. Tanahu 315,237 146,788 168,449 32,482 10.30 13,009 8.86 19,472 11.56
41. Syangja 317,320 143,619 173,701 15,545 4.90 4,334 3.02 11,212 6.45
42. Kaski 380,527 184,995 195,532 59,507 15.64 26,842 14.51 32,664 16.71
43. Myagdi 114,447 53,178 61,269 3,965 3.46 1,293 2.43 2,672 4.36
44. Parbat 157,826 72,942 84,884 12,685 8.04 2,263 3.10 10,422 12.28
45. Baglung 268,937 123,528 145,409 17,668 6.57 5,607 4.54 12,061 8.29
46. Gulmi 296,654 133,771 162,883 13,105 4.42 2,064 1.54 11,041 6.78
47. Palpa 268,558 125,068 143,490 24,483 9.12 9,457 7.56 15,026 10.47
48. Arghakhanchi 208,391 96,349 112,042 7,560 3.63 1,228 1.27 6,332 5.65
49. Nawalparasi 562,870 278,257 284,613 97,539 17.33 43,038 15.47 54,500 19.15
50. Rupandehi 708,419 360,773 347,646 189,327 26.73 93,507 25.92 95,820 27.56
51. Kapilbastu 481,976 247,875 234,101 36,532 7.58 16,288 6.57 20,243 8.65
52. Dolpa 22,071 11,137 10,934 773 3.50 510 4.58 263 2.41
53. Jumla 69,226 35,759 33,467 1,449 2.09 631 1.76 819 2.45
54. Kalikot 11,510 6,291 5,219 358 3.11 143 2.27 215 4.12
55. Mugu 31,465 16,134 15,331 724 2.30 376 2.33 348 2.27
56. Humla 40,595 20,962 19,633 896 2.21 146 0.70 749 3.82
57. Pyuthan 212,484 98,390 114,094 4,376 2.06 864 0.88 3,512 3.08
58. Rolpa 210,004 101,592 108,412 2,854 1.36 802 0.79 2,053 1.89
59. Rukum 188,438 95,432 93,006 956 0.51 266 0.28 690 0.74
60. Salyan 60,643 30,958 29,685 1,185 1.95 469 1.51 715 2.41
61. Surkhet 269,870 133,941 135,929 55,822 20.68 29,144 21.76 26,677 19.63
62. Dailekh 225,201 110,125 115,076 4,873 2.16 2,061 1.87 2,812 2.44
63. Jajarkot 134,868 68,508 66,360 955 0.71 82 0.12 873 1.32
64. Dang 462,380 228,958 233,422 60,592 13.10 30,700 13.41 29,892 12.81
65. Banke 385,840 198,231 187,609 69,146 17.92 34,542 17.43 34,606 18.45
66. Bardiya 382,649 192,655 189,994 64,032 16.73 30,877 16.03 33,156 17.45
67. Bajura 100,626 49,813 50,813 2,901 2.88 491 0.99 2,409 4.74
68. Bajhang 167,026 80,676 86,350 3,029 1.81 433 0.54 2,598 3.01
69. Darchaula 121,996 59,791 62,205 3,500 2.87 703 1.18 2,797 4.50
70. Achham 231,285 108,998 122,287 4,941 2.14 893 0.82 4,048 3.31
71. Doti 207,066 103,521 103,545 8,981 4.34 4,046 3.91 4,935 4.77
72. Dadeldhura 126,162 60,965 65,197 10,944 8.67 4,815 7.90 6,129 9.40
73. Baitadi 234,418 113,538 120,880 4,983 2.13 830 0.73 4,154 3.44
74. Kailali 616,697 312,311 304,386 164,242 26.63 83,182 26.63 81,059 26.63
75. Kanchanpur 377,899 191,910 185,989 123,767 32.75 64,053 33.38 59,713 32.11
Total 22,736,934 11,359,378 11,377,556 2,929,061 12.88 1,330,345 11.71 1,598,722 14.05
163
Appendix 15.3 : Rural-urban, urban-urban, rural-rural and urban-rural migration streams
by district, Nepal, 2001
Four Streams of Migration
S. Total
No. Districts Rural-Urban Urban-Urban Rural-Rural Urban-Rural
No.
No. % No. % No. % No. %
1. Taplejung - - - - 3,847 96.8 126 3.2 3,973
2. Sankhuwasabha 1,523 18.0 81 1.0 6,451 76.3 396 4.7 8,451
3. Solukhumbu - - - - 4,224 96.9 135 3.1 4,359
4. Panchthar - - - - 11,729 95.0 622 5.0 12,351
5. Ilam 2,883 9.0 267 0.8 27,225 85.0 1,664 5.2 32,039
6. Dhankuta 3,371 15.2 603 2.7 15,955 71.9 2,252 10.2 22,181
7. Terhathum - - - - 9,042 96.7 308 3.3 9,350
8. Bhojpur - - - - 6,560 93.4 461 6.6 7,021
9. Okhaldhunga - - - - 4,472 94.4 263 5.6 4,735
10. Khotang - - - - 5,504 95.4 265 4.6 5,769
11. Udayapur 10,246 20.0 659 1.3 38,417 75.1 1,826 3.6 51,148
12. Jhapa 24,811 15.3 1,076 0.7 132,170 81.4 4,235 2.6 162,292
13. Morang 29,869 16.4 2,895 1.6 145,966 80.2 3,250 1.8 181,980
14. Sunsari 53,970 33.8 3,292 2.1 98,845 61.9 3,679 2.3 159,786
15. Saptari 1,235 6.6 241 1.3 15,478 82.9 1,726 9.2 18,680
16. Siraha 4,377 12.6 423 1.2 28,045 80.6 1,951 5.6 34,796
17. Dolakha 627 14.3 107 2.4 3,226 73.6 423 9.7 4,383
18. Sindhupalchok - - - - 5,662 91.0 561 9.0 6,223
19. Rasuwa - - - - 2,595 92.2 221 7.8 2,816
20. Sindhuli 4,423 16.1 326 1.2 21,384 78.1 1,259 4.6 27,392
21. Ramechhap - - - - 5,860 95.9 249 4.1 6,109
22. Kavre 4,541 13.5 1,928 5.8 20,551 61.3 6,493 19.4 33,513
23. Lalitpur 38,784 56.6 11,910 17.4 15,671 22.9 2,147 3.1 68,512
24. Bhaktapur 18,118 44.6 3,789 9.3 15,672 38.6 3,066 7.5 40,645
25. Kathmandu 248,551 71.8 31,875 9.2 63,398 18.3 2,366 0.7 346,190
26. Nuwakot 1,294 10.5 314 2.5 9,160 74.1 1,599 12.9 12,367
27. Dhading - - - - 12,999 93.2 950 6.8 13,949
28. Makawanpur 19,240 21.0 2,955 3.2 61,212 66.9 8,116 8.9 91,523
29. Dhanusha 11,003 15.5 902 1.3 55,352 77.9 3,757 5.3 71,014
30. Mahottari 945 3.1 149 0.5 27,400 90.6 1,747 5.8 30,241
31. Sarlahi 835 1.6 105 0.2 49,476 95.4 1,458 2.8 51,874
32.. Rautahat 714 2.7 48 0.2 24,536 93.5 931 3.5 26,229
33. Bara 2,188 4.4 314 0.6 44,100 88.9 3,022 6.1 49,624
34. Parsa 12,491 39.0 3,026 9.4 16,356 51.0 171 0.5 32,044
35. Chitwan 46,026 28.3 1,688 1.0 111,053 68.3 3,761 2.3 162,528
36. Manang - - - - 1,195 95.4 58 4.6 1,253
37. Mustang - - - - 2,321 92.8 179 7.2 2,500
38. Gorkha 1,216 10.4 156 1.3 9,543 81.8 752 6.4 11,667
39. Lamjung - - - - 10,497 96.5 380 3.5 10,877
164
S. Four streams of migration
Total
No. Districts Rural-Urban Urban-Urban Rural-Rural Urban-Rural
No.
No. % No. % No. % No. %
40. Tanahu 3,416 10.5 272 0.8 27,402 84.4 1,392 4.3 32,482
41. Syangja 2,197 14.1 249 1.6 12,150 78.2 950 6.1 15,546
42. Kaski 49,227 82.7 3,264 5.5 7,454 12.5 -438 -0.7 59,507
43. Myagdi - - - - 3,627 91.5 338 8.5 3,965
44. Parbat - - - - 11,979 94.4 706 5.6 12,685
45. Baglung 2,433 13.8 250 1.4 13,882 78.6 1,103 6.2 17,668
46. Gulmi - - - - 12,908 98.5 198 1.5 13,106
47. Palpa 3,184 13.0 304 1.2 19,549 79.8 1,446 5.9 24,483
48. Arghakhanchi - - - - 7,528 99.6 32 0.4 7,560
49. Nawalparasi 1,842 1.9 173 0.2 92,710 95.0 2,814 2.9 97,539
50. Rupandehi 41,355 21.8 2,643 1.4 138,241 73.0 7,088 3.7 189,327
51. Kapilbastu 1,278 3.5 114 0.3 34,328 94.0 811 2.2 36,531
52. Dolpa - - - - 764 99.0 8 1.0 772
53. Jumla - - - - 1,373 94.8 75 5.2 1,448
54. Kalikot - - - - 307 86.0 50 14.0 357
55. Mugu - - - - 671 92.7 53 7.3 724
56. Humla - - - - 884 98.7 12 1.3 896
57. Pyuthan - - - - 4,237 96.8 140 3.2 4,377
58. Rolpa - - - - 2,599 91.1 255 8.9 2,854
59. Rukum - - - - 931 97.4 25 2.6 956
60. Salyan - - - - 1,151 97.1 34 2.9 1,185
61. Surkhet 8,613 15.4 483 0.9 44,965 80.6 1,761 3.2 55,822
62. Dailekh 494 10.1 97 2.0 3,836 78.7 446 9.2 4,873
63. Jajarkot - - - - 939 98.3 16 1.7 955
64. Dang 11,834 19.5 523 0.9 46,500 76.7 1,736 2.9 60,593
65. Banke 9,682 14.0 1,221 1.8 54,414 78.7 3,830 5.5 69,147
66. Bardiya 5,964 9.3 132 0.2 56,481 88.2 1,456 2.3 64,033
67. Bajura - - - - 2,820 97.2 81 2.8 2,901
68. Bajhang - - - - 2,981 98.4 49 1.6 3,030
69. Darchaula - - - - 3,042 86.9 458 13.1 3,500
70. Achham - - - - 4,875 98.7 66 1.3 4,941
71. Doti 1,327 14.8 118 1.3 7,009 78.1 526 5.9 8,980
72. Dadeldhura 876 8.0 169 1.5 9,346 85.4 553 5.1 10,944
73. Baitadi 367 7.4 43 0.9 4,309 86.5 264 5.3 4,983
74. Kailali 31,130 19.0 1,574 1.0 125,088 76.2 6,450 3.9 164,242
75. Kanchanpur 27,785 22.4 667 0.5 93,418 75.5 1,897 1.5 123,767
Total 746,285 25.5 81,425 2.8 1,997,847 68.2 103,506 3.5 2,929,063
165
Appendix 15.4: Population by place of birth by municipalities, Nepal, 2001.
S. Total Total Native Same District Other District Foreign Born
N. District Areas
Population No. % No. % VDC % Municipality % No. %
Mountain Mountain 43,705 43,539 99.62 41,201 94.63 2,150 4.94 188 0.43 166 0.38
Districts Towns
Col. % 1.4 1.4 1.8 0.3 0.2 0.1
1 Sankhuwasabha Khandbari 21,,789 21,673 99.47 20,069 92.60 1,523 7.03 81 0.37 116 0.53
2 Dolakha Bhimeswor 21,916 21,866 99.77 21,132 96.64 627 2.87 107 0.49 50 0.23
Hill Districts Hill Towns 720,311 706,113 98.03 574,307 81.33 119,348 16.90 12,457 1.76 14,198 1.97
Col. % 22.3 22.9 25.4 16.0 15.3 9.9
3 Ilam Ilam 16,237 15,969 98.35 12,820 80.28 2,883 18.05 267 1.67 268 1.65
4 Dhankuta Dhankuta 20,668 20,452 98.95 16,477 80.56 3,371 16.48 603 2.95 216 1.05
5 Udayapur Trijuga 55,291 54,436 98.45 43,530 79.97 10,246 18.82 659 1.21 855 1.55
6 Sindhuli Kamalamai 32,838 32,536 99.08 27,787 85.40 4,423 13.59 326 1.00 302 0.92
7 Kavre Banepa 15,822 15,727 99.40 13,549 86.15 1,302 8.28 876 5.57 95 0.60
8 Kavre Dhulikhel 11,521 11,416 99.09 9,746 85.37 1,299 11.38 371 3.25 105 0.91
9 Kavre Panauti 25,,563 25,408 99.39 22,787 89.68 1,940 7.64 681 2.68 155 0.61
10 Nuwakot Bidur 21,193 21,091 99.52 19,483 92.38 1,294 6.14 314 1.49 102 0.48
11 Makawanpur Hetauda 68,482 66,248 96.74 44,053 66.50 19,240 29.04 2,955 4.46 2,234 3.26
12 Gorkha Prithbinarayan 25,783 25,661 99.53 24,,289 94.65 1,216 4.74 156 0.61 122 0.47
13 Tanahu Byas 28,245 27,676 97.99 23,988 86.67 3,416 12.34 272 0.98 569 2.01
14 Syangja Putalibazar 29,667 29,291 98.73 27,597 94.22 1,476 5.04 217 0.74 376 1.27
15 Syangja Waling 20,414 20,295 99.42 19,542 96.29 721 3.55 32 0.16 119 0.58
16 Kaski Lekhnath 41,369 40,404 97.67 34,440 85.24 5,769 14.28 195 0.48 965 2.33
17 Kaski Pokhara 156,312 150,356 96.19 103,829 69.06 43,458 28.90 3,069 2.04 5,956 3.81
18 Baglung Kalika 20,852 20,580 98.70 17,897 86.96 2,433 11.82 250 1.21 272 1.30
19 Palpa Tansen 20,431 20,060 98.18 16,572 82.61 3,184 15.87 304 1.52 371 1.82
20 Surkhet Birendranagar 31,381 30,843 98.29 21,748 70.51 8,613 27.93 483 1.57 538 1.71
21 Dailekh Narayan 19,446 19,394 99.73 18,803 96.95 494 2.55 97 0.50 52 0.27
22 Doti Dipayal 22,061 21,810 98.86 20,365 93.37 1,327 6.08 118 0.54 251 1.14
23 Dadeldhura Amargadhi 18,390 18,331 99.68 17,286 94.30 876 4.78 169 0.92 59 0.32
24 Baitadi Dashrathchand 18,345 18,129 98.82 17,719 97.74 367 2.02 43 0.24 216 1.18
166
N. District Areas
Valley Districts Valley Towns 995,966 965,809 96.97 612,781 63.45 305,453 31.63 47,574 4.93 30157 3.03
Col. % 30.9 31.3 27.1 40.9 58.4 21.1
25 Lalitpur Lalitpur 162,991 158,665 97.35 107,971 68.05 38,784 24.44 11,910 7.51 4,326 2.65
26 Bhaktapur Bhaktapur 72,543 72,204 99.53 63,363 87.76 7,062 9.78 1,779 2.46 339 0.47
27 Bhaktapur Madhyapur 47,751 47,510 99.50 34,444 72.50 11,056 23.27 2,010 4.23 241 0.50
28 Kathmandu Kathmandu 671,846 646,882 96.28 375,854 58.10 240,207 37.13 30,821 4.76 24,964 3.72
29 Kathmandu Kirtipur 40,835 40,548 99.30 31,149 76.82 8,344 20.58 1,054 2.60 287 0.70
Tarai Districts Tarai Towns 1,467,897 1,369,643 93.31 1,029,103 75.14 319,334 23.32 21,206 1.55 98,254 6.69
Col. % 45.5 44.4 45.6 42.8 26.0 68.8
30 Jhapa Bhadrapur 18,145 16,032 88.35 12,621 78.72 3,003 18.73 407 2.54 2,113 11.65
31 Jhapa Damak 35,009 32,975 94.19 21,205 64.31 11,384 34.52 386 1.17 2,034 5.81
32 Jhapa Mechinagar 49,060 45,151 92.03 34,444 76.29 10,424 23.09 283 0.63 3,909 7.97
33 Morang Biratnagar 166,674 152,363 91.41 119,599 78.50 29,869 19.60 2895 1.90 14,311 8.59
34 Sunsari Dharan 95,332 87,632 91.92 51,416 58.67 33,883 38.67 2333 2.66 7,700 8.08
35 Sunsari Inaruwa 23,200 22,327 96.24 17,556 78.63 4,506 20.18 265 1.19 873 3.76
36 Sunsari Itahari 41,210 39,201 95.12 22,927 58.49 15,581 39.75 694 1.77 2,009 4.88
37 Saptari Rajbiraj 30,353 28,990 95.51 27,514 94.91 1,235 4.26 241 0.83 1,363 4.49
38 Siraha Lahan 27,654 26,100 94.38 22,452 86.02 3,281 12.57 366 1.40 1,554 5.62
39 Siraha Siraha 23,988 22,757 94.87 21,604 94.93 1,096 4.82 57 0.25 1231 5.13
40 Dhanusha Janakpur 74,192 68,912 92.88 57,007 82.72 11,003 15.97 902 1.31 5,280 7.12
41 Mahottari Jaleshwor 22,046 20,277 91.98 19,183 94.60 945 4.66 149 0.73 1,769 8.02
42 Sarlahi Malangawa 18,484 17,168 92.88 16,228 94.52 835 4.86 105 0.61 1,316 7.12
43 Rautahat Gaur 25,383 22,707 89.46 21,945 96.64 714 3.14 48 0.21 2,676 10.54
44 Bara Kalaiya 32,260 30,261 93.80 27,759 91.73 2,188 7.23 314 1.04 1,999 6.20
45 Parsa Birgunj 112484 98013 87.14 82497 84.17 12491 12.74 3026 3.09 14471 12.86
167
N. District Areas
46 Chitwan Bharatpur 89,323 85,240 95.43 48,913 57.38 34,880 40.92 1.448 1.70 4.083 4.57
47 Chitwan Ratnanagar 37,791 36,173 95.72 24,787 68.52 11,146 30.81 240 0.66 1.618 4.28
48 Nawalparasi Ramgram 22,630 21,168 93.54 19,153 90.48 1,842 8.70 173 0.82 1.462 6.46
49 Rupandehi Butwal 75,384 69,682 92.44 35,532 50.99 32,602 46.79 1.548 2.22 5.702 7.56
50 Rupandehi Siddharthnagar 52,569 46,728 88.89 36,880 78.92 8,753 18.73 1.095 2.34 5.841 11.11
51 Kapilbastu Kapilbastu 27,170 25,534 93.98 24,142 94.55 1,278 5.01 114 0.45 1.636 6.02
52 Dang Tribhuvannagar 43,126 42,231 97.92 34,332 81.30 7,552 17.88 347 0.82 895 2.08
53 Dang Tulsipur 33,876 33,357 98.47 28,899 86.64 4,282 12.84 176 0.53 519 1.53
54 Banke Nepalganj 57,535 53,317 92.67 42,413 79.55 9,682 18.16 1.221 2.29 4.218 7.33
55 Bardiya Gulariya 46,011 43,995 95.62 37,899 86.14 5,964 13.56 132 0.30 2.016 4.38
56 Kailali Dhangadhi 67,447 65,463 97.06 43,559 66.54 20,475 31.28 1,428 2.18 1.984 2.94
57 Kailali Tikapur 38,722 37,670 97.28 26,869 71.33 10,655 28.29 146 0.39 1.052 2.72
58 Kanchanpur Mahendranagar 80,839 78,219 96.76 49,768 63.63 27,785 35.52 667 0.85 2.620 3.24
Total % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Grand Total 3,227,879 3,085,104 95.58 2,257,392 73.17 746,285 24.19 81,425 2.64 142,775 4.42
Source: CBS, 2002.
168
CHAPTER 16
THE QUALITY OF CENSUS DATA 2001: AN EVALUATION
- Dr. Puspa L. Joshi*
16.1 Introduction
Nepal has had a long history of Census undertaking since 1911. The present 2001 Census is the
10th Census. However, the census with international comparability was undertaken since 1952/54.
As this was also undertaken in two phases, the census of 1961 only can be regarded as the first
census which was undertaken in the modern sense. Since then, censuses have been undertaken in
Nepal at an exact interval of 10 years. As such, cohort analysis can be carried out and results can
be interpreted in more convenient terms. This 2001 census is the first census where some of the
information were collected on a sample basis. In fact, 12 questions on household and nine
questions on individual basis were asked in all households and seven questions on household and
20 questions on individual basis were asked on sample basis with one in eight housing units in
each enumeration area.
Though the 2001 census was successfully completed, enumeration could not be completed in all
areas. Enumeration was disturbed in 955 rural and 2 urban wards. It is to be recalled that there are
3914 village development committees (VDC) and 58 municipalities and a VDC consists of nine
wards. As such it can be seen that the completion of enumeration of enumeration areas is almost
100 percent.
16.2 Steps Taken in Improving Quality of Data
Followings are various steps taken to improve the quality of 2001 census data.
16.2.1 Formation of Committees
Several Committees were formed to provide guidelines in performing various activities of census
operation. They were as follows.
1. Population Census Technical Committee
2. Questionnaires and Manual Preparation Committee
*
Dr. Joshi is a well known Demographer of the country.
169
3. Media Core Group
4. Project Management Committee
5. Occupations and Industry Classification Committee
The Director General of the Central Bureau of Statistics was the chief coordinator and the chief of
the population section worked as member secretary.
16.2.2 Census Publicity
Census publicity was made through mass media, work shops and seminars from the very
beginning of planning and preparatory work of 2001 Census. These activities helped to improve
the coverage of the Census.
16.2.3 Cartography
The Survey Department of His Majesty's Government of Nepal provided clearly delineated maps
of VDC's and municipalities for 2001 census along with delineated maps of wards of 58
municipalities. These maps helped to achieve the goal of the census to have a complete and
unduplicated count of population as well as to assign the enumeration areas to enumerators.
16.2.4 Questionnaire Designing and Pre-Testing
Two types of questionnaire were designed one at the household level and another at the individual
level. Questionnaire contents and the pre-testing of census enumeration procedure were conducted
in four districts, Bajura from mountain, Mahottari from terai and Dhankuta as well as Kathmandu
from the hilly region.
16.2.5 Personnel and Training
Enumerators were assigned based on enumerating 200,160 and 130 households per enumerator in
Terai, Hill and Mountain regions respectively. Altogether 20,000 enumerators and 500
supervisors were employed.
170
Table 16.1 : Population, supervisors, enumerators by census years 1952/54-2001
Population Enumerator
Census 1 per per
Population Supervisors Enumerators
Year Enumerator Supervisor
Ratio Ratio
1952/54 8,256,625 200 17,000 486 85
1961 9,412,996 300 15,933 591 53
1971 11,555,983 500 12,000 963 24
1981 15,022,839 1500 15,000 1001 10
1991 18,491,097 4000 20,000 925 5
2001 23,151,423 5000 20,000 1137 4
1
Source : Karki, 2002, p7
The training was conducted at three levels. At the central level, the training was given to district
census officers who in turn, gave training to area supervisors and supervisors at the district level.
Area supervisors and supervisors gave training to enumerators at sub district level.
16.2.6 Field Work and Data Processing
The field work of census 2001 was undertaken during the period June 10-26, 2001. The tragic
incident in the Royal Palace delayed the actual field plan and enumeration for a week. The field
operation went on smoothly except in 955 out of 35226 rural wards and 2 urban wards of 58
municipalities.
The completed questionnaires were returned to the Central Office where data processing was done
taking utmost care at every step. Data coding, editing and entry work were contracted out to the
private party. Nearly 400 Micro computers ( Pentium III) were used for the data entry work. The
data entry work was completed within a 5 months period. The use of computer in data processing
made possible to apply various checks to improve data quality.
16.3 Completeness of Reporting
The completeness of reporting of the final result of the population size and not reported cases in
the published tables of the population census 2001, national report are examined.
171
16.3.1 Population Size
The reported and the final result of the population size according to 2001 census are as follows.
Table 16.2 : Reported and the final result of the population of 2001 census
Description Reported Final Result of 2001 Census
Population (Total) 22,736,934 23,151,423
Male 11,359,378 11,563,921
Female 11,377,556 11,587,502
Source : CBS,2002, p1 and 21
The final results of the population of 2001 census are obtained from the reported population and
by estimating the population of disturbed areas in the census from the household listing or the
observed growth of population between 1991 and 2001. The affected districts are Jhapa, Siraha,
Sindhuli, Dolakha, Sindhupalchok, Salyan, Surkhet, Dolpa, Jumla, Kalikot, Mugu, Bajura and the
affected municipality is Damak. The percentage of under enumeration in the final result of 2001
census is discussed in the section 16.9
16.3.2. Not Reported Cases
The following table shows percentage of not reported cases for selected variables.
Table 16.3 : Percentage of not report cases and total cases for selected variables.
Percentage of
S.No Variables Not Reported Total Cases
Cases
1. Single year age distribution About .01 22,736,934
2. Population absent from household and destination abroad by <.50 762,181
country
3. Population absent from household and reasons for absentee. <4.41 762,181
4. Population by Caste ethnic group 1.02 22,736,934
5. Population by religion <.35 22,736,934
6. Population by mother tongue <.74 22,736,934
7. Population by Citizenship <.02 22,736,934
8. Deaths during last 12 months by age group About 4.62 106,789
172
Percentage of
S.No Variables Not Reported Total Cases
Cases
9. Population by place of birth 0 22,736,934
10. Population 5 years and above by place of stay before 5 years About 2.18 19,981,721
ago by age group.
11. Population 6 years of age and over by literacy status. 0.62 192,55,805
12. Literate population 6 years of age and over by educational About 0.50 10,348,428
attachment.
13. Ever married population aged 10 years and above by age at About 3.92 10,948,387
first marriage and by 5 year age group.
14. Population 10 years of age and over by marital status. 0.50 16,770,279
15. Ever married female population 15 to 49 years of age by 0.30 44,867,739
reported number of children ever born.
16. Ever married female population 15 to 49 years of age by 0.30 4,486,738
reported number of children born in the past 12 months
17. Population 10 years of age and over by economic activity. 0 16,770,279
18. Usually economically active population 10 years of age and 0.08 9,900,196
over by major occupation.
19. Usually economically active population 10 years of age and 0.23 9,900,196
over by major industry division.
20. Usually economically not active population 10 years of age 1.80 8,034,164
and over by reasons for not being usually active.
Source: CBS, 2002, p21-252
The above table shows that out of 20 variables, the percentage of not reported cases are <1 for 14
variables. The highest percentages are about 4 for 3 variables. The low percentage of not reported
cases for majority of variables indicate that, the level of reporting and data processing are good.
16.4 Accuracy of Reported Ages
The accuracy of reported ages are examined by whipple's, index, Myer's blended index and
getting correct age distribution by smoothing.
16.4.1 Whipple's Index
The tendency of respondents or enumerators to report particular ages are known as age heapings.
Age heapings are usually found at ages ending in 0 and 5. The whipple's index has been
173
developed to determine the amount of age heapings. If there are no age heapings at ages ending in
0 and 5, the whipple's index is 100. If only digits 0 and 5 are reported, then index is 500. The
whipple's index for the total population of Nepal is 206.1 indicating that the population tabulated
at these ages is more by 106 percent than the corresponding unbiased population. In fact, the
quality of data is very rough. According to UN scale, the quality of data is very rough if the value
is 175 or more.
The values of whipple's index for males and females are 205.7 and 206.6 respectively indicating
that quality of data are very rough for both sexes though it is a little bit better for males than for
females.
16.4.2 Myer's Blended Method
As there are more age heapings at ages ending in 0 than ending in other digits, Myer's blended
method has been developed to determine the amount of heapings.
Values range from 0 to 90. If there are no age heapings, the value is zero. If there are maximum
heapings, theoretically reporting all ages at a single digit only, the value is 90. In case of 2001
census, the value is 18.7 for total population in contrast to 17.4 in 1991 census.
The percentage of population of 2001 census with ages ending in each digit 0 to 9 are shown
below.
Table 16.4 : Percentage distribution of 2001 population for terminal digits by Myer's
blended method for total, male and female population
Digit of Age Total Male Female

All Digits 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 19.2 18.7 19.6
1 6.3 6.5 6.1
2 10.9 10.9 10.8
3 6.8 6.8 6.7
4 7.3 7.2 7.3
5 17.4 17.5 17.2
6 8.3 8.3 8.2
7 6.9 7.0 6.9
8 11.3 11.2 11.5
9 5.8 5.9 5.7
Myer's Index 18.7 18.3 19.1
174
The above table shows that the percentage of population are more than 10 percent in ages ending
at 0,2,5 and 8 with the highest in 0 followed by 5,8 and 2 indicating that the maximum preference
for reporting age is digit 0 followed by digits 5,8 and 2 for total, male and female population. The
heapings are more for females at digits ending at 0 and 8 than for males. There are more under
reporting in ages ending at digits 9,1 and 3 for total, male and female population as the
percentages are lowest in these categories.
16.4.3 A Comparison between Reported and Smoothed Data
It has already been seen that age distributions of 2001 census are distorted by age mis reporting.
The correct age distribution with reduction in age heapings and as close to correct as possible are
obtained by the method mentioned in UN manual X, 1983, p241. The percentages of reported and
corrected age distributions by sex are shown in the following table.
Table 16.5 : Percentage of reported and corrected age distributions of 2001 census and
percentage change with respect to correct age distribution for total, male and
female
Age Reported 1 Corrected Percentage Change
Group Total Male Female Total Male Female Total2 Male Female
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (viii) (ix) (x)
0–4 12.1 12.3 11.9 13.7 14.1 13.3 11.5 12.8 10.1
5–9 14.1 14.4 13.9 13.1 13.4 12.9 -7.6 -7.6 -7.7
10-14 13.1 13.5 12.7 12.5 12.7 12.3 -5.0 -6.7 -3.3
15-19 10.5 10.4 10.6 10.7 10.5 10.9 2.1 1.0 3.1
20-24 8.9 8.3 9.4 9.2 8.8 9.5 3.1 5.0 1.4
25-29 7.6 7.2 7.9 7.8 7.4 8.2 2.7 2.9 2.6
30-34 6.6 6.4 6.7 6.7 6.5 6.9 1.8 1.6 2.1
35-39 5.8 5.7 5.8 5.7 5.6 5.7 -1.9 -2.2 -1.6
40-44 4.8 4.8 4.8 4.7 4.8 4.7 -0.9 .0 -1.8
45-49 4.1 4.1 4.0 3.9 4.0 3.9 -2.9 -3.3 -2.5
50-54 3.4 3.5 3.3 3.3 3.4 3.2 -3.3 -3.0 -3.6
55-59 2.6 2.8 2.5 2.7 2.8 2.6 1.1 -1.5 3.8
60-64 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.1 2.2 2.1 -6.8 -5.2 -8.5
65-69 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6 -5.3 -5.0 -5.6
70-74 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.1 -11.2 -12.8 -9.5
75+ 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.2 -7.2 -5.3 -9.1
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 - - -
Source: 1 CBS,2002, p24
(v) − (ii )
2
x100
(v )
175
By comparing reported percentage with corrected percentage, it can be seen that there are 12
percent under reporting in 0-4 age group with 13 percent for males and 10 percent for females.
There are about 2 percent under reporting for the age group 15-34 years. For age groups from 35
years onwards, there are about 2 percent over reporting.
16.5 Sex Ratio
Quality of data can be examined by looking at
i) Sex ratio at birth
ii) Sex ratios by broad age groups
iii) A comparison between sex ratios of 1991 and 2001 Censuses
16.5.1 Sex Ratio at Birth
Sex ratio at birth is measured by male birth per female birth. It usually lies between 1.02 to1.07
(UN 1983, p272). If reported sex ratios at birth fall outside this range, it could indicate the sex
selective omission of births. For 2001 census, the sex ratio at birth is estimated to be 1.05. This is
well within the range indicating that the combined effect of reporting population and distribution
of deaths under one year don't have sex selective bias.
16.5.2 Sex Ratios by Various Age Groups
The sex ratios as measured by males per female for broad age groups in 1991 and 2001 censuses
are shown in Table 16.6
The sex ratios for broad age groups appear reasonable except for some groups. The sex ratios for
10-14 and 70-74 age groups are 1.06 and 1.07 respectively which are a little bit on high side. It is
possible that girls in the age group 10-14 might report themselves as 14+ and /or they may be
excluded from enumeration because of various reasons. The high value in the age group 70-74
years might be due to net effects of mortality differential by sex, return of male migrants and
reporting problems.
Sex ratios for the age groups 15-44 years are less than one indicating that there are out migration
of males in this age group. The sex ratios for the age groups 20-29 are around 0.9 showing that
there are heavy male migrants in this group. These facts are quite consistent with Nepal's
tradition.
176
16.5.3 A Comparison between Sex Ratios of 1991 and 2001 Censuses
Table 16.6 shows sex ratios of 1991 and 2001 censuses by broad age groups.
Table 16.6 : Sex ratios of 1991 and 2001 censuses by broad age groups
Sex Ratios
Age Group 1
1991 20012
0-4 1.03 1.03
5-9 1.04 1.03
10-14 1.08 1.06
15-19 0.96 0.99
20-24 0.85 0.88
25-29 0.89 0.91
30-34 0.92 0.95
35-39 1.01 0.99
40-44 0.95 0.99
45-49 1.04 1.04
50-54 1.06 1.05
55-59 1.16 1.12
60-64 1.00 1.01
65-59 1.10 1.03
70-74 1.05 1.07
75+ 0.97 0.96
Total 0.99 1.00
1
Source : CBS, 1193,p172
2
CBS,2002,p24
The trends of sex ratios in 1991 and 2001 are similar with high values in age groups 10-14 and
70-74 years, lower than one in the age groups 15-44 except for the age group 35-39 years with
1.01 in 1991 and lowest values in age groups 20-29.
16.6 Fertility Data
Fertility data are collected in census 2001 based on individual information on sample basis about
marital status, age at first marriage, children ever born by living together, living separately as
well as dead and births during the last 12 months by sex, year and month. The quality of fertility
data are examined by analyzing coverage of live births and estimating current fertility.
177
16.6.1 Coverage of Live Births
The omission of live births is difficult to detect from data themselves. However, a large scale
omission of births can be detected from average number of children ever born by age groups of
women (Fred,1990, p100)
Table 16.7 : Average number of children ever born in census 2001 and Demographic
Health Survey (DHS) 2001
Average Number of Children Ever Born (CEB)

Age Group
Census 20011 DHS 20012
15-19 0.16 0.18
20-24 0.97 1.32
25-29 2.06 2.71
30-34 2.87 3.71
35-39 3.45 4.48
40-44 3.83 5.16
45-49 4.04 5.71
1
Source : Karki, 2002, p16
2
MOH et al, 2002, p61
The average number of CEB obtained from census 2001 and DHS 2001 for each five year age
group increase with ages indicating that there are no gross under reporting of births. However, the
average parity difference in the two oldest age groups 40-44 and 45-49 is 0.22 in the census
compared to 0.55 in the survey, an increment of 150 percent. This can be taken as an indication
that there are heavy under reporting of CEB among older women compared to younger women in
the census 2001. In fact, the average CEB for younger women (20-29) years given by the census
is lower by 25 percent than the corresponding figure of survey data indicating that there are
significant under reporting of CEB for younger women also in the census.
16.6.2 Measures of Current Fertility
The frequently used measures in estimating current fertility are crude birth rate (CBR), general
fertility rate (GFR), age specific fertility rate (ASFR) and total fertility rate (TFR). CBR is the
total number of births per 1000 population in a year and GFR is the total number of births per
1000 women aged 15-44 years in a year ASFRs are the total number of births per 1000 women of
178
the particular age group in a year. TFR is the total number of births a woman would have during
her reproductive period under the prevailing ASFRs.
Estimates of CBR and GFR are made based on Table 16.8 along with estimates of ASFRs and
TRF. The estimation of CBR and GFR are 14.2 and 61.9 respectively from the census 2001 as
compared to 33.5 per 1000 live births and 148 per 1000 women aged 15-44 years from DHS
2001. Hence, it can be seen that CBR and GFR based on census 2001 are far lower than the
corresponding figures in DHS 2001.
Table 16.8 : Estimate of TFR based on census 2001
Age Group Number of Women 1 Births in The Past Year2 ASFR

(i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
15-19 1203176 37051 0.0308
20-24 1070026 116933 0.1093
25-29 904464 83120 0.0919
30-34 763463 45888 0.0601
35-39 659302 25070 0.0380
40-44 548051 10833 0.0198
45-49 453678 3421 0.0075
TFR 1.8
1
Source : CBS, 2002 p24
2
CBS, 2002 p175
The estimate of TFR from the Census 2001 is 1.8 births per woman. This value is not strictly
comparable to TFR from DHS 2001 because the TFR from DHS survey is based on past 3 years
preceding the survey and the survey gives the interval estimation only with the estimate of true
TFR lying between 3.9 to 4.3 with 95 percent confidence (MOH, 2002, p225). As the census was
for the date June 22, 2001 and the mid value of the field work for DHS was mid April 2001, the
comparable value would be to estimate TFR based on past year from the survey and adjust for
under reporting of births and declining fertility (UN,1988,p73). The estimated value of TFR is
4.6 which is shown in Table 16.9. The constant factor for 20-25 years is taken for adjustment
because the adjustment factors are in increasing trend. Hence, it can be seen that the estimate of
TFR obtained from the Census is far lower than the expected true value.
179
Table 16.9 : Application of Arriaga's approaches for estimation of age specific fertility rates for study of DHS, 2001.
Based on children ever born for one point(s) in time and the age pattern(s) of fertility (brass)
Fertility Fertility Age Specific Fertility Rates Based on

Children Consistent With Fertility Pattern Cumulation of
Age Pattern Adjustment Adjustment Factor for the Age Group
Ever Born C.E.B. By Age at Birth
Groups By Age At Fertility Pattern Factors
(C.E.B.) of Child A.S.F.R. 20 - 25 25 - 30 20 - 30
(A.S.F.R.) Survey Date by Age at Birth
APR 2001
Recorded Calculated
15 - 20 0.180 0.1200 0.0747 0.0948 0.1200 0.0948 1.2656 0.1158 0.1175 0.1167
20 - 25 1.320 0.2923 0.2392 0.2425 0.4122 0.3373 1.2222 0.2964 0.3007 0.2986
25 - 30 2.710 0.2380 0.1954 0.1870 0.6502 0.5243 1.2401 0.2286 0.2320 0.2303
30 - 35 3.710 0.1725 0.1187 0.1137 0.8227 0.6380 1.2896 0.1389 0.1410 0.1399
35 - 40 4.480 0.1421 0.0814 0.0772 0.9649 0.7152 1.3492 0.0943 0.0957 0.0950
40 - 45 5.160 0.0972 0.0346 0.0301 1.0621 0.7453 1.4251 0.0368 0.0374 0.0371
45 - 50 5.710 0.0353 0.0047 0.0034 1.0974 0.7487 1.4658 0.0042 0.0042 0.0042
Mean age of Childbearing : 27.08 25.68

Total Fertility Rate: 5.49 3.74 4.58 4.64 4.61
Source: 1.MOH, 2002, p61 for CEB

2. Personal Communication with New Era for fertility pattern by age at survey date.
180
16.7 Mortality Data
Mortality data are collected in the Census 2001 from household information on sample basis
about number of deaths occurred in the household during last 12 months. Based on this
information, four measures of mortality namely crude death rate (CDR), infant mortality rate
(IMR), under 5 mortality rate (U5MR) and child mortality rate (CMR) are calculated. CDR is the
number of deaths per 1000 population in a year. IMR is the number of deaths under one year per
1000 live births in a year U5MR is the number of deaths under five year per 1000 live births in a
year. CMR is the number of deaths between one and under five year per1000 children surviving
one year in a year. The estimate of CDR based on 2001 Census is 4.7 deaths per 1000 population
showing a gross under enumeration of deaths in the past year. The estimates of IMR, CMR and
U5MR are 40.5, 31.7, and 70.9 as compared to 64.4 infant deaths per 1000 live births, 28.6 deaths
during 1-5 year per 1000 children surviving one year and 91.2 deaths under five year per 1000
live births respectively from DHS 2001. By comparing these figures, it can be interpreted that
deaths under one year and five years are under enumerated in the Census 2001.From the fertility
analysis, it has been seen that total number of live births are highly under reported. As this is the
denominator estimating IMR and U5MR, it can be interpreted that deaths under one year and five
years are highly under enumerated.
However, it should be noted that the estimate of child mortality based on Census 2001 is higher
than the corresponding estimate from DHS 2001. This indicates that there are heapings in the
Census 2001 for infant deaths at age 12 months because of rounding up the age at death of late
infant deaths. This will cause IMR to be under estimated and CMR to be over estimated.
Since, child hood mortality are highly under reported and adult mortality to different extents along
with mis reporting of age at death, the construction of adequate life tables with the correction for
under enumeration of deaths are highly questionable. Hence, model life tables with expected age
pattern of mortality can be used to determine the effects of mortality.
16.8 Migration Data
Migration characteristics in 2001 Census are obtained by citizenship as well as persons absent and
living in other countries based on full enumeration and place of birth, duration of stay in the
current place and place of residence 5 years before based on sample enumeration.
181
16.8.1 Place of Birth and Population Living in Other Countries
Information about foreign born from the place of birth in 1991 and 2001Censuses can be used to
estimate volume of immigration during the period 1991-2001. Similarly, information about
emigrants can be obtained from population living abroad.
Table 16.10 shows intercensal increase of foreign born population living in Nepal and population
living abroad by sex.
Table 16.10 : Intercensal increase of foreign born population living in Nepal and population
living abroad by sex during 1991 and 2001
Foreign Born Population Population Living

Living in Nepal1 Intercensal Abroad2 Intercensal
Population
Increase Increase
1991 2001 1991 2001
Male 123660 183038 59378 548024 679469 131445
Female 315828 425055 109227 110313 82712 -27601
Total 439488 608093 168605 658337 762181 103844
1
Source : CBS 2002, p120
2
Personal Communication with CBS
Foreign born population living in Nepal increased during the intercensal period for both males
and females. The analysis by age group show that 65 percent of the foreign born population are in
the age group 15-44 years. However, population from Nepal living abroad, though increased for
males decreased for females during the intercensal period 1991-2001. This decrease for female
population might be due to reporting problems rather than the genuine case. The analysis by age
group show that 77 percent of total absent population departed in the age group 15-34 years. The
intercensal increase for both foreign born and absent population are minimum values as survival
factors for 1991 population have not been used. The intercensal increase of foreign born
population during the period 1991-2001 obtained from this table is consistent with the figure of
260875 obtained from the Table 16.12. However, the intercensal increase of absent population
during the period 1991-2001 from this table is not consistent with figures of about 636000
obtained from Table 16.13.
182
16.8.2 Citizenship
The following table shows population with citizenship in 1991 and 2001
Table 16.11 : Citizenship by sex in 1991 and 2001
Population with Citizenship Percent

Population
1991 2001 1991 2001
Male 9174769 11292559 49.6 49.7
Female 9225901 11327804 49.9 49.8
Total 18400670 22620363 99.5 99.5
Total Population 18491097 22736934 100.0 100.0
Source : CBS,2002,p85
Personal Communication with CBS
99.5 percent of the total population in 2001 are Nepalese citizens with 49.7 percent male and 49.8
percent female. These figures are almost identical to corresponding figures in 1991. Hence, it can
be seen that data in this regard in 2001 are consistent with data in 1991.
16.8.3 Internal and External in Migrants
The following table shows internal and external in migrants as measured by place of birth
Table 16.12: Place of birth by duration of residence at the place of enumeration
Duration of Residence at the Place of Enumeration

Place of Birth Total
0 Year 1-4 Years 5-9 Years 10-14 Years 15+ Years
Other District 142547 673149 651430 430890 1031047 2929063
Other Countries 17539 114575 128761 91116 256101 608092
Total 160086 787724 780191 522005 1287149 3537155
Source: Personal Communication with CBS
45 percent of internal inmigrants lived at the place of residence for 1-9 years followed by 35
percent living for 15 or more years. In case of external inmigrants, the highest majority 42 percent
lived for 15 or more years at the place of residence followed by 40 percent living for 1-9 years.
The fact that 40 percent of the population whose place of birth are in other countries lived at the
183
place of residence for more than 15 or more years is quite significant specially when the
corresponding figure is 35 percent for internal migrants.
The above table shows that total foreign born population who resided at the place of enumeration
during the period 1991-2001 is 260875.
The following table shows total absent population from household by duration of absence.
Table 16.13: Absent population from household by duration of absence
Total Absent Population from

Duration of Absence (Year)
Household
0 146095
1-2 250202
3-5 155324
6-10 105637
11-15 36862
16-20 32406
20 and Above 35655
Total 762181
Source: Personal Communication with CBS
Based on this table, the estimation of absent population who left the place of enumeration during
the period 1991-2001 is about 636000. As this figure is not consistent with the figure obtained
from Table 16.10, it seems that there are problems in the estimation of emigrants as measured by
absent population who left during the period 1991-2001.
The following table shows percentage of interval and external inmigrants by duration of residence
at the place of enumeration.
Table 16.14: Percentage of interval and external inmigrants by duration of residence
Duration of Residence and External In-Migrants by Duration

Place of Birth of Residence Total
<1 1-4 5-9 10-14 15+
Other District 89.0 85.5 83.5 82.5 80.1 82.8
Other Countries 11.0 14.5 16.5 17.5 19.9 17.2
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: Table 16.12
184
The percentage of internal migrants are far greater than external migrants for each group of
duration of residence at the place of enumeration. This is in accordance with the general
expectation that there would be more migrants from short distances.
16.9 Completeness of Coverage in 2001 Census Enumeration
The post enumeration survey (PES) has been conducted since 1981 to check the accuracy of the
enumerated population of Censuses. The quality of PES data of 1981 was highly suspect and as
such, it was not used to evaluate the total enumeration in 1981 (CBS, 1987, p332)
In 1991, the PES survey was undertaken but it showed the under enumeration of 1991 population
as 11 percent. Out of 11 percent, 6 percent was due to the missing of households and another 5
percent was due to the missing of individuals in the matched households.
After doing a detailed analysis of PES data, the committee then formed by the National Planning
Commission (NPC) to evaluate the completeness of coverage of 1991 Census came to a
consensus that the under enumeration of 1991 Census is about 5 percent (Unpublished NPC report
of the PES Committee, 1993). However, this under enumeration figure was not used to adjust
1991 census because the census figures after all, are obtained by a vast amount of field works.
The PES of 2001 was conducted after four months the census was completed. The field works
lasted for one month and was completed by third week of November. 2001. In fact, the PES
should have been undertaken immediately after the census. The shorter the period between the
completion of the census and PES, the more reliable the estimated figure will be. However, the
PES report mentions that the net omission rate in the population Census of 2001 is 5.3 percent
with a standard error of .56 percent (Dangol, p. 19).
It seems that the under enumeration is estimated based on individuals in the matched households
only. The estimates of under enumeration based on missed individuals both by the census and the
survey are not obtained. Moreover, the estimates of under enumeration based on unmatched
households in Census and PES are not obtained. The sampling design has not been discussed and
the design effect has not been obtained. If the sample is representative of the population and the
design effect is not more than three, then it seems that the under enumeration of 5.3 percent in
2001 census can be regarded as the minimum estimate.
185
16.10 Conclusion
1. Then enumeration of enumeration areas in 2001 Census is almost 100 percent complete.
2. Various Committees have been formed to improve the quality of Census data of 2001.
3. Enumerator per supervisor ratio has been increased and the training has been given at
various levels which are the necessary requirements to get reliable Census data.
4. The use of computer in data processing made possible to apply various checks to
improve data quality.
5. The low percent of not reported cases for majority of variables indicate that the level of
reporting and data processing are good.
6. The application of various techniques indicate that there are problems in the accuracy of
reported age.
7. The quality of data as measured by sex ratios in 2001 are similar to corresponding
values in 1991 census.
8. Various fertility measures based on 2001 Census data give lower values than
corresponding expected true values.
9. Data needed for estimating various mortality measures are highly under reported.
10. There are significant heapings in 2001 Census data for infant deaths at age 12 months.
11. The estimates of immigrants during 1991-2001 based on the foreign born population
seem reliable, however, there are problems in the estimates of emigrants during the
same period as measured by absent populations.
12. Citizenship data based on 2001Census seem to be reliable.
13. Data on internal migrants as measured by place of birth seem to be reliable as they
show, according to the general expectation, that there are more migrants from short
distances.
14. If the sample is representative of the population and the design effect is not more than
three, the under enumeration of the Census 2001 by 5.3 percent as shown by PES 2001
can be regarded as the minimum estimate.
186
References
Arnold, F. (1990). Assessment of the Quality of Birth History Data in the Demographic and
Health Surveys in An Assessment of DHS-I Data Quality, Maryland USA, Institute for
Resource Development/Macro Systems, Inc.
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) (1993). Population Census, 1991 General Characteristics
Tables Volume I Part I. National Planning Commission Secretariat, Kathmandu, Nepal
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) (1995). Population Monograph of Nepal. National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) (2002). Population Census, 2001, National Report. National
Dangol, B.D.S (2001). Post Enumeration Survey Report, Submitted to UNFPA/CBS, Kathmandu,
Nepal.
Karki, Y.B. (2002). Assessment of the 2001 Population Census of Nepal and Establishment of
Demographic Bases for New Population Projections, Submitted to UNFPA Country Office,
Nepal.
Ministry of Health (MOH) (1993). Nepal Fertility, Family Planning and Health Survey 1991.
Kathmandu, Nepal.
Ministry of Health (MOH), New Era, Nepal and ORC Macro, USA.(2002). Nepal Demographic
and Health Survey 2001, Kathmandu, Nepal and Maryland, USA.
Shryock, H.S., S., J. Siegel and Associates (1971). The Methods and Materials of Demography,
Volume 1 and 2, Washington D.C., USA.
United Nations (UN) (1983). Manual X Indirect Techniques for Demographic Estimation, New
York, USA.
United Nations (UN) (1988). Mort Pak-Lite, The United Nations Software Package for Mortality
Measurement, New York, USA.
187
CHAPTER 17
POPULATION POLICY AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
- Bal Govinda Bista*
17.1 Population Policy
17.1.1 Background
Nepal's population has increased from 6.28 million in 1941 to 23.15 million in 2001. The addition
of more than 16 million in six decades' time period is seen mainly through the high rates of
population growth. In 1941 population growth rate of the country was just 1.16 percent, which has
increased to 2.25 percent in 2001. Over the past decades rapid population growth has been
recorded. Prevalent population growth of Nepal is considered as an unacceptably high rate of
population growth compared to other developing countries in Asia. If the population growth rate
of 2.25 percent continues, it is projected that population of Nepal will be doubled within 31 years.
The high rate of population growth in Nepal has affected both social and economic aspects of
Nepalese people in general. Excessive population growth has caused increased pressure on limited
resources available in the country. In essence, population growth in Nepal has not coincided with
similar growth in food and other productions of the country. There has been a growing tendency
to cultivate marginal land and steep terrain, thereby causing further land degradation and erosion.
It has led to adverse effects on natural resources leading to negative impact on environment.
Likewise, the pressure of rapid population growth in urban and semi-urban area has increased
excessive pressure on social and physical infrastructures. Excessively young structure of Nepalese
population characterized by high fertility has led to continuous growth of population. Increase in
population size of the country has caused malnutrition, high maternal and infant mortality rate and
growing unemployment/underemployment, specially in rural areas. Spatial distribution of
population is worsening due to imbalance between government's investment and population
distribution, concentration of investment in limited areas and other factors. Prevalence of
widespread poverty has been the major constraint to overcome social-economic challenges of the
Nepalese people. It should be understood that population growth is not a problem in itself, rather
its unbalanced growth has caused various problems. Change in population of the country and its
pattern, level of use of natural resources and the pace of socio-economic development are very
*
Mr. Bista is Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Population and Environment (MOPE), HMG, Nepal.
189
much interrelated. Demographic parameters such as population growth, structure and distribution
will have significant influences on overall socio-economic status of the country.
It is well understood that effective policies can have significant influences in overcoming
demographic and population challenges of the country. Nepal's population policies have been
geared to improve socio-economic situation of the country. Population policies of Nepal have
been guided through the periodic plans of the country. Nepal has adopted the policy of
incorporating population concerns into the periodic plans of the country ever since the first five
year plan launched in 1956. Population issues have been addressed in all periodic plans of the
country. This clearly indicates that His Majesty's Government of Nepal has been concerned on
population dimensions ever since the initiation of planned development process in the country.
However, explicit population policy at the national level with long term vision and targets is still
to be materialized.
17.1.2 Review of Population Policies
The initiation of population policies in Nepal goes back to late fifties since Nepal launched its
first five year plan. As of now, Nepal has completed nine periodic plans and the tenth plan is
underway. The population related issues, policies and programmes have been embraced more or
less in all these periodic plans. In essence, population concerns form a substantial part of the
development planning process in Nepal. A review of population policies, strategies, targets and
programmes pursued through the periodic plans since 1956 is presented below.
17.1.2.1 The First Plan (1956 - 61)
The concern for population distribution was initiated from the first plan period itself. The policy
of redistributing population from the densely populated hills to sparsely populated terai was
introduced. It was aimed to absorb increasing population by reclaiming the terai and inner terai
forests for resettlement. Policies concerning providing employment opportunities, improving
standard of living without discrimination and creating necessary statistical information were also
included in the first plan document. Negative consequences of high population growth on national
development were also recognized. In 1959, Family Planning Association of Nepal (FPAN) was
established, as the first non-government organization, to deal with the reproductive health and
family planning services under the initiatives of few Nepalese Medical Doctors and Social
Workers.
190
17.1.2.2 The Second Plan (1962-65)
The second three year plan document of the country was oriented towards resettlement
programmes for absorbing the increased population. The second plan of the country had
addressed management aspect of population by having established Nepal Resettlement Company
in 1962. Extension of social services and increased employment opportunities through labor
intensive schemes were considered as supplementary policies related to population. Similarly,
with the objective of bringing equilibrium between population growth and economic output of
the country, the policy of family planning was emphasized .
17.1.2.3 The Third Plan (1965-70)
The population policy of Nepal was initiated formally during the third plan period. Before this,
population concerns were incorporated into the plan document without having any explicit policy
guidelines on population. In the third plan document, a separate chapter on 'Population and
Manpower' was included. Family planning was focused as an integral part of the population
policy. The need for population control was first reflected in the third plan document. Since then
fertility reduction has remained a common denominator in all population related policies and
programmes of Nepal. As such, third plan provided an impetus to the development of population
policy in the country.
The third plan had assessed that expanded health services led to increase in life expectancy and
increased rate of population growth in the country. It had also predicted that the population of
Nepal will grow at a faster rate due to a higher standard of the public health measures. Thus, it
was realized that it would not be possible to decrease population and increase the standard of
living of the people unless the birth rate is controlled. Positive steps were advocated in the field of
family planning.
The third plan had examined the implications of increased population on health, resettlement,
employment and income. Recognizing the vitality of agriculture and limited resources to raise the
living standard of the people, the plan noted that simply to maintain the present per capita income,
production must increase. Scarce resources will be absorbed in maintaining income levels rather
than increasing them. This justified the need for undertaking an effective and widespread family
planning programme.
Even though official family planning programme, as part of the population policy, can be traced
only from 1965 onwards, family planning services were offered in Nepal by the Family Planning
191
Association as early as 1959. In 1968, Nepal Family Planning and Maternal and Child Health
Board, a semi-autonomous body under the Ministry of Health was also formed. The board was
mandated for taking measures to reduce the CBR from 40 to 38, infant mortality rate from 200 to
150, and to provide maternal and child health services systematically throughout the country.
Similarly it was also targeted to decrease the crude birth rate from 39.1 in 1967 to 38.1 by 1970.
17.1.2.4 The Fourth Plan (1970-75)
Like the third plan, the fourth plan also included a separate chapter on Population and Manpower.
The fourth plan reiterated earlier policies of using manpower resources, family planning
programmes, labor intensive techniques, use of indigenous resources to absorb maximum
manpower and the control of population growth. This plan identified some prerequisites for
bringing about required changes in the economic and social conditions, cultural patterns and
aspirations of common man.
The plan document observed increased life expectancy due to declining deaths contributed by
expansion of modern health care system in the country while birthrates remained high. The plan
document had also noticed that decline in deaths and rather stagnant birth rates contributed to
rapid increases in population. As such, the fourth plan had set strategies for the reduction of the
birth rate through change in socio-economic condition and cultural practices of the people and
family planning programmes.
The plan made an analysis of the density on land and also acknowledged the difficulty in meeting
other socio-infrastructural needs (education, employment, health, drinking water) for the
increasing population. It also explicitly expressed that other sectors of the economy must be
expanded in order to absorb the growing labor force, to decrease dependency and to reduce
disguise and under-employment in the agricultural sector. In the fourth plan period family
planning services had been targeted to cover 15% or 12000 married couples by the end of
1974/1975. It was later revised to 13% and the target was set for regional and district levels.
In May 1974, the National Planning Commission (NPC) constituted a Task Force on Population
Policy. The task force defined population policy 'as that portion of public policy which deals with
laws, administrative regulations, and action programmes having an indirect or direct effect on
population growth and distribution'. The need for having an explicit population policy of the
country was duly emphasized by the task force. The population issues were viewed in terms of
total change and from a broader perspective. Four variables: fertility, mortality, migration and
population growth were thought to be intimately linked with population policy. The task force
192
considered population policy as an integral part of the national development policy. In the
formulation of a population policy, the following factors were suggested for consideration.
• To consider the population policy as an integral part of national development planning.
• To make population policy concerned with both public and private sector activities.
• To formulate population policy on the basis of certain time-limited goals ; and
• To make population policy people-oriented, i.e. mainly concerned with improving the
quality of life of the Nepalese people.
The task force recommended to form a Population Co-ordination Board under the National
Planning Commission to coordinate various activities of the sectoral ministries/departments. It
also recommended the implementation of vital registration system, entry permits, promotion of
female education, intensive family planning programmes in high population density districts.
17.1.2.5 The Fifth Plan (1975-80)
The fifth plan adopted the major recommendations of the task force formed during the fourth
plan. The plan document emphasized the following policies with regard to population issues of
the country.
• To reduce CBR through basic development and reforms in social, economic, cultural and
educational aspects as well as through family planning and maternal child health
programmes.
• To regulate internal migration from hill to the terai in a planned and systematic way.
• To regulate external migration to minimize the impact of immigration on population

growth.
• To achieve the optimum distribution of population across regional axis, especially in the
western terai.
• To provide provision and expansion of basic facilities, e.g. schools, hospitals, drinking
water, etc. in selected centers for urbanization.
During the fifth plan period, vital registration system was introduced in some districts. Permanent
methods of family planning were officially promoted as cost-effective methods requiring
minimum follow-up and supervision. Mobile camps for sterilization became a popular approach
for delivering family planning services in the country.
193
In 1975, a high level Population Policy Coordination Committee was constituted. Later on, it was
converted to the National Commission on Population (NCP) in the year 1980.
17.1.2.6 The Sixth Plan (1980-85)
Like the preceding plans, the sixth plan adopted a broad policy of reducing the population growth
rate to maintain a balance between available resources and increased population. Specific
objectives contained in the plan were:
• To reduce population growth rate of 2.3 percent per annum through provision of proper
infrastructure. Adequate external and internal resources will have to be utilized for
preparing the infrastructure in order to achieve the reduced population growth rate.
• To regulate internal migration from hills to the terai, feasibility of planned resettlement
programmes will be studied. Based on the appropriateness, planned resettlement in the hills
will be implemented.
Major policies and strategies adopted by the plan were:
• To make available family planning services to high fertility rural areas.
• To promote permanent methods of family planning instead of the temporary methods.

Married women aged 20-39 will be the target population. Intensive family planning
programmes will be launched in high population density areas.
• To make population education more widespread with a focus on rural areas.
• To increase participation of people, specially of women in population control programmes.
• To make expansion of basic facilities in the hills to discourage migration to the terai and
planned urbanization in low growth rate areas.
• To facilitate the implementation of recommendations made by studies sponsored by the

National Commission on Population with a focus on motivating people to adopt family
planning services.
The sixth plan had fixed the target of bringing down TFR by 0.5 during the plan period, death rate
from 19 to 17 per 1000 population and thereby population growth rate to 2.3 percent per annum
by 1985. Likewise, during this plan period an ambitious National Population Strategy (NPS),
1983 was also adopted. The National Population Strategy consisted of both short term and long
term strategies. Major goals were to:
194
• Reduce TFR from 6.3 to 5.8 by the year 1985, to 4.0 by the year 1990 and to 2.5 by the
year 2000.
• Reduce population growth rate of 2.6 percent to 2.2 percent by the year 1985, to 1.9 percent
in 1990, to 1.6 percent in 1995 and to 1.2 percent in 2000. To achieve those targets the
following strategic thrusts were adopted.
o Accord high priority for fulfillment of the current substantial unmet needs for family
planning services.
o Integrate population programmes in all projects relating to environment, forestry,

agriculture and rural development.
o Emphasize the programmes that helps to increase the status of women, female
education and employment.
o Mobilize local bodies, class organizations and NGOs in all population and fertility
reduction programmes.
• Control the steadily increasing immigration into the country.
• Create institutional framework for the design and implementation of the strategic thrusts as
stated above.
Several policy decisions were made and a plan of action was developed by the National
Commission on Population concerning implementation of the national population strategies.
However its implementation part remained very weak., it was revealed that many of the total
policies and/or actions proposed through the strategies were not put into action. Most of the
targets and strategies set by NPS were considered as vague and ambiguous. However, continued
emphasis on family planning programmes received some impetus during the sixth plan period.
17.1.2.7 The Seventh Plan (1985-90)
During preparation phase of the seventh plan, an assessment was made on the impact of the
development polices and programmes adopted through the preceding periodic plans. The outcome
of such assessment was found to be very gloomy. Population growth continued further and
economic development remained sluggish while even the minimum basic needs of the people
remained unfulfilled. It was acknowledged that failure to boost the production of traditional
export items led to a situation whereby whatever was produced had to be diverted to meet the
needs of the growing population. The seventh plan document observed that one of the major
challenges that the country faced was to design appropriate steps to tackle the population problem.
Curbing population growth needed to be accorded a high priority.
195
The seventh plan marks a mile stone in the development of population policy in Nepal. This plan
consisted of several elements to expedite the population concerns. Firstly, it took a long term
perspective on population growth and set targets with respect to fertility and population growth
rates. Secondly, it realized the need of integrating population issues into the development process.
Thirdly, it emphasized the importance of raising women's status in influencing the fertility
behavior. Fourthly, it identified immigration as the area for major policy intervention. And,
finally it also realized the role of communities, civil societies and NGOs in influencing the
fertility behavior.
The national population strategy adopted in 1983 remained almost unchanged in the seventh plan.
Population policies adopted during the seventh plan were based excessively on the national
population strategy. The long term objective of the population policy in the seventh plan was to
strike a balance between population growth and economic development by reducing the adverse
effects on population structure and its distribution that result from the pressure of unchecked
population growth. A new concept of 'minimum basic needs' was introduced during the plan
period. To accomplish these objectives, the population policies of the seventh plan were:
• To expand family planning services and meet unfulfilled demand for such services.
• To integrate population programmes with development programmes keeping in mind the

interrelationship that exists between development and population.
• To emphasize women's development programmes, since women's status in the society,

women's education and women's employment have a positive impact on constraining
population growth.
• To increase participation of local bodies and class organizations in reducing population

growth.
• To control the continuous flow of immigration.
During the plan period, some operational policies were also formulated. Such polices included
expansion of family planning services in densely populated areas, integration of population
variables in sectoral development programmes, and increased emphasis on women's education
and employment expected to propagate the idea of small family size norms, and in turn influence
the fertility behavior. Other operational policies adopted during the plan period included active
participation of local bodies and class organizations in implementing population programmes at
the grass root level, and control of immigration through regulated entry and exit and work permit
system.
196
The seventh plan adopted the long term target set through the national population strategy of
reducing total fertility rate to 2.5 by the year 2000. It also set a target of reducing the total fertility
rate to 4.0 and infant mortality rate to 98.3 per thousand and increasing average life expectancy to
55.4 years by the end of the plan period. The seventh plan aimed at intensifying family planning
programmes to reduce the population growth.
For the first time in Nepal's planned development, the seventh plan document contained separate
chapters on women and development and child development. The objective of increasing
women's participation in development was to raise social and economic status of women. In this
context, one of the policies was to implement maternity and child health programme as a priority
activity. Under the child development, the plan envisioned all-round development of child
through better provision of health, nutrition, and education. It was realized that fertility behavior
is intricately associated with women's autonomy/status and until and unless, women's status is
improved, there may not be any change in their reproductive behavior . Improvement in women's
status was considered as crucial for reducing the population growth.
Although many of the goals of the national population strategy were incorporated into the plan
document, the operational mechanisms suggested remained to be implemented. None of the six
working groups proposed by the NCP really functioned. Similarly, grants to district development
committees that were required to be spent on population activities were disregarded.
Establishment of population units in sectoral ministries were also not incorporated, neglecting the
integration aspect that was emphasized as crucial for socio-economic and demographic
transformation. Thus, instead of having a pronounced policy statement for balancing population
growth with economic development during the seventh plan period, the performance had been
rather dismal. The following table highlights the performance of the seventh plan period.
Table 17.1 : Demographic targets and performance of the seventh plan.
1985-1990
Indicators
Base Year Target Achievement
Population Growth Rate 2.7 2.0 2.6
Crude Birth Rate 41.6 32.2 39.6
Crude Death Rate 16.6 12.8 13.9
Total fertility Rate 6.1 4.0 5.8
Infant Mortality 111.5 98.3 105.3
197
The seventh plan adopted an ambitious target of TFR reduction to 2.5 by 2000 AD. However, it
discarded some important policies and institutional mechanism proposed by the NPS. Functional
linkages between the population polices and programmes of the line agencies were missing. At
the beginning of the seventh plan, a 15 year programme of fulfilling the basic needs of Nepalese
people by the year 2000 AD was declared. This programme consisted of separate demographic
targets, such as annual population growth rate of 1.9 percent with a TFR of 4.0. While, on the
other side, NPS had set the target of 1.2 percent annual population growth rate and a TFR of 2.5
by the year 2000 AD. Setting of two targets led to a lot of confusions for the implementing
agencies. Anyway, both the targets remained far from being achieved.
The overall development performance of the past seven periodic plans were considered far from
satisfactory, due to high population growth and low GDP growth rates with marginal
improvement in per capita income of the people. During the third plan period, the average annual
GDP growth (2.7 percent) was slightly higher than population growth. But during the fourth and
fifth plans, the GDP growth rates of 1.8 and 2.3 percent respectively lagged behind population
growth rate of more than 2 percent. It was only during the sixth and seventh plan periods, the
GDP growth rates of 4.0 percent and 4.6 percent respectively exceeded the average population
growth rates of about 2.6 percent by an appreciable margin.
17.1.2.8 The Eighth Plan (1992-97)
This was the first plan after the restoration of democracy in Nepal. The previously drafted eighth
plan document aimed to bring down significant reduction in the prevailing high fertility rate, to
reduce adverse effect exerted by the uneven population distribution, and to raise the life
expectancy. Accordingly, the draft plan targeted to bring down TFR from 5.8 to 4.0, infant
mortality rate from 102.1 to 63.6 and to raise life expectancy from 54.3 years to 59.9 years. The
annual growth rate of population was to be reduced from 2.6 percent to 2.2 percent. The plan
document of the eighth plan previously drafted intended to bring a balance between the
population growth and the pace of economic development of the country.
Due to political changes in the country, the original draft of the eighth plan could not be adopted.
After a gap of two years (1990-92), the eighth plan document was finally endorsed incorporating
policies and programmes related to population. The eighth plan document contained a separate
chapter on Population, which is considered as an important initiation to prioritize the population
concerns. The eighth plan aimed to address the following two challenges of the population
sector in the country.
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• To regulate population growth rate, and
• To solve the problems arising out of the effects of age composition created by the high
fertility rate in the past and other possible effects in areas like migration, environment and
urbanization.
The major objective of the national population policy adopted during the eighth plan period was
to establish an adequate balance between population growth, socio economic development and
environment and thereby helping the Nepalese people to fulfill their basic needs. The long term
goal of the national population policy was to create a conducive environment for the formation of
a small family size norms through socio- economic incentives and thereby restricting each
couple's desire for two children only. Since no significant achievements could be made with
regard to targets set during earlier periods, the long term targets in the eighth plan were revised
without much substantive change in the policies. The eighth plan had set specific targets as the
followings:
• To reduce the total fertility rate from 5.8 to 4.5
• To increase the present life expectancy from 54.4 to 61 years.
• To reduce the existing infant mortality rate from existing 102 to 80 per thousand.
• To reduce the child mortality rate under 5 years of age from 165 to 130 per thousand.
• To reduce the existing maternal mortality rate from 850 to 720 per 100,000 live births.
• To regulate internal migration.
For achieving the set targets, major policies on population adopted for the eighth plan were the
followings:
• To create a congenial socio-economic atmosphere for small families with only two children
and to motivate the couples for small families by implementing various programmes for
promoting general people's living standard.
• To keep on developing the programmes related to women's development, adult literacy and
education in order to improve women's socio-economic status.
• To integrate the family planning programme with the primary health programme and then
implement it.
• To expand NGOs and other private agencies to make family planning services available up
to the grass-root level in an effective manner.
• To develop skilled manpower through training and extension programmes.
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Similarly issues related to population were also contained in the health and family planning,
women in development and child development sections of the eighth plan document. The specific
programmes related to population during eighth five year plan were grouped under the following
six broad headings.
i. MCH and Family Planning Service Delivery.

ii. IEC and Population Education
iii. Status of Women.
iv. Population and Development
v. Population and Environment.
vi. Migration and Urbanization.
The data reveals that improvements could be made in reducing infant mortality rate and child
mortality rate during the plan period. The TFR could not improve as per the target yet the trend
towards decline could be continued. The creation of the Ministry of Population and Environment
(MoPE) in 1995 could be considered as fulfillment of the commitment made by the government
in ICPD 1994 for taking ahead the population polices and programmes in an integrated way.
However, the overall performance of the population programme was less than satisfactory during
the eighth plan period, instead of having said that strategies and targets of the eighth plan were
reformulated to make them achievable in reality. The main reason for the failure was due to the
fact that major policy instruments were never implemented. Two years after bringing out the
National Population Strategy, National Commission on Population reviewed the status of 91
population-related decisions of the government. It was found that out of the decision items
studied, less than seven percent were successfully implemented, a little more than one-third were
partially implemented and the rest were not implemented at all. These findings clearly illustrates
the weak implementation of the population policy and unsatisfactory performance of the
population programmes in the country.
17.1.2.9 The Ninth Plan (1997-2002)
The ninth plan was developed in the perspective of a 20 years long term plan. The main thrust of
this plan was to alleviate poverty and thereby accelerate economic development of the country. It
was also realized that the growing population caused environmental degradation and aggravated
the problems of development. This required that triangular relationship among population,
environment and development should be integrated and utilized for the progress of the country.
Additional emphasis was sought on population management to achieve the goal of poverty
alleviation through high employment generations. Similarly, in addition to bringing improvement
and extension of services and supply system, it was required to meet the unmet need of family
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planning services. The ninth plan document incorporated many of the commitments made by
Nepal during the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994. The
long term objective of the ninth plan was to bring down total fertility rate to the replacement level
in the next 20 years. Immediate objectives of the plan were:
• To attract couples towards a two child family.
• To implement various programmes to bring down the fertility rate to replacement level in
the coming 20 years.
• To ensure qualitative family planning and maternal child health services (FP/MCH
services) easily accessible and available.
The ninth plan had set the following targets based on status of 1996/97
Table 17.2 : Targets of the Ninth Plan.

Status Target of the Ninth
Description (1996/97) Plan(2001/02)
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) 4.58 4.2
Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) 30.1 37.0
Percent of Married Women Aged 15-19 Years (in %) 42.1 36.1
Infant Mortality Rate/1000 74.7 61.5
Child Mortality Rate/1000 118 102.3
Maternal Mortality Rate/100,000 439.0 400.0
In addition to the demographic targets, the ninth plan also adopted the goal of undertaking
qualitative reforms in the management of population. Major qualitative goals consisted of:
• Increasing the satisfaction of target groups,
• Intensifying the awareness regarding the benefits of small family,
• Developing an attitude down the local level for bringing balance between population and
resources,
• Enhancing male participation in population management , care of the infant and

information dissemination,
• Increasing the participation of local units to provide quality services,
• Providing quality services by intensifying public awareness towards the importance of

antenatal and postnatal care for the reduction of maternal mortality and infant mortality,
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• Enhancing safe motherhood and breast feeding.
The population polices and implementation strategies of the ninth plan consisted of:
• To develop the concept of two children per family by emphasizing the socio-economic
development activities which motivates a desire for small family.
• To conduct programmes concerning population, development and environment in an

integrated manner.
• To give special emphasis on fertility and child health in national health services.
• To provide quality services and methods of family planning according to specific needs of
users.
• To encourage the involvement of local units and government organizations in the delivery
of population and reproductive health services.
• To provide preventive and curative health services for reducing child and maternal
mortality in rural areas.
• To conduct informational and educational programmes concerning various aspects of

population management as well as safe motherhood, family planning and additional
programmes which encourage control in the prevention of AIDS and diseases concerning
reproductive and venereal diseases.
• To mobilize effectively the local units as well as non-government and community

organizations in the population programmes.
• To encourage INGOs to work collaboratively with the local NGOs to contribute in the
provision of services in reproductive health, maternal infant services and venereal diseases.
• To emphasize female education and employment opportunities.
• To make provision of special and additional grants to District Development Committees

and Village Development Committees to implement women's empowerment and
population management programmes.
• To adopt policy and programmes for regulation of international migration based on

research findings.
• To undertake special programmes for social security and welfare of elderly population.
• To promote population education both in formal and non-formal education .
• To encourage male participation in family planning, reproductive health and caring of

children.
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• To develop effective and regular monitoring of population activities by involving experts
from government, non-government and private sectors.
• To encourage studies and research in the field of population.
Specific programmes set by the ninth plan were as follows:
• Formulation of a Population Perspective Plan (PPP) for having long term vision on
population management.
• Special programme for Adolescent and Youths, in consideration of the principal actor for
the growth of population.
• Special programmes to raise awareness in increasing the minimum age for marriage and in
enhancing the spacing.
• Providing family planning services in convenient place and time as desired by the users.
• Undertaking Information, Education and Communication Strategy (IEC) to popularize the

concept of two children, raise the age of marriage and improve social status of women.
• Enhancing effectiveness of vital registration system.
• Incorporating population and reproductive health education in women education and

employment.
• Strengthening Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) system for regular monitoring and
evaluation of the specified goals and activities.
The ninth plan document had incorporated population concerns through sectoral policies,
strategies and programmes as well. In this context, the main topics have been education, health
and child development under the social science and social security chapter and also the women
and youth development chapter. These chapters have been considered as contributing factors to
achieve the stated goals of the population sector.
The overall achievements made in population management during the ninth plan period could be
considered reasonably satisfactory. With regard to target on lowering of TFR, it has exceeded the
plan target marginally. Similarly, substantive progress has been recorded in some other
demographic indicators as well. The following table highlights some commendable achievements
of the ninth plan.
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Table 17.3 : Achievements of the Ninth Plan.
Status of Ninth Plan

S.N Description Plan Targets Achievements
1996/97
1. Population Growth Rate (%) 2.3 2.25
2. Infant Mortality Rate 74.7 61.5 64.2
(per 1000)
3. Maternal Mortality Rate 439.0 400.0 415.0
(per 100,000)
4. Total Fertility Rate 4.6 4.2 4.1
5. Contraceptive Prevalence Rate 30.1 36.6 39.3
(CPR) (%)
6. Average Life Expectancy 56.1 59.7 60.4
(Years)
7. Literacy Rate (Age 15+) 37.8 70.0 49.2
(%)
Inspite of having several achievements in the field of population management during the ninth
plan period, there remained several demographic challenges for enhancing socio-economic status
of the Nepalese people. The demographic structure of Nepal is still characterized by its young
people, high fertility, low prevalence of contraceptive and early marriage. The population growth
has not matched with economic growth of the country. As such, the prevailing situation has led to
widespread poverty and low socio-economic status of the Nepalese people. This has called for
massive efforts to bring down the prevailing rate of population growth in the country.
17.1.2.10 The Tenth Plan (2002-2007)
Poverty alleviation has been the overriding objective of the tenth plan to promote faster broad
based economic growth, equitable access to social and economic infrastructure and resources for
the poor and marginalized groups, and ensure social inclusion. In the context of population related
issues, many of the commitments made during ninth plan period have been renewed for the tenth
plan period. The progress achieved during the ninth plan period on population and demographic
issues is commendable in several areas, however it should be noted that gains have been made
from a relatively low base. There is a need to continue further for having more impressive results.
The major concerns have been incorporating population issues into the total development process
and bringing behavioral change for accomplishing the demographic targets.
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Long term Concept
The long term concept on population management of the country has been to achieve the
replacement level fertility by 2017 and to contribute towards poverty alleviation through
educated, healthy and skilled human resource development for having a prosperous society.
Objectives
The objectives of the tenth plan concerning population management are as follows.
i. To associate the people into development activities through the development of small and
quality family.
ii. To systematize the migration process.
Quantitative Targets
The quantitative targets set for the tenth plan period are as follows:
Table 17.4 : Targets of the Tenth Plan

Targets of the Tenth Plan
Status of the
S. No. Description At Expected At Normal
Ninth Plan
Growth Rate Growth Rate
1. Total Fertility Rate 4.1 3.5 3.6
2. Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (%) 39.3 47 46
3. Infant Mortality Rate 64.4 45 47
(per 1000 live births)
4. Child Mortality Rate Under 5 Years 91.2 72 74
(per 1000 live births)
Strategies
The following strategies have been set for accomplishing specified objectives of the tenth plan as
stated above.
i. Strategies relating to first objective of the tenth plan, i.e. promoting small and quality family
are the followings:
• Easy access to reproductive health services, delayed marriage and breast feeding will be
encouraged.
• Public awareness on massive scale will be emphasized in population management.
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• Special programme will be carried out by targeting adolescent and youth (10-24 years)
groups.
• Population management works will be made effective through the review of population
related laws and policy reforms.
• Special emphasis will be stressed towards the enhancement of family and social status of
women, skills development and increased employment opportunities for women, women
literacy and girls child education.
• Role of the educational institutions will be increased effectively in formulation and
implementation of the population education programmes.
• A policy of increasing the participation of local bodies will be pursued as per
decentralization concept while undertaking population management programmes.
• A policy of undertaking population management programmes will be adopted by having
participatory partnerships with the private and non-government sector.
ii. In accordance to second objective of the plan, both internal as well as external migration will
be made systematic.
Programmes with Special Emphasis

• Formulation and implementation of long term population perspective plan (PPP).
• Review and implementation of population policy and legal system.
• Conducting population management programmes with the involvement of local bodies.
• Conducting population management related programs with the partnership of civil
society, NGOs and private entrepreneur.
• Undertaking adolescent friendly and youth-oriented programmes.
• Preparation of Population Pressure Index.
• Maintaining records of outgoing Nepalese at exit points and incoming non-Nepalese at
entry points.
• Population advocacy and behavioral change communication, information, education
program.
• Easy accessibility of reproductive health services.
• Strengthening and utilization of vital registration system.
• Increasing the accessibility of girls in educational opportunity.
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Anticipated Accomplishments
Achievements made in the social sector like population management can be felt in the longer
period only. By having encouraged population for small family size contributes towards decrease
of population growth leading to poverty alleviation in the one hand and also contributes towards
human resource development and management in the other hand. Balancing between population
growth rate and new opportunities for employment generation helps in achieving qualitative
employment management. Reduction in population growth rate leads to better utilization of the
local resources, which in turn makes the balanced development and migration management easier.
Effective population management carried out through the lead role of District Development
Committee will ensure that backward classes and sectors would not be deprived of the fruits of
development. Conducting programmes like girls education, promotion of women status in family
and in society under population program will contribute to gender equality. As a result, proper
management of population growth, composition and distribution leads to quantitative and
qualitative accomplishments in materializing the long term concept on population.
17.1.3 Population Related Institutional Development
Population being a cross cutting issue with multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional character,
institutional arrangements becomes very much interlinked. There is a need for an integrated and
comprehensive institutional framework for effective implementation of population policies,
strategies and programmes. Ever since the beginning of the first five year plan in Nepal, emphasis
has been laid on the institutional arrangements for carrying out population related activities. Many
ups and downs have been noticed pertaining to institutional arrangements for population
concerns. A review of the institutions related to population reveals the following scenario.
Fertility has been the prime concern ever since the initiation of population related policies in
Nepal. As such, the fertility aspect has influenced the organizational development process in the
areas of population. The Family Planning Association of Nepal (FPAN) was established in 1959
as a non-governmental organization, under the initiatives of a few Nepalese medical practitioners
and social workers. The creation of FPAN was sponsored by Pathfinder Fund and later by
International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). The FPAN has been the pioneer non-
governmental organization involved in the promotion and delivery of family planning services in
the country. In the NGO sector, the FPAN has the largest network spread over different parts of
the country. At present there are several other NGOs / INGOs involved in the delivery of
reproductive health and family planning services.
207
In the government sector, the Department of Health Services (DoHS) has been the lead agency
involved in providing reproductive health services including family planning as well as maternal
and child health care services. Initially family planning programme was looked after by the
Maternal and Child Health Section of the DoHS. The governmental initiation towards population,
specially on family planning and maternal/child health was started by mid period of the third plan.
It was in 1968, a semi autonomous body in the name of Nepal Family Planning and Maternal
Child Health Board was created. This board was chaired by the Health Minister and a separate
vertical project titled the Family Planning and Maternal/Child Health Project was also established
during that period for effective planning and programming purposes.
At various stages, two separate parallel projects under the DoHS primarily took the responsibility
concerning family planning goals of the government. These two projects were the Family
Planning and Maternal/Child Health (FP/MCH) Project and the Integrated Community Health
Services Development project. (ICHSDP). The first one had integrated family planning services
with maternal/child health activities whereas, the second one provided family planning services as
one of the six components of the project. With the objective of streamlining family planning and
population related activities, several vertical programmes under the DoHS were integrated in the
past. At present, Family Health Division of the DoHS has been entrusted to look after
reproductive health services inclusive of family planning services.
In 1974, a task force on population was created in the National Planning Commission(NPC) to
make recommendations on population concerns in a broader perspective. Based on
recommendations of the task force, a high level Population Coordination Board was constituted
in 1975. To make this board more operational, a Population Division was also created in the
National Planning Commission. These initiations through the NPC underlined the fact that
population was a cross cutting issue that needed to be coordinated and facilitated by a central
agency. The establishment of the National Commission on Population (NCP) in 1981 was an
initiation to have a high powered agency for formulating and coordinating population policies and
programmes and influencing the implementation and monitoring of the policies and programmes.
The NCP lacked legal status, and so it could not function as an apex body for population issues.
The sectoral ministries did not comply many of its guidelines. Moreover, the NCP was also
treated as parallel to the NPC. As a consequence, the NCP could not last long. In 1990, the NCP
was dissolved and its activities were transferred to the Population Division of the NPC. As a
reaffirmation of Nepal's commitment to the Programme of Action adopted at the International
Conference on Population and Development(ICPD) in 1994, the Ministry of Population and
208
Environment (MOPE) and the Ministry of Women and Social Welfare were created in 1995 . The
MOPE has been entrusted to formulate and facilitate implementation of the population related
policies and programmes. A National Population Commission, chaired by the Prime minister, has
also been constituted to provide guidance in the policies and strategies relating to population .It
should be noted that the National Population Commission and MOPE are required to make further
efforts in producing tangible results on population issues. The creation of the Ministry of Women
and Social Welfare ( at present Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare-MOWCSW)
has made possible to look after specific concerns of women and children. Likewise the Ministry
of Health and the Ministry of Education and Sports have also shouldered the responsibilities for
implementing population policies, strategies and programmes.
17.2 Reproductive Health
17.2.1 Introduction
Reproductive Health (RH) is considered as a state of complete physical, mental and social well
being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive
system and to its functions and processes. Reproductive health therefore implies that people are
able to have a satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the
freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so. After the International Conference on
Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994, reproductive health has been
recognized as the crucial one to the overall health and is central to human development.
Reproductive health care is defined as the constellation of methods, techniques and services that
contribute to reproductive health and well being by preventing and solving reproductive health
problems. It also includes sexual health, the purpose of which is the enhancement of life and
personal relations.
Reproductive rights embrace certain human rights. Reproductive rights essentially rest on
recognition of the basics right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the
number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and
the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. The new paradigm of
reproductive health that emerged through the ICPD 1994 has put human rights, human
development and individual well being at the center of programme polices. The Programme of
Action (PoA) adopted by the ICPD, 1994 consisted of the following points for consideration.
209
• All countries should strive to make accessible through the primary health care system,
reproductive health to all individuals of appropriate ages.
• Reproductive health care programmes should be designed to serve the needs of women, and
must involve women in leadership, planning, decision making, management,
implementation, organization and evaluation of services.
• Innovative programmes must be developed to make information, counseling and services

for reproductive health accessible to adolescents and adult men. Such programmes must
both educate and enable men to share more equally in family planning and in domestic and
child bearing responsibilities and also to help in avoiding transmission of sexually
transmitted diseases.
• Governments should promote much greater community participation in reproductive health

services by decentralizing the management of public health programmes and promoting
partnerships in cooperation with local NGOs and private health care providers.
• The international community should give consideration to the training, technical assistance
and short term contraceptive supply needs of the countries, where reproductive health is
poor and deteriorating.
• Reproductive health services must be particularly sensitive to the needs of individual

women, adolescents, migrants and displaced persons, with particular attention to those who
are victims of sexual violence.
Additionally, the reproductive health needs of adolescents as a group have also been especially
emphasized in PoA adopted through ICPD. The response of societies to the reproductive health
needs of adolescents should be based on information that helps them attain a level of maturity
required to make responsible decisions. In particular, information, education, services should be
made available to adolescents to help them understand their sexuality and protect them from
unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS and subsequent risk of
infertility.
17.2.2 Status of Reproductive Health
In line with the Programme of Action of the ICPD, Nepal has pursued several measures to
strengthen reproductive health and reproductive rights over the last decade .Pertaining to
reproductive health services in Nepal, it has been duly recognized that all couples and individuals
have the basic right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children and
to have the information, education and means to do so. Nepalese women of reproductive age
210
constitute 24.6 percent of the total population and 49.2 percent of the total female population.
About 18 percent of Nepalese women of reproductive age (15-49) have never married and 79
percent Nepalese women of reproductive age are currently married.
In recent years, there has been growing concern on reproductive health issues. However,
reproductive health is not a new programme, but rather a new approach which seeks to strengthen
the existing safe motherhood, family planning, sexually transmitted diseases including
HIV/AIDS, child survival and nutrition programmes with a holistic life cycle approach. The
current National Health Policy (1991) and Second Long Term Health Plan (1997-2017) have duly
emphasized on improving the access to quality RH services. In 1998, a National Reproductive
Health Strategy was developed for providing integrated reproductive health services. The RH
strategy has focused in the following main areas:
• Implement the RH Package in an integrated way.
• Emphasize advocacy for promoting the concept of RH including the creation of enabling
environment for RH.
• Ensure effective management system by strengthening and revitalizing existing health

committees at various levels.
• Design and conduct research activities on RH.
• Initiate and upgrade service delivery and training facilities at various levels.
• Strengthen Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation process.
• Develop appropriate Adolescent RH program.
• Promote inter-sectoral and multi-sectoral coordination and collaboration
The integrated Reproductive Health Care Package consists of the followings:
• Family Planning
• Safe Motherhood
• Child Health (new born care);
• Prevention and Management of Complications of Abortion.
• RTI/STD/HIV/AIDS
• Prevention and Management of Sub-fertility.
• Adolescent Reproductive Health
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• Problems of Elderly Women i.e. uterine, cervical and breast cancer treatment at the tertiary
level or in the private sector.
The integrated reproductive health package in Nepal will be delivered through the existing
Primary Health Care system. A substantive gender perspective, community participation,
equitable access and inter-sectoral collaboration will be emphasized in a decentralized way in all
aspects of the package.
17.2.3 Adolescent Reproductive Health
The reproductive health and reproductive rights of adolescents (10-19 years) are also being
considered as a growing concern in Nepal . They are considered as particularly more vulnerable to
reproductive health due to lack of information and access to reproductive health services.
Adolescents in Nepal often encounter problems, which include lack of awareness and information
about sexual and reproductive health, early marriage, early and frequent child bearing, unsafe
abortion, STD, HIV/AIDS and substance abuse. The National Reproductive Health Strategy,1998
as well as National Adolescent Health and Development Strategy, 2000 aims to ensure
reproductive rights and reproductive health services of Nepalese adolescents.
17.2.4 RH Package Intervention Strategy
Five different levels of intervention have been set to deliver integrated reproductive health
package, which comprises of family level, community level, sub- health post / health post level,
primary health care center level and district level. At family/community level, minimal services
will be provided with more focus on information, education and awareness creation activities
related to reproductive health. Excessive number of people will be covered at this level. At each
higher level, more specialized services will be provided. For having gradual improvements in the
coverage and quality on reproductive health services being offered at different levels, activities
like training, advocacy and IEC, management including planning, monitoring, performance
review and evaluation, quality assurance, research, logistic support, collaboration with NGOs/
private sector, policy guidance and coordination will also be pursued. All women of
reproductive age, irrespective of their marital status, have been ensured of RH services. Similarly,
role of men in protecting reproductive health and rights of women has also been emphasized
through men's increased responsibility, specially in unwanted pregnancies. A National RH
Steering Committee has been constituted to provide policy guidelines for all RH activities in
Nepal. Likewise a National RH Programme Coordinating Committee has also been made
functional in streamlining the RH related activities.
212
17.3 Concluding Remarks
Over the past decades, there has been some progress in the areas of population management in
Nepal. Population issues have been emphasized ever since the first plan period of the country.
Population related policies are being spelled out through periodic plans of the country, which are
becoming more and more comprehensive. Initially, the concern with population was seen more on
population distribution. The concern with population was shifted to population growth and its
control from the third plan period. Since then, reduction in fertility has become a common
denominator of all population related polices in Nepal's periodic plans.
The National Population Strategy, 1983 developed during sixth plan period is considered a
milestone in the development of population policy in Nepal. This strategy had considered
population growth into long term perspective and set quantitative targets with respect to fertility
reduction and population growth rates. It also took note of the importance of integrating
population concerns into the development activities. The strategies on population set during the
sixth plan were adopted in the seventh plan to a greater extent. However, the strategies as stated
could not be implemented in the absence of substantive programmes.
As such, the long term targets of 1983 strategy were revised in the eighth plan. The eighth plan
stressed to bring about a balance between population growth and socio-economic development.
The International Conference on Population and Development held in 1994 called for a broad and
holistic approach to population. As a consequence, many of the ICPD concerns were reflected in
the population policies of the ninth plan. The ninth plan conceived a 20 year perspective on
population and set targets related to demographic and social indicators accordingly. Since the
main thrust of the ninth plan was on poverty alleviation, it was envisaged that population issues
will be integrated into national, sectoral and local level development process. The tenth plan has
considered population management in the context of poverty alleviation. The plan document
views that population, development and poverty are closely interrelated and there is an urgent
need to maintain balance between population and resources for sustainable development, poverty
alleviation and improving the quality of life. It has been recognized that population policies must
take into account differential population and demographic dynamics and challenges.
There remain major challenges in the areas of population. The population policies pursued as of
now suffers from several limitations. The policies as such, have not been supportive to bring
213
about anticipated changes on socio-economic status of the people. There is a need for specific
policies on population from a very broad and holistic perspective. In essence, the population
polices of Nepal will have to be directed to facilitate required demographic transitions in
achieving a balance between demographic rates and socio-economic goals of the country. This
justifies for having a separate Population Perspective Plan (PPP).
Likewise, the government has recognized that all couples and individuals have the basic right to
decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children. Reproductive health
services are being delivered in packaged forms in a decentralized way. It is encouraging to note
that the National Reproductive Health Strategy was developed in line with the National Health
Policy and Second Long Term Health Plan of the country. However, there remain several issues
still to be resolved in providing widest range of reproductive health services, mainly due to
varieties of complications arising out of early marriage, unsafe abortion and negligence on
antenatal and postnatal care. Community participation and equitable access are not realized to the
desired extent. Similarly, coverage and quality of RH services have not reached the satisfactory
level. Moreover, the adolescents in Nepal are particularly more vulnerable to reproductive health
because of lack of information and easy access to required RH services. This requires for an
extended and easy access to quality RH services with greater participation of the community.
214
References

Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Final Results of 2001 Census. National Planning Commission
Secretariat, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Department of Health Services (2001), Nepal Demographic and Health Survey. Kathmandu
Nepal.
Department of Health Services (1998). National Reproductive Health Strategy. Kathmandu,

Nepal.
Department of Health Services (2000). National Adolescent Health and Development Strategy.
Kathmandu Nepal.
K.C, B. K. and Acharya, S. (1993). A Review and Revision of Population Policy in Nepal.
Kathmandu, Nepal.
National Planning Commission (1992). The Eighth Plan. Kathmandu, Nepal.
National Planning Commission (1998), The Ninth Plan. Kathmandu, Nepal.
National Planning Commission (2002). The Tenth Plan. Kathmandu, Nepal.
Ministry of Population and Environment (1998). Review of Population Policy in Nepal.

Kathmandu, Nepal.
Ministry of Population and Environment (2002). Nepal Population Report. Kathmandu, Nepal.
Ministry of Population and Environment (2003). Facts and Figures. Kathmandu, Nepal.
215
CHAPTER 18
CHANGING GENDER STATUS — ACHIEVEMENTS AND

CHALLENGES
- Dr. Meena Acharya*
18.1 Introduction – The Framework for Analysis
Decennial censuses are the most comprehensive information on a country's population

characteristics1. They provide a comprehensive data base for evaluating the end-impact of various
government /non-government policies, programs and activities. With a shift in development
objectives and strategies to focus on people's lives and options, poverty alleviation and equitable
development, collection and supply of a meaningful census data, amenable to dis-aggregated
analysis for various groups of population, has acquired specific importance.
Specifically, the Ninth Plan had switched from Women in Development or Women and
Development (WID\WAD) perspective to gender perspective to women's promotion and adopted
mainstreaming, eliminating gender inequality and empowerment as its major policies on women.
Mainstreaming was further explained as clearly defined policies, targets and programs in all
sectors at national and regional levels, more scientific and realistic calculation of GDP statistics to
include women’s contributions therein, and development of more effective coordination and
monitoring instruments and mechanisms. With transformation from WID\WAD to gender
approach in development, the data requirements have also expanded. It is not adequate to have a
sex des-aggregated data but they must be meaningful for gender analysis, that they must reflect
not only the male realities but also capture the female realities.
Gender approach to women's advancement is different from WID or WAD in the fact that it
recognizes the multi-dimensional nature of women's subordination. This has implications for
statistics as well. Particularly gender approach to development and its statistical implications are:
• While women as physical beings are universally the same with the exclusive responsibility
of physical reproduction of human beings, as cultural beings "females" are context-specific,
*
Dr. Meena Acharya is a Senior Economist and Gender Specialist, and Senior Advisor to SAHAVAGI, and a Board
Member in IIDS.
1
All 2001 Tabulations are from CBS publications where not specifically mentioned.
217
changing with time and context. Accordingly for the statistics to be realistic, they must take
account of the specific context.
• Patriarchy is an overwhelming ideology which pervades all aspects of social existence.

Women's subordination is all round - economic, social, religious, cultural, political and
ideological, each of which reinforce each other. Therefore the efforts to liberate women
from the oppressive gender relations must be all round. This means the statistics also must
reflect the multi-dimensional nature of women's existence in relation to men.
Much improvement was needed in both census used definitions and data collection methodology
in the above context. The Nepal Census 2001, was specially important in this aspect, because
specific efforts were made to improve the definitions of economic/non-economic activities as per
ILO standards, define the household heads more precisely as also to incorporate new questions
specifically relevant for women and children, such as their living arrangements, asset ownership,
engagement in household level enterprises, causes of migration etc. The following sections
present a picture of the changing gender status, primarily on the basis of census data.
18.2 Overall Indicators of Gender Status
Human Development Index (HDI), is a combined indicator of per capita income, life expectancy
and educational attainment. As per the overall HDI, Nepal has made substantial progress, by 171
points in the last two decades. This gain was slightly faster during the 1980s than during the
1990s. In a comparative analysis women's life expectancy seems to indicate progress towards
gender equity. The achievement in the educational fields has been greater for women than for
men. Gender Development Index comparing male and female attainments show that female/ male
disparities have been reduced faster than the overall gains, during the 1990s ( Table 18.1). Still
women are behind by 20 points.
Moreover, these achievements however, are not distributed equally as between the urban/rural
population. Neither are all development and ecological regions prospering with equal speed. In
less development regions gender disparity in these indicators are higher, but no vital statistics are
available as yet for further analysis.
218
Table 18.1: Overall indicators of gender status, (1981- 2001)
Indicators\Years 1981 1991 2001
HDI Index 0.328 0.416 0.499

GDI Index --- 0.312 0.479
Per Capita Purchasing Power Parity Ratio PPP $

---Male --- 1734
---Female --- 867
Life Expectancy at Birth (Years)

---Male 50.9. 55.0 60.1
---Female 48.1 53.5 60.7
Adult Literacy (15 Years+)

---Male 20.6 38 62.2
---Female 9.2 13 34.6
Economically Active (15 Years+)

--- Male 87.7 79.8 81.7
--- Female 45.7 48.7 60.4
Sources : HDR, 1995, and 2003; Population Census Reports for 1991 and 2001 (Vol, II Table 25).
18.3 Sex Ratio and the Health Status
Sex composition of a country as reflected in the sex ratio (men per 100 women) is one of most
important indicator of women's status in a society. It reflects overall survival chances of women in
relation to men, as also differential rates of male/female immigration and out migration. If a
society discriminates against female population severely in relation to men in fulfillment of their
basic physical needs or even has a high preference for male child, there will be more surviving
men than women at a particular moment of time. By nature there should be more women than
men, because female of the species have greater survival chances. In Nepal sex-ratio was
changing in favor of women in the eighties, indicating women's improving access to services and
survival chances. It has slightly increased during the nineties (Table 18.2).
219
Table 18.2 : Age specific sex ratio, (1981- 2001) (males per 100 female).
Age Group 1981 1991 2001
0-4 105.9 102.6 102.7
5-9 104.1 103.9 103.5
10-14 116.7 108.3 105.9
5-14 108.1 104.7 104.0
15-19 110.0 96.0 98.6
20-24 91.2 85.1 88.5
25-29 96.4 89.3 90.8
30-34 92.3 91.8 95.1
35-39 107.1 101.0 98.8
40-44 100.2 94.7 98.5
15-44 99.1 92.3 94.6
45-49 113.9 104.0 103.5
50-54 115.2 105.6 105.2
55-59 119.3 115.8 112.4
60-64 109.0 99.7 101.4
65-69 115.8 110.1 102.6
70-74 112.9 105.0 107.2
45 -74 114.3 106.3 105.8
75+ 108.4 97.4 96.2
Total 105.0 99.5 99.8
Source : Population Census 1981,1991 and 2001, CBS
The decline in child mortality ratio seems to have increased survival chances for the female babies
up to age four faster than for male babies during the eighties. During the nineties this trend has
been some what reversed. For the 5-9 age group population also the improvement in the sex ratio
for females is only very slight, indicating continuing sex discrimination for this age group of girls.
With equal access to survival chances this ratio should equalize by the age of 12. But there are
still almost 106 boys to each 100 girls in 10-14 age group. The impact of expanding health
facilities seems to have been more substantial on girl's survival chances during the eighties than
during the nineties, although Nepal's health facilities have improved continuously during the
eighties and the nineties.
A significant decline in MMR during the seventies from 850 to 539 in the eighties clearly had an
impact on changing the sex ratio in favor of women in 1991. However, such improvement is not
visible during the nineties; the sex ratio has slightly increased.
The number of men per 100 women is lowest in the 15 - 44 age group of population. This is the
reproductive age, when most of the deaths due to high MMR occur, which should have increased
the number of men per women. The data indicate opposite trend. This must be due to out
220
migration. Proportion of men in the population starts to increase from the 45-49 age group, by
which time migrants may be expected to return. In the 45 -74, age group there are almost 106 men
per 100 women. This indicates the continuing neglect of women's health. For population of 75
and above, this ratio declines drastically, indicating higher death rate for older men.
Regional level sex-ratios, in addition to external migration also capture the internal migratory
patterns. Table 18.3 below shows higher proportion of men in the Terai areas. This could indicate
both greater discrimination against females in Terai areas as also male migration from the hill and
mountain areas to Terai plains. As to the development regions, the three western regions seem to
have larger male migration to the central and eastern part of the country or to other countries.
These issues need further in-depth investigation.
Table 18.3: Sex ratios of population by ecological zones and development regions (males
per 100 females, 1981-2001)
Ecological Zone\Year 1981 1991 2001
Mountain 104.71 98.43 98.39

Hill 102.14 95.34 95.84
Terai 108.33 103.85 103.77
Development Regions
Eastern 105 100 100
Central 107 104 105
Western 103 93 93
Mid Western 103 99 99
Far-Western 105 96 98
Nepal 105.02 99.47 99.80
Rural 104.30 98.61 98.8
Urban 115.24 108.39 106.4
Urban rural sex ratios also show higher number of men per hundred women in urban areas in-
spite of the better health facilities in urban areas, which must have a dampening effect on MMR.
These figures therefore, could be interpreted as indicating the pressure of migration from rural
areas to urban areas from within the country and pressure of in-migration of men from the
neighboring countries to Nepal's urban areas.
The vital statistics, such as crude birth and death rates, infant mortality rates and total fertility
rates have declined (Table 18.4). Access to social services in terms of schools and health posts
and hospital beds has increased significantly.
221
Table 18.4 : Selected vital statistics, (1981- 2001).

Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) per 100,000 Delivery 850 539
Crude Death Rate (CDR) per 1000 Population 17.1 13.3 10.0
Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) per 1000 Live Births 117 97 64.4
TFR (15-49 ages, 1995-2000 period) (Number) 5.6 5.1 4.1
Sources : (1) Population Census, 2001; (2) HDR, 2003 (3) Population Monograph, CBS 1995, 1987.
18.4 Marriage and Fertility
Marriage is compulsory for all men and women in Nepal. For women besides the social need to
produce progeny, marriage is also seen as a primary means of livelihood for women in all most all
communities (Acharya and Bennett, 1981; Gurung, 1999). This results in high proportion of
married population. Even in 2001, ninety-four percent of the women and 81 percent of the men
were married before they reached the age of thirty. Nearly two percent of the 10-14 year girls and
33 percent of 15-19 girls were already married.
Table 18.5 : Ever married population in percent to total age cohort by age group, Nepal
(1981- 2001).
Male Female
Age Group
1981 1991 2001 1981 1991 2001
10-14 14.9 4.2 0.8 14.3 7.4 1.8
15-19 25.9 19.9 11.8 50.8 46.3 33.5
20-24 59.2 61.3 48.0 86.9 86.1 78.5
25-29 80.5 86.9 81.5 94.7 95.7 94.2
30-34 87.6 94.5 93.9 96.9 97.7 97.1
35-39 91.1 97.0 96.8 97.4 98.4 98.0
40-44 92.0 97.6 97.4 97.5 98.7 98.1
45-49 92.6 98.1 97.8 97.1 98.8 98.3
50-54 93.1 98.2 97.9 96.4 98.5 97.5
55-59 93.0 98.3 98.1 95.8 98.4 97.7
60-64 92.9 98.3 97.8 94.9 98.1 97.2
65+ 91.6 98.0 97.5 92.9 97.5 96.7
Total 62.1 64.0 60.0 70.8 73.6 69.2
Early marriage, however, seems to be declining perceptibly. Proportion of married girls in

between 10 and 25 ages has come down substantially since 1981, particularly during the nineties
(Table 18.5). Consequently the mean age of marriage for both the girls and the boys has increased
222
significantly (Table 18.6), by 2.3 years for girls. The significant gains in the nineties may be
interpreted as a result of multiple factors, increased literacy and education of women, increased
awareness raising activities of NGOs/INGOs and the government and also increasing employment
of women in the non-agricultural sectors.
This gain nevertheless is distributed very unevenly as among the three ecological zones and five
development regions. Further there are substantial urban/rural and regional differences. In Tarai
girls are still married earlier. Nevertheless, the gain in years in mean age of marriage of girls
since 1981 in Tarai has been highest at 3.1 years. Development-region wise, the far- west region
lags behind the Eastern region, for example by almost two years. But all ecological and
development regions have achieved at least one years gain, since 1991. Tarai among the
ecological zones and the EDR and FWDR among the development regions have gained most in
terms of increased mean age of marriage for the girls. The urban rural difference of about one
year in the girls' mean age of marriage however has remained constant since 1981. This gap had
actually increased in 1991 compared to 1981 but it seems to be declining subsequently.
Table 18.6 : Singulate mean age of marriage by urban/rural ecological zones and
development regions, (1981-2001).
Male Female
Zones \Regions
1981 1991 2001 1981 1991 2001
Ecological Zones
Mountain 21.8 21.9 22.1 18.5 18.6 19.6
Hill 23.0 22.2 23.4 18.0 18.9 20.2
Terai 19.7 20.6 22.5 15.8 17.0 18.9
Development Regions
Eastern 21.7 22.5 23.7 16.9 19.2 20.3
Central 20.5 21.3 23.1 16.8 17.7 19.5
Western 20.8 21.2 22.7 17.3 18.0 19.5
Mid Western 20.1 20.7 21.8 16.9 17.6 18.9
Far-Western 19.5 20.4 21.8 15.7 16.9 18.5
Nepal 20.7 21.4 22.9 17.2 18.1 19.5

Urban 22.5 23.5 24.5 18.5 19.6 20.7
Rural 20.6 21.1 22.5 17.1 17.9 19.3
As to the other variables on marital status, proportion of widowed, divorced and separated women
is declining. But still there were women widowed already by 19 years of age. Young widows,
particularly, in the Indo-Aryan community, are subject to covert and overt violence and face both
psychological (as forerunners of misfortune) and physical violence, often for her share of
property.
223
Table 18.7 : Marital status of 10 years and above female population (1981- 2001).
Male Female
Details
1981 1991 2001 1981 1991 2001
Never Married 35.1 35.6 39.2 23.3 25.7 30.3
Ever Married 64.9 64.4 60.6 76.7 74.3 69.2
Currently Married 62.1 60.5 58.5 70.8 65.7 65.4
Divorced/Separated 0.4 0.5 0.1 0.4 0.7 0.1
Widowed 2.4 3.0 1.3 5.5 7.2 3.7
Not Stated 0.0 0.4 0.7 0.0 0.7 0.3
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Although with higher ages all women face the problem of widowhood and single life in all
communities due to the decline in their sexual attraction and presence of children, at younger
ages, women from non-Brahmin\Chhetry castes within the Hindu community and other ethnic
groups and religion, may get remarried easily. This is illustrated by the figures in Table 18.8
below. The Census of 2001 has expanded the scope of information on patterns of marriage to
capture this reality.
Table 18.8: Selected indicators on kind of marriage, Nepal 2001 (percentage of ever
married population aged 10 years and above)
Living with More than Women in

Re-Marriage
Variables One Spouse Polygynous
Male Female Male Female Marriage
Total 5.5 0.04 4.2 2.7 559250

Rural 5.7 0.04 4.5 2.9 493656
Urban 4.4 0.01 2.4 1.1 65592
Ecological Zone
Mountain 6.6 0.36 5.9 4.3 46836
Hill 6.8 0.03 5.4 3.7 289215
Terai 4.4 - 3.0 1.6 223198
Development Regions
Eastern 6.0 0.06 4.0 2.3 138988
Central 4.7 0.01 3.0 1.6 176348
Western 7.1 0.06 4.8 3.1 134978
Mid-Western 5.5 0.04 7.3 5.8 64600
Far-Western 4.8 0.03 4.4 3.0 44334
Source : CBS, 2002 National Report. Vol. II.
224
Information is generated on the kind of marriage and extent of remarriage among men and women
in the country. This is one of the very important information which captures the realities of
women's every day life in Nepal. The Hindu ideology of sexual purity of women prohibits
remarriage for women. Hence until 2001 the Census authorities had assumed that there would be
few cases of female remarriage in the country. Similarly polygamy is prohibited by law, so it was
assumed that there would be only few such marriages. But both these assumptions represent only
partial reality. Nepal is a multi-ethnic country. Many of the ethnicities in Nepal do not prohibit
widow remarriage. Further even within the Hindu communities, this ideology has been adopted to
fit their own culture (e.g. Newars, Maithili non-Brahamin/ Chhetrias). On top of that, the poorer
communities hardly care about the ideology or the law. Alcohol and polygyny related violence in
the domestic arena is reported high all over Nepal and across all communities. Therefore it was
important to collect this information to picture the realities of women's every day life more
accurately.
The 2001 Census shows that at least 559,250 women are living in polygyneous marriages. The
number could be more, because this number has been estimated by multiplying the number of
men in polygenous marriages by 2. Since these men may have more than two wives, the number
could be higher.
Number of women living with more than one man is limited to 0.36 percent of total married
women in the Mountains and 0.03 percent in the Hills, since this practice is prevalent only in one
small community of Tibetan origin. The proportion of women remarried is highest in the
Mountains and lowest in the Tarai, reflecting the greater cultural restrictions for women in Tarai
areas. As for the Development Regions, mid-Western has highest remarriage percentage for both
women and men, probably reflecting the concentration of Gurungs and Magars, who attach no
stigma to remarriage of women, in this region. .
As mentioned above, marriage and then children are considered almost compulsory in life in all
communities. Also son-preference, although varying in degree prevails almost among all of them.
Consequently, the fertility rate in Nepal is quite high, even higher than in India or Bangladesh
(HDR, 2003). The Table 18.9 below features the age specific and total fertility rates.
225
Table 18.9 : Age specific and total fertility rates, by residence, (1991 - 2001).
Urban Rural
Age Group
1991 2001 1991 2001
15-19 0.085 0.075 0.089 0.079
20-24 0.212 0.201 0.267 0.243
25-29 0.181 0.146 0.257 0.212
30-34 0.106 0.079 0.204 0.148
35-39 0.058 0.037 0.149 0.126
40-44 0.026 0.018 0.076 0.050
45-49 0.011 0.007 0.028 0.015
TFR 3.40 2.82 5.35 4.37
The Total Fertility Rate (TFR), indicates average number of children born to woman of
reproductive age group (15-49). This number has also been declining since 1971. The rate of
decline has accelerated during the nineties. Current TFR (in 2001) is estimated at 4.1 per women
against 5.5 in 1991. What is also significant is that the declining trend is visible in all age groups.
There is significant difference between TFR for rural and urban areas, at 2.5 per women. This
difference is attributable to the higher mean age of marriage, higher awareness and education
levels and higher employment opportunities for women in the non-agricultural sector in urban
areas. Regionally, Mountains have the highest TFR. Mid-West and the Far-West have higher TFR
than other Development Regions
Table 18.10 : TFR by ecological and development regions, ( 1991 - 2001)..
Regions\Year 1991 2001
Ecological Zones
Mountain 5.93 4.57
Hill 5.33 3.77
Terai 4.72 3.64
Development Regions
Eastern 5.00 3.68
Central 4.37 3.56
Western 5.13 3.60
Mid-Western 5.96 4.31
Far-Western 6.00 4.53
226
18.5 Education
Literacy levels in Nepal have increased significantly, particularly during the last two decades.
Male literacy among 6 and above age group has reached 65 percent in 2001 from 34 percent in
1981. Similarly female literacy rate among this age group has more than trebled, from 12.0
percent in 1981 to 42.5 percent in 2001. Nevertheless, in literacy and education gender disparities
are decreasing only slowly. Girl's enrolment has not attended parity even at the primary level.
Compared to 1991, the difference in male/female literacy levels is declining only from the 30-34
age-group (Table 18.11).
Table 18.11 : Percent literate population 6 years and over by age group, (1991- 2001).
1991 2001
Age
Group Male/Female Male/Female
Difference Difference
6-9 55.7 38.0 17.7 57.9 51.3 6.6
10-14 76.0 49.3 26.7 83.7 73.3 10.4
15-19 71.5 38.6 32.9 82.5 66.1 16.4
20-24 64.3 26.3 38.0 78.2 53.4 24.8
25-29 54.7 17.6 37.1 70.8 41.1 29.7
30-34 49.6 13.9 35.7 66.9 32.2 34.7
35-39 45.3 11.2 34.1 59.6 24.4 35.2
40-44 41.2 7.9 33.3 55.0 19.2 35.8
45-49 36.5 6.3 30.2 50.7 15.2 35.4
50-54 30.9 4.7 26.2 44.7 10.9 33.8
55-59 28.5 4.2 24.3 40.6 8.2 32.4
60-64 24.0 3.1 20.9 31.9 5.5 26.4
65+ 24.5 3.5 21.0 27.0 4.1 22.9
Total 54.5 25.0 29.5 65.1 42.5 22.6
Further, the number of women with SLC and higher degrees still constitute only 43 to 100 men
with such qualifications. Similarly, the number of women with graduate and higher degrees is still
less than 23 to 100 men with such degrees. What is more, this ratio has remained almost constant
as compared to 1991 figure. The male: female ratio of full time students is still only 57:43.
227
Table 18.12 : Selected educational indicators, (1981- 2001).
Female in Total School Enrolment (Percent)

---Primary 37.2 44.1
---Secondary 31.5 41.5
---Higher Secondary 28.7 40.6
Female Percent Among Full Time Students 27.2 34.7 43.1
SLC and Above (Females\100 Male) (Number) 21.0 28.2 43.2
Graduates and Above (Females \ 100 Male) (Number) 18.4 22.5 22.9
Sources: (1) Population Census, 2001; (2) HDR, 1995 and 2002 (3) Population Monograph, CBS 1995.
In addition, these achievements are very unequally distributed as between the regions, rural and
urban areas, among castes and various ethnic groups (Tables 18.13- 18.14). The difference in
male/female literacy is higher in rural areas and mountains among the ecological zones. As to the
development regions the Far- West displays much larger male/female difference in literacy levels
than other development regions.
Table 18.13 : Male\ female literacy rate by ecological & development regions, (1981-2001).
6 Years and Over

Regions \Year Male Female
1981 1991 2001 1981 1991 2001
Ecological Zones
Mountain 27.6 50.2 56.6 7.8 16.5 30.1
Hill 36.9 60.2 70.3 12.9 28.5 47.0
Tarai 32.1 49.8 61.7 11.9 22.7 39.9
Development Regions
Eastern 39.5 59.3 66.2 14.5 29.2 44.7
Central 32.3 51.6 63.4 12.5 24.6 41.4
Western 38.3 58.5 70.1 13.2 28.9 49.0
Mid West 25.2 47.6 60.7 7.3 16.3 37.4
Far West 26.8 52.0 64.1 7.6 13.3 32.8
Nepal 34.0 54.2 65.1 12.0 24.7 42.5

Urban 61.1 80.0 80.9 38.2 51.2 61.6
Rural 32.0 54.2 62.2 10.3 20.4 59.3
228
Table 18.14 : Male \ female difference in literacy rate by ecological & development regions,
(1981-2001).
6 Years and Over

Regions \Year
1981 1991 2001
Ecological Zones
Mountain 19.8 33.7 26.5
Hill 24.0 31.7 23.3
Tarai 20.2 27.1 21.8
Development Regions
Eastern 25.0 30.1 21.5
Central 19.8 27.4 22.0
Western 25.1 29.6 21.0
Mid Western 17.9 31.3 23.3
Far Western 19.2 38.7 31.3
Nepal 22.0 29.5 22.6

Urban 22.9 23.2 19.3
Rural 21.7 29.9 22.9
One additional bit of information which Census 2001 has generated is on the school going
children between the ages of 10-16 by the living arrangements. Overall in this age group 80
percent boys and 68 percent girls get to go to school. There are various causes of this difference,
greater work burden of female children being one of them. One additional factor that could be a
factor in this is living arrangements. The data on Table 18.15 below does show that lowest
proportion of children living with employers get to go to school. Male-female difference in
school-going proportion of children seems to hover around 9 -11 percentage points among the
various living arrangements other than employers and other relatives. The difference in these
cases is reduced but not because higher proportion of girls gets to go to school but because lower
proportion of boys is sent to school. Highest proportion of girls and boys are sent to school when
they are living with biological mother. Next rank in this case is taken by household with
biological parents living together with children. Lowest proportions of boys and girls are sent to
school when they are living with their employers. Generally, higher the working proportion, lower
the proportion of children going to school.
229
Table 18.15 : Percent male/female below 16 years by living arrangement, economic activity
and school attendance, 2001.
Any Activity =100 Total Age

Cohorts
For 10-16 Age Cohort 10 - 16 =100
Living Arrangements
Other than School
Economic Total
Economic Attendance
Activity Working
Work Rate
Male 11.8 2.1 13.9 80.0
Biological Parents 10.2 2.1 12.3 80.6
Biological Mother 14.5 1.6 16.1 82.7
Biological Father 21.4 3.2 24.6 71.9
Biological Father and Step Mother 21.6 2.4 24.0 72.8
Biological Mother and Step Father 24.2 3.1 27.3 69.5
Other Relatives 21.1 2.5 23.6 64.7
Employer 39.7 4.4 44.1 61.7
Others 20.5 2.4 22.9 76.7
Female 14.9 10.4 25.3 68.4

Biological Parents 12.9 9.7 22.6 72.4
Biological Mother 17.4 8.7 26.1 75.4
Biological Father 26.7 16.6 43.3 60.9
Biological Father and Step Mother 27.2 16.9 44.1 62.0
Biological Mother and Step Father 28.5 18.0 46.5 59.6
Other Relatives 24.4 16.5 40.9 64.7
Employer 40.1 19.0 59.1 55.8
Others 24.5 15.8 40.3 65.7
Analyzing the age-specific data at higher education levels, while the male/female difference is
declining, for all educational levels, the difference is still significant. More over it increase with
level of education. For example in 25-29 age group there are only about 50 women to each 100
men with SLC and above education, this ratio has increased to 70.1 percent in 15-19 age group.
Similar increasing trends are visible in the case of graduate education. Yet, higher the education
level, lower the number of women with comparable educational degrees. For example there are 86
girls with primary education to 100 boys with similar level of education in 20-24 age group, but
only 63 women to 100 men with SLC and higher education and 47 women to 100 men with
graduate and above educational qualifications (Table 18.16).
230
Table 18.16 : Female per 100 male by educational status by five year age groups, 2001.
Primary SLC & SLC & Graduate &

Age Group Literate
(1 - 5) Equivalent Above Above
6-9 85.9 86.0

10-14 82.6 82.9
15-19 81.3 89.1 71.6 70.1
20-24 77.1 85.8 74.0 62.9 47.2
25-29 63.9 74.9 66.9 49.6 30.3
30-34 50.6 60.5 48.4 36.0 21.8
35-39 41.4 47.2 34.0 26.5 17.1
40-44 35.5 36.8 27.2 21.1 14.3
45-49 29.0 29.5 22.3 17.9 12.1
50-54 23.3 23.6 15.4 13.8 11.5
55-59 17.9 19.5 11.2 9.9 8.9
60-64 17.0 18.4 10.6 9.8 8.0
65+ 14.8 17.1 7.6 7.7 5.5
Total 65.8 76.8 55.5 43.6 22.9
Urban \rural and regional differences in gender disparity in education are also significant. For
example while there are 51 women with SLC certificates to each 100 men with similar
qualifications in rural areas, this number is 70 for urban areas. Similar urban\rural differences are
visible at all levels of education. Similarly, the gender disparities are much greater at all levels of
education in the mid and far western parts of the country (Table 18.17).
Table 18.17 : Female per 100 male by educational status, by urban/rural and development
regions 2001.
SLC and Graduate
Regions\Status Primary SLC
Above and Above
Development Regions
Eastern 74.6 56.6 43.8 19.5
Central 74.0 53.8 43.8 26.5
Western 87.2 67.6 50.6 20.4
Mid Western 69.9 49.1 39.4 19.3
Far Western 63.6 37.0 28.6 12.6
Nepal 76.8 55.5 43.6 22.9

Urban 84.5 69.6 53.3 21.3
Rural 75.7 50.8 39.1 19.4
231
18.6 Economic Status
On the economic side women's participation in formally defined labor force has increased
substantially between 1981 and 2001. Much of the definitional problems in the economic activity
rates are also being taken care of slowly. As per the Census, 2001 women constitute more than 43
percent of the labor force, 73 percent in agriculture and 27 percent in the non-agriculture sectors.
Women's proportion has increased almost in all occupations to some extent. But their greater
concentration in agriculture is also visible. A positive trend is also visible in their empowerment
as reflected in their increasing proportion among the professionals and technicians as also in
administration and management.
Table 18.18 below shows increased economic activity rates for men and women for both rural and
urban areas, for all ecological and development regions between 1991 and 2001. More rural men
and women are economically active than urban men or women. The urban rural differences are
much higher for women. This difference of 28 percentage points in 1991 has, however, declined
to 20 percentage points in 2001. It means opportunities for women's employment have expanded
faster in urban areas for women. Also more women are entering the market as labor force in urban
areas.
Table 18.18 : Economic activity rates by ecological and development regions, (1991- 2001).
Male Female
Regions\Status
1991 2001 1991 2001
Ecological Zones
Mountain 74.9 79.9 74.1 78.9
Hill 67.5 70.2 58.4 61.8
Tarai 68.9 71.9 27.5 45.6
Development Regions
Eastern 68.1 72.4 42.6 55.0
Central 69.3 71.5 36.8 46.8
Western 64.19 68.6 51.8 59.9
Mid Western 72.31 74.1 52.7 61.2
Far Western 70.82 73.6 60.8 69.6
Nepal 68.7 71.7 45.5 55.3

Urban 59.4 65.5 20.3 38.0
Rural 69.8 72.8 48.1 58.3
Source : CBS, National Report on Census 2001, Vol. II, Table 25
232
Nevertheless, the trend observed internationally, that shift of the production processes from the
households to the market tends to reduce women's role in the economic activities, is visible in
Nepal as well. Several factors hinder women's participation in the organized labor market.
Participation in the market as elementary workers is usually not acceptable to middle class
households. Further, the separation of reproduction (reproducing human beings) and production of
goods and services becomes inevitable spatially, and many women have to confine to household
maintenance activities. Moreover, women from the rural labor class, who work in the labor
market, lack the necessary educational prerequisites to work in the modernized sector. This
process gets slowly reversed with the increase in educational levels and expansion of the market
in the labor-intensive products.
Compared to 1991, Table 18.20 shows increased economic activity rates for all age groups except
a slight decline in the case of 15-19 age group girls. The increase in economic activity rates for
both men and women obtained in 2001, seem to be accounted for by three factors -- redefinition
of the economic and non-economic activities, a more rigorous and precise definitions in the
manual, and a change in the method of calculating economic activity to take account of multiple
activities people perform for survival.
The definition of economic activity as featured in Table 18.19-18.20 includes extended economic
activities. The category of extended economic activities is a new classification in 2001 Census.
This category includes activities such as collection of water, fuel and processing of both primary
and market purchased goods for household consumption. In the previous definitions, theoretically,
the processing activities were considered non economic in the case of the households, which were
not selling the good or the service in question. What it means is that if a farmer did not sell the
butter he produced in the market, then the time spent on producing butter for the household
consumption would not be considered economic. But if he also sold a part of the butter he
produced in the market then his time spent on producing butter for the household would also be
considered economic.
But, all producers of primary agricultural goods e.g. grains, fruits, vegetables, milk, meat etc,
were considered economically active even by 1968 SNA. But in the case of Nepal even time
devoted to production of primary goods for household consumption was not captured fully in the
field interviews. Attempts were made in 2001 Census to redress this deficiency by a more
rigorous definitions and clearer examples.
233
Table 18.19 : Age specific economic activity rate by sex 1981-2001.
1981 1991 2001

Age
Group Both Both Both
Sexes Sexes Sexes
10-14 56.9 61.3 51.9 22.9 18.1 28.0 28.8 27.3 30.4
15-19 60.7 69.2 51.3 49.1 49.2 49.0 48.9 49.7 48.1
20-24 66.1 86.3 47.6 66.0 80.0 54.1 68.7 76.9 61.5
25-29 68.7 93.4 44.9 72.0 92.3 53.9 78.2 91.9 65.7
30-34 68.2 95.3 43.3 73.6 95.2 53.8 81.8 96.6 67.8
35-39 70.8 95.8 44.1 75.3 95.9 54.5 83.3 97.4 69.3
40-44 70.4 96.0 44.1 74.3 95.5 54.1 83.4 97.1 69.9
45-49 72.3 96.4 44.7 73.8 94.7 52.1 83.3 96.8 69.4
50-54 71.2 94.3 44.9 70.4 91.7 48.0 80.8 94.5 66.4
55-59 69.9 92.2 43.3 66.6 88.2 41.5 77.5 91.4 62.0
60-64 62.5 83.3 39.9 45.7 66.2 25.4 67.2 81.9 52.3
65+ 52.9 68.7 35.0 26.7 40.0 12.8 47.1 59.7 34.3
Nepal 65.1 83.2 46.2 56.6 68.2 45.2 63.4 71.7 55.3
Urban 54.90 74.86 31.48 40.76 59.44 20.34 52.2 65.5 38.0
Rural 65.85 83.77 47.19 58.76 69.78 48.10 65.4 72.8 58.3
Source : CBS, National Report on Census 2001, Vol. II, Table 25
Further, in the previous Censuses, people were asked to declare their occupation and place of
work only if they had already declared themselves performing activities falling in the economic
category. For example if women or full time students declared themselves as house wives or
students, then they were automatically excluded from the economically active category. In 2001
Census, irrespective of the responses to the preliminary question as to the kind of work they did,
all people above 10 years of age were asked to describe the kind of work they performed.
In Table 25 in Volume II of the National Census Report (2001) all those who performed any of
the economic activities for at least one hour a day or looked for work in a similar period are
defined as economically active, irrespective of whether they had declared themselves as students,
housewives, sick or old etc. Because of this, people describing themselves as full time students or
house wives could also fall in the category of economically active, if they performed any one of
the economic activities for at least one hour a day or more for any time during the reference year.
Their responses to the previous question as to what they did most of the time during the year
preceding the Census has no relationship to tabulations in this table. In the1991 Census also it was
enough to declare that they performed activities defined as economic any time in the preceding
year. But in 1991 Census, the definition of economic active and not active, did not allow for a
234
person to be a student/ housewife and also economically active at the same time. Those looking
for work were not included as economically active either. In 1981 Census a person had to have
performed economic activities at least eight months in the year to fall in the category of
economically active.
Due to all above factors there could be a large difference between the economic activity rates
obtained by applying 1991and 2001 definitions. The difference could be much larger for women
than for men. For such a comparative analysis further reprocessing of the 2001 Census data is
required.
The reform in all three directions, capturing extended economic activities mostly performed by
women and children, which were not captured before, taking account of multiple economic
activities which is a better reflection of reality of subsistence economies, and more rigorous and
clearer definitions are positive from a gender perspective, because with these reforms the statistics
on economic and non-economic activity rates reflect women's realities much better. They
contribute to making women's work visible. This fact can be illustrated partially by a comparison
of Tables 18.19 and 18.20.
Table 18.20 below, constructed on the basis of Table 23 in the Volume II of the 2001 National
Population Report, records responses to the question on what a person did most of the time during
the year preceding the Census. This tabulation is based on the principal of exclusivity, either one
is performing economic activity or other activity most of the time. They are economically active
(performing usually home-based agricultural or non-agricultural activities, wage work or seeking
employment), home-makers or students or other inactive. As discussed above, in Tables 18.18-
8.19 all those, who performed any of the economic activity at least for one hour for any time in
the reference year, were classified as economically active.
Asking people to say what they did most of the time seems to lead to underestimation of
economic activity rates for all age groups of men and women. But such underestimation seems to
be much larger for 10-19 age children (about 20 percentage points) and women in general. While
the difference in the case of men is of about 8 percentage points, in the case of women it is 17.6
percentage points. Therefore for a realistic evaluation of women's work in general it is necessary
to ask more detailed questions and to look at their total work and not only their perceived
economic work.
A substantial proportion of women are confined to household work due to social and reproductive
reasons. Even if the home-making activities, such as household maintenance and child-care, do
235
not fall within the production boundary defined by the SNA currently, such activities nevertheless
are necessary for human reproduction and no economy can survive without them. Therefore a
comparison of working and not-working population is also useful for an analysis of livelihood
patterns, which is presented in table 18.20 below. .
Table 18.20 : Male/female proportion of workers, 2001.
Male Female
Age Usually Performing Usually Performing
Home Home
Group Eco. Ext. Total Eco. Total
Maker Ext. Eco. Maker
Activity Eco. Activity
10-14 8.6 1.3 2.2 12.1 9.8 3.0 9.6 22.4
15-19 35.4 1.5 1.7 38.6 28.9 5.3 20.1 54.3
20-24 70.0 1.4 1.4 72.8 44.2 7.0 34.6 85.8
25-29 88.1 1.3 1.2 90.6 48.9 7.4 39.1 95.4
30-34 93.8 1.2 1.0 96.0 51.5 7.3 38.0 96.8
35-39 94.8 1.2 0.9 96.9 53.1 7.4 36.7 97.2
40-44 94.7 1.2 0.9 96.8 53.7 7.4 35.8 96.9
45-49 94.4 1.2 0.9 96.5 52.9 7.6 35.8 96.3
50-54 91.8 1.4 1.1 94.3 49.9 7.7 35.1 92.7
55-59 88.2 1.6 1.5 91.3 45.1 7.4 35.5 88.0
60-64 77.3 1.9 2.3 81.5 35.9 6.6 30.5 73.0
65+ 52.9 2.1 3.0 58.0 20.3 4.5 21.7 46.5
Nepal 63.5 1.4 1.6 66.5 37.7 6.1 28.6 72.4
Development Regions
EDR 64.3 1.3 1.1 66.7 37.1 6.3 27.9 71.3
CDR 64.9 1.2 1.8 67.9 31. 0 5.2 36.9 73.1
WDR 60.0 1.4 1.3 62.7 43.2 5.5 21.6 70.3
MWDR 64.3 1.8 1.7 67.8 38.9 9.0 27.2 75.1
FWDR 61.8 2.0 2.0 65.8 50.5 7.4 17.1 75.0
Table 18.20 presents a picture of working population, irrespective of the kind of work they do.
Any person engaged solely in home-making is also considered working. Work is defined as an
activity, which a second person can do for you, for example cooking, taking care of children,
cleaning, washing, for example all activities in the household maintenance and child-care. Only
activities, which a second person can not do for you, for example sleeping, taking care of your
own person, watching TV, study etc are excluded from the definition of work. . By this definition
of work, more than 90 percent of men and women in the 25-54 age group are working, the
difference is only in the kind of work they do. Overall and among most age-cohorts larger
proportions of women are working than men.
236
In the 10-24 age group larger proportion of women are working then men. While 22 percent of
girls of 10-14 ages are working, only 12 percent of boys in the similar age group work. In the 15-
24 age cohort, larger proportion of girls are working than boys, and more than half of them are
engaged in economic activity. Among all age cohorts, larger proportion of women perform
economic plus extended economic activities than just home-making.
In all development regions, larger proportion of women than men works. The Central
Development Region has the largest proportion of women performing only household activities
18.6.1 Industrial and Occupational Distribution of the Labor Force
Nepal's labor force is still concentrated in agriculture. Slightly more than 60 percent of the
economically active men and nearly 73 percent of economically active women are still engaged in
agriculture. This proportion is much lower in 2001 than in 1991 both for men and women. The
increase in non-agricultural employment has been slightly higher for women than for men. While
men's engagement in the non-agricultural sector has increased by about 16 percentage points,
women's engagement in this sector has increased by about 18 percentage points (Table 18.21).
Proportion of women in the non-agricultural work force has increased to 34 percent from 20
percent in 1991(Table 18.22). Women workers proportion has increased in all sectors.
Nevertheless, women's concentration in agriculture is still more than that of men. Women
constitute 48 percent of the labor force in agriculture. In the non-agricultural sector, the largest
proportionate increases have been in electricity, gas and water, manufacturing and trade and
related services. The large increase in the proportion of women in the electricity, gas and water
sector from 6.4 percent to almost 78 percent, however, is because household level collectors of
water and fuel have been counted as economically active in 2001 Census and included in this
category. To make it comparable to earlier censuses, some data reprocessing is required.
Development of major export industries, such as carpet, garments, and woolen goods, has opened
new avenues of formal employment for women. Increased tourism and hotels have increased
women's engagement in trade and related services. However, one should be aware that this
increase once again in sectors like services could be due to better definitions of economic activity
to include road side tea stalls, village level guest houses, pubs etc and taking account of the
multiple activities people have to perform for survival in developing countries. Women in Nepal
have always minded the shops, but previously they could have declared themselves as
housewives.
237
Table 18.21 : Distribution of economically active population by industry,(1981- 2001).
1981 1991 2001
Industry
Agriculture and Forestry 91.2 88.7 95.8 81.2 74.9 90.5 65.7 60.2 72.8
Non-Agriculture 7.0 9.2 2.9 17.8 23.8 8.9 34.1 39.5 27.0
Of Which:
Mining and Quarrying 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.1
Manufacturing and recycling 5.0 0.6 0.2 2.0 2.6 1.2 8.8 8.1 9.7
Electricity, gas and Water supply 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.0 1.5 0.6 2.7
Construction 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.7 0.1 2.9 4.2 1.2
Trade and Services 1.6 2.1 0.7 3.5 4.5 2.0 9.9 10.7 9.0
Of which:
Wholesale and retail trade 8.7 9.3 8.0
Hotels and restaurants 1.2 1.4 1.0
Transport, storage & communications 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.7 1.1 0.1 1.6 2.8 0.1
Finance & Business services 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.8 1.2 0.3
Of which:
Financial intermediation 0.5 0.7 0.2
Real state, renting and business 0.3 0.5 0.1
Community, social & personal services 4.6 6.0 1.9 10.3 13.6 5.3 8.3 11.7 3.9
Of Which:
Public administration and social security 3.0 4.7 0.8
Education 2.3 3.0 1.4
Health and social work 0.6 0.8 0.4
Other comm., social & personal service 0.7 1.1 0.2
Private households 1.1 1.1 1.0
Extra-territorial Organ. & bodies 0.6 1.0 0.1
Not Stated (+others for 1981& 1991) 1.6 1.4 2.2 0.6 0.2 0.2 0.2
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
238
Table 18.22 : Female proportion (male + female =100) in labor force by industry (1981-
2001).
1981 1991 2001
Industry
Female Female Female
Agriculture and Forestry 36.4 45.0 48.1
Non-Agriculture 14.3 20.2 34.3
Of Which:
Mining and Quarrying 26.7 20.6 35.6
Manufacturing and recycling 14.9 22.9 47.6
Electricity, gas and Water supply 4.9 6.4 77.6
Construction 5.9 10.9 17.8
Trade and Services 15 23.7 39.0
Of which:
Wholesale and retail trade 39.6
Hotels and restaurants 34.5
Transport, storage & communications 4.6 3.9 3.6
Finance & Business services 10.2 13.4 14.2
Financial intermediation 14.6
Of which:
Real state, renting and business 13.6
Community, social & personal services 14.5 21 20.5
Of Which:
Public administration and social security 11.8
Education 26.0
Health and social work 29.4
Other comm., social & personal service 14.6
Private households 40.2
Extra-territorial Organ. & bodies 6.3
Total 34.6 40.4 43.4
Table 18.23 : Female proportion in labor force by development regions and by major
industry 2001
Agriculture Non- Agriculture

Regions
& Related Total Manufacturing Other
Eastern 46.2 36.4 46.1 33.3
Central 42.6 29.5 42.5 24.6
Western 54.5 38.4 50.7 34.2
Mid Western 47.9 39.9 56.4 34.0
Far Western 53.8 34.7 57.7 27.3
Nepal 48.1 34.4 47.4 29.7

Urban 5.8 19.4 15.9 21.3
Rural 94.2 80.6 84.1 78.7
239
Women constitute only 5.8 percent in agricultural labor force in urban areas, while they constitute
94 percent in rural areas. This is probably because urban agriculture is more commercialized. In
all development regions women are concentrated in the agriculture and manufacturing among the
non-agricultural sectors.
For an evaluation of women's comparative status, the occupational distribution is more relevant
than industrial distribution. Because the industrial distribution captures only where people are
working, not the positions in which they are working. The occupational distribution, on the other
hand, tells the story as to in what positions people are working. However, one difficulty in this
evaluation is presented by the fact that 2001 Census uses new definition of occupational
classification, than what was used in the earlier censuses. An attempt has been made in Tables 25
and 26 to match the old and new classifications to certain extent. But this exercise is still far from
complete and the following discussions take that into account.
Figures in Table 18.24 on the occupational distribution of labor force, show that the pattern of
women's employment is changing only slowly. In the 2001 occupational classification agricultural
labor force has been divided in two categories- skilled and semi-skilled and elementary workers.
The group includes most of the farmers farming their own or rented land, while the casual wage
workers are classified as elementary workers. In terms of proportionate distribution the largest
gains in the non-agricultural sector have been in the category of production workers, both for the
men and women. Among the production workers, women constitute 44 percent (Table 18.25).
Even among the production workers, they are relatively concentrated more among the elementary
workers. Smaller surveys also confirm that in the manufacturing sector, women are concentrated
at low paying and low capital intensive jobs (For example, GDS\FES, 1997). Here also, it should
be noted that manual workers and even street venders have been included in the category of
elementary workers, while earlier they were included largely in the shop keeper and trader
category. Also water collectors at the household level are included in the category of elementary
workers. Therefore, for a proper evaluation of occupational progress of women all these issues
need to be investigated in more detail, which involves data reprocessing.
Women still constitute miniscule proportion among administrative, technical and professional,
and clerical worker categories. They constitute only about 14 percent among the administrative
workers, i.e., among the senior officers, legislators and managers and 19 percent among the
professionals and technicians, which comprises, teachers, trained nurses, doctors, engineers,
professors etc. The increase in women's proportion in this group by 4 percentage point indicates a
positive trend, reversing the decreasing trend observed in 1991 compared to 1981.
240
Table 18.24 : Distribution of economically active population by broad occupational groups (in percent).
1981 1991 2001

Occupations
Administrative Workers (Legislators, Senior Off. & Managers) 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.3 0.5 0.1 0.6 0.9 0.2
Technicians and Associate Professionals 0.9 1.2 0.5 1.8 2.5 0.7 4.2 5.9 1.9
Of Which:
Professionals 2.5 3.3 1.3
Technician & Associate Professionals 1.7 2.6 0.6
Clerks or Office Assistants 0.7 1.0 0.1 1.1 1.6 0.3 2.0 3.1 0.6
Service, Shop and Market Sales Workers 1.5 1.9 0.6 9.2 11.7 5.5 7.9 10.5 4.5
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Workers 91.4 88.9 96.1 81.1 74.7 90.5 65.7 60.2 72. 8
Of Which:
Skilled and Semi-Skilled 59.6 53.4 67.7
Elementary Occupations 6.1 6.8 5.1
Production Workers 3.1 3.9 1.7 4.2 5.8 2.0 19.5 19.3 19.8
Of Which:
Craft and Related Workers 9.3 9.1 9.5
Plant and Machine Operator & Assemblers 1.4 2.2 0.4
Elementary Occupations (Other than agriculture) 8.8 8.0 9.9
Not Stated+ others for 1981 & 1991) 4.7 3.0 1.0 1.1 1.1 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
241
But one should also note that among the professionals women constitute 23 percent, which is
accounted for largely by inclusion of village health workers in this category. Among the clerical
workers women's proportion is 12 percent.
Table 18.25 : Female proportion in labor force by occupation (1981- 2001).
Occupations 1981 1991 2001

Administrative Workers (Legislators, Senior Off. & Managers) 6.6 9.3 13.8
Technicians and Associate Professionals 16.6 15.1 19.0
Of Which:
Professionals 23.3
Technician & Associate Professionals 14.4
Clerks or Office Assistants 5.8 10.0 12.8
Service, Shop and Market Sales Workers 14.6 23.9 24.7
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Workers 36.4 45.1 48.1
Of Which:
Skilled and Semi-Skilled 49.3
Elementary Occupations 36.4
Production Workers 19.2 15.8 44.1
Of Which:
Craft and Related Workers 44.6
Plant and Machine Operator & Assemblers 13.0
Elementary Occupations (Other than agriculture) 48.6
Not Stated / Others 15.1 35.9 50.9
Total 34.6 40.4 43.2
18.6.2 Employment Status
As to the kind of employment, an overwhelming majority of economically active population, both

men and women, is still self-employed (Table 18.26), including family labor. Sixty-two percent of
men and nearly 84 percent of women are in self-employment and family labor. This shows low
proportion of commercialization of the labor market and low employment opportunities in the
organized sector. As per these figures, wage employment opportunities had expanded much faster
for both women and men during the eighties than during the nineties. This figure however must
have also been affected by inclusion of extended economic activities, which includes water and
fuel collection and food processing for household use in self-employment. The proportion of
employees (wage workers) has remained almost constant for women since, 1991, in-spite of the
expansion of carpet and garment exports. For men it has increased by about 6 percentage points.
242
Women's proportion in the wage labor is lowest compared to other categories in employment
status. Even among the employers women constitute 41 percent
Table 18.26 : Employment status, Nepal (1981--2001) .

F % in
Male Female
Employment Status Total
1981 1991 2001 1981 1991 2001 2001
Employer 0.9 0.7 3.9 0.4 0.4 3.7 40.8
Employee 11.8 27.8 33.7 3.8 12.0 12.8 25.7
Self Employment 83.2 69.5 56.7 90.0 83.7 70.6 47.1
Unpaid Family Labor 1.7 1.5 5.7 4.0 3.5 12.9 62.1
Not Stated 2.4 0.4 - 1.8 0.5 - --
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
F = female.
Looking at the proportion of wage and non-wage labor by major industry groups, women
constitute much lower proportion of wage-workers in the non-agricultural sector generally (Table
18.27). While they constituted 33 percent of the agricultural wage labor in 2001, their share in the
non-agricultural wage labor was only 17.7 percent, a decline of 1% percentage point from 18.9
percent in 1991.
Table 18.27 : Female - proportion by wage/non-wage and by major occupation, Nepal

(1981- 2001)
Non-Wage( Self-Employment
Wage
Occupation Family Labor+ Employer)
1981 1991 2001 1981 1991 2001
Agriculture 16.8 29.8 33.0 37.3 46.6 50.0
Non-Agriculture 14.5 18.9 17.7 18.0 25.0 50.6
Nepal 14.7 22.6 22.4 36.8 45.3 50.2
As to the development regions, the proportion of wage labor is higher for both men and women in
the Central and Eastern Development Regions compared to other regions, as non-agricultural
sector manufacturing, trade and services and construction activities have been concentrated in
these two regions., The proportion of wage labor declines progressively as one moves from the
Center to the West (Table 18.28), indicating declining wage earning opportunities in the western
part of the country.
243
Table 18.28 : Employment status by sex and development regions.
Employment Male Female
Status EDR CDR WDR MWDR FW DR EDR CDR WDR MWDR FWDR
Wage ( Employee) 32.8 42.1 29.0 25.8 22.8 15.0 18.5 9.6 8.1 6.0
Self Employment 67.1 57.9 71.0 74.2 77.1 85.0 81.5 90.4 92.0 94.0
Employer 3.0 4.5 3.3 3.3 5.2 2.8 4.2 3.5 3.3 5.4
Self Employment 57.5 49.9 60.3 63.6 65.2 67.8 65.4 73.7 73.2 79.7
Family Labor 6.6 3.5 7.4 7.3 6.7 14.4 11.9 13.2 15.5 8.9
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
18.6.3 Migration for Employment
Migration for employment is another important feature of the Nepalese economy. There are both
historical and poverty reasons because of which, Nepalese men have moved beyond the country
for employment (See Acharya, 2002, for a more detailed discussion on this issue). This process
started with Gorkha recruitment after the Treaty of Sugauli concluded after the 1814-1816 War
with the British and has expanded and diversified since. In recent years, generally lack of well
paying employment opportunities at home and opening of the more lucrative international labor
market has pushed even the youth from middle class to look for work outside the country. More
than 85 percent of nearly 680 thousand men, who have gone out, have gone in search of
employment (Table 18.29). For nearly 83 thousand women migrants this percentage is 35 percent.
Both men and women emigrants are concentrated on private jobs, but proportionately more men
have access to institutional jobs then women, both in India and overseas.
Table 18.29 : Distribution of population-absent by reasons for absence by destination.
Male Female
Reasons of Absence All Other All Other
India India
Countries Countries
Employment 85.2 84.6 87.0 35.6 31.5 55.5
Of which:
Agriculture 1.0 1.3 0.0 1.4 1.7 0.0
Private Job 70.8 70.4 72.1 30.2 26.9 46.1
Institutional Job 13.4 12.9 15.0 4.0 2.9 9.4
Business 1.6 1.9 0.7 1.1 1.1 1.2
Study 3.7 2.9 6.1 8.2 6.1 18.8
Marriage 0.3 0.4 0.2 14.4 15.9 7.2
Others 9.2 10.2 5.9 40.6 45.5 17.3
All Reasons 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
244
The traditional labor outflow to British and Indian Gorkha armies and in search of manual jobs in
neighboring towns of India has diversified to some extent to other markets. Nevertheless India
still predominates as destination for migrant workers as also for other purposes, such as study and
marriage (Table 18.30).
Table 18.30 : Distribution of migrant population by country of destination, 2001.
Countries Male Female Total
India 76.6 82.9 77.3

Arab Countries 16.0 2.5 14.5
Europe 2.7 5.7 3.0
Other Countries 4.7 8.9 5.1
All Countries 100.0 100.0 100.0
Total Number of Migrants 679,469 82712 762181
18.6.4 Women's Property
All above discussions illustrate that women play very important role in the economy of the
country. Nevertheless, the ideology of male domination, which pervades our lives, is changing
only slowly and it is hampering development in all sectors. It is well recognized by now that there
is a large difference between the Indo-Aryan and the Tibeto-Burman groups and even within each
of these groups in terms of social relations governing gender relations (Acharya and Bennette,
1981, Gurung, 1999) In-spite of this diversity, land is inherited universally in all communities
from the father to the son and women lag far behind men in access to economic resources,
knowledge and modern avenues of employment.
Table 18.31 lists selected information from the Census 2001 on ownership of property by women.
As per this table about 11 percent households reported some land in female legal ownership.
Similarly only 5.5 percent households had some house in women's name.
245
Table 18.31 : Percent of households with some female ownership in total number of
households.
Land/House/Livestock Only or
House,
Combined
Region Land and None
Some Some Some
Livestock
House Land Livestock
Ecological Zones
Mountain 4.5 9.2 11.8 1.2 80.9
Hill 5.5 9.9 7.2 0.8 83.6
Tarai 5.7 12.0 6.6 0.7 82.4
Development Region
Eastern 6.7 15.1 9.3 1.2 78.0
Central 5.8 10.7 6.6 0.7 83.1
Western 5.9 11.0 6.5 0.8 83.3
Mid Western 4.1 7.6 5.4 0.5 87.4
Far Western 2.3 3.6 8.0 0.2 88.4
Nepal 5.5 10.8 7.2 0.8 82.9
Only 7.2 percent households reported female livestock ownership, des-spite multiple credit-
institutions targeting and funding this activity for women. This indicates that notwithstanding
various credit programs, women's access to institutional credit is still marginal. Acharya (2002),
from an examination of more detailed data also concluded that women's access to credit is still
marginal, both at individual and household enterprise levels irrespective of ecological regions,
urban/rural areas and ethnicity/caste.
Overall, only 0.8 percent o the households had all three, house, land and livestock in women's
names. These figures speak for themselves to believe the argument that women have equal access
to property in the households. They do have use of property but no ownership.
There is no ground to believe that women's access to land and other economic resources has
increased in last 20-25 years as their legal rights over property and inheritance has not changed
much in this period. Various arguments are made against granting full inheritance rights to
daughters. One of them being that a large number of Nepali girls are married to Indians and
property given to them will go to the Indians. But the figures cited in Table 18.29 above show
only about 12 thousand Nepali girls married outside the country. Of these, slightly less than 11
thousand were married to Indians. Therefore arguments so often cited against full citizenship
rights to mothers or inheritance rights to daughters seems to be without much ground.
Nevertheless, the resistance to any change in the inheritance system is strong. Even the recently
246
promulgated amendments to the law on property rights of women, does not change her access to
parental property substantially, although it does provide easier access to property if a girl is
unmarried and in her afinal household. Therefore women won very little property.
18.7 Women Headed Households
In Nepal, female headed household were perceived to be under reported by the women activists.
Therefore, specific efforts were made in 2001 Census to explain more fully the concept of the
household headship as that person who usually managed the household affairs. But the figures
obtained on distribution of households by male or female headship does not show much
difference with 1991 pattern (Table 18.32). About 15 percent households have been reported to be
women headed in the country as a whole in 2001 compared to about 13 percent in 1991. Largest
proportion of women headed households are concentrated in Western and Central regions among
the five development regions and in Hill and Tarai areas among the ecological regions.
Proportionately, more urban households are women headed than rural ones.
Information from other parts of the world show, that women headed households generally face
more survival difficulties than male headed households. In Nepal also a cross classification of
households by household headship and selected characteristics (Table 18.33 - 18.34) shows some
difference in education status, living arrangements, operational land holdings and dependency
ratio of the male headed and female headed households.
Table 18.32 : Distribution of households by male\female headship.
Area Male Female

Ecological Zones
Mountain 6.9 6.5
Hill 44.4 60.2
Tarai 48.7 33.2
Total 100. 0 100. 0
Development Regions
Eastern 24.3 21.7
Central 36.5 26.9
Western 18.6 32.4
Mid Western 11.6 10.8
Far Western 8.9 8.2
Total 100. 0 100. 0
85.1 14.9
Nepal ( male +female = 100)
Urban 83.0 17.0
Rural 85.5 14.5
247
The male headed households are much better off in terms of literacy and educational status. While
64 percent of the female headed household heads are illiterate, only 36 percent of the male headed
household heads are illiterate. While 9.2 percent of the male household heads have graduate and
above education only 4.5 percent female households have similar level of education.
There is not much difference in the distribution of female or male heads as per various age
groups. Slightly larger proportion of female heads is older, above 60 years of age than men.
Women headed households have smaller average land holdings than male headed ones(Table
18.34). But larger proportion of female headed households own pakki houses than male headed
ones. About 88.5 percent of the male headed and nearly 87 percent of the female headed
households live in their own house.
Table 18.33 : Selected characteristics of the household heads, 2001.
Characteristics Male Female

Education Status of the Household Head
Illiterate 36.2 64.0
Literate 35.5 20.3
Primary 9.9 6.6
SLC 6.5 3.8
SLC and Above 2.7 0.7
Graduate and Above 9.2 4.5
Total 100.0 100.0
Age Group
14-15 0.0 0.1
15-19 1.0 1.5
20-59 82.2 77.8
60-69 11.1 13.2
70 + 5.7 7.4
Total 100.0 100.0
In terms of household amenities, female headed households seem to have a slight advantage.
Nevertheless in the case of households, having all four facilities (piped water, electricity, Modern\
Flush toilets, radio, TV, fridge & car), male headed households have a slight advantage, as only
0.3 percent of the male-headed and 0.2 percent of the female headed households have all of them
(CBS, 2003). Also, there is only slight difference in the pattern of media exposure between these
two kinds of households.
248
Figures on living arrangements also show that some women are acting as household heads even
when her spouse is present in the household. About 77 percent of the male headed households and
only 13 percent of the female headed households are complete families with spouse and children
living together, overwhelming majority of female heads live either with children or with others.
Ratio of below 15 and above 59 age population to 15-59 working age group population is much
higher in female headed households.
While about 53 percent of the children, who have not finished school, are currently going to
school in the male headed household, only about 47 percent of the children in similar category are
going to school in the female headed households.
Table 18.34 : Selected characteristics of the households by male\female headship, 2001.

Male Female
Characteristics
Headed Headed
Average Operational Land (Hectares) 0.78 0.50
House Ownership
Own Pakki (Cement, Concrete and Brick the Walls & Roofs 28.6 34.1
Pakki (Rented) 6.2 6.8
Own Other (Other than Pakki Own) 59.9 52.7
Other (Rented Other than Pakki and Other Arrangements) 5.2 6.4
Total 100.0 100.0
Amenities
High (With Piped Water, Electricity, Modern\Flush Toilets, Radio,
TV, Fridge & Car or at Least two Categories of such Facilities) 13.7 16.0
Low (Having One of the Above or Inferior of the Four Facilities 68.8 63.7
Above or None of the Above)
Total 100.0 100.0
Media Exposure
TV 5.7 5.1
Radio 36.5 34.3
TV and Radio 17.1 15.8
No TV/No Radio 40.6 44.9
Total 100.0 100.0
Living Arrangements
Head Alone 2.5 13.1
Head and Spouse 5.0 1.1
Head, Spouse and Children (Includes Adult and Minor Children) 77.1 13.4
Head and Children 0.7 26.6
Others 14.7 45.7
Total 100.0 100.0
School Going Children, Ages 10-25 52.6 47.4
Below 15 and Above 59 Per 100 15-59 Age Persons in the 107 139
Household
249
References
Acharya, M. (2000). Labor Market Developments and Poverty : with Focus on Economic
Opportunities for Women, TPAMF/FES, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Acharya, M. and Bennett, L. (1981). An Aggregate Analysis and Summary of 8 Village Studies.
The Status of Women in Nepal. Vole II, Part 9. CEDA, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Central Bureau of Statistics (1996). Nepal Living Standards Survey, 1995/96. Main Findings Vol.
I. & II. National Planning Commission Secretariat, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census, 2001, National Report. National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census Results in Gender Perspective (Population
Census, 2001), Volumes I, II, III. National Planning Commission Secretariat, Kathmandu,
Nepal.
GDS\FES (1997). Women in Garment Industries, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Gurung, Jeannette, D. ( 1999) (Edt). Searching for Women's Voices in the Hindu Kush Himalayas,
ICIMOD, Kathmandu, Nepal.
United Nations (2003). Human Development Report, New York.
250
CHAPTER 19
AGEING OF THE POPULATION OF NEPAL
- Prof. Dr. Mrigendra Lal Singh*
19.1 Review
19.1.1 Introduction
Ageing is the ultimate manifestation of Biological and Demographical activities in individual

human being and population at large. Until recently very little attention was paid about the
dynamics of ageing in human beings. However, continued increase in percentage of aged persons
in the population is creating humanitarian, social and economic problems in many countries
specially the developed ones. Thus, since last one decade, social scientists and demographers all
over the world are trying to explore the dynamics of ageing. In Nepal’s case, though attention on
social aspect of ageing has been paid since ancient time, no attention has been paid yet on its
demographic aspect.
Transition of Nepal’s population from its primitive stationary state during 1911 to present third
state in 2001 on the way to its final stationary state has been changing age structure of the
population in favor of elderly person by increasing proportion of elderly persons aged 65 and
above years from 2.43% during 1911 to present 4.21% . Though, the increase is not so much as
compared to those observed for developed countries ( as high as 13%), it indicates the starting of
the ageing dynamics in Nepal, which will have adverse effects on Nepalese social structure and
economy in the long run.
Present paper is an attempt to explore the demographic dimension of ageing in Nepal.
19.1.2 Concept of Ageing
For many, ageing is progressive attainment of ages of last stage of maximum life span of human
being, 100 to 110 years as general [Taber’s cyclopedia medical dictionary;1999]. For others,
ageing is growing old or maturing, progressive changes related to the passage of time [Taber’s
cyclopedia medical dictionary; 1999]. Despite its universality, ageing is difficult to define
*
Prof. Dr. Singh is a renowned Prof. of statistics at Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur.
251
.Shakespeare probably characterized it best in his elegant description of the seven stages of man.
It begins at the moment of conception, involves the differentiations and maturation of the
organism and its cells at some variable point in time, leads to the progressive loss of functional
capacity characteristic of senescence, and ends in death [Robbins. 1998]. With age, there are
physiological and structural alternations in almost all organ system. Ageing in individuals is
affected to a great extent by genetic factors, social conditions and the occurrence of age related
diseases. In addition, there is good evidence that ageing -induced alternation in cells is an
important component of ageing of the organism.
Although, a number of theories have been proposed, it is now clear that cell ageing is multifactor.
It involves an endogenous molecular program of cellular senescence as well as continuous
exposure throughout life to adverse exogenous influences, leading to progressive encroachment
on the cell’s survivability [Gannon, 1999]. There is no precise method for determining the rate or
degree of ageing. In a study of 1500 persons, aged 100 years or more, it was determined that
longevity is not inheritable, sexual activity is both good and feasible for the aged. The older
person’s offspring need not love him/her and the person should work hard during life, however
long [Gannon, 1999].
19.2 Measures of Ageing
19.2.1 Demographic Measures of Ageing
In demographic analysis, ageing under investigation is the Chronological ageing. As a rule, when
the chronological ageing takes place, physiological ageing also takes place side by side. And it is
the physiological ageing that deteriorates the Physical and Mental health of aged person and
ultimately leads to death of a person. Of course there are instances, where some individuals
though aged still look young, energetic and fresh. It is because in these individuals, though they
are ageing chronologically, the process of physiological ageing are controlled through different
practices- such as meditation, continuous work, and low calorie intakes by fasting etc.
In demographic studies, increase in the mean or median age of the population is called the ageing
of the population. In this regard it is to be noted that contrary to the age of a human being that
always grows, the population of the aggregate may grow older or may rejuvenate depending upon
whether average age has increased or decreased.
252
However, the conventional method of measuring ageing is to estimate the index of ageing,
Persons of aged 65 years and over

Defined as, Index of ageing = × 100
Children under 15 years
In defining above index of ageing, it is assumed that old age begins at the age of 65 years. This
assumption is consistent with the U.N convention. In World data sheets annually published by
U.N, the major age groups of the population for all countries are given in terms of those less than
15 years and those aged 65 and above years. So for the purpose of comparing ageing patterns of
different countries, U. N’s criterion should be followed
But for the purpose of cross sectional studies, one may adopt any age above 55 year, as the
appropriate age for the starting of ageing. For instance, in Nepal, different ages are used as
starting of ageing. At governmental level, the retirement of civil servants is fixed at 58 years.
Therefore for civil servants, the ageing is supposed to start after the completion of age 58 years.
But in universities, the retiring age of teachers and administrator is 63 years. Therefore for them,
ageing starts after the completion of 63 years of age. But for the purpose of legal activities and
granting of pensions to general mass, the age fixed for a person to be old is 75 years. Also old age
is classified into two broad groups: 60-74 years ages as young old and 75+ years as old old.
19.2.2 Index of Ageing -A link between Percents of Aged and Young

Population
Since ageing is measured as a percentage of old people as compared to number of children under
15 years, changes in percentages of old people and the children under 15 years automatically
affects the index of ageing .It has been observed that decline in fertility can cause a population to
grow older and vice versa. However, the influence of fertility is overriding as it affects only the
denominator and does not disturb the numerator for a long period of time. The decline of
mortality at younger ages makes the age distribution younger, while mortality decline at older
ages makes the age distribution older. But the decline of mortality at all ages produces only a
marginal effect on the ageing of the population [Misra, 1980]
Also available data shows that there is an inverse relationship between the proportions of old and
young children in the population and the relationship is greatly affected by the level of
development of the country concerned. To substantiate above point, percents of population by
253
major age groups as well as by development level cited in World population data sheets for 1998
and 2002 are shown in Table 19.1.
The table clearly indicates that
- More developed a country, higher the percentage of elderly persons.
- Decrease in percentage of children increases the percentage of older people.
- Though proportion of population at <15 years has slightly decreased in less developed
countries during the period 1998-2002, three is no change in proportion of old people in
these countries during the period.
- But in case developed countries, it is observed that one percent increase in proportion of
old people decreases one percent in proportion of young population.
- The effect of one percent decrease in proportion of young population on constant

proportion of old people in less developed countries is an increment of 0.30 % in their
index of ageing; Similarly the effect of two percent decrease in proportion of young
population on constant proportion of old peoples increment of 1. 45% in their index of
ageing.
- Also, it is found that one percent decrease in proportion of young population and one
percent increase in proportion of old population in developed countries results into an
increment of 9.35% in their index of ageing.
Table 19.1 : Index of ageing, developed and developing countries,1998-2002.
1998 2002
Development Level % Aged % Aged Index of % Aged % Aged Index of
<15 Years 65+ Years Ageing <15 Years 65+ Years Ageing
More Developed 19 14 73.68 18 15 83.33
Less Developed 35 5 14.29 32 5 15.63
Including China
Less Developed 37 4 10.81 36 4 11.11
Excluding China
World 32 7 21.88 30 7 23.33
Source : World population data sheets, 1998 and 2002
The table shows that the problem of ageing is serious in developed countries, because the average
index of ageing in these countries has already reached the level of 83.33% by 2002 and the rate of
increase in index of ageing is also very high of about 10% in the span of 4 years (index of aging
being 73.68% in 1998 and 83.33% in 2002).
254
Figure 19.1 Ageing indices for developed and developing countries 1998-2002
100
80
60 1998
40 2002
20
0
More Less Less World
developed developed developed
including excluding
China China
19.2.3 Scenario of Ageing – World’s Prospects
Based on World population data sheet, 2002, the scenario of ageing population reported for
different continents along with relevant population parameters is shown in Table 19.2
Table 19.2 : Index of ageing along with other relevant population parameters, major areas
of continents, 2002.
Major Areas of % of 65+ % of <15 Index of

CBR IMR e00
Continents Years Aged Years Aged Aging
W. Africa 3.00 45.00 42.00 87.00 51.00 6.67
S. Sahara 3.00 44.00 15.00 71.00 49.00 6.82
S.C. Asia 4.00 37.00 26.00 69.00 63.00 10.81
N. Africa 4.00 36.00 27.00 55.00 64.00 11.11
W. Asia 5.00 36.00 27.00 45.00 68.00 13.89
E .Asia 8.00 22.00 13.00 29.00 72.00 36.36
Oceanic 10.00 25.00 18.00 30.00 75.00 40.00
USA 13.00 21.00 15.00 6.60 77.00 61.90
E. Europe 13.00 18.00 9.00 13.00 74.00 72.22
N. Europe 15.00 19.00 11.00 5.00 75.00 78.95
Canada 13.00 15.00 11.00 5.30 79.00 86.67
W .Europe 16.00 17.00 11.00 5.00 76.00 94.12
S. Europe 17.00 16.00 10.00 6.00 75.00 106.25
Source : UN’s World population data sheets, 2002
255
The table shows that high indices of ageing are observed in U.S.A, Canada and European
countries with variations by 61.90% in U.S.A to 106% in South Europe. Next high indices are
observed for East Asia and Oceanic countries with the figures of 36.36% for East Asia and 40%
for Oceanic countries. Indices of 19% to 23% are observed for Latin America, South Africa, and
Caribbean countries. Ageing indices in the range of 11% to 16% are observed for South Central
Asia, North Africa and West Asia countries. However the least aging indices of about 7% are
observed for West Africa and South Sahara
19.2.4 Scenario of Ageing – SAARC Countries
Among SAARC countries, Shree Lanka has the highest index of ageing amounting to 22.22%
followed by Bhutan with the magnitude of 12.82%.
Table 19. 3 : Indices of ageing along with other relevant population parameters, SAARC,
countries, 2002.
Fertility Mortality Life

SAARC % of Population Aged Index of
Level Level Expectancy
Countries Ageing
65+ Years <15 Years CBR IMR e00
Bangladesh 3 40 30 66 59 7.5
Pakistan 4 42 30 86 63 9.52
Nepal 4 41 31 64 58 9.76*
India 4 36 26 68 63 11.11
Bhutan 5 39 34 61 66 12.82
Shree Lanka 6 27 18 17 72 22.22
Source: UN’s World population data sheets, 2002
For India, the index is observed at the level of 11.11%. Least index of ageing is observed for
Bangladesh with the figures of 7.5% followed by Pakistan, of 9. 52%. In case of Nepal, the index
of ageing at age 65+ years is observed as 9.76%

This figure is based on population World data sheet of 2002. However, based on age distribution
reported in 2001 census, the figure comes around 10.69%
256
19. 3 Ageing in Nepal
19.3.1 Age Distribution
Age data in Nepal suffers highly from age shifting, high reporting at ages ending in even, 0 and 5
digits and very low reporting in other digits. Grouping of reported ages by five year intervals is
supposed to smooth much of these irregular reporting.
Based on above assumption, the age distribution of Nepalese population (both sex) for various
time periods classified as prior and post 1951 periods by major age groups are presented in the
following table. Since prior to 1951 , the age groups in the census reports are given only by broad
groups 0-15, 16 - 49 and 50+ years ages, the percents of population as required in the present
classification of ages have to be estimated from other sources. For this purpose, life tables
constructed by Singh, 1979 for the period 1911-1971 are used
Table 19.4 : Age distribution by major age groups, prior and post 1951.
Prior 1951 Post 1951

Age Groups
1911* 1941** 1971 2001
0 – 14 38.68 39.16 39.72 39.31
60+ 4.28 5.33 5.88 7.46
65+ 2.43 3.17 3.17 4.21
75+ 0.45 0.65 0.87* 1.30
* Estimates of (Singh, 1979)

** Actual census was taken in 1942. The figures for 1941 is based on M.L. Singh, ibid
The table shows that, though the proportion of young children under 15 years has remained
virtually constant around 40% for all the years, the proportions of aged person by all major age
groups are found increasing steadily. The percent of 60+ years old has increased from 4.28% in
1911 to 7.46% by 2001. For the aged 65+ years, the increment is from 2.43% in 1911 to 4.21% by
2001. Similarly in case of 75+ years, the increment is from 0.45% to 1.30% for above period.
257
19.3.2 Indices of Ageing
Based on above age distributions, indices of ageing in Nepal during these periods are computed
and described herein. Also, aged 60 +years, 65+ years and 75+ are taken separately for
investigations of ageing. However, much stress is given for the aged 65+ years in order to make
the comparison possible with other countries.
Table 19.5 : Indices of ageing at different time periods , Nepal.

Aged
1911 1941 1971 2001
60+ 11.07 13.60 14.80 18.89
65+ 6.28 8.10 7.98 10.69
Source : Based on table 19.4.
From the table it is seen that for the aged 60+ years, the index of ageing has increased from
11.07% in 1911 to 18.89 % by 2001. For the aged 65+ years, the increment is from 6.28% in 1911
to 10.69% by 2001.
andd 65 +
Fig 19.2: Indices of ageing for 60+years am =
years
20
15
60+
10
65+
5
0
1911 1941 1971 2001
P rio r 1951 P o st 1951
Post
Post and
andPrior
prio 1951
258
19.3.3 Distribution of Old people by Young old and Old old
The distributions of aged persons by young old and old old are shown in the following table. The
age group 60-74 years is considered young old and the aged 75+ years is considered old old.
Table 19.6 : Distributions of young aged and old aged at different time periods , Nepal.

Age Group
1911 1941 1971 2001
60+ 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
60-74 89.49 87.80 85.20 80.00
75+ 10.51 12.20 14.80 20.00
Source : Based on table 19.4
It is seen from the table that %’s of old old among those aged 60+ years is increasing steadily up
to 1971 and then rapidly from 1971 to 2001. The increment was from 10.51% in1911 to 12.2% in
1941, an increment of only 1.7 percentage point during the period of 30 years. But, the increment
was from 12.20% in 1941 to 14.8% in1971, an increment of 2.6 percentage point for next 30
years. In case of the period 1971-2001, the increment was observed as high as 5.20 percentage
points from 14.8% in 1971 to 20.0 % in 2001.
Fig 19.3 Distribution of aged by young old aged and

old old aged
120
100
80 60+
60 60-74
40 75+
20
0
1911 1941 1971 2001
Post
Post and Prior 1951
prio 1951
259
The findings clearly indicate that percent of old old (75+ years) in the population of Nepal is
increasing rapidly since 1971.
19.3.4 Elderly Dependency Rates
Population aged 60 + years

The elderly dependency rate estimated as in different years for
Population aged 15 - 59 years
Nepal is shown in the following table.
Table 19.7 : The elderly dependency rates at different time periods, Nepal.
1911 1941 1971 2001
7.50 9.60 10.81 12.01
Source : Based on table 19.4
The elderly dependency rate computed for different time periods shows that it is increasing
steadily from 7.5 % in 1911 to 12.01% in 2001.Considering the time span of 90 years; the rate is
very slow with the magnitude of only 0.05% increase per year.
19.4 Demographic Factors Affecting the Percent of Aged Persons
The percent of population aged is greatly affected by different demographic indicators. It is

observed from the data on different spatial units of major continents of the World, SAARC
countries and Nepal that the percent of population aged 65+ is related to CBR and IMR in
negative direction, to e 00 in positive direction. Also the relevant indicators themselves are
correlated to each other. Therefore, first of all, the bivariate correlations between these indicators,
then their partial correlations for Nepal are investigated.
19.4.1 Correlations
An attempt is done to investigate the relationship between the percent of population aged 65+
years and other population variables in Nepalese context. The correlation coefficient between
percent of population aged 65+ years and CBR is found as high -0.80 and the correlation
coefficient between percent of aged 65+ years and e 00 is found 0.77 As regards to the correlation
260
coefficient between percent of aged 65+ years and IMR, negative correlation is found as high as
-0.77
From the correlation coefficients observed, it appears that percent of population aged 65+ years is
influenced by both fertility and mortality levels. The above coefficients implies that rapid drop
in CBR , rapid rise in life expectancy at birth and rapid drops in IMR bound to raise rapidly
the percent of population aged 65+ years in Nepal. Regarding the relationship between CBR and
life expectancy at birth, the correlation coefficient as high as -0.96 is observed. In case of
relationships between CBR and IMR, positive correlation coefficient as high 0.96 is observed.
These coefficients indicate that rapid drop in CBR is bound to raise rapidly the life expectancy at
birth and rapid drop in IMR. However, since the demographic indicators are interrelated, the
observed high correlation coefficients may be due to effects of other variables. Therefore, the
partial correlation coefficients are computed by controlling other variable and presented in
table19.8.
Table 19.8 : Partial correlations of different demographic indicators for Nepal.
0
% of 65+ Years and CBR -0.5071 Controlling e 0 P=0.135
0
% of 65+ Years and e 0 0.0716 Controlling CBR. P=0.844
Source : Present study
The table shows that partial correlation between percent of population aged 65+ years and CBR is
only -0.5071, when the effect of e 00 is controlled as against bivaraite correlation coefficient of -
0.80 observed. Similarly the partial correlation between percent of aged 65+ years and e 00 is found
only 0.07 after controlling CBR as against the high bivariate correlation coefficient of 0.77
observed.
The partial correlation coefficients observed show the significant reduction in the relation ships
between percent of 65+ years and other variables when one of the other variables is controlled. In
fact it is found that there is no correlation between percent of aged 65+ years and e 00 , if the effect
of CBR is controlled. The conclusion is that the percent of population aged 65+ years is
influenced not only by a single factor but multiplicity of many factors and that the projection of
aged 65+ years cannot be made on the basis of single other variable.
261
19.4.2 Regression of Percentage of Aged on other Demographic
Indicators
Since, we are more concerned with the rising percentage of aged persons, the effect on it due to
variations in other relevant variables is investigated by fitting the regression equations on data
available Two regression equations are fitted: One is the regression of percentage of population
aged 65+ years on CBR and e 00 , other is the regression of percentage of population aged 65+ years
on CBR and IMR. The results of the fittings for Nepal’s data are shown in the following table.
Table 19. 9 : Regression of percent of population aged 65+years on other variables ,Nepal.
0
CBR and e 0 CBR and IMR
Constant 6.659733 6.2099545
Std Err of Y Est 0.422545 0.4222673
R Squared 0.646507 0.6469714
X Coefficient(s) -0.08017 -0.00225 -0.0672242 -0.0010622
Std Err of Coef. 0.078949 0.038946 0.0792533 0.0094816
The fitted regressions in both cases for Nepal are found similar with only slight variations in the
magnitudes of the coefficients of e 00 and IMR. This is because the correlation between e 00 and
IMR for Nepal is found as high as -0.992021. The reliability coefficients in both cases are nearly
the same of 64%. The reliability coefficients observed are not so high, indicating only small effect
of CBR and IMR on the percentage of population aged 65+ years (See annex 19.2 for the data
used)
19.5 Ageing by Regions of Nepal
19.5.1 Ageing Indices by Eco-Development Regions
The indices of ageing for major old age groups by eco-regions and development regions of Nepal
based on 2001 population census data are shown in the Table 19.10.
262
Table 19.10 : Ageing indices by sex for major old aged groups, eco-development regions,
2001.
60+ Years 65+ Years 75+ Years
Area Both Both Both
Sex Sex Sex
E. Mountain 18.66 18.83 18.75 12.35 12.19 12.27 3.77 3.88 3.83
C. Mountain 19.02 21.71 20.29 12.36 14.01 13.14 3.62 4.47 4.02
W. Mountain* 33.48 34.68 34.08* 19.49 22.17 20.83 6.23 7.33 6.78
M.W. Mountain 12.13 11.17 11.65 7.60 6.11 6.87 1.86 1.71 1.78
F.W. Mountain 14.41 15.20 14.80 9.08 9.05 9.07 2.75 2.47 2.61
Mountain 17.04 18.05 17.53 11.00 11.32 11.15 3.25 3.47 3.36
E. Hill 18.05 17.78 17.91 11.97 11.84 11.91 3.72 3.86 3.79
C. Hill 18.16 19.47 18.81 12.19 13.23 12.70 3.93 4.53 4.22
W. Hill 20.58 21.61 21.09 13.98 14.35 14.16 4.50 4.90 4.70
M.W. Hill 11.89 11.28 11.59 7.03 6.39 6.71 1.72 1.65 1.69
F.W. Hill 14.00 16.75 15.37 8.69 10.29 9. 48 2.51 3.05 2.78
Hill 17.59 18.38 17.98 11.63 12.08 11.85 3.62 3.98 3.80
E.Terai 16.71 16.22 16.47 10.72 10.61 10.67 3.21 3.46 3.34
C.Terai 29.11 29.31 29.21 9.47 9.89 9.67 2.69 2.87 2.78
W.Terai 16.57 15.78 16.18 10.95 10.32 10.64 3.14 3.17 3.16
M.W. Terai 12.81 11.87 12.35 7.99 7.26 7.63 2.24 2.11 2.17
F.W.Terai 11.72 11.56 11.65 7.17 7.00 7.09 2.07 2.25 2.16
Terai 20.29 19.83 20.07 9.65 9.58 9.61 2.79 2.93 2.86
Nepal 18.89 19.07 18.98 10.61 10.80 10.70 3.18 3.43 3.31
Source : Present study based on Census, 2001, CBS.

Note * High percentage of aged persons observed in Western Mountain is observed, because, this region
includes only two districts namely, Mustang and Manang both having percents of population
under 15 years accounting only 25%. Such low percents in this age group are also observed for
all three districts of Kathmandu valley belonging to Central Hill; Bhaktapur reporting, 31.07%,
Lalitpur reporting, 28.89 % and Kathmandu reporting, 27.17%., but because of high percents of
population in this age group in remaining districts of the region, the over all percent of
population under 15 years age in Central hill region did not differ too much from the figures
observed for other regions. (See annex 19.5 for district figures)
The table shows that indices of ageing for 65 + years in both Mountain and Hill regions are found
little higher than that observed for whole of Nepal (10.60%). But in case of Terai region, the
index is less by 1.1% point. Same trend is found for 70+ and 75+ years’ indices%. On the other
hand in case of 60+ years, the index of ageing of about 20.07%, higher by 1% point than that of
national figure of 18.98% is observed in Terai region.
Also the table shows a lot of variations within the eco-regions. In mountains, West Mountain has
the highest ageing indices for all higher ages followed by Central Mountain and East Mountain.
Least indices of ageing are observed for Mid Western Mountain followed by Far West Mountain.
263
Development region wise, the western development region has the highest ageing index of
12.83% for 65+ years and Mid West region, the least index of 7.13 % but for aged, 75+ years,
highest index of 4.11% is observed in Western region. However in case of 60+ years, the highest
index of 24.34% is observed for Central region and the least of 11.93% in Mid Western region.
Ageing indices by sex for major old age groups show that, on the average, ageing indices for
females are higher than those for males.
Exceptions are observed for Mid Western Mountain, Eastern Hill, Mid Western Hill, East Terai,
West Terai, Mid Western Terai and Far Western Terai for aged 60+ years. In case of aged 65+
years, the exceptions observed are at Eastern Mountain, Mid Western Mountain, Far Western
Mountain, Eastern Hill, Mid Western Hill, and all Terai regions except Central Terai.
However in case of aged 75+ years, except for Mid Western Mountain, Far Western. Mountain,
Mid Western Hill and Mid Western Terai regions, all other regions indicated the higher ageing
indices for females as compared to males.
The table19.11 indicates that for aged 60+ years; the ageing indices are higher for males than for
females in the Eastern development and Western development regions. But for other development
regions, ageing indices are found higher for females than for males. Same pattern is found for
aged 65+ years. But for aged 75+ years, except for Western development region, ageing indices
for females are found higher than for males in all other development regions.
Table 19.11 : Ageing indices by sex for major aged groups, development regions, 2001.

Region
Male Female Both Male Female Both Male Female Both
E.R 17.31 16.94 17.12 11.26 11.14 11.20 3.42 3.63 3.52
C. Region 23.98 24.72 24.34 10.77 11.56 11.15 3.26 3.66 3.46
W. Region 19.07 19.43 19.25 12.83 12.84 12.83 3.98 4.25 4.11
MW Region 12.32 11.53 11.93 7.50 6.76 7.13 1.96 1.86 1.91
FW Region 13.04 14.14 13.58 8.07 8.59 8.32 2.35 2.59 2.47
Nepal 18.89 19.07 18.98 10.61 10.80 10.70 3.18 3.43 3.31
Source: Present study based on Census, 2001, CBS
264
19.5.2 Effect of Percent of Population Aged 0-14 Years on Percent of Old
Persons
It is generally believed that the decline in the percent of population at age group 0-14
automatically increases the percent of old people. Though it is true in long run, it does not hold
true at intermediate stages of demographic transition.
At these stages, falls in percent of aged 0-14 appear to make rapid increase in the percent of
population aged 15-59 years and only small increment in the percent of old persons. It is evident
from the Table 19.12
Table 19.12: Percents of population by major age groups, regional figures, both sexes,
2001.
Area Less than 15 15 - 59 60+ 65+ 70+ 75+
Mountain 40.84 52.00 7.16 4.56 2.68 1.37

Eastern Mountain 39.82 52.71 7.46 4.89 2.95 1.52
Central Mountain 40.67 51.08 8.25 5.34 3.18 1.64
Western Mountain 26.91* 63.92 9.17 5.60 3.46 1.82
Mid-Western Mountain 41.28 53.90 4.81 2.83 1.46 0.74
Far Western Mountain 42.79 50.88 6.33 3.88 2.23 1.12
Hill 38.92 54.09 7.00 4.61 2.77 1.48

Eastern Hill 40.04 52.79 7.17 4.77 2.85 1.52
Central Hill 35.06 58.34 6.59 4.45 2.69 1.48
Western Hill 40.19 51.33 8.47 5.69 3.53 1.89
Mid-Western Hill 42.97 52.05 4.98 2.88 1.56 0.72
Far-Western Hill 42.60 50.86 6.55 4.04 2.29 1.18
Terai 39.46 52.62 7.92 3.79 2.24 1.13

Eastern Terai 36.56 57.42 6.02 3.90 2.32 1.22
Central Terai 40.26 47.98 11.76 3.89 2.28 1.12
Western Terai 40.15 53.35 6.50 4.27 2.53 1.27
Mid-Western Terai 41.37 53.52 5.11 3.16 1.83 0.90
Far-Western Terai 42.19 52.90 4.91 2.99 1.77 0.91
Nepal 39.31 53.23 7.46 4.21 2.50 1.30
Source : Present study based on Census, 2001, CBS

Note * The reason of getting this low figure has been explained already in section 19.5.1
From the table it is clearly seen that, falls in percent of population at 0-14 years below 40% have
no significant changes in the percent for old persons.
265
19.5.3 Projections of Percents of Aged persons and Indices of Ageing
The projection is based on the fitting of the linear regression lines for percents of population in
old ages on expected falls on CBR and rises in e 00 . The parameters of fitted equations are shown in
the Table 19.13
The models fitted for various age groups show that they are highly reliable for percents of
population aged 60+ years and 75+ years only and slightly reliable for the aged 65+ years. The
reliability coefficients for first cases are found 72.48% and 86.96% respectively. And for the third
case, the reliability coefficient of only 64.6% is observed .
Table 19.13 : Parameters of regression fitted to %’s of aged persons on CBR and e 00 .
%’s of Population Aged

Parameters
Mean 13.05986 6.659733 1.595604
Coefficient for CBR -0.16403 -0.08017 -0.02625
Coefficient for e 00 -0.02541 -0.00225 0.008101
R2 0.724848 0.646507 0.869673
Source: Present study
But, since percents of young population aged 0-14 years is likely do decline after attaining highest
level; the fitting of linear model for this age group is not suitable. Therefore, a parabolic curve is
fitted to the time series data of percents of population under 15 years from 1911 to 2001. The
fitting yielded the parameters as mean=36.14841, coefficient of x=1.603417; coefficient of x2 = -
0.13101 and R2 =33.59 %.
The expected percentages of population under 15 years based on parabolic curve expected
percentages population at old ages based on CBR and e 00 for the year up to 2031 are given in the
Table19.14. Also the expected indices of aging based on these expected values are also given.
Comparison of observed and expected figures for 1911 to 2001 shows only slight differences in
expected values and observed values at different years for different age groups. (See Annex
19.16) Since observed percents are based on unadjusted age distributions and data obtained from
different sources, they need to be adjusted. The expected values have completely removed the
266
irregularities observed in observed age distribution and in ageing indices by showing definite time
trend.
Projections made indicate that by 2031, the percent of population aged 0-14 will decrease to
34.85% from present expected percent of 39.08% inducing an increment in the percent of
population aged 60+ years from present expected figure of 6.15% to 6.77%, for the aged 65+
years, from present expected figure of 3.93% to 4.41% and for aged 75+ years from present
expected figure of 1.17% to 1.44%.
Table 19.14 : Projections of %’s population at relevant age groups and indices of ageing
up to 2031, Nepal.
% Aged % Aged % Aged % Aged Ageing Index Ageing Index Ageing Index
Year 0-14 60+ 65+ 75+ for 60+ Years for 65+ Years for 75+ Years
Years Years Years Years Aged Aged Aged
2006 38.54 6.26 4.01 1.21 16.23 10.41 3.15
2011 37.93 6.36 4.09 1.26 16.76 10.79 3.32
2016 37.26 6.46 4.17 1.31 17.34 11.19 3.50
2021 36.52 6.56 4.25 1.35 17.97 11.64 3.70
2026 35.72 6.67 4.33 1.40 18.66 12.12 3.91
2031 34.85 6.77 4.41 1.44 19.42 12.65 4.14
The table shows that there will be only slight increases in the percents of population at higher age
groups with the feature that higher the age group, lesser the rate of increment. But these
increments will have substantial impact on indices of ageing. The ageing index for the age group
60+ years will increase from expected value of 15.75% in 2001 to 19.42% in 2031. During the
same period, ageing indices for aged 65+ years will increase from 10.06% to 12.65%. For those
aged 75+ years, the increment will be from 2.99% to 4.14%.
19.5.4 Expected Number of Aged Persons
Though, there is little expectation of changes in the percent of aged persons, the absolute
numbers of aged persons are expected to increase rapidly because of continuous rise in population
from one census to other.
267
Therefore, it is of interest to know their number in future. An attempt is made here to project the
number of aged persons by major old age groups. The expected number of aged persons by major
age groups is shown in Table 19.15
Table 19.15 : Projection of aged persons in Nepal, 2006-2031, in ‘000’s.
Characteristics 2006 2011 2016 2021 2026 2031
Projected Population 25332 27718 30328 33184 36309 39728
% of Pop. Aged , 60+ Years 6.26 6.36 6.46 6.56 6.67 6.77
Projected Population Aged 60+ years 1586 1763 1959 2177 2422 2690
% of Pop Aged ,65+ years 4.01 4.09 4.17 4.25 4.33 4.41
Projected Population Aged 65+ Years 1016 1134 1265 1410 1572 1752
% of Pop. Aged , 75+ Years 1.21 1.26 1.31 1.35 1.4 1.44
Projected Population Aged 75+ Years 307 349 397 448 508 572

Note : Population projection made on the assumption of r=1.8%= 0.018 per annum exponential growth
Nepal is reported to have experiencing the rapid fall in its total fertility rate (from 6.3 in seventies
to present 4.2) and drop in its IMR from 150 in seventies to present 64 These falls will have
only small impact on the proportion of population at different age groups. Because, rapid fall in
infant mortality increases slowly the percentage of population in the age group 0-14 years and the
increase in life expectancy decreases the mortality at higher age slightly thus increasing the
percentage of old people only in marginal rate.
According to the projection made above, those aged 60+ years in Nepal will increase from 1586
thousand in 2006 to 2690 thousand in 2031 (69.6% increase in 25 years). Those aged 65+ years
will increase from 1015, thousands in 2006 to 1752 thousands in 2031 (72.4% in 25 years).
Similarly, those aged 75 + years will increase from 307 thousand in 2006 to 572 thousands in
2031 (an increment of 86.3% in the same number of years).
Table 19.16 : Expected growth rates of aged person in Nepal,2006-2031,in %’s.
Aged 25 Years 5 Years

60+ 69.61 13.92
65+ 72.44 14.49
75+ 86.32 17.26
The projection made shows that the growth will be higher as age advances.
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19.5.5 Aged Persons 75 Years and Above by Single Ages
It has been mentioned earlier that, except for the purpose of retirement from the civil services, age
75 years is considered as the crucial age for Ageing and attaining the senior citizenships for all
practical purposes in Nepal. So it is of interest to know the distribution of persons aged 75+ years
by single ages. According to 2001 census, the percent of population aged 75+ years accounted
1.32% of the population (as against expected percent of 1.17%). Number of aged persons by
single ages up to 98 years is available in the census report.
Table 19.17: Adjusted percents of aged 75+ years persons by single years ages and by sex
and cumulative figures, Nepal ,2001 census.
% of Aged Persons by Sex Cumulative Percents
Age
Male Female Both Sexes Male Female Both Sexes
75 27.61 28.82 28.23 27.61 28.82 28.23
76 16.23 16.96 16.60 43.84 45.78 44.83
77 9.65 8.68 9.16 53.49 54.47 53.99
78 8.53 7.74 8.12 62.01 62.21 62.11
79 6.55 6.15 6.35 68.56 68.36 68.46
80 4.51 4.70 4.61 73.07 73.06 73.06
81 4.34 3.99 4.16 77.40 77.05 77.22
82 3.63 3.56 3.59 81.03 80.61 80.82
83 3.11 2.97 3.04 84.14 83.59 83.86
84 2.88 2.81 2.84 87.01 86.40 86.70
85 2.60 2.65 2.63 89.61 89.05 89.33
86 2.20 2.29 2.25 91.81 91.34 91.57
87 1.59 1.51 1.55 93.40 92.85 93.12
88 1.54 1.35 1.44 94.94 94.20 94.56
89 1.19 1.23 1.21 96.13 95.44 95.78
90 0.75 0.99 0.87 96.88 96.42 96.65
91 0.73 0.80 0.76 97.61 97.23 97.42
92 0.68 0.71 0.70 98.29 97.94 98.11
93 0.43 0.53 0.48 98.72 98.47 98.59
94 0.41 0.42 0.41 99.12 98.89 99.00
95 0.28 0.33 0.31 99.40 99.22 99.31
96 0.25 0.30 0.28 99.65 99.52 99.59
97 0.19 0.27 0.24 99.85 99.80 99.82
98 0.15 0.20 0.18 100.00 100.00 100.00
Total 100.00 100.00 100.00
But as in the case of other ages, the reported figures suffered lot due to heaping at ages with
ending digits in even, and 5, and under enumeration at ages ending in other digits. So data by
single ages between 75 years age and 98 years ages have to be adjusted .The adjustment is made
269
by using inverse log linear model. The percents of aged persons at single year’s ages as found by
fitting the model is shown in Table 19.17.
The table shows that about 28% of aged 75 years and above belong to those aged 75 years, about
17% those belonging to aged 76 years age, 9% belonging to age 77 years and 8% belonging to age
78 years. Altogether, about 68% of aged 75+ years person belongs to age group 75- 79 years;
about 18 % to age group 80-84, 9% to age group 85-89, about 3% belonging to age group 90-94
and about 1% belonging to age group 95 years and above.
19.6 Demographic and Social Indicators Related to Aged Persons
19.6.1 Mortality Rate Among Aged Persons
Though starting age of ageing is considered as 60 years in most of the previous discussions, 50
years age is considered for the starting age for high risk mortality among aged persons. It is based
on common observation that by a person reaches 50 years, multitude of Physiological and
Psychological problems start to show their effects on the physical health of a person accelerating
the risk of his/ her death as age advances.
Table 19.18 : Adjusted death rates among aged persons, Nepal, 2001.
Age Group Male Female Both Sexes

50 – 54 18.70 11.87 14.24
55 – 59 30.04 20.69 23.77
60 – 64 47.59 32.85 37.46
65 – 69 64.39 47.84 52.38
70 – 74 103.10 72.60 82.12
75 – 79 149.89 97.08 114.55
80 + 296.28 211.13 235.35
All Ages 13.89 9.73 11.00
Median Age at Death 78.10 81.60 79.52
Source: Present study, based on Census, 2001, CBS
Unadjusted death rates for all ages according to 2001 census report are found only 5.24 per
thousand for males, 4.15 per thousand for females and 4.7 per thousand for both sexes ( See
Annex 19.16). These rates are very low as compared to 11 per thousand reported for both sexes in
U.N’s population data sheet for 2002.
270
The adjusted death rates for persons aged 50 years and above by five years age groups and by sex
obtained by making adjustment with UN’s estimate are shown in Table 19.18
The table shows that up to age group 50-54 years, the death rates for both sexes are only 3% to
5% higher than for all ages. .But as age advances, the rate substantially increases for both sexes
and at age 80 years and above, the rate attaining the levels of 296.28 per thousand for males,
211.13 per thousand for females and 235.35 per thousand for both. From the table, it is clear that
among aged persons, death rates for females are much lower than for males. Median age at death
for aged 50 + years persons is found as 78.1 years for males, 81.6 years for females and 79.52
years for both sexes.
19.6.2 Causes of Deaths at Age 65+ Years
Deaths occur at old age due to many causes. One cause is the natural processes due to ageing
.Others are due to various diseases, accidents and suicides etc. Twenty five specific reasons of
deaths are included in Census inquiry of 2001. Data analysis of deaths by specific reasons for 65+
years aged persons by sex shows that highest of 41.33% deaths among males aged 65+ years
occurred due to Natural rules followed by 21.66% due to other causes not included for the
inquiry. Among females, highest of 26.97% deaths occurred due to causes not included for the
inquiry, followed by 16.97% due to Natural rules.
Excluding the cases of Non-stated which accounted to 7.45% in case of males and 8.05% in case
of females, third specific cause is the Asthma which caused 11.02% of deaths among aged males
and 7.68% of deaths among aged females followed by cancer causing 3.11% of death among
males and 4.61% of death among females. Next to cancer, tuberculosis and heart diseases are the
main causes of deaths among males, but among females, miscarriage and heart disease followed
by the Cancer for causing more deaths. (See annex 19.13 for detail information)
19.6.3 Birth Places of Aged Persons
For the 65+ years aged persons, it is observed from the census data of 2001 that 2% of males and
nearly 5% of females were foreign born. Also it is seen that 21% of males and nearly 29% of
females are those who were born in other districts of Nepal. The percent of aged persons born in
other districts and foreign countries were mostly in-migrants/emigrants in past and in case of
females; it was mostly due to marriage.
271
Since, in-migration at Kathamandu district and Terai region has been occurring since long ago, it
is expected that percents of aged persons in these areas must have higher proportion of those born
in other places than that observed for the rest of the country. To support above preposition, the
case of Kathamndu city is presented. According to 2001 census, 34.20% of the population of all
age groups at Kathamandu district is found as those born in other districts.
But due to lack of district wise data by standard age groups, the percents of aged persons, who
were born outside Kathamandu district, could not be estimated. A recent study made shows that
43.1% of males and 44.7% of females and 56.25% of fathers and 65.8% of grand fathers at
Kathamandu Metropolitan city are those who were born outside Kathamandu Valley {
Singh,,2002]
19.6.4 Literacy Rates Among Aged Persons
According to 2001 census, the literacy rate (those who can read and write) for aged 65+ years is
found as 27.0% for males and 4.07 % for females. For both sexes, the literacy rate for aged 65+
years is found as 15.64 %. But for districts of Katmandu valley, the literacy rates for both sexes
are found much higher than those observed for all Nepal
The table below shows that for Kathamandu district, literacy rates for both sexes at age 65+ years
are higher than the corresponding rates observed for Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts. Bhaktapur ,
the less urbanized district among three districts of Kathamandu , is found to have lowest rates
among females and among both sex. This indicates that literacy rate among aged ones is linked
with the extent of urbanization.
Table 19.19 : Literacy rate among aged 65+ years by Sex, districts of Kathmandu valley,
2001
Sex Kathamandu Lalitpur Bhaktapur

Male 86.36 80.84 80.86
Female 66.44 60.26 59.38
Both 77.07 70.77 70.30
Source : Based on Census 2001, CBS
19.6.5 Economically Active Among Aged 65+ Years Persons
Among 65+ years aged persons, 47.12% are found economically active with sex differential of
59.7% for males and 34.30% for females. Development region wise figures are shown in table
19.20.
272
Table 19.20 : Economically active among aged 65+ years , by development regions, 2001 in
%’s.
Region Male Female Both Sexes

Eastern Dev. Region 62.02 35.28 48.74
Central Dev. Region 58.66 29.84 44.20
Western Dev. Region 58.88 36.39 47.86
Mid-Western Dev. Region 55.04 32.83 44.60
Far-Western Dev. Region 65.31 46.12 55.58
Nepal 59.70 34.30 47.12
Source : Based on Census 2001, CBS.
The table shows that Far Western Region as compared to other development regions has the
highest percentage of aged persons among both sexes who are economically active. On the other
hand, Central Region as compared to other regions has the least % of females aged 65+ years that
are economically active.
19.6.6 Marital Status of Aged Persons
According to 2001 census, it is found that, among 65+ years aged person, 86.46% of males and
68.34% of females are currently married, 10. 89% of males and 28.19% of females are widowers /
widows; 1.43% of males and 1.22% of females are singles.
It is observed that the percentage of currently married aged person among males do not differ by
regions.
Similar case is found among females too. In case of singles, there are high percent of single
males in Far Western and Mid Western Development regions. On the other hand, Central
development region as compared to other development region has high percent of single females.
However, statistically speaking, there is no significant difference in the marital status reported by
sexes for the development regions (for detail see Annex 19.15)
19.6.7 Proportion of Disabled Among Aged Persons
As age advances, a person is exposed to many physical and mental defects. According to 2001
census, disability rate including both physical and mental cases for whole Nepal is found only 0.
273
46% with the sex wise rates of 0.42% for males and .0.50% for females. Of the total disabled
reported by the census, 45% are males and 55% are females.
But a sample survey conducted during 1980, Bhaktapur sample survey 2003 and Sarlahi sample
survey, 2003 all reported disability rates of about 3%. Also these surveys showed high proportion
of males among disabled accounting to 63% males by 1980 survey, 65% males by Bhaktapur
survey and 60% males by Sarlahi survey. Among aged persons, the rates were 12.79% at age
75+ years, according to Sample survey 1980, 7.88% at age 60+ years ,according Bhaktapur
survey and 5.67% at age 65+ years ,according to Sarlahi survey
19.6.8 Types of Disability
Disability consists basically of two types namely Physical and Mental. Sample Survey of disabled
persons, 1980 collected the information on types of disability by these two broad classifications.
But Census 2001 separated Blindness and Deafness from Physical disability as separate identities.
According to the census data of 2001, where as 44% of disables at age 0-14 years suffered from
physical disability, only 32 % of disabled at age 50 +years reported this disability. On the other
hand, percent of Blindness which was 13% for aged 0-14 years, increased to 30% for 50 + years
aged disabled persons.
The distribution of disabled persons by ages and types as reported in the census of 2001 is shown
in the Table 19.21. The recent surveys conducted at Bhaktapur and Sarlahi districts of Nepal
extended the types of disability by including Intellectual disability, Epilepsies and others also.
These surveys indicated the percentage of multiple disabilities among disabled persons as high as
17.06% at Bhaktapur district and 11.16% at Sarlahi district.
Table 19.21 : Distribution of disabled persons by types and by age groups, census 2001
Mentally Multiple
Aged Physical Blindness Deafness
Retarded Disability
0 - 9 Years 44.22 13.47 23.02 11.24 8.05
20 - 49 Years 37.72 10.89 26.26 17.39 7.74
50+ Years 31.75 30.07 25.04 7.40 5.09
All 39.32 15.92 24.61 12.69 7.33
Source: Estimated for the present study from the data obtained from the census report, 2001.
274
According to these surveys, the percent of physically disabled persons at age 50+ years accounted
to 16.65% at Bhaktapur district and 60% at Sarlahi district. In case of Blindness, the percents
were 30.93% and 25.71 % respectively. For deafness, the percents observed were 28.57% for
Bhaktapur district and 5.71% for Sarlahi district. The high proportion of physical disability
observed at Sarlahi district may be due to high casualties suffered due to Maoist insurgency
especially at Chure region of the district [Key Research, 2003] .
19.6.9 Causes of Disability at Old Age
Census data don’t provide information about causes of disability. According to Bhaktapur survey,
causes of disability among 50+ years aged persons were Infectious diseases (7.69%), Non
infectious disease (2.56%)., Accidents (2.56%), Mental (2.56%), Ageing (7.69%) and others
(69.23%). At this age group, 8% could not specify the cause of disability. Others specified in this
age group included mostly tobacco and alcoholic addictions. On the other hand, according to
Sarlahi survey, the causes of disability among aged 60+ years were 15.38% due to communicable
diseases, 13.46% due to non-communicable diseases. 13.46% from Birth, 15.38% due to
accidents and 25% due to ageing [ Key Research, 2003]
19.6.10 Urban Rural Differentials
Though the number urban centers in Nepal has increased rapidly from 10 in 1952/54 census to
58 by 2001 census , the percentage of population in urban centers is still very low accounting to
only 11% in 1991 and 13.94 % in 2001. Also, except for Kathamandu Metropolitan city, none of
the urban centers of Nepal have urban characteristics found in urban areas of other countries. So
analysis of ageing pattern by urban -rural differential in Nepal seems still not appropriate. Also
the Data of SAARC countries shows that there is very small positive correlation of amount 0.14
between percentage of urban population and percentage of aged 65+ years.
Yet based on Banstola’s data [Banstola, 1995] on age distribution of Nepal by Rural and Urban
differentials, an attempt is being made to present the Ageing index differentials between Rural
and Urban areas of Nepal. The indices observed are shown in the Table 19.22.
275
Table 19.22: Ageing index, aged 60+years, urban-rural differentials, 1961-1991.
Area 1961 1971 1981 1991

Urban 14.65 13.67 13.04 13.40
Rural 12.94 13.79 13.73 13.75
Source: Based on Population Monograph, 1991, p275
The table clearly shows that except in case of 1961, there is only a slight difference in indices of
ageing between urban and rural areas of Nepal. , and little difference observed is in favor of rural
area. Attempt to present rural and urban differential for 2001 is not done partly because of
insignificant results so far observed and partly age wise distribution of urban centers of Nepal is
yet not properly presented.
19.7 Social Status of Aged Persons in Nepal
In Nepal, though only recently, ageing is considered as an economic problem; socially it is

considered, since ancient time, the continued upgrading in social status. Higher the age of a
person, more is his/her social status. Eldest male member of the family or the community
automatically takes the role of headship in the family/community. Almost all social and religious
activities are guided as well as performed by him. His views and words are taken as the rules and
regulations to be followed by the community / family members. Also individuals who manage to
survive more than 75 years of age are considered as those who have attained the god hood. In
Newar society of Nepal, elderly persons are facilitated as gods in attaining certain ages through
three different ceremonies called Janku. . First ceremony called Bhim Ratharohan is conducted
when a person attains the age of 77th year, 7th month , 7th day , 7th hours , 7th minute 7th Pala
(Lowest unit of Nepalese chronological time) and second ceremony is conducted at age of 84
and third at the age of 90 years. This shows the high respects shown by Nepalese towards their
elderly persons.
Considering the physiological aspects of ageing, Nepalese law have made provisions for
protecting elderly persons from possible misuse of their physical and mental disabilities.
Nepalese law prohibits making any property and financial transactions with elderly persons aged
75 years and above in absence of his /her near and dear ones. Also, there is a system of providing
free foods and lodging to old persons who were discarded by their relatives (examples: Pasu Pati
Bridhasram, Tripurshowr temple and other religious places). Besides at present, His majesty’s
276
government of Nepal is giving pension of Rs. 100 per month to all those who are aged 75 years
and above. It is very good gesture shown by the government to its senior citizens.
In this regard, it is worth while to mention that Hindus had the practice of going to Banasram
(going to settle at forests) after attaining the age of 50 years by handing over all rights and
properties to their heirs. This is perhaps meant to minimize the negative impact of ageing in social
order. Also till recently, many old Nepalese went to Baranasi, in India, a very pious place for
Hindus to die. All above discussions show that traditional Nepalese and Hindus are very
conscious of old ages. They have used different methods for adjusting the life at old age.
19.8 Conclusion
Since Nepal is in demographic transition, ageing index for Nepal is very unlikely to grow rapidly.
The present ageing index for aged 65+ years of 10.69 % is expected to increase to only 12.65% by
2031. However, in absolute figures the number of aged 60+ years will increase from expected
figure of 1586 thousand in 2006 to 2690 thousands by 2031. Also the percent of old old among
aged persons is increasing rapidly from 10.51% in 1911 to 20% in 2001.To manage with this
growing number of aged persons will be a difficult task for both Government and Society. Also
though at present, Ageing is still not a social and an economic problem in Nepal, medical problem
is acute [Aging Concern Society of Nepal, 2002]. However, changing Nepalese life style from
traditional ways to western ways may pose serious problem of ageing in Nepal in decades to
come.
277
References
Ageing Concern Society Nepal (2000). Report on Socio-Economic and Health Status, Population
aged 60 and over of Ward 11, Kathmandu Metropolitan City.
Banstola, T.S. (1995). Urbanization, Population Monograph of Nepal. Central Bureau of

Gannon, W.F. (1998) Review of Medical Physiology, 20th edition. Lange Medical Books/
McGraw-Hill, p 45.
Misra, B. D. (1980). An Introduction to the Study of Population, South Asian Publishers Pvt. Ltd
p 114.
Rajan, S. and Rajan I (2002). Aging in Kerala – One More Population Problem, Asia Pacific
Journal, Vol 4, No 2.
Robbins (1998). Pathologic Basis of Diseases, 1998, 5th edition, Bombay. A Prism Indian
Edition, p 33.
Singh, M.L. (1979). Population Dynamics of Nepal. Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Singh, M.L. (2002). Population Polarization at Kathmandu Metropolitan City, p.30. Central
Department of Statistics, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Surveys Conducted by KE Research Nepal (P.) Ltd Conducted for Prerana, A Group for
Development Through Participation.
Taber’s Cyclopedia Medical Dictionary (1999). First Indian Edition. New Delhi, Jaypee Brothers,
p. 52.
United Nations (1998 and 2002). Population Data Sheet.
278
Annex 19.1A : Age distribution of Nepalese population 1911-1951
C(x) 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951

1 4.00 3.80 3.57 3.59 4.02
1--4 11.94 12.02 11.23 11.93 13.17
5--9 11.84 12.13 11.67 12.43 13.69
10--14 10.90 11.10 10.78 11.21 11.93
15--19 10.14 10.22 10.00 10.12 10.43
20--24 9.20 9.24 9.13 9.01 8.98
25--29 8.30 8.21 8.18 7.90 7.65
30--34 7.30 7.14 7.23 6.87 6.48
35--39 6.26 7.17 6.29 5.92 5.45
40--44 5.50 5.27 5.39 5.06 4.55
45--49 4.30 4.43 4.54 4.27 3.77
50--54 3.42 2.66 3.74 3.53 3.05
55--59 2.62 2.47 2.96 2.83 2.41
60--64 1.85 1.30 2.21 2.16 1.81
65--69 1.26 1.58 1.52 1.58 1.25
70--74 0.72 0.75 0.91 0.94 0.76
75--79 0.33 0.36 0.45 0.48 0.40
80--84 0.11 0.14 0.15 0.12 0.16
85- 89 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.05 0.05
Total 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Figures based on stable population derived from female life table constructed
(See M. L. Singh, ‘Population dynamics of Nepal’, 1979, T.U, pp 188-207).
Annex 19.1B : Age distribution, 1952/54-2001 censuses, both sexes, Nepal

Age
1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Group
0 --- 4 13.12 14.18 14.68 15.41 14.64 12.12
5 --- 9 13.12 13.98 14.68 14.58 15.18 14.12
10---14 10.46 10.39 10.36 11.36 12.59 13.11
15---19 9.38 9.37 8.71 8.84 9.69 10.51
20---24 9.26 8.85 8.78 8.89 8.58 8.87
25---29 9.04 8.94 8.26 7.73 7.43 7.59
30--34 7.53 7.77 7.72 6.49 6.24 6.55
35---39 6.00 6.00 6.25 5.95 5.56 5.76
40--44 5.56 5.22 5.36 5.01 4.56 4.79
45--49 4.08 4.00 3.76 4.12 3.97 4.06
50--54 3.84 3.88 3.42 3.61 3.24 3.37
55--59 2.37 2.37 2.17 2.30 2.52 2.65
60--64 2.58 2.69 2.71 2.45 2.33 2.29
65--69 1.11 1.16 1.24 1.26 1.46 1.70
70+ 1.75 1.74 1.93 1.04 0.99 1.20
75+ 0.96 1.00 1.30
Unknown 0.57 0.46 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00
Total 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100
279
Annex 19.2 : eo0 , b and IMR for Nepal, 1911-2001.
1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001*
eo0 19.18 21.71 24.27 30.45 34.83 37.47 41.96 48.20 53.82 58
B 50.00 50.20 44.82 44.70 47.74 46.81 42.14 39.95 37.30 31
IMR 236.08 226.59 216.99 193.81 177.39 167.49 150.65 127.25 106.18 64.
Note * Official figures of CBR and eo0 based on 2001 census are yet not published. The figures quoted
are estimates based on world population data sheets, 2002.
Figures for 1911-1981 based on stable population derived from female life table constructed
(See M. L. Singh, ‘Population dynamics of Nepal, 1979, T.U, pp 188-207).
1991 figures based on Table 19.1, second row, p 87, Population Monograph of Nepal, CBS, 1995
IMR for 1911-1991 are based on the relationship IMR=0.308- 0.00375 eo0 , R2 =96.31, See M.L.
Singh, ibid .
Annex 19.3 : Important population parameters of different areas of the continents in the
world, 2002.
Area % aged 65+ % aged < 15 CBR IMR eo0

W. Africa 3.00 45.00 42.00 87.00 51.00
S. Sahara 3.00 44.00 15.00 71.00 49.00
S. C. Asia 4.00 37.00 26.00 69.00 63.00
N. .Africa 4.00 36.00 27.00 55.00 64.00
W. .Asia 5.00 36.00 27.00 45.00 68.00
C. America 5.00 35.00 27.00 28.00 74.00
S. Asia 5.00 32.00 22.00 41.00 67.00
Latin America 6.00 32.00 28.00 30.00 71.00
S. Africa 6.00 31.00 22.00 29.00 70.00
Caribbean 7.00 30.00 21.00 43.00 89.00
E. Asia 8.00 22.00 13.00 29.00 72.00
Oceanic 10.00 25.00 18.00 30.00 75.00
USA 13.00 21.00 15.00 6.60 77.00
E. Europe 13.00 18.00 9.00 13.00 74.00
N. Europe 15.00 19.00 11.00 5.00 75.00
Canada 13.00 15.00 11.00 5.30 79.00
W. Europe 16.00 17.00 11.00 5.00 76.00
S. Europe 17.00 16.00 10.00 6.00 75.00
280
Annex 19.4 : Important population parameters of SAARC countries, 2002
Area 65+ <15 CBR IMR eo0

Bagaladesh 3.00 40.00 30.00 66.00 59.00
Bhutan 5.00 39.00 34.00 61.00 66.00
India 4.00 36.00 26.00 68.00 63.00
Nepal 4.00 41.00 31.00 64.00 58.00
Pakistan 4.00 42.00 30.00 86.00 63.00
Shree Lanka 6.00 27.00 18.00 17.00 72.00
Annex 19.5 : Age distribution by Sex and districts of Nepal, 2001
Less than 15 60+ 65+ 70+ 75+ 15--59

District
Taplejung 41.51 39.79 7.68 7.22 5.14 4.78 3.25 2.90 1.67 1.53 50.81 53.00
Sankhuwasabha 40.50 38.13 7.70 7.53 5.15 4.97 3.13 3.09 1.58 1.64 51.80 54.34
Solukhumbu 40.47 38.75 7.43 7.11 4.77 4.33 2.68 2.43 1.32 1.28 52.10 54.14
E. Mountain 40.83 38.85 7.62 7.31 5.04 4.74 3.05 2.85 1.54 1.51 51.55 53.83
Pancthar 42.50 40.20 7.28 6.62 4.82 4.33 2.86 2.58 1.42 1.36 50.22 53.17
Illam 37.59 37.40 6.56 5.77 4.31 3.88 2.50 2.22 1.26 1.20 55.85 56.84
Tehrathum 39.69 40.44 8.00 8.14 5.44 5.59 3.32 3.49 1.83 2.00 52.31 51.42
Dhankuta 37.69 36.20 7.61 7.40 5.16 5.04 3.12 3.01 1.64 1.63 54.70 56.40
Khotang 43.61 40.21 8.03 7.22 5.30 4.79 3.11 2.81 1.63 1.52 48.36 52.57
OKhaldunga 43.25 39.19 8.47 8.36 5.74 5.52 3.51 3.29 1.84 1.77 48.27 52.45
Udayapur 42.61 41.29 5.99 5.88 3.83 3.87 2.32 2.38 1.14 1.30 51.40 52.83
Bhojpur 40.84 37.69 8.74 7.94 5.85 5.25 3.59 3.13 1.93 1.78 50.41 54.37
E. Hill 41.00 39.12 7.40 6.95 4.91 4.63 2.94 2.76 1.52 1.51 51.60 53.93
Jhapa 35.08 33.68 6.65 6.10 4.32 4.02 2.51 2.48 1.29 1.43 58.27 60.23
Morang 36.93 35.61 6.06 5.95 3.90 3.93 2.30 2.39 1.17 1.33 57.01 58.44
Sunsarii 28.41 37.87 5.50 5.72 3.56 3.84 2.11 2.31 1.11 1.28 66.09 56.42
Saptari 39.83 39.03 5.96 6.03 3.80 3.85 2.20 2.26 1.11 1.15 54.21 54.94
Siraha 40.69 39.96 6.01 6.26 3.75 3.99 2.27 2.36 1.09 1.17 53.30 53.78
E.Terai 36.12 37.01 6.04 6.00 3.87 3.93 2.28 2.36 1.16 1.28 57.84 56.99
Dolakha 39.10 37.61 7.69 8.21 4.95 5.26 2.76 3.14 1.33 1.69 53.20 54.17
Sindhupalchowk 46.35 38.61 8.46 8.28 5.56 5.40 3.30 3.24 1.65 1.69 45.19 53.11
Rasuwa 36.78 39.34 8.26 9.03 5.17 5.65 3.33 3.64 1.80 1.96 54.95 51.63
C.Mountain 43.04 38.32 8.19 8.32 5.32 5.37 3.12 3.24 1.56 1.71 48.78 53.36
Ramechhap 44.28 40.11 7.84 8.64 5.18 5.82 2.92 3.56 1.77 2.02 47.88 51.25
Sindhuli 43.34 42.18 6.07 6.30 3.99 4.21 2.28 2.54 1.17 1.39 50.60 51.52
Kavre 40.51 38.08 7.47 7.47 5.04 5.00 3.01 2.96 1.56 1.61 52.02 54.45
Bhaktapur 31.07 30.52 6.61 7.27 4.51 4.92 2.68 2.97 1.49 1.69 62.32 62.22
Lalitpur 28.89 29.09 6.31 6.50 4.18 4.80 2.51 2.94 1.38 1.73 64.80 64.41
Kathmandu 27.27 28.96 4.76 6.03 3.14 4.12 1.87 2.51 1.03 1.44 67.97 65.01
Dhading 41.55 39.49 8.42 7.53 5.79 5.11 3.59 3.18 1.93 1.77 50.03 52.98
Makawanpur 40.85 40.78 6.21 6.09 4.25 4.04 2.54 2.46 1.31 1.35 52.94 53.13
281
Less than 15 60+ 65+ 70+ 75+ 15--59
District
Nuwakot 39.71 38.99 8.33 8.04 5.66 5.31 3.44 3.27 1.83 1.81 51.95 52.97
C.Hill 35.05 35.07 6.37 6.83 4.27 4.64 2.55 2.82 1.38 1.59 58.58 58.10
Dhanusha 40.58 40.34 5.84 6.31 3.64 4.03 2.14 2.31 1.04 1.08 53.59 53.35
Mahottari 40.42 40.42 6.32 6.69 3.99 4.25 2.41 2.49 1.16 1.23 53.26 52.89
Sarlahi 40.99 40.80 6.09 5.74 3.79 4.09 2.21 2.43 1.05 1.22 18.02 18.40
Rautahat 40.68 40.55 6.58 6.51 4.05 4.21 2.39 2.49 1.12 1.22 52.75 52.93
Bara 41.31 41.23 5.95 5.72 3.68 3.63 2.11 2.07 1.01 0.98 52.74 53.05
Parsa 40.55 41.72 5.14 5.14 3.07 3.08 1.69 1.65 0.76 0.76 54.31 53.15
Chitwan 37.32 35.58 6.91 6.57 4.67 4.45 2.88 2.78 1.54 1.55 55.77 57.84
C.Terai 40.36 40.16 11.75 11.77 3.82 3.97 2.25 2.32 1.09 1.15 47.89 48.07
Manang 24.67 27.45 8.30 9.80 5.09 6.50 3.30 4.35 1.73 2.20 67.02 62.75
Mustang 25.27 30.17 8.44 10.28 4.76 6.41 2.75 3.82 1.45 2.09 66.30 59.55
W. Mountain 25.04 29.08 8.39 10.08 4.88 6.45 2.96 4.03 1.56 2.13 66.57 60.83
Gorkha 49.31 36.58 10.09 8.78 7.03 6.03 4.52 3.87 2.50 2.20 40.60 54.64
Lamjung 40.07 34.86 10.44 9.15 7.16 6.08 4.49 3.84 2.33 2.07 49.49 55.99
Tanahu 42.79 37.08 8.67 7.84 5.88 5.22 3.73 3.27 2.02 1.85 48.54 55.08
Kaski 36.25 33.29 7.35 7.98 4.97 5.42 3.06 3.38 1.61 1.93 56.40 58.72
Parbat 44.06 36.74 9.52 8.26 6.50 5.38 3.95 3.25 2.01 1.71 46.42 55.00
Syangja 45.07 36.66 9.90 8.56 6.64 5.72 4.03 3.61 2.09 2.01 45.03 54.78
Myagdi 42.34 36.64 9.45 8.36 6.30 5.42 3.78 3.13 1.84 1.64 48.22 55.00
Baglung 45.07 37.65 8.81 7.40 5.88 4.79 3.59 2.91 1.76 1.60 46.12 54.95
Arghakhanchi 46.77 39.66 8.88 6.94 6.07 4.67 3.68 2.88 1.82 1.51 44.35 53.40
Gulmi 47.92 39.24 9.46 7.61 6.46 4.94 4.04 2.97 2.09 1.61 42.62 53.15
Palpa 45.41 38.50 8.42 7.31 5.70 4.76 3.56 2.94 1.82 1.57 46.17 54.19
W.Hill 43.96 36.93 9.05 7.98 6.14 5.30 3.81 3.29 1.98 1.81 47.00 55.09
Nawalparasi 41.35 38.82 6.90 6.25 4.53 4.10 2.74 2.48 1.36 1.30 51.75 54.93
Rupandehi 39.96 39.05 6.61 6.22 4.36 4.11 2.57 2.44 1.25 1.28 53.43 54.73
Kapilbastu 41.27 41.07 6.80 6.24 4.54 4.00 2.59 2.35 1.24 1.16 51.93 52.69
W.Terai 40.76 39.52 6.75 6.24 4.46 4.08 2.63 2.43 1.28 1.25 52.48 54.24
Dolpa 37.52 39.81 4.81 5.28 2.53 3.07 1.38 1.62 0.65 0.78 57.66 54.91
Jumla 41.98 43.19 4.19 3.19 2.12 1.48 1.01 0.76 0.46 0.32 53.83 53.62
Kalikot 38.47 43.57 4.05 3.87 1.94 1.78 1.03 0.67 0.45 0.27 57.48 52.56
Mugu 41.08 42.87 5.41 5.35 5.41 3.19 1.98 1.80 1.03 0.87 53.51 51.78
Humla 40.27 40.00 6.14 6.62 3.60 3.85 2.09 2.44 1.19 1.35 53.59 53.38
M.W. Mountain 40.63 41.98 4.93 4.69 3.09 2.56 1.48 1.44 0.75 0.72 54.44 53.33
Pyuthan 49.37 42.06 7.06 6.11 4.49 3.74 2.65 2.18 1.23 1.09 43.57 51.83
Rolpa 44.75 42.04 6.07 5.67 3.71 3.24 2.05 1.76 0.93 0.78 49.18 52.29
Rukum 40.30 40.99 4.62 3.82 2.60 1.99 1.35 1.01 0.60 0.46 55.07 55.19
Salyan 40.64 40.99 4.40 4.31 2.55 2.39 1.21 1.22 0.55 0.59 54.96 54.70
Surkhet 42.69 40.95 4.73 4.52 2.79 2.67 1.52 1.50 0.68 0.80 52.58 54.53
Dailekh 46.48 43.57 5.12 4.64 2.95 2.51 1.52 1.23 0.69 0.58 48.40 51.79
Jajarkot 40.70 42.59 3.80 2.89 1.96 1.36 0.94 0.59 0.39 0.24 55.50 54.52
M.W. Hill 44.03 41.95 5.24 4.73 3.10 2.68 1.68 1.44 0.76 0.69 50.73 53.32
Dang 42.79 40.93 5.01 4.51 3.07 2.72 1.76 1.54 0.83 0.76 52.20 54.56
282
Less than 15 60+ 65+ 70+ 75+ 15--59
District
Banke 40.49 40.51 5.82 5.34 3.72 3.34 2.21 2.00 1.09 1.02 53.69 54.16
Bardiya 42.11 41.24 5.30 4.79 3.27 2.91 1.85 1.67 0.91 0.83 52.59 53.96
M.W. Tarai 41.84 40.90 5.36 4.85 3.34 2.97 1.93 1.72 0.94 0.86 52.80 54.25
Bajura 44.04 42.17 5.96 5.83 3.69 3.50 2.26 1.98 1.20 1.01 49.99 52.00
Bajhang 46.13 41.22 6.11 6.43 3.80 3.76 2.16 2.03 1.05 0.95 47.75 52.35
Darchula 42.49 40.44 7.16 6.38 4.64 3.88 2.88 2.18 1.47 1.13 50.36 53.17
F.W. Mountain 44.44 41.22 6.40 6.26 4.03 3.73 2.41 2.07 1.22 1.02 49.16 52.52
Aachham 47.17 41.48 6.15 6.77 3.76 4.02 2.01 2.14 0.94 1.07 46.68 51.76
Doti 40.85 40.40 5.18 6.59 3.05 3.98 1.68 2.22 0.78 1.14 53.98 53.01
Dadeldura 45.96 41.75 6.09 6.56 3.82 4.07 2.20 2.33 1.08 1.21 47.95 51.69
Baitadi 44.01 40.41 7.29 7.34 4.70 4.68 2.90 2.71 1.61 1.54 48.70 52.25
F.W. Hill 44.36 40.94 6.21 6.86 3.86 4.21 2.21 2.36 1.11 1.25 49.43 52.21
Kailali 42.95 41.88 4.88 4.77 2.98 2.86 1.70 1.68 0.83 0.89 52.18 53.35
Kanchanpur 42.12 41.49 5.20 4.91 3.18 3.02 1.93 1.85 0.97 1.02 52.68 53.59
F.W. Tarai 42.63 41.73 5.00 4.83 3.06 2.92 1.79 1.74 0.88 0.94 52.37 53.44
Nepal 40.04 38.58 7.56 7.36 4.25 4.17 2.52 2.49 1.28 1.32 52.40 54.06
Annex 19.6: Age distribution, regional figures, by sex, 2001

Less 15 60+ 65+ 70+ 75+ 15—59
Eco-Region
E. Mountain 40.83 38.85 7.62 7.31 5.04 4.74 3.05 2.85 1.54 1.51 51.55 53.83
C. Mountain 43.04 38.32 8.19 8.32 5.32 5.37 3.12 3.24 1.56 1.71 48.78 53.36
W. Mountain 25.04 29.08 8.39 10.08 4.88 6.45 2.96 4.03 1.56 2.13 66.57 60.83
M.W. Mountain 40.63 41.98 4.93 4.69 3.09 2.56 1.48 1.44 0.75 0.72 54.44 53.33
F.W. Mountain 44.44 41.22 6.40 6.26 4.03 3.73 2.41 2.07 1.22 1.02 49.16 52.52
Mountain 42.20 39.50 7.19 7.13 4.64 4.47 2.72 2.64 1.37 1.37 50.61 53.37
E. Hill 41.00 39.12 7.40 6.95 4.91 4.63 2.94 2.76 1.52 1.51 51.60 53.93
C. Hill 35.05 35.07 6.37 6.83 4.27 4.64 2.55 2.82 1.38 1.59 58.58 58.10
W .Hill 43.96 36.93 9.05 7.98 6.14 5.30 3.81 3.29 1.98 1.81 47.00 55.09
M.W. Hill 44.03 41.95 5.24 4.73 3.10 2.68 1.68 1.44 0.76 0.69 50.73 53.32
F.W. Hill 44.36 40.94 6.21 6.86 3.86 4.21 2.21 2.36 1.11 1.25 49.43 52.21
Hill 40.26 37.62 7.08 6.92 4.68 4.54 2.81 2.73 1.46 1.50 52.65 55.46
E . Terai 36.12 37.01 6.04 6.00 3.87 3.93 2.28 2.36 1.16 1.28 57.84 56.99
C. Terai 40.36 40.16 11.75 11.77 3.82 3.97 2.25 2.32 1.09 1.15 47.89 48.07
W. Terai 40.76 39.52 6.75 6.24 4.46 4.08 2.63 2.43 1.28 1.25 52.48 54.24
M.W. Terai 41.84 40.90 5.36 4.85 3.34 2.97 1.93 1.72 0.94 0.86 52.80 54.25
F.W. Terai 42.63 41.73 5.00 4.83 3.06 2.92 1.79 1.74 0.88 0.94 52.37 53.44
Terai 39.57 39.36 8.03 7.81 3.82 3.77 2.24 2.23 1.10 1.15 52.41 52.84
Nepal 40.04 38.58 7.56 7.36 4.25 4.17 2.52 2.49 1.28 1.32 52.40 54.06
283
Annex 19.7: Age distribution by districts, both sex. 2001.
Districts Less 15 60+ 65+ 70+ 75+ 15-59

Taplejung 40.63 7.44 4.95 3.07 1.60 51.92
Sankhuwasabha 39.29 7.61 5.06 3.11 1.61 53.10
Solukhumbu 39.60 7.27 4.55 2.55 1.30 53.13
E.Mountain 39.82 7.46 4.89 2.95 1.52 52.71
Pancthar 41.33 6.94 4.57 2.72 1.39 51.73
Illam 37.49 6.17 4.10 2.36 1.23 56.34
Tehrathum 40.07 8.07 5.52 3.41 1.92 51.85
Dhankuta 36.93 7.50 5.10 3.07 1.64 55.56
Khotang 41.87 7.61 5.04 2.96 1.57 50.52
Okhaldunga 41.14 8.42 5.63 3.40 1.80 50.44
Udayapur 41.95 5.93 3.85 2.35 1.22 52.12
Bhojpur 39.21 8.33 5.54 3.35 1.85 52.47
E. Hill 40.04 7.17 4.77 2.85 1.52 52.79
Jhapa 34.37 6.37 4.17 2.49 1.36 59.25
Morang 36.27 6.01 3.92 2.34 1.25 57.72
Sunsari 33.10 5.61 3.70 2.21 1.20 61.30
Saptari 39.44 5.99 3.82 2.23 1.13 54.57
Siraha 40.34 6.13 3.87 2.31 1.13 53.53
E.Terai 36.56 6.02 3.90 2.32 1.22 57.42
Dolakah 38.34 7.96 5.10 2.95 1.51 53.70
Sindhupalchowk 42.46 8.37 5.48 3.27 1.67 49.17
Rasuwa 38.00 8.63 5.40 3.48 1.88 53.37
C. Mountain 40.67 8.25 5.34 3.18 1.64 51.08
Ramechhap 42.09 8.26 5.52 3.26 1.90 49.65
Sindhuli 42.75 6.18 4.10 2.41 1.28 51.06
Kavre 39.27 7.47 5.02 2.98 1.59 53.26
Bhaktapur 30.80 6.93 4.71 2.82 1.59 62.27
Lalitpur 28.99 6.41 4.48 2.72 1.55 64.61
Kathmandu 28.06 5.35 3.60 2.17 1.22 66.58
Dhading 40.50 7.97 5.45 3.38 1.85 51.54
Makawanpur 40.81 6.15 4.15 2.50 1.33 53.03
Nuwakot 39.35 8.19 5.48 3.35 1.82 52.46
C.Hill 35.06 6.59 4.45 2.69 1.48 58.34
Dhanusha 40.46 6.06 3.83 2.22 1.06 53.47
Mahottari 40.42 6.50 4.11 2.45 1.19 53.08
Sarlahi 40.90 6.27 3.93 2.31 1.13 18.20
Rautahat 40.62 6.55 4.13 2.44 1.17 52.84
Bara 41.27 5.84 3.65 2.09 0.99 52.89
Parsa 41.10 5.14 3.07 1.67 0.76 53.76
Chitwan 36.45 6.74 4.56 2.83 1.54 56.81
C.Terai 40.26 11.76 3.89 2.28 1.12 47.98
Manang 25.99 9.01 5.76 3.80 1.95 64.99
Mustang 27.49 9.27 5.51 3.24 1.74 63.23
284
Districts Less 15 60+ 65+ 70+ 75+ 15-59
W.Mountain 26.91 9.17 5.60 3.46 1.82 63.92
Gorkha 42.52 9.39 6.50 4.18 2.34 48.09
Lamjung 37.31 9.76 6.59 4.15 2.19 52.93
Tanahu 39.74 8.23 5.53 3.48 1.93 52.03
Kaski 34.73 7.68 5.20 3.23 1.78 57.59
Parbat 40.12 8.84 5.90 3.57 1.85 51.03
Syangja 40.47 9.16 6.14 3.80 2.04 50.37
Myagdi 39.29 8.87 5.83 3.44 1.73 51.85
Baglung 41.06 8.05 5.29 3.22 1.68 50.89
Arghakhanchi 42.95 7.84 5.31 3.25 1.65 49.21
Gulmi 43.15 8.44 5.62 3.45 1.83 48.40
Palpa 41.72 7.83 5.20 3.23 1.69 50.45
W.Hill 40.19 8.47 5.69 3.53 1.89 51.33
Nawalparasi 40.07 6.57 4.31 2.61 1.33 53.36
Rupandehi 39.51 6.42 4.24 2.51 1.27 54.07
Kapuilbastu 41.17 6.53 4.28 2.47 1.20 52.30
W.Terai 40.15 6.50 4.27 2.53 1.27 53.35
Dolpa 38.66 5.04 2.80 1.50 0.71 56.30
Jumla 42.57 3.70 1.81 0.89 0.40 53.73
Kalikot 40.78 3.97 1.87 0.87 0.36 55.25
Mugu 41.95 5.38 4.33 1.89 0.95 52.66
Humla 40.14 6.37 3.72 2.26 1.27 53.49
MWMountain 41.28 4.81 2.83 1.46 0.74 53.90
Pyuthan 45.45 6.55 4.09 2.40 1.16 48.01
Rolpa 43.35 5.86 3.46 1.90 0.85 50.78
Rukum 40.64 4.23 2.30 1.18 0.53 55.13
Salyan 40.81 4.36 2.47 1.22 0.57 54.83
Surkhet 41.81 4.63 2.73 1.51 0.74 53.56
Dailekh 44.99 4.87 2.73 1.37 0.63 50.13
Jajarkot 41.63 3.35 1.67 0.77 0.31 55.02
M.W. Hill 42.97 4.98 2.88 1.56 0.72 52.05
Dang 41.85 4.76 2.90 1.65 0.79 53.39
Banke 40.50 5.58 3.53 2.11 1.06 53.92
Bardiya 41.68 5.05 3.09 1.76 0.87 53.27
M.W. Terai 41.37 5.11 3.16 1.83 0.90 53.52
Aachham 44.16 6.48 3.90 2.08 1.01 49.36
Doti 40.62 5.88 3.52 1.95 0.96 53.49
Dadeldura 43.79 6.33 3.95 2.27 1.15 49.88
Baitadi 42.15 7.31 4.69 2.80 1.57 50.53
F.W. Hill 42.60 6.55 4.04 2.29 1.18 50.86
Kailali 42.42 4.83 2.92 1.69 0.86 52.75
Kanchanpur 41.81 5.06 3.10 1.89 1.00 53.13
F. W. Terai 42.19 4.91 2.99 1.77 0.91 52.90
Nepal 39.31 7.46 4.21 2.50 1.30 53.23
285
Annex 19.8: Indices of ageing by districts in ascending order for major old age groups,
2001.
District 60+ District 65+ District 70+ District 75+

Jajarkot 8.04 Jajarkot 4.01 Jajarkot 1.84 Jajarkot 0.76
Jumla 8.70 Jumla 4.25 Jumla 2.08 Kalikot 0.89
Kalikot 9.74 Kalikot 4.58 Kalikot 2.13 Jumla 0.93
Rukum 10.40 Rukum 5.66 Rukum 2.92 Rukum 1.31
Salyan 10.68 Salyan 6.06 Salyan 2.99 Salyan 1.39
Dailekh 10.83 Dailekh 6.06 Dailekh 3.05 Dailekh 1.41
Surkhet 11.06 Surkhet 6.52 Surkhet 3.60 Surkhet 1.76
Dang 11.37 Kailali 6.89 Dolpa 3.88 Dolpa 1.84
Kailali 11.37 Dang 6.92 Dang 3.94 Parsa 1.85
Kanchanpur 12.10 Dolpa 7.24 Kailali 3.99 Dang 1.89
Bardiya 12.11 Kanchanpur 7.41 Parsa 4.07 Rolpa 1.97
Parsa 12.50 Bardiya 7.42 Bardiya 4.21 Kailali 2.02
Mugu 12.82 Parsa 7.47 Rolpa 4.38 Bardiya 2.09
Dolpa 13.05 Rolpa 7.99 Mugu 4.51 Mugu 2.27
Rolpa 13.53 Doti 8.65 Kanchanpur 4.52 Aachham 2.28
Banke 13.79 Banke 8.73 Aachham 4.71 Doti 2.37
Udayapur 14.14 Aachham 8.83 Doti 4.8 Kanchanpur 2.39
Bara 14.15 Bara 8.85 Bara 5.06 Bara 2.41
Pyuthan 14.41 Pyuthan 9 Dadeldura 5.18 Pyuthan 2.54
Dadeldura 14.46 Dadeldura 9.02 Banke 5.2 Banke 2.61
Sindhuli 14.47 Udayapur 9.18 Pyuthan 5.28 Dadeldura 2.62
Doti 14.48 Humla 9.26 Dhanusha 5.49 Dhanusha 2.63
Aachham 14.66 Dhanusha 9.46 Udayapur 5.6 Sarlahi 2.77
Dhanusha 14.99 Sindhuli 9.58 Humla 5.63 Siraha 2.81
Makawanpur 15.08 Siraha 9.58 Sindhuli 5.64 Saptari 2.87
Siraha 15.19 Sarlahi 9.61 Saptari 5.65 Rautahat 2.88
Saptari 15.2 Saptari 9.7 Sarlahi 5.66 Udayapur 2.91
Sarlahi 15.34 Makawanpur 10.16 Siraha 5.74 Kapilbastu 2.91
Kapilbastu 15.86 Rautahat 10.17 Rautahat 6 Mahottari 2.95
Humla 15.87 Mahottari 10.18 Kapilbastu 6.01 Sindhuli 2.99
Mahottari 16.07 Mugu 10.32 Mahottari 6.05 Humla 3.16
Rautahat 16.12 Kapilbastu 10.39 Makawanpur 6.12 Rupandehi 3.2
Rupandehi 16.24 Rupandehi 10.72 Illam 6.3 Makawanpur 3.26
Nawalparasi 16.4 Nawalparasi 10.77 Rupandehi 6.35 Illam 3.28
Illam 16.45 Morang 10.8 Solou 6.44 Solou 3.29
286
District 60+ District 65+ District 70+ District 75+
Morang 16.56 Illam 10.92 Morang 6.46 Nawalparasi 3.32
Pancthar 16.8 Pancthar 11.07 Nawalparasi 6.51 Pancthar 3.37
Sunsari 16.94 Baitadi 11.13 Pancthar 6.58 Morang 3.45
Baitadi 17.35 Sunsari 11.17 Baitadi 6.64 Sunsari 3.61
Khotang 18.18 Solou 11.49 Sunsari 6.68 Baitadi 3.73
Arghakhanchi 18.25 Khotang 12.03 Khotang 7.07 Khotang 3.75
Taplejung 18.32 Jhapa 12.14 Jhapa 7.26 Arghakhanchi 3.85
Solou 18.36 Taplejung 12.19 Taplejung 7.56 Taplejung 3.94
Chitwan 18.49 Arghakhanchi 12.37 Arghakhanchi 7.57 Sindhupalchowk 3.94
Jhapa 18.53 Palpa 12.45 Kavre 7.6 Dolakah 3.95
Palpa 18.77 Chitwan 12.5 Sindhupalchowk 7.7 Jhapa 3.96
Kavre 19.03 Kavre 12.78 Dolakah 7.7 Kavre 4.04
Kathmandu 19.08 Kathmandu 12.82 Kathmandu 7.73 Palpa 4.04
Sankhuwasabha 19.37 Sankhuwasabha 12.87 Ramechap 7.74 Baglung 4.08
Gulmi 19.56 Baglung 12.88 Palpa 7.74 Sankhuwasabha 4.1
Baglung 19.6 Sindhupalchowk 12.9 Chitwan 7.76 Gulmi 4.23
Ramechap 19.62 Gulmi 13.03 Baglung 7.85 Chitwan 4.24
Dhading 19.67 Ramechap 13.11 Sankhuwasabha 7.91 Kathmandu 4.34
Sindhupalchowk 19.71 Dolakah 13.31 Gulmi 8.00 Ohaldunga 4.37
Tehrathum 20.14 Dhading 13.45 Ohaldunga 8.26 Myagdi 4.40
Dhankuta 20.32 Ohaldunga 13.67 Dhankuta 8.31 Dhankuta 4.43
Ohaldunga 20.45 Tehrathum 13.77 Dhading 8.35 Ramechap 4.51
Tanahu 20.70 Dhankuta 13.80 Tehrathum 8.50 Dhading 4.56
Dolakah 20.76 Tanahu 13.91 Nuwakot 8.52 Parbart 4.61
Nuwakot 20.81 Nuwakot 13.93 Bhojpur 8.54 Nuwakot 4.63
Bhojpur 21.23 Bhojpur 14.13 Myagdi 8.75 Bhojpur 4.72
Parbat 22.04 Rasuwa 14.20 Tanahu 8.76 Tehrathum 4.79
Gorkha 22.09 Parbat 14.70 Parbat 8.91 Tanahu 4.85
Lalitpur 22.10 Myagdi 14.83 Rasuwa 9.15 Rasuwa 4.94
Kaski 22.11 Kaski 14.97 Bhkatpur 9.16 Syangja 5.05
Bhkatpur 22.51 Syangja 15.17 Kaski 9.29 Kaski 5.11
Myagdi 22.57 Gorkha 15.28 Lalitpur 9.39 Bhkatpur 5.16
Syangja 22.65 Bhkatpur 15.29 Syangja 9.40 Lalitpur 5.35
Rasuwa 22.71 Lalitpur 15.45 Gorkha 9.82 Gorkha 5.50
Lamjung 26.15 Lamjung 17.66 Lamjung 11.11 Lamjung 5.87
Mustang 33.72 Mustang 20.03 Mustang 11.77 Mustang 6.34
Manang 34.67 Manang 22.15 Manang 14.61 Manang 7.50
287
Annex 19.9 : Females per thousand males in ascending order, district figures, 2001.
District <15 District 65+ District 75+

Sindhupalchowk 838.95 Mugu 560.14 Kalikot 500.00
Gorkha 848.51 Jumla 655.22 Jajarkot 588.01
Dhanusha 915.97 Jajarkot 673.36 Jumla 650.60
Parsa 920.01 Rukum 747.48 Rukum 739.58
Mahottari 922.57 Kalikot 762.30 Darchula 798.18
Sarlahi 926.76 Kapilbastu 833.21 Mugu 807.23
Rautahat 928.59 Banke 848.72 Bajura 855.95
Siraha 930.09 Darchula 869.50 Dailekh 870.08
Humla 930.35 Bardiya 878.33 Kapilbastu 887.04
Bara 931.41 Illam 885.5608 Bardiya 890.58
Kathmandu 932.61 Dilek 889.88 Banke 890.64
Saptari 937.71 Arghakhanchi 894.12 Rolpa 895.35
Kalikot 939.67 Parsa 896.92 Parsa 898.23
Kapilbastu 940.01 Salyan 897.47 Bara 909.97
Rupandehi 941.67 Dang 903.04 Dang 934.36
Banke 946.80 Rupandehi 907.05 Illam 935.52
Bhaktapur 946.87 Dhading 919.03 Gulmi 937.75
Kailali 950.38 Kanchanpur 919.55 Taplejung 948.46
Kanchanpur 954.66 Bara 919.93 Dhading 954.70
Bajhang 956.31 Makawanpur 924.60 Dhanusha 956.71
Morang 958.26 Nawalparasi 927.08 Arghakhanchi 960.75
Nawalparasi 960.19 Gulmi 931.02 Bajhang 968.16
Chitwan 961.03 Solou 931.42 Mahottari 976.37
Jumla 962.90 Rolpa 932.54 Khotang 980.92
Lalitpur 965.39 Kailali 933.91 Nawalparasi 981.47
Bardiya 965.80 Pancthar 935.0785 Rupandehi 981.87
Salyan 967.17 Jhapa 942.48 Saptari 991.05
Khotang 969.00 Khotang 951.12 Palpa 991.21
Makawanpur 969.87 Lamjung 954.45 Parbart 993.17
Udayapur 970.24 Nuwakot 958.39 Solou 994.32
Parbat 970.35 Baglung 958.55 Bhojpur 994.69
Kaski 970.77 Palpa 958.73 Pancthar 995.74
Dadeldura 971.34 Chitwan 960.98 Makawanpur 995.79
Jhapa 971.43 Taplejung 962.07 Rasuwa 1000.00
Palpa 972.76 Parbart 962.88 Lamjung 1000.00
Surkhet 973.57 Pythan 964.95 Gorkha 1008.05
Dang 975.04 Bhojpur 966.95 Nuwakot 1011.87
Bajura 976.66 Rautahat 968.17 Chitwan 1016.60
288
District <15 District 65+ District 75+
Baitadi 977.49 Bajura 968.41 Rautahat 1017.72
Okhaldunga 977.70 Saptari 970.00 Siraha 1018.79
Lamjung 977.74 Surkhet 970.53 Baitadi 1019.75
Kavre 978.81 Sindhupalchowk 978.12 Kanchanpur 1019.82
Rasuwa 978.815 Gorkha 980.74 Dhankuta 1023.79
Dailekh 979.53 Mahottari 981.81 Pythan 1023.91
Illam 980.5365 Myagdi 990.74 Myagdi 1026.61
Sindhuli 981.55 Rasuwa 1000 Salyan 1029.59
Solou 981.69 Humla 1001.33 Sindhupalchowk 1030.15
Baglung 983.22 Morang 1001.76 Ohaldunga 1036.82
Sankhuwasabha 983.67 Sarlahi 1004.25 Kailali 1044.38
Syangja 983.89 Siraha 1008.39 Tanahu 1045.76
Pancthar 984.01 Sankhuwasabha 1008.73 Humla 1068.27
Arghakhanchi 986.11 Dhankuta 1010.19 Baglung 1069.33
Aachham 986.48 Udayapur 1010.89 Kavre 1073.17
Pythan 987.85 Tanahu 1018.41 Sarlahi 1085.02
Doti 989.36 Dhanusha 1019.56 Sankhuwasabha 1085.37
Dhading 990.03 Kavre 1032.98 Bhakatpur 1091.07
Darchula 990.32 Ohaldunga 1037.91 Jhapa 1119.67
Rukum 991.06 Syangja 1042.37 Morang 1129.90
Mugu 991.70 Bhaktapur 1051.80 Sunsari 1131.02
Taplejung 991.70 Sunsari 1057.62 Udayapur 1137.55
Mustang 992.74 Bajhang 1059.69 Manang 1149.43
Dhankuta 993.19 Baitadi 1061.29 Tehrathum 1152.78
Bhojpur 993.49 Sindhuli 1063.97 Syangja 1165.94
Tanahu 994.62 Tehrathum 1087.29 Dolpa 1180.56
Myagdi 996.98 Lalitpur 1101.39 Surkhet 1187.91
Gulmi 997.16 Dolakah 1108.48 Mustang 1193.28
Ramechap 1002.04 Mustang 1120.82 Sindhuli 1201.74
Nuwakot 1002.54 Dadeldura 1138.14 Dadeldura 1204.27
Rolpa 1002.57 Kaski 1153.59 Lalitpur 1206.49
Dolakah 1003.06 Kathmandu 1153.75 Kathmandu 1227.70
Manang 1006.44 Manang 1156.25 Ramechap 1266.14
Jajarkot 1013.63 Dolpa 1191.49 Kaski 1269.64
Dolpa 1041.64 Aachham 1200.68 Aachham 1275.39
Tehrathum 1079.26 Ramechap 1217.67 Dolakah 1326.05
Sunsari 1309.84 Doti 1302.02 Doti 1458.02
289
Annex 19.10 : Percents of over stated/ understated by sex, single ages above 75+ years,2001
Age Male Female Both Sexes

75.00 0.00 0.05 0.03
76.00 -47.46 -54.37 -51.06
77.00 -32.14 -29.13 -30.68
78.00 13.17 12.22 12.71
79.00 -31.18 -35.19 -33.16
80.00 260.12 260.85 260.50
81.00 -28.35 -29.53 -28.93
82.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
83.00 -16.35 -22.97 -19.65
84.00 0.00 5.81 2.93
85.00 66.85 77.08 72.12
86.00 -27.64 -34.14 -31.02
87.00 -25.00 -18.22 -21.63
88.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
89.00 -37.15 -42.14 -39.74
90.00 193.19 168.26 178.77
91.00 -44.11 -47.52 -45.93
92.00 -37.03 -26.42 -31.49
93.00 -33.93 -36.28 -35.25
94.00 -52.04 -34.86 -43.13
95.00 140.34 139.68 139.98
96.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
97.00 -21.99 -25.91 -24.32
98.00 378.18 386.93 383.27
Annex 19.11: Adjusted population, 75+ years.

75---79 99313 102941 202254
80--84 26731 27157 53888
85---89 13211 13611 26822
90--95 4328 5198 9526
95+ 1271 1676 2947
290
Annex 19.12 : Adjusted figures by fitting inverse log linear model at age 75 and above,
single ages, by sex.
Age Male Female Both Sexes

75 40000 43400 83400
76 23505 25541 49046
77 13975 13078 27053
78 12349 11654 24003
79 9484 9268 18752
80 6527 7078 13605
81 6282 6007 12289
82 5251 5360 10611
83 4501 4479 8980
84 4170 4233 8403
85 3765 3997 7762
86 3184 3450 6634
87 2304 2272 4576
88 2230 2034 4264
89 1728 1858 3586
90 1086 1490 2576
91 1052 1208 2260
92 983 1075 2058
93 619 791 1410
94 588 634 1222
95 409 504 913
96 360 453 813
97 282 413 695
98 220 306 526
Total 144854 150583 295437
291
Annex 19.13 : Percents of deaths among aged 65+ years by Causes, 2001
Both
Causes Male Causes Female Causes
Sexes
Natural rules 41.53 other causes 26.97 Natural rules 30.46
other causes 21.66 Natural rules 16.08 other causes 23.97
Asthma 11.02 Not reported 8.83 Asthma 9.57
Not reported 7.45 Asthma 7.68 Not reported 8.05
Cancer 3.11 Cancer 6.56 Cancer 4.61
Mis carries /
Tuberculosis 2.86 6.10 Tuberculosis 3.68
delivery
Heart disease 2.84 Tuberculosis 4.75 Heart disease 3.19
Mis carries /
Cholera/Diarrhea 1.53 Heart disease 3.65 2.66
delivery
Blood pressure 1.46 Cholera/Diarrhea 3.22 Cholera/Diarrhea 2.26
other accidents 1.13 Suicide 2.91 other accidents 1.84

Diabetic 0.91 other accidents 2.76 Suicide 1.44
Pneumonia 0.88 Jaundice 1.55 Blood pressure 1.32
Typhoid 0.60 Malaria 1.18 Pneumonia 0.95
Malaria 0.57 Blood pressure 1.12 Jaundice 0.92
Transport
0.53 Pneumonia 1.04 Malaria 0.84
accidents
Jaundice 0.44 Typhoid 0.98 Diabetic 0.78
Suicide 0.31 Transport accidents 0.86 Typhoid 0.76
Natural Transport
0.31 Natural calamities 0.69 0.68
calamities accidents
Appendices 0.22 Diabetic 0.60 Natural calamities 0.48
Aid 0.16 0.49 Appendices 0.34
Violence/
0.16 Aid 0.43 Aid 0.28
Murder
Viral influenza 0.13 Violence/ Murder 0.40 Violence/ Murder 0.26
measles 0.07 Meningitis 0.31 Meningitis 0.18
Meningitis 0.07 Measles 0.29 measles 0.16
Hepatitis 0.05 Hepatitis 0.23 Viral influenza 0.16
Mis carries /
0.00 Viral influenza 0.20 Hepatitis 0.13
delivery
Rebel 0.00 Rebel 0.09 Rebel 0.04
292
Annex 19.14 : Observed and expected values of b and eo0 .
b = CBR eo0
Year Time
Observed Expected Observed Expected
1911 1.00 38.83 51.48 19.18 17.05
1921 2.00 50.20 49.37 21.71 21.48
1931 3.00 44.82 47.26 24.27 25.91
1941 4.00 44.70 45.15 30.45 30.34
1951 5.00 46.81 43.04 34.83 34.77
1961 6.00 42.15 40.93 37.47 39.20
1971 7.00 39.95 38.82 41.96 43.63
1981 8.00 37.30 36.71 48.2 48.06
1991 9 33.00 34.6 53.82 52.49
2001 10 31.00 32.49 58.00 56.92
Annex 19.15: Marital status of aged 65+ years by sex, regional figures, 2001.
Not Currently
Region Sex Single Widow Divorced Separated
Stated Married
Male 1.31 10.27 0.14 0.18 0.75 87.34
Eastern
Female 1.40 26.66 0.21 0.39 1.86 69.48
Both Sexes 1.35 18.41 0.18 0.29 1.30 78.47
Male 1.61 11.38 0.13 0.16 0.98 85.75
Central Female 1.20 29.44 0.12 0.33 1.73 67.19
Both Sexes 1.40 20.44 0.12 0.24 1.36 76.44
Male 1.31 10.18 0.16 0.18 0.76 87.40
Western Female 1.32 27.02 0.13 0.22 1.38 69.93
Both Sexes 1.32 18.44 0.15 0.20 1.06 78.84
Male 1.59 13.04 0.17 0.16 1.20 83.84
Mid-
Female 0.87 30.01 0.18 0.25 2.37 66.31
Western
Both Sexes 1.25 21.02 0.18 0.20 1.75 75.61
Male 1.43 10.89 0.14 0.16 0.93 86.46
Far-
Female 0.82 28.86 0.11 0.13 2.60 67.48
Western
Both Sexes 0.99 19.71 0.08 0.12 2.12 76.97
Male 1.43 10.89 0.14 0.16 0.93 86.46
Nepal Female 1.22 28.19 0.15 0.30 1.81 68.34
Both Sexes 1.32 19.46 0.14 0.23 1.37 77.48
293
Annex 19.16: Unadjusted death rates at higher ages by sex, 2001 census

50--54 7.06 5.06 6.09
55--59 11.34 8.83 10.16
60--64 17.96 14.02 16.00
65--69 24.30 20.42 22.38
70--74 38.91 30.98 35.09
75--79 56.56 41.42 48.94
80--+ 111.81 90.09 100.56
All 5.24 4.15 4.70
Median Age at Death 78.10 81.60 79.52
294
CHAPTER 20
STATUS OF CHILDREN IN NEPAL
Pragya Pant*
Sharad Nepal**
20.1 Introduction
We in Nepal love children very much. No family is complete without them and a woman who
cannot bear a child is declared barren and treated with disdain and contempt. Children are not a
homogeneous category. Like adult, children too are divided into different categories on the basis
of their social and economic status, physical and mental ability, geographical location etc.
Children apart from being the most vulnerable section of the society are also the nation's future
leaders and citizens - vulnerable in the sense that they unlike their peers are not able to articulate
their specific needs, wants and aspirations and always face the risk of being exploited. This is
especially true in developing countries where the level of awareness towards human rights is very
dismal. Children have been the victim of subjugation where the state intervention is glaringly
lacking. Child labor, sexual harassment and trafficking of children for servitude and prostitution
have remained as the major stumbling blocks of all developing countries like Nepal. Children are
more prone to exploitation in the absence of effective implementation of existing laws to protect
them. One would not disagree with the argument that children being the building blocks of the
society need special care and nourishing. And the nation's future lies in the same vulnerable
section of the society upon reaching adulthood, the children are not only going to solder the
onerous task of contributing to their nation's development endeavors but also become responsible
citizens of the country. It is for this very reason all nations rich or poor, big or small spare no
efforts to ensure their children's all round development.
The government of Nepal despite all the constraints has felt the need to initiate a crusade against
all forms of exploitation against children. The post democratic governments have made the
required amendments in the Child Protection Act to ensure that the rights of the children are
protected at any cost. It was in the midst of this atmosphere that the convention of right of child
was ratified, the Declaration of the World Summit for Children was signed and the children found
*
Ms. Pant is Director, Community Recovery Centre, Nepal.
**
Sharad Nepal is a Statistical Officer of Central Bureau of Statistics.
295
a place in the Constitution of Nepal. The establishment of a special court to deal with child related
injustice is a major stride forward in protecting the rights of the children.
20.2 Problems Relating to Development of Nepalese Children
Children issues were not of the greater importance to Nepalese Government till 1980s. Children
as a development concern was only included for the first time in the seventh Plan (1985-90).
Nepalese children are facing various difficulties due to social beliefs, persistence of poverty,
gender discrimination, and illiteracy relating to their development.
Traditional beliefs have contributed significantly in many Nepalese families as a result of which
sons are more preferred. Religious, social and economic compulsions regard sons as not only
valuable but also an indispensable asset whereas daughters are taken as financial burden to their
parents.
Due to the persistence poverty children's labor forms part of the family support for their
subsistence. According to the 2001 census, about 29 per cent of the children within the age group
10-14 are economically active and among which about 62 per cent are engaged in Agriculture
and related activities.
Gender discrimination among children can be seen glaringly in Nepalese society from the time
immemorial. This is true for most ethnic groups in Nepal. This discrimination causes girls doubly
disadvantaged as family faces difficulties arising from economic hardships and related problems
such as poverty, disability, homelessness etc.
20.3 Nepal's Commitments on Children Issues
The World Summit for children convened by six Heads of States and Governments was held at
the United Nations in New York on 29 - 30 September 1990. Main objective of the convention
was to focus its attention and commitments at the highest political level on children issues,
formulating goals and strategies to ensure survival, protection and development of the children for
the social-economic development of all countries. This historic gathering of presidents and prime
ministers endorsed a summit declaration and a plan of action to implement the declaration for the
survival, protection and development of children. In order to follow up the summit some 60 heads
of states and governments had gathered in New York for the United Nations special session on
children from May 8-10, 2002. The special session had concluded with global agreement on the
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proposed outcome document 'A World Fit for Children', which contains a series of goals on child
health, education and a plan of action to attain them in the coming decade. Nepal had a high level
participation in both the summit and special session and expressed its commitments to fulfill their
goals.
The 11th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) held in
Kathmandu from 5-7 January, 2002 proved to be very significant for the protection of the right of
the children of the region. The SAARC leaders including Nepal had expressed their strong
commitments for the regional arrangements for the promotion of welfare of children. The Summit
was also believed to be instrumental in improving the socio-economic and educational condition
of the children of the region. Similarly, Nepal has participated different regional and international
conferences held in different countries and signed the agreements related to child rights, child
labor, and different issues on children.
In view of the above commitments and policies of the state as regards to its children, it would be
highly useful and interesting to examine the existing and socio economic condition of the children
as revealed by the census 2001.
20.4 Total Population of Children and their Distribution
Population Census 2001 reports the total population of the country as 23.15 million with an
annual growth rate of 2.24 percent. The children, here in this paper is defined as the number of
people under the age 15 years. The children population in the age group 0-14 is 8948587 which is
39% of the country’s total population. The percentage of children in total population by gender is
presented below:
Table 20.1: Percent of children population 0-14 years, 1981-2001.

Population in ‘000
Census Years
Age 1981 1991 2001
Sexes Sexes Sexes
0 – 14
41.4 41.9 40.7 42.4 43.5 41.3 39.3 40.1 38.5
(%)
Population
6211 3227 2984 7840 4011 3829 8948 4562 4385
(0-14)
Source: Population Census 1981, Vol. I Part I, Table 5

Population Census 1991, Vol. I Part I, Table 5
Population Census 2001, Vol. I National Report, Table 10.
297
The share of children population has gone down by 3 per cent than that of 1991. The percentage
of children's population was higher for 1991 which was 42.4 followed by 41.4 and 39.3 for
1981and 2001 respectively.
Figure 20.1 : Children population age ( 0 -14 ) years
120
100
80 0 – 14
Percent
60 15 & over
40 All ages
20
BS- Both Sexes
0 M- Male
BS M F BS M F BS M F F- Female
1981 1991 2001

Census Years
Table 20.2: Distribution of children population 0-14 years by 5 years age group, 1981-2001
Census Years
Age 1981 1991 2001
Sexes Sexes Sexes
0–4 37.3 36.8 37.7 34.6 34.2 34.9 30.7 30.6 30.9
5–9 35.3 34.6 35.9 35.8 35.6 35.9 35.9 35.8 35.9
10 – 14 27.4 28.6 26.4 29.6 30.2 29.2 33.4 33.6 33.2
Population
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
(0-14)
Table 20.2 presents the children population according to the age group 0-4, 5-9 and 10-14. The
table reveals the highest percentage of children population of 37.3 in the age group 0-4 for the
census of 1981 followed by 35.3 and 27.4 for the age group 5-9 and 10-14 respectively. Whereas
for the censuses of 1991 and 2001 the percentage of children population at the age group 0-4
seems to be lower than other age groups 5-9. It is mainly due to the popularity, coverage and
greater acceptance of family planning methods in the country.
Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 2001 report that knowledge of family planning
among Nepalese men and women are nearly universal. There has been an impressive increase in
the use of contraception in Nepal over the last 25 years.
298
The decrease in proportion of children population in the age group 0 – 4 for the year 1991 is
explained as it may be due to the misplacement of person into the next age group in addition to
under reporting of children particularly the new born. (BDS Dangol)
Table 20.3: Percentage distribution of children population 0-14, development regions,

Nepal 1981-2001.
Regions Age Group Year Both Sexes Male Female

1981 24.9 24.6 25.2
EDR 0-14 1991 23.7 23.7 23.8
2001 22.7 22.7 22.7
1981 32.1 32.3 31.9
CDR 0-14 1991 32.2 32.7 31.8
2001 33.7 34.0 33.5
1981 20.6 20.6 20.5
WDR 0-14 1991 20.7 20.5 20.8
2001 20.3 20.2 20.4
1981 13.4 13.3 13.5
MWDR 0-14 1991 13.6 13.4 13.8
2001 12.7 12.6 12.8
1981 8.8 9.0 8.6
FWDR 0-14 1991 9.5 9.5 9.6
2001 10.3 10.3 10.3
Table 20.3 presents the children population distribution by development regions for the census
year 1981-2001. It is seen from the table that Central Development Region has the highest share
of children population (33.7 per cent) followed by Eastern Development Region (22.7 per cent),
Western Development Region (20.3 per cent), Mid-Western Development Region (12.7 per cent)
and Far Western Development Region (10.3 per cent) respectively for 2001.The trend of
distribution is same as the previous censuses.
299
Table 20.4: Percentage distribution of children population (0-14 years) by ecological
regions, Nepal, 1981-2001.
Ecological Region Census Year Both Sexes Male Female

1981 8.1 8.1 8.1
Mountain 1991 7.6 7.5 7.6
2001 6.5 6.5 6.6
1981 47.0 46.8 47.2
Hill 1991 45.5 45.0 45.9
2001 45.1 44.5 45.7
1981 44.8 45.0 44.5
Terai 1991 46.8 47.3 46.3
2001 48.3 48.9 47.3
1981 100.0 100.0 100.0
National 1991 100.0 100.0 100.0
2001 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source : Population Census 1981, Vol II, Table 5.

Population Census 1991, Vol IV, Table 5.
Population Census 2001, National Report, Vol. I, Table 1
Table 20.4 presents the percentage of children population by ecological regions. The table shows
that the Terai Region has the highest percentage (48.3 per cent), Hill Region has 45.1 percent and
the Mountain Region has the lowest percentage (6.5 per cent) of children population for 2001.The
trend of distribution remains similar for three censuses 1981-2001.
20.5 Sex Ratio
Sex ratio is defined as the number of males per 100 females. The sex ratio at birth is the number
of male births per 100 female births.
Table 20.5: Sex ratio by age group, Nepal, 1981-2001.
Census Year
Age Group
1981 1991 2001
0–4 106 103 103
5–9 104 104 103
10 – 14 117 108 106
0-14 108 104 104
Source : Population Census 1981, Vol. I, Part I, Table 5.

Population Census 1991, Vol. I, Part I, Table 5.
Population Census 2001, National Report, Vol. I, Table 10.
300
Table 20.5 presents sex ratio by age group for 1981-2001. Except for Census 1981, the sex ratio
more or less remained same in 2001 for the age group 0-4 and 5-9. It may be due to the higher
sons' birth in the beginning and later higher death occurred among female babies. It again
expresses the socio economic discrimination against female child prevailing in the country. Sons
are preferred more and their health is much concerned to their parents.
20.6 Health Status of Children
Healthy children represent a healthy nation. Reducing infant and child mortality has been a goal
of population policy. The health of children in Nepal is closely and integrally linked to several
factors from geographical location, climate, the socio cultural practices and attitudes to economic
changes that are taking place in the country.
As has been stated earlier, the population census 2001 reports that population in the age group 0-
14 comprised 39 per cent of the total population. Over 85 per cent of the country's population is
rural and more than 40 per cent children in this area suffer from malnutrition and various diseases.
Diarrhea diseases continue to be a major cause of death among Nepalese children. The use of oral
re-hydration therapy is still low at 32 per cent.
His Majesty's Government is committed to "Health for All" and focused its attention towards
primary health care. But existing inadequate health infrastructure, insufficient health manpower
and limited resources are the major obstacles in attaining government objectives in the health
sector. The major health facilities available in the county are centered around the urban areas.
Rural people generally do not visit the health posts and 70 percent of births happen without any
contact with a trained practioners. Health services in most of the rural areas are provided by
village health worker (VHWs), maternal child health workers (MCHWs), female community
health volunteers (FCHVs) and traditional health practioners.
20.6.1 Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Under 5 (U5) Mortality Rate
Infant mortality Rate (IMR) is the number of deaths under one year of age per 1000 live births
during a period of time, usually one year. IMR is directly related to the socio-economic level and
general health condition of a country. One of the important reasons of infant and child mortality is
301
the limited use of health care service by mothers. Similarly there are a number of other factors
related to infant and U5 mortality. This include low levels of per capita income, poverty, poor
sanitation, female illiteracy, poor quality of health service, inadequate nutrition and low use of
oral re-hydration therapy.
Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2001 NDHS, 2001 states that infant mortality rate has
reduced considerably from 1991 to 2001. It has gone down from 107 to 64 per thousand during
the period. Similarly U5 mortality has also declined during the same period from 158 to 91.2 per
thousand. Vaccination program and supplementation of vitamin A capsules are the main reason
behind the significant improvement of IMR and U5 mortality.
20.6.2 Immunization
The immunization of children is an important factor that contributes to the child's chance of
survival. Immunization is a high priority government program due to its crucial role in reducing
infant mortality. Immunization coverage has improved significantly over the last five years (1996-
2001). NDHS, 2001 states that the percentage of children age 12-23 months who are fully
immunized by 12 months of age increased by 67 percent from 36 percent in 1996 to 60 percent in
2001. Coverage with all three doses of DPT increased from 51 to 71 percent of children while
complete Polio coverage increased from 48 to 90 percent of children. BCG coverage increased
from 73 to 83 percent and measles vaccination increased from 45 to 64 percent of children.
20.6.3 Children's Nutritional Status
In terms of nutrition, breast feeding is universal in Nepal. Exclusive breast feeding is necessary
and sufficient to meet the nutritional needs of infants up to the age of 4-6 months. It protects the
child from diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections (ARI) and other diseases. Over 90 percent of
children in Nepal are exclusively breastfed up to 6 months. Mostly children are provided solid
food in addition to breast feeding after five to six months. In most communities this is observed as
the important day for the child known as 'pasnee' rice feeding day. It is mostly performed in the
fifth month for girl child and six month for the male child. The child's share of milk is gradually
reduced with the rice feeding time. But majority of mothers continue to breastfeed their children
up to two years.
302
Accepting the healthy children as the pillar of the country 'Food and Nutrition Policy' has been set
for the first time in the eighth Plan in the process of formulating National Development Policy. It
has mainly focused to the children of the country.
The nutritional condition of mother and child is very poor in the country and this problem mostly
concentrated among the disadvantaged poor. It varies from district to district, community,
household and individuals. Children are mainly suffering from Vitamin A deficiency, Anemia,
Goiter and Cretinism due to malnutrition. NDHS 2001 states that 52 percent children in rural
areas are more likely to be stunted where as figure for this is 37 per cent for urban areas. Similarly
61 per cent, 53 per cent and 47 per cent children are more likely to be stunted in Mountain, Hill
and Terai respectively. NDHS, 2001 states that this is probably because healthy food is more
readily available in the hills and terai than in the mountain.
20.7 Educational Status
Education is a foundation on which the destiny of a nation is laid. Most of the developing
countries like Nepal which despite allocating a sizable portion of meager resources to the
education sector every year is still faced with the challenge of bringing the light of education to
all its’ people, mainly the children. Since children are the nation's future citizens, leaders and
captains of industry and commerce, any investment made by the nation in availing literacy
programs to children having no access to education facilities will ultimately benefit both the
nation and its people in the long run.
The Children Act 2048 mentions the child's right to education. Children as the voiceless section
are unaware of their rights. The convention of child rights has put forth the concept of compulsory
primary education and free education to all. The human rights declaration mentions the right of
each person to education. Nepal has expressed its commitment everywhere in such declaration
and making its efforts towards the improvement of educational status of children. The educational
status of Nepalese children can be examined through their literacy rates, enrolment ratios etc.
Census data provides the literacy rates according to the age group 6-9, 10-14 and so on. Children
within the age group 6-14 are mainly concentrated in primary to secondary education.
303
Table 20.6: Literacy rate of children population (age 6-14) by Sex, Nepal 1981-2001.
Census Years
Age 1981 1991 2001
Sexes Sexes Sexes
All ages 23.3 34.0 12.0 39.6 54.5 25.0 53.7 65.0 42.5
6–9 21.6 27.8 15.2 47.0 55.7 38.0 54.7 58.0 51.3
10 – 14 38.8 50.8 21.2 63.2 76.0 49.3 78.6 83.7 73.2
Source : Population Census 1981, Vol. 1, Part IV, Table 14

Population Census 1991, Vol. I, Part X, Table 30
Population Census 2001, National Report, Vol. II, Table 11
Table 20.6 presents the literacy rate for children within the age group 6-9 and 10-14. The overall
literacy rate for 2001 is estimated at 65.0 for males and 42.5 for females. The literacy rate for
female has gone up to 51.3 per cent from 38.0 per cent for the age group 6-9 during the period of
1991 – 2001. Whereas the male literacy rates for this age group in the same period has gone up
from 55.7 percent to 58 percent. The increase in literacy rate for female in this age group is much
higher than the literacy rate for male. Compare to the literacy rate of 15.2 percent for female in
Figure 20.2 : Literacy rates of children age (6-14) years
90
80
70
60 All ages (6-14)
Percent
50
40 6–9
30 10 – 14
20
10
0
BS M F BS M F BS M F
1981 1991 2001
Census Years
this age group for the census year 1981, the literacy rate showed a marked improvement over the
latter census period. Similarly, the literacy rate for female in the age group 10-14 went up from
49.3 per cent to 73.2 percent during 1991-2001, the literacy rate for male in the same age group
reached from 76.0 percent to 83.7 percent during the same period. The literacy rate for this age
group was 21.2 percent for female and 50.8 percent for male in the census year 1981. The higher
304
rate of literacy for female children may be attributed to increased awareness amongst the parents
towards their daughters’ education.
Table 20.7: Literacy rate of children population by single age (6-14), sex, Nepal 1981-2001.
Census Years
Age 1981 1991 2001
Both Both Both
Sexes Sexes Sexes
6 14.0 17.5 10.5 34.3 40.1 28.3 34.8 36.8 32.7
7 20.3 26.2 14.5 46.1 54.4 37.6 52.8 51.9 49.8
8 24.3 31.1 16.8 51.0 61.0 40.4 61.8 65.7 57.5
9 29.5 38.3 20.4 58.3 69.3 46.9 72.7 76.8 68.6
10 34.4 44.4 22.6 47.0 55.7 38.0 72.4 77.4 67.1
11 42.5 54.7 28.5 60.0 71.8 46.9 81.8 86.0 77.5
12 38.0 49.8 23.9 68.4 80.4 55.3 78.4 83.8 72.5
13 42.2 56.2 26.4 61.9 74.7 47.8 82.5 82.4 77.2
14 40.0 53.9 24.0 65.5 79.2 51.0 80.7 86.3 74.9
Source : Population Census 1981, Vol. I, Part IV, Table 15

Table 20.7 reveals the children literacy rate by single age group (6-14) for 1981-2001. The
literacy rate for the age 6 is the lowest among other ages. It seems that most parents are not
sending their children at proper schooling age due to many reasons. However, the literacy rate has
been increasing in successive ages in most cases.
Figure 20.3 : Trend in children (both sexes)

literacy rates over ages
90
80
Literacy (Percent)
70
60 1981
50
1991
40
30 2001
20
10
0
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Age of Children (Years)
305
Table 20.8: Literacy rate of children (6-14) by development region, Nepal 1981-2001.
Census Years
Age Development 1981 1991 2001
Group Region Both Both Both
Sexes Sexes Sexes
EDR 25.9 32.4 19.2 50.1 58.0 42.0 54.6 57.5 51.6
CDR 21.3 27.0 15.2 44.7 53.0 35.9 55.2 58.6 51.8
6–9 WDR 25.0 32.1 17.8 54.9 61.2 48.4 59.6 62.0 57.1
MWDR 13.7 19.0 8.3 37.0 47.7 26.2 49.8 53.4 46.1
FWDR 13.2 19.1 7.3 37.3 51.0 23.4 48.8 53.9 43.5
EDR 43.2 55.6 29.1 68.4 79.3 56.7 80.5 84.3 76.4
CDR 37.2 47.5 24.6 59.9 71.7 46.5 75.2 80.4 69.6
10 - 14 WDR 45.5 59.4 29.6 72.9 82.4 63.1 85.3 88.7 81.7
MWDR 28.2 40.6 14.1 52.3 70.5 33.3 76.6 82.3 68.6
FWDR 28.5 41.2 7.3 51.0 73.1 27.0 74.9 84.2 65.1

Literacy rate by development region for the age group (6-9) and (10-14) is presented in Table
20.8. The literacy participation rate is higher for 2001 for all development regions followed by
1991 and 1981. In 1981, the Eastern Development Region and the Western Development Region
have had highest literacy rates of 25.9 percent and 25.0 percent for the age group (6-9) whereas
this rate has gone up in favor of Western Development Region in the case of both the age groups
(6-9 & 10-14) for both the census year 1991 and 2001. In most cases, the Far-Western
Development Region has lagged behind in children literacy rates.
Table 20.9: Literacy rate of children (6-14) by ecological region, Nepal 1981-2001.
Census Years
Age Ecological 1981 1991 2001
Sexes Sexes Sexes
Mountain 14.5 19.8 9.1 39.5 51.2 27.5 44.0 48.6 39.4
6–9 Hill 22.3 28.9 15.7 52.6 60.6 44.5 58.9 61.4 56.4
Terai 22.0 27.9 15.7 41.8 50.6 32.5 52.4 56.1 48.4
Mountain 30.9 43.1 16.7 55.7 74.2 35.9 74.1 83.3 64.6
10 - 14 Hill 41.4 54.8 25.8 69.1 89.2 55.6 85.1 89.2 80.9
Terai 37.4 47.7 24.8 57.6 69.5 44.0 72.9 78.5 66.7

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Table 20.9 presents the children literacy situation by ecological regions for the age groups (6-9)
and (10-14). Although literacy rates amongst children in both age groups have consistently on the
increase over the census periods, there are notable variations between the ecological regions. The
hill regions recorded highest level of literacy status: 58.9 percent for age group (6-9) and 89.3
percent for age group (10-14) for the census year 2001. The mountain region has generally
remained at lowest level in children literacy status in every census periods (1981-2001) except the
fact that children literacy amongst age group (10-14) has shown considerable improvement in
2001. The literacy rates amongst children in the age groups (6-9) and (10-14) in the mountain
regions stands at 44.0 percent and 74.1 percent respectively for the census year 2001. The low
level of children literacy status in mountain region is explained by many factors such as
inaccessibility, inadequate educational infrastructure and facilities as well as socio-economic
hardships that prevailed compare to other two regions.
Table 20.10 : Children population age 6 -14 by educational attainment, sex, Nepal 1981-
2001.
Census Years
Educational Sex
1981 1991 2001
Attainment Age
6-9 10-14 6-14 6-9 10-14 6-14 6-9 10-14 6-14
Both
17.1 9.0 11.9 27.7 11.0 17.8 6.6 1.7 3.5
No Sexes
Schooling Male 16.4 8.1 10.7 26.8 9.6 16.5 6.7 1.5 3.4
Female 19.2 11.2 14.3 29.1 13.4 20.1 6.5 2.1 3.7
Both
82.9 75.8 78.3 64.9 70.3 68.1 92.7 73.1 80.3
Primary Sexes
(1-5) Male 84.0 76.2 78.8 65.9 70.7 68.8 92.7 73.0 80.1
Female 80.8 74.8 77.2 63.4 69.6 67.0 92.8 73.2 80.5
Both
- 15.2 9.8 - 16.4 9.7 0.0 24.7 15.7
Secondary Sexes
(6 – 10) Male - 15.7 10.4 - 17.5 10.5 0.0 25.1 16.0
Female - 14.0 8.5 - 14.6 8.4 0.0 24.3 15.2
Both
- 0.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 - - -
SLC & Sexes
Equivalent Male - 0.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 - - -
Female - 0.0 0.0 - 0.0 0.0 - - -
Both
- - - - - - 0.1 0.1 0.1
Sexes
Others
Male - - - - - - 0.1 0.1 0.1
Female - - - - - - 0.1 0.1 0.1
Both
- - - 7.3 2.2 4.3 0.5 0.4 0.5
Level Not Sexes
Stated Male - - - 7.2 2.1 4.2 0.5 0.4 0.4
Female - - - 7.5 2.4 4.5 0.5 0.4 0.5

307
Table 20.10 shows the level of educational attainment amongst the literate population of children
age (6-14). The children in the mentioned age group have educational attainment mostly at
primary school level and to an extent the secondary school level. The census of 1981 indicated
that out of the literate population of children within age group (6-14), those with educational
attainment primary school accounted 78.3 percent and secondary school level 9.8 percent while
those not attaining formal schooling represented 11.9 percent.
Figure 20.4 : Trend in educational attainments of

literate children population (1981-2001)
90
80
70
Percent of children
60
1981
50
1991
40 2001
30
20
10
0
No Primary Secondary SLC & Others &
Schooling School School Equivalent Level Not
Stated
Level of Education
The educational attainment levels amongst the literate children population reported by 1991
census have been somewhat different because it showed increase in the percentage of children
attaining no formal schooling besides the level being not stated has also been significant. A
marked improvement in educational attainments among children population is observed in 2001
census.
According to 2001 census, the literacy rate of children age 6-14 stands at 67.7 percent (72.0
percent for male and 63.6 percent for females). About 80.3 percent of the children age (6-14) who
are classified as literate have attained primary school level and 15.7 percent secondary school
level and the rest mainly include those not attaining formal schooling.
308
School level educational statistics published by the Department of Education is the main source of
school level statistics of the country. The annual report besides other important education
information provides information on gross and net enrolment ratios of primary to secondary level
of school education.
The gross enrolment is defined by the education department as the total enrolment in a specific
level of education, regardless of ages, expressed as the percentage of eligible official school age
population corresponding to the same level of education in a given school year. The trend in gross
enrolment from 1996 to 2001 is presented in table 20.11.
Table 20.11: Gross enrolment ratios by different school level, sex, Nepal 1996-2001.
Level

Both Both Both
Sexes Sexes Sexes
1996 117.2 134.6 98.6 50.3 60.1 39.8 34.7 42.9 26.8
1997 122.0 139.7 103.8 59.6 64.9 42.0 36.1 45.6 26.9
1998 123.9 140.7 106.2 53.4 62.2 44.3 38.7 47.5 30.0
1999 127.7 143.1 111.5 56.9 66.4 47.2 39.0 47.5 30.7
2000 119.8 130.6 108.4 58.3 67.4 49.1 37.1 44.4 29.8
2001 124.7 134.1 114.7 63.2 72.2 54.0 43.8 51.8 36.0
Source : Education Statistics of Nepal, different publications, MOE, HMG/N
Above figures show that gross enrolment ratios for primary level has exceeded 100 percent and it
reached from 117.2 in 1996 to 127.7 in 1999 and showed increase to 124.7 in 2001 after a drop to
119.8 in 2000. However, the table further reveals the variation in gross enrolment by gender.
Similarly, in lower secondary level the gross enrolment ratios have gone up from 50.3 to 63.2
over the period 1996-2001.
Gross enrolment ratios in lower secondary are almost one half the primary level enrolment ratios.
It may indicate low completion rate of primary education. The gross enrolment ratios for
secondary level have increased from 34.7 to 43.8 over the period 1996-2001. The trend of
completing the lower secondary level seems to be better as compared to primary level completion.
309
Table 20.12 : Gross enrolment ratios by development region, Nepal 2001.
Level
Development Primary Lower Secondary Secondary
Region Both Both Both
Sexes Sexes Sexes
EDR 124.7 134.1 114.7 63.2 72.2 54.0 43.8 51.8 36.0
CDR 114.2 125.8 101.9 60.9 72.1 49.8 38.8 46.8 30.7
WDR 141.6 144.4 138.6 74.9 94.7 57.7 46.1 61.4 33.3
MWDR 137.0 153.8 119.7 53.5 66.9 40.1 30.7 42.1 20.3
FWDR 120.5 132.0 108.4 52.3 66.8 37.1 30.2 43.6 17.2
Source : School Level Educational Statistics of Nepal, Departments of Education 2001 (Table 35)
Gross enrolment ratios (GER) for school level education by development region for 2001 are
presented in Table 20.12 Western Development Regions recorded the highest rate of gross
enrolment ratios 141.6 for primary, 74.9 for lower secondary and 61.4 for secondary school
education and it is followed by Eastern, Central, Mid-Western and Far-Western regions
respectively for every level.
Table 20.13 : Gross enrolment ratios by ecological, Nepal 2001.
Level
Ecological Region Primary Lower Secondary Secondary
Both Both Both
Sexes Sexes Sexes
Eastern Mountain 182.6 192.8 172.3 73.2 80.1 66.4 45.2 50.1 40.3
Central Mountain 155.6 168.5 142.2 60.9 72.1 49.8 38.8 46.8 30.7
Western Mountain 154.4 153.1 155.6 74.9 94.7 57.7 46.1 61.4 33.3
Mid-Western Mountain 138.9 180.1 96.6 43.6 67.8 18.8 25.6 44.6 7.6
Far-Western Mountain 146.4 166.7 124.9 53.7 73.6 32.4 36.6 53.6 20.0
Eastern Hill 147.2 151.1 143.2 77.4 84.2 70.7 53.6 62.0 45.6
Central Hill 137.1 144.5 129.5 57.5 66.2 49.1 38.2 45.0 38.2
Western Hill 162.7 159.2 166.5 84.9 89.0 80.8 58.7 65.6 52.2
Mid-Western Hill 152.0 169.1 134.4 53.0 66.7 39.5 31.7 44.2 20.3
Far-Western Hill 116.3 126.5 105.3 42.0 57.1 25.8 25.9 40.8 11.7
Eastern Terai 98.0 106.7 88.8 58.0 64.3 51.5 47.3 53.3 41.4
Central Terai 91.7 109.4 72.7 46.3 55.6 36.1 31.8 38.1 24.5
Western Terai 107.7 120.3 94.2 56.2 65.9 46.1 37.8 44.6 30.9
Mid-Western Terai 119.4 130.7 107.9 56.0 67.0 45.2 30.7 39.0 23.0
Far-Western Terai 114.2 123.4 104.7 60.6 72.3 48.4 31.2 41.9 20.9
Source : School Level Educational Statistics of Nepal, Departments of Education 2001 (Table 35)
310
Gross enrolment ratios by ecological regions for 2001 are presented in Table 20.13. The gross
enrolment ratios for eastern mountain region remain at highest level amongst all for primary
education whereas western hill has the highest ratio of gross enrolment for lower secondary and
secondary levels. Similarly, the table shows that mid- and far-western regions have lowest GER
for female in lower secondary and secondary levels.
The net enrolment ratio (NER) is defined as the enrolment of the official age group for a given
level of education expressed as a percentage of the corresponding population.
Table 20.14 : Net enrolment ratios by different school level, sex, Nepal 1996-2001.
Level
Both Both Both
Sexes Sexes Sexes
1996 69.4 79.4 58.7 26.8 32.1 21.0 18.2 22.1 13.9
1997 69.6 78.9 59.9 28.2 34.0 22.3 19.1 24.1 14.3
1998 70.5 79.4 61.2 30.5 35.7 25.2 20.2 24.5 15.9
1999 72.1 79.4 64.4 31.3 36.9 25.5 20.8 25.3 16.3
2000 80.4 86.0 74.6 33.3 38.6 27.9 20.0 24.1 16.0
2001 81.1 86.9 75.1 39.4 45.0 33.7 25.5 30.2 20.9
Source : School Level Educational Statistics of Nepal, Department of Education (1996-2001: Tables 21,
29, 29, 21, 45 and 36 respectively)
Table 20.14 presents net enrolment ratios by different school level for Nepal for the year 1996-
2001. It indicates a wide divergence between gross and net ratios. The net enrolment ratios are
increasing at very low rate. In 2001, the net ratios were 81.1 percent for primary level, 39.4
percent for lower secondary level and 25.5 percent for the secondary level. The rate has tended to
increase when compared with the net enrolment situation of 69.4 percent for primary, 26.8 percent
for lower secondary and 18.2 percent for secondary school level in 1996. The figures suggest that
efforts are still needed to increase students’ participation rate at the lower secondary and
secondary levels.
311
Figure 20.5 : Trend in children's Gross & Nt
Enrolment Ratios (GER & NER) by
level of schooling (1996-2001)
140
120 Primary GER
GER / NER (%)
100 Primary NER

80 Lower Secondary
60 GER
Lower Secondary
40 NER
Seconadry GER
20
Seconadry NER
0
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Years
20.8 Minors at Work
Child labor reflects the socio-economic condition of a country. As the families have to face
difficulties arising from economic hardship, it directly affects and has a long term implications on
the status of children. In such a dire economic reality the children invariably become the first
casualties in that they have to contribute their share of labor so that their families can afford the
two square meals a day. Nepal has its share of problem as far as child labor is concern. We can
see our children working everywhere from disorganized to organized sectors. How is the child
labor defined? The ILO definition (1983) on child labor is by far the most widely accepted
definition. It states “Child labor includes children prematurely leading adult lives, working long
hour for low wages under conditions damaging to their health and their physical and mental
development, sometime separated from their families, frequently deprived of meaningful
education and training opportunities, that could open up for them a better future.” Nepal has been
showing its seriousness in addressing the issues of child labor in the country. In 1997, Nepal
signed the Amsterdam Declaration on Child Labor and the Oslo Declaration on Child Labor. And
it has ratified the ILO convention 138, on the minimum age of employment. In June 1999, it
adopted the ILO convention 182 which seeks elimination of hazardous and worst form of child
labor. The constitution of Nepal forbids the engagement of the minors in a factory, mines or in a
dangerous work place. Similarly, Nepal has already prohibited forced and compulsory labor and
has also ratified the United Nation’s Convention on the Right of Child and expressed its
commitment in the international level for the protection and promotion of child rights. The
Children Acts of Nepal prohibits the employment of children below 14 years in manufacturing
industries. In 2000, the government introduced an act that requires an employer to provide the
child worker with education, vocational training and medical treatment. The government is now
312
working with the ILO to eradicate child labor in hazardous work by 2005. Child labor is a
violation of human rights and child rights as such Nepal has also formulated laws that discourage
and eliminate the child labor. However, the goal has not successfully achieved due to poverty and
other social and economic reasons.
20.9 Children Participation in Economic Activities
The census data provide information on children participation rate on economic activities, their
active children participation on different occupation, industrial classification and employment
status.
Table 20.15: Economic activity participation rate for children in the age group 10-14, Nepal
1981-2001.
Census Years
Age Group 1981 1991 2001
Both Both Both
Sexes Sexes Sexes
10 – 14 56.9 61.3 51.9 22.8 18.1 27.9 28.8 27.3 30.4
Source: Population Census 1981, Vol. I, Part V, Table 21

Population Census 1991, Vol. I, Part XIII, Table 50
The Table 20.15 presents the economic activity rate within the age group 10-14 for the census
years 1981-2001. The activity rate was very high in 1981 as compared to latter census periods for
the mentioned age group. The participation rate has been reduced considerably to 22.8 percent in
1991 from 56.9 percent in 1981. This is mainly due to increasing educational participation rate in
this age group during these two periods. The activity rate seems to be higher for this age group in
2001 than in 1991. It is mainly due to addition of the job seekers and extended economic activity
category in 2001 census which was not included in the previous censuses.
Figure 20.6 : Economically active population of

children (10-14) years by major
industrial sector
120
100
Percent of
80 Primary
Children
Secondary
60
Tertiary
40
20
0
1981 1991 2001
Census Years
313
Table 20.16: Economic activity participation rate of children (10-14) by development
region, Nepal 1981-2001.
Census Years
Age Development 1981 1991 2001
Sexes Sexes Sexes
EDR 52.2 55.2 48.8 19.6 16.7 22.6 28.6 27.8 29.5
CDR 54.9 61.7 46.8 20.9 19.2 22.9 25.2 24.8 25.8
10 - 14 WDR 56.5 58.0 54.7 17.4 12.5 22.5 25.8 24.2 27.4
MWDR 66.3 70.7 61.1 34.8 24.5 45.6 36.2 33.3 39.1
FWDR 67.0 72.6 60.4 33.0 21.1 46.0 38.1 33.6 42.7

Table 20.16 presents economic participation rate by development region for 1981-2001.
Participation rate for the population within the age group 10-14 on economic activity was highest
for all regions in 1981. It has reduced considerably in 1991 due to higher number of children
participated in school education. Among the five development region, Far-western region has the
highest rate of economic participation rate in most of the census years 1981-2001 which is
followed by Mid-western, Western, Eastern and Central region respectively.
Table 20.17 : Economic activity participation rate of children (10-14) by ecological region,
Nepal 1981-2001.
Census Years
Age Ecological 1981 1991 2001
Sexes Sexes Sexes
Mountain 68.5 68.0 69.0 39.8 25.9 54.5 46.8 42.5 51.2
10 - 14 Hill 60.2 60.7 59.7 26.4 17.3 35.9 28.3 25.8 30.9
Terai 50.9 60.6 39.0 16.2 17.6 14.6 26.7 26.6 26.8
Source: Population Census 1981, Vol. II, Table 20

Population Census 1991, Vol. IV, Table 21
Population Census 2001 (Unpublished table)
Table 20.17 presents the economic activity participation rate of children (10-14) for 1981-2001.
Among three ecological regions the mountain region has the highest rate (46.8) of participation on
economic activity in the age group 10-14 and terrain has the lowest rate of 26.7 for 2001. The
trend is same in the previous census year 1981 and 1991. As mentioned earlier for national rate of
314
participation on economic activity, the trend in ecological region resembles the same pattern, i.e.
the highest rate for 1981 and reduction at a considerable rate for the following censuses 1991-
2001.
20.9.1 Occupational Distribution
The census data provide information on the occupational classification of the children (10-14)
involved in economic activity.
Table 20.18: Percentage distributions of economically active children (10-14) by major

occupation group, sex, Nepal 1981-2001.
Census Years
Major Occupation 1981 1991 2001
Both Both Both
Sexes Sexes Sexes
Prof. tech. workers 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 - - -
Admin. worker 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 - - -
Clerical worker 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.1
Sales worker 0.1 0.2 0.1 6.3 1.0 3.4 6.5 5.6 7.4
Service worker 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.5 9.6 4.3 2.1 3.0 1.3
Farm, fish worker 97.2 96.7 97.9 88.8 83.4 92.5 61.5 60.0 62.9
Production worker 1.4 1.7 0.9 2.3 3.4 1.6 0.2 0.2 0.1
Intermediate worker - - - - - - 28.8 30.2 27.6
Others 0.8 1.0 0.6 1.0 1.6 0.5 - - -
Not stated - - - 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.2 1.3

Table 20.18 presents the distribution of active children by major occupation group 1981-2001. It
shows that majority of active children in the age group 10-14 are engaged in agriculture. The
dependence on agriculture occupation is going down over the years. This rate was 97.2 in 1981
followed by 88.8 and 61.5 for the year 1991 and 2001 respectively. In the year 2001, the table
shows 28.8 percent children in the age group 10-14 are participating as intermediate workers. This
category was not in existence in previous censuses. The reason behind higher percentage of
intermediate workers after agricultural occupation is mainly due to the inclusion of number of
workers viz street vendors and related workers, street vendors of non-food products, door-to-door
315
and telephone sales persons, shoe cleaning and street services like street barbers, domestic helpers
and cleaners, watch persons, garbage collectors etc.
20.9.2 Industrial Sector
Table 20.19: Percentage distributions of children active population (10-14) by major

industrial sector, Nepal 1981-2001.
Census Years
Industrial 1981 1991 2001
Sector Both Both Both
Sexes Sexes Sexes
Primary1 96.8 96.3 97.5 88.9 83.5 92.6 69.8 71.3 68.6
Secondary2 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.7 2.2 1.6 7.9 7.4 8.3
Tertiary3 2.1 2.6 1.4 7.4 12.5 5.3 21.0 20.8 22.6
Others - - - 0.1 0.3 0.0 - - -
Not Stated 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.9 1.2 0.6 0.3 0.3 0.3
Note: 1) Primary sector includes agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
2) Secondary sector includes mining quarrying, manufacturing and construction
3) Tertiary sector includes electricity, gas and water, transport communication and other services.
Table 20.19 presents the percentage distribution of children population (10-14) by major
industrial sector 1981-2001. The children population within the age group (10-14) is distributed
by three broad industrial sectors. It is seen from the table that 69.8 percent of the active children
in the age group 10-14 are employed in primary sector of the economy in 2001. This rate was 88.9
for 1991 and 96.8 for 1981. The secondary sector had employed 0.1 percent of the children active
population for 1981 which had gone up to 1.7 in 1991 and 7.9 in 2001. The tertiary sector has
employed 2.1, 7.4 and 21.0 percent of active children population respectively during the period of
1981, 1991 and 2001.
316
20.9.3 Employment Status
Table 20.20: Employment status of working children (10-14), Nepal 1981-2001.
Census Years
Status 1981 1991 2001

Both Both Both
Sexes Sexes Sexes
Employer 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 3.2 3.9 3.3
Employee 3.4 4.3 2.1 16.3 24.6 10.4 12.3 19.8 9.3
Self-Employed 90.7 90.6 90.9 71.5 64.2 76.6 37.8 41.8 42.1
Unpaid Family Worker 4.2 3.4 5.4 11.2 10.1 12.0 46.5 60.6 45.1
Not Stated 1.3 1.3 1.3 0.6 0.6 0.6 - - -

Table 20.20 presents the percentage distribution of active children population (10-14) by
employment status. The table reveals the children as employer represent negligible percentage up
to 1991. The 2001 census estimates this percentage at 3.2. Similarly, the majority of children have
their employment status as self-employed as of census year 1991. But this reduced to 37.8 percent
in 2001. Children as unpaid family worker have increased considerably from 11.2 percent in 1991
to 46.5 percent in 2001. The increase of children in unpaid family worker category is supported
by the increase in educational participation.
Figure 20.7 : Employment status of working

children (1981-2001)
100
90
80
70
Employer
Percent
60
50 Employee
40
Self-employment
30
20 Unpaid Family
Worker
10
0
1981 1991 2001
Census Years
317
20.9.4 Domestic Worker
Information on domestic workers has been generated for the first time by the population census
2001. It shows that one percent of the households (39955 households) in Nepal has domestic
workers and these domestic workers consists of 57295 in numbers of which 62.8 percent are
males and 37.2 percent females.
Table 20.21: Percentage distribution of domestic workers by sex and age group, Nepal
2001.
Age Number of Domestic Workers As a % of

Group Total
Sex Male Female Both Sexes
14 Years & No. 8246 9557 17803

Below 31.1
% 46.3 53.7 100.0
15 Years & No. 27751 11741 39492

Over 68.9
% 70.3 29.7 100.0
No. 35997 21298 57295
All Ages 100.0
% 62.8 37.2 100.0
Source: Population Census Results in Gender Perspective, Population Census 2001, Vol. I, Table 2.6
Table 20.21 presents the number of domestic workers by broad age groups and by sex. It shows
that 31.1 percent of the domestic workers are children 14 years of age and below. Out of these
children classified as domestic workers 46.3 percent are boys and 53.7 percent girls. It is also
observed that among the male domestic workers 22.9 percent are children of 14 years age and
below, that among the domestic female domestic workers 44.9 percent are of 14 years age and
below.
20.9.5 Status of Children by Their Living Arrangement
This type of information has been generated for the first time in 2001 population census. It
generally states with whom the children under 16 years are living for their livelihood. Children
are classified in eight categories under this heading viz biological parents, biological father,
biological father and step mother and so on.
318
Table 20.22: Percentage of children age below 16 years by status of living arrangement, sex,
Nepal, 2001.
Sex
Status Living Arrangement Both
Male Female
Sexes
Biological Parents 87.6 88.0 87.2
Biological Mother 5.5 5.4 5.6
Biological Father 1.2 1.2 1.1
Biological Father & Step Mother 0.8 0.7 0.8
Biological Mother & Step Father 0.6 0.6 0.7
Other Relatives 0.9 0.8 1.0
Employer 0.6 0.6 0.7
Others 2.4 2.3 2.5
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: Population Census 2001, National Report, Vol. II, Table 38
Table 20.22 presents the percentage of children below 16 years of age by status of living
arrangement. The table shows that majority of children (87.6 per cent) are living with their own
parents. The percentage of other living arrangements of children are biological mother (5.5
percent), biological father (1.2 per cent), biological father & step mother (0.8 percent), biological
mother & step father (0.6 per cent), other relatives (0.9 percent), employer (0.6 percent) and
others (2.4 percent). The variation in percentage of children living arrangement by sex is not
significant.
Figure 20.8 : Percentage distribution of children by status of living

arrangement
100
90 Biological P arents
80 Biological Mother
Percent of Children
70 Biological Father
60 Biological Father & Step

Mother
50
Biological Mother & Step
40 Father
Other Relatives
30
Employer
20
Others
10
0
Living Arrangements
319
Table 20.23: Percentage distribution of children age 10-15 by type of activity they are
mostly involved in and by status of living.
Type of Activity
Status of Living Other than
Arrangement Economic
Sex Economic Students None Total
Activity
Activity
Both
11.5 5.7 76.8 6.0 100.0
Sexes
Biological Parents Male 10.2 2.1 81.9 5.8 100.0
Female 12.9 9.7 71.4 6.1 100.0
Both
16.0 5.2 73.5 5.4 100.0
Sexes
Biological Mother Male 14.5 1.6 78.6 5.4 100.0
Female 17.4 8.7 68.5 5.3 100.0
Both
24.0 9.8 57.9 8.3 100.0
Sexes
Biological Father Male 21.4 3.2 67.0 8.5 100.0
Female 26.7 16.6 48.6 8.2 100.0
Both
24.6 10.1 56.5 8.8 100.0
Sexes
Biological Father &
Step Mother Male 21.6 2.4 66.7 9.3 100.0
Female 27.2 16.9 47.5 8.4 100.0
Both
26.6 11.3 52.3 9.9 100.0
Sexes
Biological Mother
& Step Father Male 24.2 3.1 62.4 10.2 100.0
Female 28.5 18.0 44.0 9.5 100.0
Both
22.9 10.0 58.3 8.8 100.0
Sexes
Others Relative Male 21.1 2.5 67.4 9.0 100.0
Female 24.4 16.5 50.5 8.6 100.0
Both
39.9 12.1 40.1 7.8 100.0
Sexes
Employers Male 39.7 4.4 47.8 8.1 100.0
Female 40.1 19.0 33.3 7.6 100.0
Both
22.6 9.3 61.4 6.7 100.0
Sexes
Others Male 20.5 2.4 70.7 6.4 100.0
Female 24.5 15.8 52.8 7.0 100.0
Both
13.3 6.2 74.4 6.1 100.0
Sexes
Total Male 11.8 2.1 80.0 6.0 100.0
Female 14.9 10.4 68.4 6.3 100.0
Source : Population Census Results in Gender Perspective 2001, Vol. II, Table 4.4
320
Table 20.23 presents the number of children aged 10 – 15 years by type of activity they are
mostly involved in and by status of living arrangements. Of the total children in this age group,
19.5 percent have been found to be involved either in economic activity or in activity other than
economic activity. By gender category it is noticed that out of the total girls in this age group 25.3
percent have been involved either in economic activity or in activity other than economic activity
while the corresponding figure for boys is only 13.9 percent. About 74.7 percent of the children
have been found in study and this by gender shows that 80 percent of the boys are in study as
against only 68.4 percent girls. The table reveals variations of children’s type of activity by status
of their living arrangement. While it is generally observed from the table that children living with
biological parents get better opportunity than those living with people other than biological
parents. As has been observed from above figures, 81.9 percent of boys and 71.4 percent of girls
living with biological parents have been found to be engaged in study whereas only 12.3 percent
of boys and 22.6 percent of girls have been involved either in economic activity or activity other
than economic activity. Amongst different status of living arrangements, the children living with
employers have considerably lower percentage being involved in study (47.8 percent for male and
33.3 percent for female) and relatively higher percentage being engaged in either economic or
other than economic activity (44.1 percent for male and 59.1 percent for female).
Figure 20.9 : Distribution of boys & girls children (10-14)

years living by their biological parents by type
of activity they are mostly involved in.
90
80
70
60
Percent
50
Boys
40 Girls
30
20
10
0
Economic Other than Students None
Activity Economic
Activity
Type of Activity
321
Figure 20.10 : Distribution of boys & girls children (10-14)
years living by their employers bY type of
activity they are mostly involved in.
60
50
40
Percent
Boys
30
Girls
20
10
0
Economic Other Than Students None
Activity Economic
Activity
Type of Activity
20.10 Conclusion
Children as the future leaders and the builders of the nation need special attention and care and
their issues have to be well reflected in the development planning process of the country. This
study highlights some aspects of the children population and the analysis of the trend as revealed
by the decennial population census 1981-2001. As contrary to overall population scenario the
children’s sex ratio is completely in favor of male children which in one way may attributed to
traditional discriminatory outlooks that existed in Nepalese society against the female child. The
census information have depicted decreasing trend of the proportion of children in total
population; the percentage of children has reduced over the years by about 3 percent from 1991 to
2001. This can mainly be attributed to increasing acceptance and popularity of the family
planning among the people. While the health status of children has tended to improve over the
period 1991-2001 as suggested by such indicators as infant mortality and U5 mortality rates
which have gone down significantly, yet there are many aspects of the health situation that need
to be greatly emphasized, though immunization coverage and vitamin A capsules distribution has
been raised to a considerable rate. One important aspect of children population is the rise in the
literacy rates which have gone up to a considerable extent. Many improvements as regards to
quality of education, physical facilities and infrastructure development are very much needed.
The rates of literacy among girls’ children showed significant improvement. It is encouraging to
observe that children economic activity participation rates have remarkably gone down, which
unlike in the past, has decreased the practice of child labor utilization. This trend is definitely a
positive indication of the increasing focuses on various aspects of children development in the
future.
322
References
Central Bureau of Statistics (1984). Population Census 1981, Vol. I, Part I. National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (1984). Population Census 1981, Vol. I, Part IV. National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (1984). Population Census 1981, Vol. I, Part V. National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (1984). Population Census 1981, Vol. II. National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (1993). Population Census 1991, Vol. I, Part I. National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (1993). Population Census 1991, Vol. I, Part X. National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (1993). Population Census 1991, Vol. I, Part XIII. National Planning
Central Bureau of Statistics (1993). Population Census 1991, Vol. IV. National Planning

Central Bureau of Statistics (2002). Population Census Results in Gender Perspective Vol. I & II.
National Planning Commission Secretariat, Kathmandu, Nepal
Commission Secretariat, Kathmandu, Nepal
Department of Health Services (Family Health Division) (2002). Nepal Demographic and Health
Survey. Kathmandu, Nepal
Department of Education (2001). School Level Educational Statistics of Nepal 2001 (and other
former series from 1996 onwards). Kathmandu, Nepal
Forastieri, V. (1997). Children at Work, Health and Safety Risks, ILO, Geneva.
Gurusharan, V. (1994). Child Labor and Women Workers, New Delhi, Ashish Publishing House
National Planning Commission (2059 BS). Tenth Plan 2059-2064. Kathmandu, Nepal
UNICEF (1993). The State of World Children 1993. Oxford University Press.
323
CHAPTER 21
ADOLESCENTS AND YOUTH IN NEPAL
- Ram Hari Aryal, Ph.D.*
- Upendra Prasad Adhikary**
21.1 Introduction
Nepal's population has increased from 8 million in 1952/54 to 23 million in mid 2001. The
addition of over 15 million people in less than five decades is due to the high population growth
rate. Continuing high population growth will amount to Nepal's population reaching 32 million by
the year 2016 (MOPE, 1998) coupled with poor human development indicators such as low
literacy, high infant mortality and low economic growth rates.
While Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has declined from over 6 children per woman in 1970s to its
current level of 4.1 children per woman (Ministry of Health, et.al, 2002), Nepal still has an
unacceptably high fertility rate compared to other developing countries. Therefore His Majesty's
Government of Nepal is attaching the highest priority to the lowering of the fertility rate from its
current level to replacement level fertility by the end of the 12th plan (2017). Because of its high
levels of fertility over the last few decades and its very recent fertility decline, Nepal is faced with
a large adolescents and youth population in its population composition. The adolescents and youth
population as they enter into their reproductive phase embody potential population growth for
next three/four decades. These populations constitute population momentum in the future that has
serious implications for provision of schooling, health services and other basic amenities of life
for the coming decades.
Adolescence has been defined by the World Health Organization as the period of life spanning the
ages between 10-19 years, and youth as between 15-24 years. Young people are those between
10-24 years of age (WHO, 1997). Adolescence is the second decade of life and it is a period of
rapid development. Moreover, it is a time when growth is accelerated, major physical changes
*
Dr. Aryal is Joint Secretary in National Planning Commission Secretariat (NPC).
**
Mr. Adhikary is Under Secretary in the Ministry of Population and Environment (MOPE), HMG, Nepal.
325
take place and differences between boys and girls are accentuated (WHO, 1998). Since about one
third of the world's population are between the age of 10 and 24 with vast majority living in
developing countries, they have not received specific attention in most population and health
research and programs. During the past decade young people and their health needs have been the
subject of greater attention worldwide. Especially, the issue of adolescent reproductive health
received global attention after the International Conference on Population and Development
(ICPD) 1994 since adolescence is a time of mental and psychological adjustment and it is a
situation of being no longer a child, but not yet an adult either. The Program of Action of the
ICPD PoA called for a substantial reduction of adolescent pregnancy and early childbearing. One
of the main objectives of the population management policy is to achieve social and economic
revival by curbing rapid population growth and thereby reducing its adverse consequences for
development. The main thrust of ICPD PoA is that each country brings into balance its resources
with population through a policy, which is in accordance with its own social, cultural, religious
and political realities. Since young people are the reason for future population growth in
developing countries, the ICPD therefore called all nations to focus the issue of these groups in
any population management policies. Accordingly, in any policies and programs the issues of
these populations should be focused. However, there currently exists a void in review and analysis
of the available data on the young population of Nepal. The main objective of this paper is to fill-
in the existing void. And provide information about adolescents, youth and overall young people
in all 75 districts of Nepal. We focus on three major dimensions pertaining to these populations.
The dimensions are literacy status, marriage and contraceptive behavior.
21.2 Data and Methods
The data analyzed here come mainly from the census 2001. Data is also used from the Nepal
Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 2001 and Nepal Adolescents and Young Adult
(NAYA) Survey, 2000. In many countries, there is difficulty in getting age specific data for the
10-19, 15-24 years age groups. The information on adolescents is included in the data for young
people (10-24) years). To avoid this problem, the attempt is made here to provide age specific
data. There is a lack of district level information on these populations in Nepal. Accordingly, the
overall situation of these groups is shown in districts levels so that information could be used for
policy formulation and program development. This paper describes the distribution of adolescents
and youth in all 75 districts of Nepal. The marriage trends and patterns of these groups are also
326
analyzed using census 2001 and NDHS 2001 data. The age at marriage has implication for the
sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and youth. Similarly information on contraceptive
behavior is also provided using NDHS 2001 and Nepal Adolescents and Young Adults Survey
2000 data. Although the situation of these groups are presented for all 75 districts of Nepal, the
trends and patterns of marriage and contraception are limited to the national level. The main
theme of the paper is to provide information on adolescents and youth population in Nepal.
21.3 Discussions
The Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)
has addressed the issues of the adolescent sexual and reproductive health and promoting
responsible sexual and reproductive behavior. (United Nations, 1994). The reproductive health
need of adolescents was neglected in the existing health services in Nepal also. Accordingly, there
is a need to undertake research and collect information about adolescents and youth in Nepal to
provide the health as well as young people friendly services in needy areas. The tenth plan has
also addressed the importance of adolescents and youth especially in population management and
health sector. To have effective implementation of the adolescents and youth focused programs in
Nepal, attempt is made here to provide basic information about these people using census as well
as NDHS and NAYA Survey data.
327
Table 21.1: Distribution of adolescents, youth and young population by districts, Nepal, 2001 .
Total Adolescents (10-19 yrs) Youth (15-24 yrs) Young (10-24 yrs)
Geographical
Both Both Both Both
Areas Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male
Nepal 22736934 11377556 11359378 5370934 2651302 2719632 4405770 2273202 2132568 7387702 3721328 3666374
Eastern Dev. Region 5286890 2644570 2642320 1248240 616241 631999 1031686 532574 499112 1714934 865539 849395
Eastern Mountain 401587 204356 197231 100093 50638 49455 78216 41134 37082 133393 68748 64645
Taplejung 134698 68493 66205 33168 16804 16364 26141 13746 12395 44497 22988 21509
Sankhuwasabha 159203 81350 77853 40090 20205 19885 31477 16581 14896 53335 27457 25878
Solukhumbu 107686 54513 53173 26835 13629 13206 20598 10807 9791 35561 18303 17258
Eastern Hill 1643246 835297 807949 414854 208691 206163 324129 170180 153949 553608 283701 269907
Panchthar 202056 103014 99042 51408 25864 25544 39349 20731 18618 68113 35047 33066
Ilam 282806 140372 142434 71509 35839 35670 60068 30926 29142 98717 50006 48711
Dhankuta 166479 84638 81841 40664 20392 20272 34445 17905 16540 55846 28517 27329
Terhathum 113111 58179 54932 28706 14405 14301 23104 11973 11131 38743 19789 18954
Bhojpur 203018 105256 97762 52038 26579 25459 39425 21291 18134 68007 35579 32428
Okhaldhunga 156702 81341 75361 39009 19731 19278 28348 15400 12948 50587 26393 24194
Khotang 231385 118564 112821 58419 29386 29033 43535 23178 20357 76323 39258 37065
Udayapur 287689 143933 143756 73101 36495 36606 55855 28776 27079 97272 49112 48160
Eastern Terai 3242057 1604917 1637140 733293 356912 376381 629341 321260 308081 1027933 513090 514843
Jhapa* 633042 318415 314627 152888 76891 75997 138920 73283 65637 217386 111827 105559
Morang 843220 420325 422895 200204 98500 101704 175821 90309 85512 281042 141422 139620
Sunsari 625633 310103 315530 144404 70526 73878 122674 62712 59962 202205 101266 100939
Saptari 570282 278873 291409 118051 56350 61701 96285 48227 48058 163684 80316 83368
Siraha* 569880 277201 292679 117746 54645 63101 95641 46729 48912 163616 78259 85357
328
Geographical
Both Both Both Both
Central Dev. Region 7988612 3900320 4088292 1804996 867096 937900 1552829 766571 786258 2546677 1241695 1304982
Central Mountain 514362 258556 255806 123963 61873 62090 96588 49670 46918 166981 84297 82684
Dolakha* 175912 89802 86110 43869 21905 21964 34006 17428 16578 58549 29592 28957
Sindhupalchok* 293719 147378 146341 70127 35074 35053 54244 28133 26111 94446 47870 46576
Rasuwa 44731 21376 23355 9967 4894 5073 8338 4109 4229 13986 6835 7151
Central Hill 3540170 1741331 1798839 842833 416439 426394 766328 382527 383801 1213028 601797 611231
Sindhuli* 277259 139222 138037 68575 34411 34164 52780 27480 25300 91656 46536 45120
Ramechhap 212408 111555 100853 52890 27205 25685 36739 20231 16508 67669 35666 32003
Kavre 385672 196725 188947 97279 48932 48347 76596 40497 36099 131265 67315 63950
Lalitpur 337785 165330 172455 76319 37638 38681 78861 39086 39775 116618 57570 59048
Bhaktapur 225461 110663 114798 54525 26808 27717 54304 26897 27407 81331 40224 41107
Kathmandu 1081845 505835 576010 240289 113786 126503 269900 125435 144465 384642 180799 203843
Nuwakot 288478 145747 142731 72137 36489 35648 55689 29019 26670 96299 49223 47076
Dhading 338658 172794 165864 83152 42745 40407 64458 34717 29741 111221 58261 52960
Makwanpur 392604 193460 199144 97667 48425 49242 77001 39165 37836 132327 66203 66124
Central Terai 3934080 1900433 2033647 838200 388784 449416 689913 334374 355539 1166668 555601 611067
Dhanusa 671364 321942 349422 137617 62014 75603 111934 52422 59512 191792 89029 102763
Mahottari 553481 265576 287905 113013 50850 62163 90733 42361 48372 156495 72316 84179
Sarlahi 635701 306519 329182 133515 61270 72245 107428 51582 55846 184947 87405 97542
Rautahat 545132 262886 282246 109233 50162 59071 91510 44639 46871 153567 73052 80515
Bara 559135 269738 289397 120268 56317 63951 98597 48208 50389 166682 79805 86877
Parsa 497219 236808 260411 107649 49341 58308 88158 41969 46189 149047 70083 78964
Chitawan 472048 236964 235084 116905 58830 58075 101553 53193 48360 164138 83911 80227
329
Geographical
Both Both Both Both
Western Dev.
4571013 2372843 2198170 1128561 571597 556964 871861 475335 396526 1503755 786445 717310
Region
Western Mountain 24568 11354 13214 4945 2472 2473 4925 2286 2639 7372 3540 3832
Manang 9587 4553 5034 2161 1061 1100 2023 975 1048 3081 1511 1570
Mustang 14981 6801 8180 2784 1411 1373 2902 1311 1591 4291 2029 2262
Western Hill 2793180 1495129 1298051 707312 365852 341460 529060 300468 228592 926987 499027 427960
Gorkha 288134 153727 134407 71472 37202 34270 51802 29683 22119 92167 49899 42268
Lamjung 177149 93743 83406 43370 22024 21346 32770 18203 14567 56692 30066 26626
Tanahu 315237 168449 146788 81127 41723 39404 60810 34136 26674 105947 56723 49224
Syangja 317320 173701 143619 80910 42155 38755 58523 34307 24216 104495 57325 47170
Kaski 380527 195532 184995 93816 46358 47458 83786 42480 41306 132481 66571 65910
Myagdi 114447 61269 53178 27116 13803 13313 21156 11907 9249 36217 19336 16881
Parbat 157826 84884 72942 40768 20989 19779 30323 17266 13057 53075 28486 24589
Baglung 268937 145409 123528 68550 35332 33218 51416 29819 21597 90216 48948 41268
Gulmi 296654 162883 133771 76791 40758 36033 52020 31627 20393 97279 54385 42894
Palpa 268558 143490 125068 68929 36304 32625 49322 28797 20525 89051 48749 40302
Arghakhanchi 208391 112042 96349 54463 29204 25259 37132 22243 14889 69367 38539 30828
Western Terai 1753265 866360 886905 416304 203273 213031 337876 172581 165295 569396 283878 285518
Nawalparasi 562870 284613 278257 138343 69050 69293 110748 58825 51923 187623 96213 91410
Rupandehi 708419 347646 360773 168691 81632 87059 139529 69689 69840 232744 114550 118194
Kapilbastu 481976 234101 247875 109270 52591 56679 87599 44067 43532 149029 73115 75914
330
Geographical
Both Both Both Both
Mid-Western Dev.
2707244 1358171 1349073 660877 332604 328273 528506 279148 249358 901517 461438 440079
Region
Mid-Western
174867 84584 90283 38065 18418 19647 31096 15283 15813 52832 25694 27138
Mountain
Dolpa* 22071 10934 11137 4603 2328 2275 3869 1955 1914 6490 3267 3223
Jumla* 69226 33467 35759 16096 7719 8377 12808 6365 6443 22067 10762 11305
Kalikot* 11510 5219 6291 2558 1193 1365 2236 1006 1230 3691 1672 2019
Mugu* 31465 15331 16134 6367 3142 3225 5383 2675 2708 8921 4387 4534
Humla 40595 19633 20962 8441 4036 4405 6800 3282 3518 11663 5606 6057
Mid-Western Hill 1301508 662562 638946 316982 161454 155528 248544 133873 114671 430095 223352 206743
Pyuthan 212484 114094 98390 51888 27808 24080 35875 21655 14220 67174 37340 29834
Rolpa 210004 108412 101592 48886 25305 23581 37654 20693 16961 66059 34939 31120
Rukum 188438 93006 95432 45455 22175 23280 37428 18881 18547 63312 31360 31952
Salyan* 60643 29685 30958 14897 7371 7526 12514 6328 6186 20974 10419 10555
Surkhet* 269870 135929 133941 67940 34478 33462 56897 30011 26886 94042 48371 45671
Dilekh 225201 115076 110125 54698 28001 26697 41810 22918 18892 73221 38402 34819
Jajarkot 134868 66360 68508 33218 16316 16902 26366 13387 12979 45313 22521 22792
Mid-Western Terai 1230869 611025 619844 305830 152732 153098 248866 129992 118874 418590 212392 206198
Dang 462380 233422 228958 117092 60011 57081 93795 50531 43264 159655 82980 76675
Banke 385840 187609 198231 92159 44531 47628 76076 38221 37855 127117 62564 64553
Bardiya 382649 189994 192655 96579 48190 48389 78995 41240 37755 131818 66848 64970
331
Geographical
Both Both Both Both
Far-Western Dev.
2183175 1101652 1081523 528260 263764 264496 420888 219574 201314 720819 366211 354608
Region
Far-Western
389648 199368 190280 89588 45078 44510 69439 37092 32347 121171 62489 58682
Mountain
Bajura* 100626 50813 49813 22529 11168 11361 17523 9115 8408 30366 15334 15032
Bajhang 167026 86350 80676 38194 19145 19049 29414 15824 13590 51800 26734 25066
Darchaula 121996 62205 59791 28865 14765 14100 22502 12153 10349 39005 20421 18584
Far-Western Hill 798931 411909 387022 189775 95435 94340 147933 78705 69228 257106 132299 124807
Achham 231285 122287 108998 54545 27552 26993 41305 22596 18709 72736 37902 34834
Doti 207066 103545 103521 47824 23411 24413 39320 19683 19637 66479 32919 33560
Dadeldhura 126162 65197 60965 30679 15561 15118 23520 12767 10753 41388 21550 19838
Baitadi 234418 120880 113538 56727 28911 27816 43788 23659 20129 76503 39928 36575
Far-Western Terai 994596 490375 504221 248897 123251 125646 203516 103777 99739 342542 171423 171119
Kailali 616697 304386 312311 154500 76469 78031 125474 64271 61203 212062 106269 105793
Kanchanpur* 377899 185989 191910 94397 46782 47615 78042 39506 38536 130480 65154 65326
332
Table 21.2: Percentage distribution of adolescents, youth and young population by
districts, Nepal,2001
Adolescents (10-19 yrs) Youth (15-24 yrs) Young (10-24 yrs)
Districts
Total Female Male Total Female Male Total Female Male
Nepal 23.62 23.30 23.94 19.38 19.98 18.77 32.49 32.71 32.28
Taplejung 24.62 24.53 24.72 19.41 20.07 18.72 33.03 33.56 32.49
Panchthar 25.44 25.11 25.79 19.47 20.12 18.80 33.71 34.02 33.39
Ilam 25.29 25.53 25.04 21.24 22.03 20.46 34.91 35.62 34.20
Jhapa* 24.15 24.15 24.15 21.94 23.01 20.86 34.34 35.12 33.55
Morang 23.74 23.43 24.05 20.85 21.49 20.22 33.33 33.65 33.02
Sunsari 23.08 22.74 23.41 19.61 20.22 19.00 32.32 32.66 31.99
Dhankuta 24.43 24.09 24.77 20.69 21.15 20.21 33.55 33.69 33.39
Terhathum 25.38 24.76 26.03 20.43 20.58 20.26 34.25 34.01 34.50
Sankhuwasabha 25.18 24.84 25.54 19.77 20.38 19.13 33.50 33.75 33.24
Bhojpur 25.63 25.25 26.04 19.42 20.23 18.55 33.50 33.80 33.17
Solukhumbu 24.92 25.00 24.84 19.13 19.82 18.41 33.02 33.58 32.46
Okhaldhunga 24.89 24.26 25.58 18.09 18.93 17.18 32.28 32.45 32.10
Khotang 25.25 24.78 25.73 18.81 19.55 18.04 32.99 33.11 32.85
Udayapur 25.41 25.36 25.46 19.42 19.99 18.84 33.81 34.12 33.50
Saptari 20.70 20.21 21.17 16.88 17.29 16.49 28.70 28.80 28.61
Siraha* 20.66 19.71 21.56 16.78 16.86 16.71 28.71 28.23 29.16
Dhanusa 20.50 19.26 21.64 16.67 16.28 17.03 28.57 27.65 29.41
Mahottari 20.42 19.15 21.59 16.39 15.95 16.80 28.27 27.23 29.24
Sarlahi 21.00 19.99 21.95 16.90 16.83 16.97 29.09 28.52 29.63
Sindhuli* 24.73 24.72 24.75 19.04 19.74 18.33 33.06 33.43 32.69
Ramechhap 24.90 24.39 25.47 17.30 18.14 16.37 31.86 31.97 31.73
Dolakha* 24.94 24.39 25.51 19.33 19.41 19.25 33.28 32.95 33.63
Sindhupalchok* 23.88 23.80 23.95 18.47 19.09 17.84 32.16 32.48 31.83
Kavre 25.22 24.87 25.59 19.86 20.59 19.11 34.04 34.22 33.85
Lalitpur 22.59 22.77 22.43 23.35 23.64 23.06 34.52 34.82 34.24
Bhaktapur 24.18 24.22 24.14 24.09 24.31 23.87 36.07 36.35 35.81
Kathmandu 22.21 22.49 21.96 24.95 24.80 25.08 35.55 35.74 35.39
Nuwakot 25.01 25.04 24.98 19.30 19.91 18.69 33.38 33.77 32.98
Rasuwa 22.28 22.89 21.72 18.64 19.22 18.11 31.27 31.98 30.62
Dhading 24.55 24.74 24.36 19.03 20.09 17.93 32.84 33.72 31.93
Makwanpur 24.88 25.03 24.73 19.61 20.24 19.00 33.70 34.22 33.20
Rautahat 20.04 19.08 20.93 16.79 16.98 16.61 28.17 27.79 28.53
Bara 21.51 20.88 22.10 17.63 17.87 17.41 29.81 29.59 30.02
Parsa 21.65 20.84 22.39 17.73 17.72 17.74 29.98 29.59 30.32
Chitawan 24.77 24.83 24.70 21.51 22.45 20.57 34.77 35.41 34.13
Gorkha 24.81 24.20 25.50 17.98 19.31 16.46 31.99 32.46 31.45
Lamjung 24.48 23.49 25.59 18.50 19.42 17.47 32.00 32.07 31.92
333
Adolescents (10-19 yrs) Youth (15-24 yrs) Young (10-24 yrs)
Districts
Tanahu 25.74 24.77 26.84 19.29 20.26 18.17 33.61 33.67 33.53
Syangja 25.50 24.27 26.98 18.44 19.75 16.86 32.93 33.00 32.84
Kaski 24.65 23.71 25.65 22.02 21.73 22.33 34.82 34.05 35.63
Manang 22.54 23.30 21.85 21.10 21.41 20.82 32.14 33.19 31.19
Mustang 18.58 20.75 16.78 19.37 19.28 19.45 28.64 29.83 27.65
Myagdi 23.69 22.53 25.03 18.49 19.43 17.39 31.65 31.56 31.74
Parbat 25.83 24.73 27.12 19.21 20.34 17.90 33.63 33.56 33.71
Baglung 25.49 24.30 26.89 19.12 20.51 17.48 33.55 33.66 33.41
Gulmi 25.89 25.02 26.94 17.54 19.42 15.24 32.79 33.39 32.07
Palpa 25.67 25.30 26.09 18.37 20.07 16.41 33.16 33.97 32.22
Nawalparasi 24.58 24.26 24.90 19.68 20.67 18.66 33.33 33.80 32.85
Rupandehi 23.81 23.48 24.13 19.70 20.05 19.36 32.85 32.95 32.76
Kapilbastu 22.67 22.47 22.87 18.17 18.82 17.56 30.92 31.23 30.63
Arghakhanchi 26.14 26.07 26.22 17.82 19.85 15.45 33.29 34.40 32.00
Pyuthan 24.42 24.37 24.47 16.88 18.98 14.45 31.61 32.73 30.32
Rolpa 23.28 23.34 23.21 17.93 19.09 16.70 31.46 32.23 30.63
Rukum 24.12 23.84 24.39 19.86 20.30 19.43 33.60 33.72 33.48
Salyan* 24.57 24.83 24.31 20.64 21.32 19.98 34.59 35.10 34.09
Dang 25.32 25.71 24.93 20.29 21.65 18.90 34.53 35.55 33.49
Banke 23.89 23.74 24.03 19.72 20.37 19.10 32.95 33.35 32.56
Bardiya 25.24 25.36 25.12 20.64 21.71 19.60 34.45 35.18 33.72
Surkhet* 25.18 25.36 24.98 21.08 22.08 20.07 34.85 35.59 34.10
Dailekh 24.29 24.33 24.24 18.57 19.92 17.16 32.51 33.37 31.62
Jajarkot 24.63 24.59 24.67 19.55 20.17 18.95 33.60 33.94 33.27
Dolpa* 20.86 21.29 20.43 17.53 17.88 17.19 29.41 29.88 28.94
Jumla* 23.25 23.06 23.43 18.50 19.02 18.02 31.88 32.16 31.61
Kalikot* 22.22 22.86 21.70 19.43 19.28 19.55 32.07 32.04 32.09
Mugu* 20.24 20.49 19.99 17.11 17.45 16.78 28.35 28.62 28.10
Humla 20.79 20.56 21.01 16.75 16.72 16.78 28.73 28.55 28.90
Bajura* 22.39 21.98 22.81 17.41 17.94 16.88 30.18 30.18 30.18
Bajhang 22.87 22.17 23.61 17.61 18.33 16.85 31.01 30.96 31.07
Achham 23.58 22.53 24.76 17.86 18.48 17.16 31.45 30.99 31.96
Kailali 25.05 25.12 24.99 20.35 21.11 19.60 34.39 34.91 33.87
Kanchanpur* 24.98 25.15 24.81 20.65 21.24 20.08 34.53 35.03 34.04
Doti 23.10 22.61 23.58 18.99 19.01 18.97 32.11 31.79 32.42
Dadeldhura 24.32 23.87 24.80 18.64 19.58 17.64 32.81 33.05 32.54
Baitadi 24.20 23.92 24.50 18.68 19.57 17.73 32.64 33.03 32.21
Darchula 23.66 23.74 23.58 18.44 19.54 17.31 31.97 32.83 31.08
Source : CBS, 2002

* All households were not covered due to insurgency problems during census taking period.
334
Table 21.1 presents the distribute number and table 21.2 presents the percentage distribution of
adolescents, youth and young population in the 75 districts of Nepal. About one fourth of the total
population of Nepal is adolescents (23.6), about one fifth is youth (19.4) and about one third (32.5
percent) is young population in Nepal indicating a high number of young people in Nepal's
population composition. It is also seen that there is no substantial differential by sex that is to say
the proportion of males is almost identical to the proportion of females.
A reduction in infant and child mortality followed by a drop in fertility resulted in increase in
young population in Nepal. It is argued that the timing and magnitude of population growth and
the ensuing fertility decline have been crucial factors for size and duration of adolescents and
young adult in the population (Xenos et.al, 1999). These populations are special concern to policy
makers simply because the basic needs for these populations such as education, health, and
employment programs need to expand to meet the needs of these growing groups. These groups
are also important from the demographic point of view since they are in their prime reproductive
years and they are potential for future population growth. Higher the number of these groups
higher will be the number of births even in a case of low fertility rates.
Table 21.3: Percent distribution of highest five districts of adolescent, youth and young
population ,Nepal, 2001.
Adolescent Youth Young

Districts Percentage Districts Percentage Districts Percentage
Argakhachi 26.14 Kathmandu 24.95 Bhaktapur 36.07
Gulmi 25.89 Bhaktapur 24.09 Kathmandu 35.55
Parbat 25.83 Lalitpur 23.35 Illam 34.91
Tanahu 25.74 Kaski 22.02 Surkhet 34.85
Palpa 25.67 Jhapa 21.94 Kaski 34.82
National Average 23.62 National Average 19.34 National Average 32.49
Less than national average 25 Less than national average 44 Less than national average 31
districts districts districts
More than national average 50 More than national average More than national average
districts 31 districts 44 districts
Source : CBS, 2002.
Table 21.3 shows highest five districts according to the percentage distribution of adolescents,
youth and young people in Nepal. Among 75 districts, Arghakhanchi district has the highest
number of adolescents followed by Gulmi and Parbat. Similarly Kathmandu has the highest
number of youth followed by Bhaktapur and Lalitpur and Bhaktapur has the highest number of
young people followed by Kathmandu and Illam.
335
Table 21.4 : Percent distribution of lowest five districts of adolescent, youth and young
population ,Nepal ,2001

Districts Percentage Districts Percentage Districts Percentage
Mustang 18.58 Mahottari 16.39 Rautahat 28.17
Rautahat 20.04 Dhanusa 16.69 Mahottari 28.27
Mugu 20.24 Humla 16.75 Mugu 28.35
Mahottari 20.42 Siraha 16.78 Dhanusha 28.57
Dhanusa 20.50 Rautahat 16.79 Mustang 28.64
Nepal 23.62 19.38 32.49
Source : CBS, 2002.
Table 21.4 presents the percentage distribution of lowest five districts in Nepal. Among 75
districts, Rautahat has the lowest number of young people (28.2 percent) followed by Mahottari
(28.3) and Mugu (28.4). Similarly, Mustang district has the lowest percentage of adolescents
whereas Mahottari has the lowest percentage of youth among districts in Nepal. Altogether 50
districts of Nepal have more than the national average (23.6) adolescents whereas 31districts have
more than national average youth and 44 districts have more than national average young people
in Nepal (Table 21.2) .
It is interesting to note that youth populations are more in dense populated districts and which
have big cities such as Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Kaski and Jhapa. It is argued that youth
are opportunity oriented and they move for opportunity and this is also the case in Nepal that
youth are more mobile to urban centers in Nepal.
It is also interesting to note here that among highest five districts Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and
Kaski districts have higher number of both youth and young populations. However, among
lowest five districts, except Humla and Siraha all other districts have lowest number of
adolescents, youth and young people.
Table 21.5: Percent distribution of adolescent, youth and young, Nepal 1952/54- 2001.
1952/54 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
Adolescent 22.15 19.83 20.96 18.76 21.5 19.1 20.9 19.4 22.6 22.0 23.9 23.3
Youth 18.31 18.64 16.69 17.22 17.4 17.5 17.3 18.1 17.4 19.2 18.8 20.1
Young 30.57 29.09 28.85 27.61 29.5 27.9 29.2 28.9 30.5 31.3 32.3 32.7
Source : CBS, 1987, 1995 and 2002
336
Table 21.5 shows trends in percentage distribution of adolescents, youth and young population in
Nepal since 1952/54. It is seen that except in 1952/54 the percentage of these groups is increasing
steadily except male in 1981. It is also worth noting that the information of the census 1952/54 is
not comparable since the census was not taken in one point of time. That might be the reason that
the percentage of these groups in 1952/54 is higher than other censuses in Nepal. Over the years
the trend shows that the percentage of female adolescents is lower than their male counterparts.
However, the situation is reverse in the case of youth. But the trend of young people is not clear.
Up to 1981 the percentage of female is lower compared to male counterparts however, after 1991
the percentage of female is higher than their male counterparts. The percentage distribution is not
substantially different among sex.
Table 21.6: Percentage distribution of adolescents, youth, and young by urban and rural,
Nepal, 2001.
Adolescents Youth Young

Area
Nepal 23.62 23.30 23.94 19.38 19.98 18.77 32.49 32.71 32.28
Rural 23.65 23.30 24.00 18.85 19.56 18.13 32.15 32.40 31.89
Urban 23.45 23.31 23.59 22.56 22.60 22.52 34.58 34.62 34.54
Source : CBS, 2002.
The urban rural differential is also important from the policy point of view. Table 21.6 presents
the urban rural differential. Table 21.6 shows that there is no substantial difference in percentage
of adolescents living in urban and rural areas of Nepal. However, there are more youth and young
people in urban than in rural areas. Slightly higher number of adolescents is living in rural areas
compared to their urban counterparts although the percentage is not significantly different. About
23 percent of youth are living in urban areas compared to 19 percent of their rural counterparts.
Similarly, among young people, about 35 percent young is living in urban areas compared to 32
percent of their rural counterparts. Both youth and young people are concentrated in urban areas,
which are the expected pattern since they are naturally opportunity seekers and high demanding
and high aspiration groups. These groups move for opportunity, education and employment.
These days these groups are more interested in jobs abroad and therefore they move to cities to
look for that opportunity. Moreover, it is found in migration study that these age groups are the
real mover than older groups. However, there is no remarkable difference among sex.
337
Table 21.7: Trend in percent distribution of adolescent, youth and young for rural and
urban Nepal 1961-2001
1961 1971 1981 1991 2001

Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural
Adoles 20.29 19.90 21.74 20.23 21.73 20.10 23.5 22.1 23.45 23.65
cent
Youth 20.22 16.90 20.88 17.31 20.52 17.54 21.1 17.8 22.56 18.85
Young 30.67 28.23 32.07 28.54 32.07 28.89 34.4 30.4 34.58 32.15
Source : CBS, 1987, 1995 and 2002.
Table 21.7 shows the trends in urban rural differences since 1961. It is seen that all these
populations are increasing in both urban and rural areas. It is an expected pattern that these
populations are higher in urban areas than their rural counterparts. The adolescents were just over
one fifth in urban areas in 1961 that increased to 23 percent in 2001. Similarly, the young people
were 31 percent in urban areas in 1961 that has gone up to 35 percent in 2001. In rural areas, one
fifth of adolescents and over one sixth youth in 1961 have increased to about one fourth and about
one fifth respectively in 2001. Twenty eight percent young people were in rural areas in 1961 that
has increased to 32 percent in 2001. This trend indicates that these people are increasing in Nepal
and they are more in urban areas. These situations warrant effective policy implications.
Table 21.8: Percent distribution of adolescent, youth and young by sex for ecological
regions, Nepal, 2001

Area
Nepal 23.62 23.94 23.30 19.38 18.77 19.98 32.49 32.28 32.71
Mountain 23.70 23.86 23.54 18.62 18.05 19.19 32.01 31.73 32.28
Hill 24.53 24.82 24.25 20.01 19.27 20.71 33.55 33.27 33.81
Terai 22.79 23.19 22.38 18.91 18.44 19.40 31.60 31.48 31.73
Source : CBS, 2002
Table 21.8 shows the situation of these populations in three ecological regions of Nepal. Nepal is
divided into three broad ecological regions: Mountain, Hill, and Terai. It is documented in many
researches that the demographic and socio-cultural differences in these regions are found
significant. Therefore the demographic behaviors are also found significantly different in these
regions. Among ecological regions the percentage of adolescent, youth and young is higher in Hill
regions and lower in Terai regions except youth population.
338
21.3.1 Education
It is well documented that education is the catalyst of change. Since education is one of the three
components of 'human development', it changes the human behavior. Education is known to be an
important indicator of socioeconomic development. Accordingly, an inverse relationship between
education and fertility and age at marriage and positive relationship between education and
contraceptive use have been the consistent findings in the literature. The education status of these
groups has important policy implications. Table 21.9 presents the information on literacy status of
these groups.
Table 21.9: Percent distribution by literacy status of adolescents youth and young, Nepal
2001.
Literate Illiterate
Adolescent 76.7 83.2 70.0 23.3 16.8 30.0
Youth 70.0 80.6 60.1 30.0 19.4 39.9
Young 73.5 81.9 65.2 26.5 18.1 34.8
Source : CBS, 2002.
How to provide knowledge, skills and education to young people and empowering these people
with information should also be one of the issues of young people focused policies. To address
these issues, the literacy status of these groups is essential to understand. Table 21.9 shows that
about 77 percent adolescents, 70 percent youth and 74 percent young people are literate in Nepal.
It is also seen that more males are literate than their female counterparts. Table 21.9 shows that 83
percent males and 70 percent females are literate among adolescents and among youth 81 percent
males and 60 percent females are literate. Among young people 82 percent males and 65 percent
females are literate. Although the percentage differences between male and female in these groups
are not substantial, the focus should be given to female education in Nepal. Table 21.9 shows that
still a considerable proportion of young people are illiterate in Nepal. It is revealed that among
these illiterate groups, females are more illiterate than their male counterparts. Since more than
one fifth of these groups are still illiterate, they are not aware of their right to information and
education that need to protect them against anti-social and risk-taking behavior. These groups
should be focused in any program and policies.
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Table 21.10: Educational attainments of ever-married men and women of age 10-24, 2001
Educational (10-19 yrs) (15-24 yrs) (10-24 yrs)
Attainment Both Both Both
Female Male Female Male Female Male
Sexes Sexes Sexes
No Schooling 2.43 3.15 1.84 3.30 4.44 2.37 4.48 6.28 3.05
Primary (1 - 5) 50.95 51.59 50.42 43.02 43.98 42.24 20.20 21.33 19.31
Lower Secondary
(6 - 7) 28.70 28.21 29.11 26.52 26.25 26.73 28.68 28.63 28.72
Secondary 10.97 10.62 11.25 12.90 12.62 13.13 21.89 21.56 22.15
(8 - 10)
SLC and Above 6.39 5.84 6.84 13.58 12.00 14.85 23.89 21.32 25.94
Others 0.06 0.06 0.07 0.10 0.08 0.12 0.14 0.10 0.16
Level Not Stated 0.50 0.54 0.46 0.58 0.62 0.55 0.72 0.77 0.68
Source : CBS 2001.
Table 21.10 presents the educational attainments by Adolescent, youth and young. According to
the census 2001, 51 percent adolescent has completed their primary education. However only 6
percent adolescent have passed SLC and above. Among adolescent there is no significant
difference between male and female in educational attainment. Among youth 50 percent have
completed their primary education, however about 24 percent (23.89%) of young have been able
to pass SLC examination. Likewise 43 percent and 14 percent youth have completed primary
education and SLC respectively.
It is more likely that women do not go to school after marriage and this might be one of the
reasons for low school attainment of females in Nepal. According to the study carried out by
Thapa, et.al 1997, early marriage is a very important intervening factor adversely affecting
schooling. The policy and programmatic implication is that marriage, especially female's need to
delay to have a considerable positive effect on schooling of females.
21.3.2 Marriage
Marriage is not a biological event like birth or death, rather it is a social event that is determined
by the society within which it occurs. Age at marriage is an especially important variable
affecting fertility in a society where fertility out of wedlock is strongly disapproved of and marital
dissolution is insignificant. Therefore it is an especially important variable shaping the fertility
level in Nepal where very few births take place outside of marriage and marital dissolution is
340
insignificant (Aryal, 1995). Broadly speaking marriage has become a social obligation in Nepal.
In Nepal, marriage signifies the beginning of socially sanctioned sexual relations. Age at marriage
is generally associated with socio-economic structure and development of the country. Since
premarital sexual activities are socially looked down upon in Nepal, the age at marriage especially
for females is low. However, it is found that the proportion of females getting married at an early
age is slowly decreasing. The trends towards an increase in the age at marriage suggest an
extended period of adolescence before marriage resulting in the need for more reproductive health
care in these periods. As they mature, young people are increasingly exposed to reproductive
health risks such as unintended and early pregnancies, and complications from pregnancy and
childbirth. The high incidence of marriage during young age causes higher rates of childbearing if
it is not checked by practicing contraception.
Motherhood at a very young age entails a risk of maternal mortality. The children of young
mothers tend to have higher levels of morbidity and mortality. Early childbearing continues to be
an impediment to improvements in the educational, economic and social status of women in all
parts of the world (Gubhaju, 2002). Therefore, increase in age at marriage means minimizing first
birth to teen age mothers, which is known to carry higher risk to the mother and child (Hobcraft,
1987).
Table 21.11: Percentage distribution of marital status of adolescents, youth, and young by
sex, Nepal, 2001.

Marital Status Sex
(10-19 yrs) (15-24 yrs) (10-24 yrs)
Both Sexes 88.82 57.19 73.95
Single Female 83.61 44.85 65.61
Male 93.90 70.34 82.41
Both Sexes 10.72 41.49 25.24
Married Female 16.04 54.40 33.90
Male 5.53 27.74 16.45
Both Sexes 0.31 1.01 0.60
Not Reported Female 0.16 0.38 0.23
Male 0.45 1.68 0.98
Source : CBS, 2002.
Table 21.11 presents marital status of adolescents, youth and young people of Nepal. According
to the census 2001, about 89 percent of adolescents, 57 percent of youth and about three fourth of
young people of Nepal are still single. If one looks by sex more males are single than their female
counterparts. About 11 percent adolescents had already married. Among married adolescents,
341
youth and young people, the percentage of females is higher than males. There is a substantial
difference between sexes indicating the low age at marriage of females in Nepal.
It is seen that many adolescents are still single. Adolescents who are single have important policy
implications since these people may be particularly likely to engage in high-risk behavior. It is
also argued that young people who are both single and out of school are difficult to reach with
reproductive health and family planning programs (Xenos et al, 1999).
Table 21.12 shows the trends in proportion never married in Nepal since 1961. It is seen that there
has been a gradual increase in the proportion of both males and females never married over the
years except in 1991for age group 20-24. However, larger change has been observed among
women age 15-19 and significant change in the age 20-24. Only just over one fourth of women
age 15-19 were never married in 1961 which has increased to about 50 percent in 1981 and about
60 percent in 2001. Similarly in age 20-24, only 5 percent women were never married which has
increased to 17 percent in 2001. Proportion never married of males also indicate that age at
marriage among males is increasing faster among younger men. Data indicate that 63 percent of
males in the age groups 15-19 were not married in 1961 that has increased to 74 in 1981 and
about 89 percent in 2001. Similarly in the age group 20-24 proportions never married were 26 in
1961, which has increased to 44 in 40 years time in 2001 indicating a gradual shift to later
marriage in Nepal.
Table 21.12: Trends in proportion never married Nepal 1961-2001
Age 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001

group Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men
15-19 25.7 63.3 39.3 73.0 49.2 74.1 52.7 79.4 59.7 88.7
20-24 5.3 26.4 7.9 33.1 13.1 40.9 12.8 38.1 17.1 43.5
Source : CBS 2002, NDHS 2001
Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2001 also collected information about median age at first
marriage and first sexual intercourse among ever married men and women. In the survey report,
age group 15-19 was not shown separately because less than 50 percent married or had had sexual
intercourse by age 15. Therefore the information of 20-24 is only shown in the Table 21.13. Table
21.13 shows that men of age group 20-24 marry about two years later than women of these groups
however, women experience first sexual intercourse one year earlier than men in this group. The
median age at first intercourse among women age 20-24 is 16.9 that is identical to age at first
marriage of these groups suggesting that women first sexual intercourse occurs within the context
342
of marriage. However, in the case of men it is not true. Data indicate that men initiate sex one
year before marriage. According to the Philippines survey men were much more likely than
women to report premarital sexual experience (Xenos, 1997). This might be the reason in Nepal
that men were likely than women to report premarital sexual experience.
Table 21.13: Median age at marriage and median age at first sexual intercourse, Nepal
Women Men
Age Median Age Median Age at First Median Age Median Age at First
at Marriage Sexual Intercourse at Marriage Sexual Intercourse
20-24 16.8 16.9 18.7 17.8
Source : NDHS, 2001
In Nepal, the legal age at marriage was 16 and 18 years respectively, with parents consent.
Without parental consent, the minimum ages were 18 for females and 21 for males. Due to weak
implementation and monitoring systems, the enforcement of the legal age at marriage remains
difficult. However, the legal age at marriage has increased recently according to the Muluki Ain
(11th Amendments) 2058, the legal age at marriage for both sexes is 18 years with consent of
guardians and 20 years without the consent of guardians. According to the recent NDHS survey
data (2001) the average age at marriage is lower than the legal age at marriage in Nepal. It is
realized that late marriage not only reduce maternal mortality, it will reduce infant mortality as
well which have socio economic implications. Therefore many policies and planning documents
of both government and nongovernmental organizations have encouraged young people to marry
late. Moreover, the advantage of lengthening the interval between marriage and first birth and
extended intervals between birth is also stated in the planning documents.
21.3.3 Contraceptive Use
It is well documented that of the total annual births in the world, about 14 million babies (10.6
percent) are born to adolescent mothers and in Asia 6 million babies (8percent) are born to
adolescent mothers (Gubhaju, 2002). Nepal is also a country with fairly high adolescent fertility
rates. The high rate of adolescent childbearing is a result of early age at marriage for females. One
of the measures to check the early childbearing is to use contraception since age at marriage is
associated with socio-cultural factors in Nepal as a result it is not possible to raise marriage age in
a short period of time. To understand the contraceptive patterns of youth, data from the Nepal
Demographic and Health Survey 2001 and the Nepal Adolescents and Young Adult (NAYA)
Survey 2001 are used.
343
It is well documented that almost all respondents of any survey related to contraception were
aware of at least one modern methods of contraception. Therefore here the information on ever
use and current use is presented using NDHS data. Table 21.14 shows that the ever use rate is
almost identical to both ever and currently married youth. About twenty two percent of both ever
and currently married women of age 15-19 had used any method in the past and 18 percent of
them had used any modern methods. Similarly, in the age group 20-24 over 42 percent of them
had used any methods in the past and 38 percent of them had used any modern methods.
Table 21.14: Ever use of contraception among 15-24 age groups, Nepal 2001.
Ever-Married Women Currently Married Women

Age
Any Method Any Modern Method Any Method Any Modern Method
15-19 21.7 17.6 21.9 17.7
20-24 42.4 37.7 42.5 37.8
Source : NDHS, 2001
The level of current use is important from the policy point of view simply because it helps in
assessing the success of the family planning program of the country. The current use of these
groups is more important since the focus of the reproductive health is adolescents and youth in
many developing countries.
Table 21.15: Current use of contraception among age 15-24, Nepal
Age Any Methods Any Modern Methods

15-19 12.0 9.3
20-24 23.4 20.7
Source : NDHS, 2001.
Table 21.15 shows that among the age group 15-19 years, 12 percent is currently using any
method and over 9 percent is using any modern method of contraception. Similarly, among age
groups 20-24 over 23 percent is using any method and 21 percent is using any modern methods.
The NAYA Survey 2001 also asked about current contraceptive behavior to currently married
respondents of age 14 to 22 years. Table 21.16 shows that 23 percent of men and over one fourth
women were currently using contraceptives at the time of survey. Overall one fourth of these
groups (14-22) both men and women were using contraceptives in urban areas of Nepal. It is to be
noted here that urban data of NAYA survey is used here to understand the contraceptive behavior,
therefore the contraceptive prevalence rate is found higher than the national average of NDHS
344
2001. It is found in both surveys that the most popular current method was injectables. It is also
found that traditional methods in these groups are also popular.
Table 21.16: Percentage distributions of married youths (14-22 years) currently using
contraception: urban Nepal, 2000
Currently Using Husbands Wives Total

Yes 23.0 25.3 24.9
No 77.0 74.7 75.1
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number of Cases 113 450 563
Source : Aryal and Nichols, 2002.
Table 21.17 shows the trends in current use of any methods of contraception among these groups
in Nepal. There is a gradual increase of the use of contraception among these groups in Nepal.
Less than one percent of women of age 15-19 were using contraception in 1976 that has increased
to 12 percent in 2001. Similarly, only 4 percent women age group 20-24 were using contraception
in 1976 that has increased to about one fourth in 2001 showing the increasing trend of current use
of any methods in these groups in Nepal although the use rate is not as expected.
Table 21.17: Trend in current use of any method of contraception among currently married
women (15-24), Nepal 1976-2001,
Year 15-19 20-24

1976 NFS 0.9 3.7
1986 NFFS 1.3 7.2
1991 NFFHS 2.5 10.2
1996 NFHS 6.5 15.8
2001 NDHS 12.0 23.4
It is documented that a higher level of knowledge about contraception of these groups does not
always translate into higher level of contraceptive use (Gubhaju, 2002, Aryal and Nichols, 2002).
It is also true that young people may be unaware of their risk of pregnancy, and unsure where to
obtain family planning services and what types of services are offered. Young people often do not
seek information or care, because they believe that they are at little or no risk of any problems.
345
21.3.3.1 Unmet Need for Family Planning
"Currently married women who say that they do not want any more children or that they want to
wait two or more years before having another child, but are not using contraception, are
considered to have an unmet need for family planning" (NDHS, 2002). Table 21.18 shows that
among youth (15-24) 34 percent are in need of family planning services that percentage is higher
than the national average of 28 percent. Among these groups, unmet need for spacing is higher
for younger groups (15-19) compared to their counterparts 20-24 age groups, while unmet need
for limiting is higher for age group 20-24 compared to their counterparts 15-19 age groups. It is
an expected pattern that unmet need for spacing is higher among younger women since they are in
need of children and have not completed their childbearing. The information of unmet need for
limiting suggests that about 7 percent of these group had already completed their family size and
they are interested in stopping childbearing altogether. By age groups over two percent of women
age 15-19 had already completed their family size while among women of age 20-24 about 10
percent had already completed their family size. These information suggest that women not only
marry early they give childbirth early as well. The data of unmet need for family planning provide
important information to family planning managers and service providers.
Table 21.18: Percentage of currently married women (15-24) with unmet need for family
planning, Nepal 2001
Age For Spacing For Limiting Total Number of Women

15-19 33.4 2.2 35.6 930
20-24 23.8 9.4 33.2 1643
Total 27.3 6.8 34.1 2573
21.3.3.2 Ideal Family Size
The mean ideal number of children of young population provide an indication of future fertility
trends in the country. Accordingly, Table 21.19 presents the ideal number of children of these
groups. The data for this information is taken from the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey
2001. In the 2001 NDHS, collected the information on ideal family size, respondents, who had no
living children, were asked how many children they would like to have if they could choose the
number of children to have. Those who had living children were asked how many children they
would like to have if they could go back to the time when they did not have any children and
could choose exactly the number of children to have. Table 21.19 shows that the ideal number of
children for males and females is slightly different. Ever-married females of age 15-19 and 20-24
346
want on average 2.4 children, while ever-married men of age group 15-19 want 2.6 and age group
20-24 want 2.5 children as their ideal number indicating that in these groups men want to have
strictly more number of children as ideal than their women counterparts.
Table 21.19 : Mean ideal number of children for ever-married women and men by age and
background characteristics, Nepal 2001
Age
Background Characteristic
15-19 20-24
All Women 2.4 2.4
All Men 2.6 2.5
Residence
Urban 2.1 2.0
Rural 2.4 2.4
Ecological Zones
Mountain 2.1 2.3
Hill 2.1 2.2
Terai 2.5 2.5
Education
No Education 2.6 2.6
Primary 2.2 2.2
Some Secondary 2.0 2.0
SLC and Above 1.7 1.8
Source : NDHS 2001.
Ever-married women's ideal number of family size is also examined with some background
characteristics. Table 21.19 shows that rural women have a larger ideal family size than urban
women. Similarly, Terai women want more ideal number of children than their Mountain and Hill
counterparts. It is seen that as the educational level of women increases, the ideal number of
children they want decreases showing the inverse relationship between educational level of
women and the ideal number of children they reported. Women who have no formal education
want to have 2.6 children as their ideal number where as women with SLC and above want to
have less than two children as their ideal number. Educated women want almost one child less
than their no educated counterparts.
347
21.4 Policies and Programs Initiative Regarding Adolescents and
Youth in Nepal
Until recently, adolescents and youth were not considered as an important issue in any kind of
policies and programs in many Asian countries. In the late 1980s, the world community formally
recognized how seriously the health of young people impacts on the health and development of
future generations. The World Health Assembly passed a special resolution in May 1989 urging
member states to give priority to the health needs of adolescent and youth and to develop socially
and culturally acceptable programs and services to meet these needs (WHO, 1997.) Similarly,
when International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) endorsed its Program of
Action that addressed the issue of these populations, these groups have become the target groups
in many policies and programs of many Asian countries. In Nepal after ICPD the attention has
been given to these population in many policies and programs. In an effort to assess the status of
policies and programs initiatives, we consulted some concerned ministries, and some NGOs. On
the basis of consultation and reviewed documents, we summarize the main policies and programs
of the visited institutions.
21.4.1 Government Sector
The Ministry of Population and Environment (MOPE) is the responsible governmental

organization for population management of the country and is supposed to take a leadership role
in overall population management issues. Some of the main functions of the Ministry are to
formulate policies, conduct research and evaluate and monitor population activities of the country.
MOPE also does advocacy and monitor population related awareness creation activities
implemented by government and non-governmental organizations. MOPE has separate
Adolescent and Youth Section under its Population Division. This section has developed policies
and programs specifically focusing the issues of these groups of population in the country. The
ministry has developed adolescents and youth friendly programs as well.
The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture was established in 1995. In 2000 government had
decided to reduce the number of ministries and this ministry was dissolved and the responsibilities
of looking after the activities of youth have been given to the Ministry of Education and Sports
(MoES). The Ministry of Education and Sports is responsible for developing specific policies,
provide leadership and coordinate the activities related to the youth in the country. Since the
ministry addresses the schooling and educational attainment of the young people, it develops
policies and monitors programs being implemented in both the public and private sector.
348
Moreover, youth exchange programs in the SAARC regions and curriculum development for
youth both in formal and informal education are also some of the main functions of the ministry.
Youth populations are covered in this ministry's programs although the ministry has not followed
the international definition of youth.
The Ministry of Women Child, and Social Welfare was established in 1995 to function as an
umbrella organization to empower women and to coordinate all women related activities carried
out under various ministries and other institutions of the country. Although this ministry does not
have programs and policies specifically spelled out for the youth population, its policies and
programs include youth, especially females.. This ministry is working on the 1995 "Beijing
Platform of Action" which includes girls and adolescents. It is also giving a top priority to the
issues of girl trafficking and gender equality and equity.
The Ministry of Health is responsible for the reproductive health services, and it has for several
years ongoing programs in family planning and child health. Recently the ministry has developed
the adolescents' reproductive health strategy to focus the reproductive health issues of these
people. The information, education and communication (IEC) programs of the ministry are
generally able to meet the health information needs for all age and subgroup of the population but
also touches adolescents and youth health need information. The HIV/AIDS programs and
services are aimed at particular sub-groups of population regardless of age The family planning
program services were limited to married couples only however, it has now removed the
restrictions based on marital status (MOH, 1995). Accordingly, adolescents and youth are also
included in the family planning services.
The National Planning Commission is responsible agency for formulating and coordinating the
policies and programs of the ministries. The main objectives of the Tenth Plan, the current
development planning of the government, is to reduce poverty level of the country. There are
many strategies developed to achieve the objective of the plan. The issues of adolescents and
youth, in one way or other, are addressed in different sections (such as agriculture and
cooperatives, women and social welfare, education, health, population and labor) in the tenth plan
as tools to achieve the objectives of the plan. Accordingly, National Planning Commission should
play an effective role in ensuring linkage and coordination between and among the various
ministries regarding the issues of these populations. National Planning Commission is also
responsible for monitoring and evaluation of these programs. But monitoring and evaluation
aspects, though recognized to be very important, remain weak.
349
21.4.2 Non-Governmental Organizations
There are so many I/NGOs working on the issues of adolescents and youth in Nepal. Recently
I/NGOs have initiated their efforts to provide both education and counseling services to the young
people. The implemented projects and activities by different I/NGOs include sex education for
school children, SRH information to the teenagers, training to peer educators, letter
correspondence on young people is needs on SRH, youth information and counseling centers and
sexual and reproductive health services.
The Family Planning Association of Nepal (FPAN) is one of the oldest organizations working in
adolescents and youth in Nepal. FPAN has been providing family planning services both
counseling and contraceptives to adolescents and youth as well. Similarly, IEC materials have
been developed in commensuration with the reproductive health needs of the youth. It is also
reported that FPAN has already started training programs and workshops for the adolescents and
youth. It has established youth information centers to address the needs of these populations.
Aama Milan Kendra, Bisheshor Prasad Memorial Health Foundation (BPMHF), WATCH are few
organizations working for adolescents and youth population primarily focusing on reproductive
health. ABC/Nepal, CWIN, Maiti/Nepal, WOREC are also working for these groups especially on
trafficking and rehabilitation. Nepal Red Cross Society has also network in the country involving
youth. It mobilizes youth for health as well as rescue type of work. The CRS Company is the
social marketing organization primarily for contraceptive supplies in the country. It supplies
contraceptives to retail stores, pharmacies and private medical clinics.
These discussions lead to the conclusion that there has been some progress made towards
addressing the needs and concerns of the youth and adolescents population in the country. There
are so many initiatives from the government sectors also that can provide a much needed
leadership role in developing effective policies and programs specifically for the youth
populations in Nepal. Similarly, some NGOs have several specific programs and some have
general target audience in which the youth population is an integral part. However, these
programs are scattered and there is a lack of common forum and coordinating mechanism that is
essential to make these activities effective and efficient implementable. It is also necessary to
review the effectiveness of these ongoing activities.
350
21.5 Conclusion and Policy Recommendations
Adolescents and youth constitute a large section of the population in Nepal. They are the
population at a special stage in and are generally neglected. Overall discussions lead to the
conclusion that for overall development of these people, there is a need of universal education,
improved quality of life, equitable opportunities, access to health care, confidential counseling
and information services. Moreover, understanding and supportive parents are essential for them
to develop the critical period of their life.
Given its size and likely trajectory of growth in the future, this population warrants a focused
policy attention especially on education, health and population. High percentage of young
especially adolescents suggest that policies and programs in family planning and reproductive
health will have to be expanded to meet the needs of these groups. It is also found that youth
migrate to urban areas and are living apart from their families and they need to be focused for
reproductive health services. Since these groups are in risk taking behavior, a more detailed
examination of these groups is essential for policy recommendations. There should be supportive
policies and legislation, as well as supportive environment and increased resource allocation.
Information on the risk of low age at marriage, HIV/AIDS and the importance of the use of
contraception to postpone first birth and birth interval is needed. It is also found that young people
often seek information about reproductive health from their peers and the media, rather than from
teachers, health professionals or parents. They are also more likely to obtain services from
informal sources than formal sources. Accordingly, to focus these groups, information should be
provided through media, peers and informal sectors.
There is a lack of coordinating mechanism in which ongoing scattered activities can form part
towards the development of comprehensive programs and policies. An organizational entity for
the coordination may be the Ministry of Population and Environment since it is responsible for
overall population management. Moreover a separate adolescents and youth section is the strength
of the ministry. However, Ministry needs to adopt a broader approach and holistic policy to
coordinate the activities carried out by various institutions.
These young populations in Nepal present both challenges and potentials. Therefore providing
information especially reproductive health information on today's young people is of critical
importance for the country's future economic and social well being. A comprehensive national
strategy together with comprehensive research is needed to address the issues of these people. It is
hoped that the issues discussed in this paper would provide some basis for addressing the issues of
adolescents, youth and young population of Nepal and also would help not only in formulating
policies and programs but also would help in addressing some of challenges in implementing
them.
351
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Thapa, S., Acharya, L.B. and Aryal, R.H. (1997) Schooling. Marriage, Work, and Childbearing
among the Youth Population of Nepal: Emerging Insights and Challenges, Paper Prepared
for Presentation at the Workshop on Youth Across Asia, Kathmandu, Nepal.
United Nations (1994). Program of Action Adopted at the International Conference in Population
and Development, Cairo, (United Nations Publication, Sales No. E.95.XIII.7).
World Health Organization (1997). Adolescence, the Critical Phase. the Challenges and the
Potential, New Delhi: WHO, Regional Office for South-East Asia.
World Health Organization (1998) Strategies for Adolescent Health and Development South-East
Asia Region, New Delhi.
Xenos, Kabamalan, P. M. and Westley, S.B. (1999). A look at Asia's Changing Youth Population
East-West Center, Program on Population : Asia-Pacific Population and Policy, Series No.
48.
Xenos, P. (1997). Survey Sheds New Light on Marriage and Sexuality in the Philippines, East-
West Center, Program on Population : Asia-Pacific Population and Policy, Series No. 42.
352
Annex I
Projected Population by Sex, Nepal 2001-2021

(Medium Variant)
Year Male Female Both Sex

2001 11563921 11587502 23151423
2002 11845495 11855956 23701451
2003 12126262 12123734 24249996
2004 12406222 12390837 24797059
2005 12685375 12657263 25342638
2006 12963722 12923014 25886736
2007 13240233 13187166 26427399

2008 13515938 13450643 26966581
2009 13790836 13713444 27504280
2010 14066638 13977106 28043744
2011 14343343 14241632 28584975
2012 14621285 14507232 29128517

2013 14900130 14773695 29673825
2014 15179879 15041020 30220899
2015 15461687 15310384 30772071
2016 15745554 15581787 31327341
2017 16032171 15855933 31888104

2018 16320848 16132119 32452967
2019 16611584 16410343 33021927
2020 16904379 16690606 33594985
2021 17199235 16972909 34172144
Annex II
Population Projection by Age and Sex for Nepal, 2001 - 2021 (Medium Fertility Decline Variant)
2001 2006 2011

Age
0-4 3,168,560 1,629,110 1,539,450 3,568,600 1,832,732 1,735,868 3,554,959 1,826,101 1,728,858
5-9 3,038,060 1,545,440 1,492,620 3,112,108 1,603,608 1,508,500 3,518,191 1,809,993 1,708,198
10-14 2,891,580 1,463,450 1,428,130 3,017,657 1,535,618 1,482,039 3,095,350 1,595,312 1,500,038
15-19 2,483,820 1,218,870 1,264,950 2,869,366 1,452,401 1,416,965 2,998,875 1,526,005 1,472,870
20-24 2,119,350 1,014,630 1,104,720 2,457,240 1,205,933 1,251,307 2,844,469 1,439,577 1,404,892
25-29 1,806,373 860,346 946,027 2,091,314 1,001,466 1,089,848 2,430,786 1,192,908 1,237,878
30-34 1,544,853 750,970 793,883 1,777,559 846,995 930,564 2,063,877 988,473 1,075,404
35-39 1,309,530 648,741 660,789 1,513,800 735,895 777,905 1,747,636 832,612 915,024
40-44 1,098,296 549,778 548,518 1,274,854 630,870 643,984 1,479,455 718,421 761,034
45-49 913,668 463,030 450,638 1,058,220 528,209 530,011 1,234,102 609,101 625,001
50-54 755,015 388,062 366,953 866,006 436,625 429,381 1,008,934 501,162 507,772
55-59 619,807 319,610 300,197 697,708 355,765 341,943 806,331 403,353 402,978
60-64 496,652 253,824 242,828 551,122 280,939 270,183 626,369 315,718 310,651
65-69 374,473 190,162 184,311 417,278 210,038 207,240 468,655 235,296 233,359
70-74 250,738 127,864 122,874 290,840 145,150 145,690 328,938 162,673 166,265
75-79 161,578 82,007 79,571 173,077 86,999 86,078 204,052 100,277 103,775
80+ 119,070 58,027 61,043 149,987 74,479 75,508 173,996 86,361 87,635
Total 23,151,423 11,563,921 11,587,502 25,886,736 12,963,722 12,923,014 28,584,975 14,343,343 14,241,632
Contd…
Population Projection by Age and Sex for Nepal, 2001 - 2021 (Medium Fertility Decline Variant).
2016 2021
Age
0-4 3,643,951 1,871,917 1,772,034 3,812,200 1,957,773 1,854,427
5-9 3,513,492 1,807,542 1,705,950 3,607,197 1,855,290 1,751,907
10-14 3,502,223 1,802,066 1,700,157 3,499,732 1,800,589 1,699,143
15-19 3,078,982 1,586,730 1,492,252 3,486,195 1,793,493 1,692,702
20-24 2,976,742 1,514,386 1,462,356 3,059,236 1,576,002 1,483,234
25-29 2,818,327 1,426,146 1,392,181 2,952,905 1,501,821 1,451,084
30-34 2,403,417 1,179,511 1,223,906 2,790,504 1,411,859 1,378,645
35-39 2,033,678 973,813 1,059,865 2,372,290 1,163,844 1,208,446
40-44 1,712,615 815,088 897,527 1,997,083 955,274 1,041,809
45-49 1,436,985 696,064 740,921 1,667,912 791,859 876,053
50-54 1,181,681 580,500 601,181 1,380,762 665,713 715,049
55-59 944,711 465,610 479,101 1,111,560 541,801 569,759
60-64 729,304 360,555 368,749 859,771 418,740 441,031
65-69 537,794 266,890 270,904 631,385 307,231 324,154
70-74 373,893 184,328 189,565 433,593 211,180 222,413
75-79 233,768 113,720 120,048 268,787 130,259 138,528
80+ 205,778 100,688 105,090 241,032 116,507 124,525
Total 31,327,341 15,745,554 15,581,787 34,172,144 17,199,235 16,972,909

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FOREWORD

It is with pleasure, I wish to congratulate the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS),

December, 2003 Shanker P. Sharma

The wealth of information that is generally collected in a Census of Population, provides an

December, 2003 Tunga S. Bastola

- Radha Krishna GC**

As mentioned earlier, a population census is a complex operation consisting of “a series of closely

1.2 Population Censuses of Nepal

Table 1.1 : Population changes during the 90-year period, 1911-2001

Source : CBS, 1995, Table 1, (p. 2),

1.3 Population Census 2001

a. to develop a set of benchmark data for different purposes,

1.3.1 New Features of The 2001 Census

The main features of the 2001 census were as follows.

1.4 Planning, Administration and Organization

1.4.1 Census Planning

1.4.2 Notification in the Nepal Gazette

1.4.3 Census Administration, Organization and Manpower

Table 1.2 : Training of census field personnel

Number of Trainees Number of Training

1.5 Census Mapping

1.6 Assistance in the Census

1.7 Census Publicity

A programme on "Development of Media Strategy and Campaigning for Population Census

1.8 Census Enumeration and Quality Control

Table1.3 : Workload distribution to the census enumerators by geographic regions

Area Sample Enumeration Complete Enumeration

Source: CBS, Population Section.

Table 1.4 : Missing wards and estimated population.

Source: CBS, Population Census 2001 (4/17/2002).

1.10 Data Processing

1.11 Data Dissemination

A list of census publications is shown in Table 1.5.

Table 1.5 : List of the 2001 population census publications

S.N. Title Contents

Source : CBS, Population Section.

1.12.1 Census Questionnaire

Source: CBS, 2003.

1. Main source of drinking water 1. Serial number of household member

Source: CBS, 2003.

Source: CBS, Population Section.

Table 1.9 : Sampling fraction in the 2001 population census

Complete Enumeration Sample Enumeration Sampling Fraction

Source: CBS, Population Section.

Source: Kit, 2000.

1.15 Problems Faced in the 2001 Census

2. Transport of census materials: Transportation of census materials in respective districts and

Banthia, J. K. (2002). Census of India 2001, Series 1: Provisional Population Totals,

Central Bureau of Statistics (1987). Population Monograph of Nepal, Kathmandu: HMG/Nepal,

Central Bureau of Statistics (1995). Population Monograph of Nepal, Kathmandu: HMG/Nepal,

Central Bureau of Statistics and UNFPA (2003). Handbook of Regional Training/Workshop,

Source : CBS, Population Section.

Concepts and definitions of key items

Type of Type of house/housing unit is determined on the basis of main construction

Household These are durable and conveniences available to the household.

Occupation Type of work done determines the occupation. Occupation of an individual

Living It refers to the presence or absence of parent(s) of the children below 16

Source: CBS, Population Section.

- Bharat Raj Sharma∗∗

Population Annual Growth Doubling

Source : CBS, 1958, Table 2

2.3.1 Population Distribution by Ecological Zone