The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has recently disseminated the detailed results of the 7th Population and Housing Census of Pakistan, completed in 2023. This is the first digital Census in Pakistan and the largest in South Asia. There is need to recognize these extraordinary efforts by the leadership and the staff of the PBS. The key findings report is an outstanding publication.

However, many of the magnitudes emerging from the Census are worrying in character. There appears to have been a rise in the exponential annual population growth rate between the two Censuses of 2017 and 2023, respectively.

It is estimated at 2.55% in the 2023 Census whereas in the inter-Censal period of 1998 to 2017 it was reported at 2.40%. If the current growth rate of 2.55% persists than by 2047 the population of Pakistan will rise by more than 83% from 241.5 million to over 441 million. This will undoubtedly put severe pressure on the availability of food and other necessities in the country.

There is also substantial variation in the population growth rate of the provinces between 2017 and 2023. The province with the fastest population growth rate continues to be Balochistan, with a growth rate of 3.14%, followed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with a growth rate of 2.82%.

The two larger provinces, Punjab and Sindh, have significantly lower population growth rates of 2.48% and 2.53%, respectively. However, these growth rates are still higher than those observed in the previous........

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