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The decadal population growth in West Bengal has gone down and the state is now the fourth populous state in the country.
“Decadal population growth in West Bengal has registered a fall from 17.77 per cent in 2001 to 13.93 per cent in 2011. It has slowed down the rise of overall population in the state,” the Director of Census Operations for State, Mr Dipak Ghosh, said while announcing the 2011 provisional census report here on Tuesday.
The decadal population growth from 2001 to 2011 in the state stood at 1,11,71,539 with 54,61,404 males and 57,10,135 females.
He said the census 2011 has revealed the total population of the state at 9,13,47,736 in which males count 4,69,27,389 and females 4,44,20,347. With the rise of about 1.2 crore population, West Bengal’s population rose to a little over 9.13 crore.
West Bengal is the fourth populous state after Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar, Mr Ghosh said adding that North 24-Parganas district in the state emerged as the second most populous district in the country after Thane district in Maharashtra.
Two districts with highest decadal growth rate are North Dinajpur with 22.9 per cent and Malda 21.5 per cent, while with the lowest rate are Kolkata 1.9 per cent and Hooghly 9.5 per cent.
Most populous districts in the state are North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas, while the least populous districts Darjeeling and South Dinajpur.
Density of population (per sq km) in the state stood at 1,029 against only 382 at national level, he said.
The state has also registered a fall in population in 0-6 age group which witnessed an increase by 1,01,12,599 persons over 2001 census. This was 11.07 per cent of the total population growth in the state.
Sex ratio (females per 1000 males) in the state stood at 947 against 940 at the national level. The literacy rate in the state has also gone up by 77.08 per cent, which was against 74.04 per cent at the national level, Mr Ghosh said adding that the number of increased literates in the state figured at 6,26,14,556 persons.
Top two districts in literacy rates are East Midnapore and Kolkata with 87.66 per cent and 87.14 per cent, respectively. In 2001 census, Kolkata was at top with 80.86 per cent and East Midnapore 80.16 per cent literacy rates.
The bottom two districts in literacy rates in the current census are North Dinajpur and Malda with 60.13 per cent and 62.71 per cent respectively, he said.
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