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History & Society · Population

Current Population of Nepal नेपालको वर्तमान जनसंख्या

Nepal's most recent measured population is 29,164,578 people — the final figure of the National Population and Housing Census 2021. The counter below grows that total forward at the official 0.92%-a-year intercensal growth rate to give a live estimate of how many Nepalis there are today. It is a projection, not a count: the only way to measure the population is a census, and the next one is due in 2031. Below the counter is the full census record from 1911 to 2021 and the official projection to 2051.

Nepal population — live estimate

Projection

30,413,729

A projection, not a measured count. It grows the final 2021 census total of 29,164,578 forward at the NSO intercensal rate of 0.92% per year — roughly 0.01 people per second (about 766 a day).

Census base (2021)

29,164,578

Growth rate

0.92%/yr

Per second

+0.01

Per day

+766

Server estimate at 17 June 2026: 30,413,729. This counter assumes the 0.92% rate has held unchanged since census day (25 November 2021); the NSO's own projections expect growth to slow to 0.35–0.55% a year, so the true figure is likely lower. Treat it as illustrative, not official.

Last measured (2021 census)

29,164,578

Census day 25 November 2021 (2078 BS) · final results 24 March 2023

Annual growth 2011–2021

0.92%

Lowest since the 1930–41 period — roughly 80 years

Total fertility rate

1.94

Census-based, below replacement · NDHS 2022 measured 2.1

Projected 2051 (medium)

33.5 m

NSO Population Projections for Nepal 2021–2051

How the live estimate works

Why this is a projection, not a count

The counter is honest arithmetic on one official measurement. It is useful as an order-of-magnitude figure — and clearly not a substitute for a census.

01

Start from the census

The base is the final 2021 census count — 29,164,578 people on 25 November 2021. This is the last time anyone actually counted Nepal's population.

02

Apply the growth rate

It compounds the official 2011–2021 rate of 0.92% a year continuously — about 0.01 people per second from the 2021 base.

03

Read it with caution

Growth has been slowing; the NSO projects 0.35–0.55% a year ahead. Holding 0.92% fixed likely over-estimates, so treat the live figure as illustrative.

The full record

Population of Nepal by census, 1911–2021

Every census total since Nepal's first count in 1911, newest first, with the intercensal growth rate for each round. The population fell across 1920 and 1930, then rose without interruption — quintupling in ninety years. Click a year for the detailed entry.

Census yearPopulationGrowth %/yrNote
20212078 BS29,164,578+0.92The lowest intercensal growth rate since the 1930–41 period — roughly 80 years.
20112068 BS26,494,504+1.35
200123,151,423+2.25
199118,491,097+2.08
198115,022,839+2.62The fastest intercensal growth in Nepal's recorded series.
197111,555,983+2.05
19619,412,996+1.64
1952/548,256,625+2.27
19416,283,649+1.16Headcount era — limited comparability
19305,532,574-0.07Headcount era — limited comparability
19205,573,788-0.13Headcount era — limited comparability
19111968 BS5,638,749—Headcount era — limited comparability

Source: NPHC 2021 National Report intercensal table (National Statistics Office). The four censuses before 1952/54 were simple headcounts of limited coverage and comparability — the official report says so itself.

What the number really means

A growing population that is growing slower than ever

The headline is two facts at once: Nepal has more people than ever, and they are being added more slowly than at any time in roughly eighty years.

The last time anyone counted Nepal's population was census day, 25 November 2021, when the National Population and Housing Census 2021 enumerated 29,164,578 people (final figure, released 24 March 2023; the January 2022 preliminary count of 29,192,480 was revised down). The resident population is 51.02% female and 48.98% male, with 2,928 people counted under “other gender” for the first time.

The single most consequential number from that census is the growth rate: 0.92% a year, the lowest since the 1930–41 intercensal period. The decade added only 2,670,074 people, fewer than any period since the 1960s despite a base population nearly three times larger. Two census-measured forces explain it: the census-based total fertility rate fell to 1.94 children per woman — below the 2.1 replacement level for the first time in the country's history — and 2,190,592 Nepalis (7.5% of the population, mostly young men) were counted absent abroad and subtracted from the total.

That is why the live counter above should be read as an upper-bound illustration. It assumes 0.92% has held unchanged since 2021, but every signal — below-replacement fertility, continued emigration, an ageing age structure — points to slower growth ahead. The NSO's own projections (2025) expect 0.35–0.55% a year through the projection period (medium scenario). Their medium scenario reaches 30.6 million in 2031 and 33.5 million in 2051; the low scenario implies the population peaks and begins to decline before 2051. Projections deserve caution — projections miss: the previous official projection (cbs 2014, medium variant) projected 30,378,055 people for 2021 — the census counted 29,164,578, an overshoot of about 1.2 million in a single decade, because fertility fell and emigration rose faster than assumed.

The next thirty years

Official projections to 2051

Built on the 2021 census, the NSO's medium scenario sees Nepal adding only about 4.4 million people in three decades before near-stasis — a measured forecast to set against the live counter.

2021 (census base)

29.16 m

Counted, not projected

2031 (medium scenario)

30.60 m

NSO Population Projections 2021–2051

2041 (medium scenario)

32.06 m

NSO Population Projections 2021–2051

2051 (medium scenario)

33.54 m

NSO Population Projections 2021–2051

Common questions

Current population of Nepal — FAQ

What is the current population of Nepal?

Nepal's last official count was 29,164,578 people (final National Population and Housing Census 2021, census day 25 November 2021). There is no newer measured figure. The live counter on this page projects that total forward at the NSO's intercensal growth rate of 0.92% a year — so it is an estimate, not a measurement. As of 17 June 2026 the projection is about 30,413,729; the next census is due in 2031.

Is the live population counter accurate?

It is a transparent projection, not an official figure. It applies the 2011–2021 growth rate of 0.92% per year continuously from the 2021 census base, which adds roughly 0.85 people per second. The NSO's own 2025 projections expect growth to slow to 0.35–0.55% a year as fertility stays below replacement and emigration continues, so the live number is likely an over-estimate. Only a census measures the population directly.

How fast is Nepal's population growing?

At 0.92% a year (the 2011–2021 intercensal rate) — the lowest since the 1930–41 period, roughly 80 years. The decade added only 2,670,074 people despite a far larger base, because the census-based total fertility rate fell to 1.94 (below the 2.1 replacement level) and 2,190,592 Nepalis were counted absent abroad. The NSO calculates the population would take about 75 years to double at this rate.

What was Nepal's population in the first census?

5,638,749 in 1911 (1968 BS), Nepal's first count — a door-to-door headcount under Rana Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher. The population actually fell across the next two censuses (1920 and 1930) before rising without interruption, quintupling to 29.16 million by 2021.

What will Nepal's population be in 2051?

The NSO's official projections (2025) put the medium scenario at 30.6 million in 2031, 32.1 million in 2041 and 33.5 million in 2051, with growth slowing to 0.35–0.55% a year; the low scenario implies a peak and decline before 2051. Projections carry real uncertainty: the previous CBS 2014 projection overshot the actual 2021 census by about 1.2 million people in a single decade.

Go deeper

The numbers behind the count

The full census story, and who the 29.16 million are — 142 caste/ethnic groups, 124 mother tongues, 10 religions.

Census

Census 1911–2021 →

Every count since 1911 with growth, literacy, fertility, urbanisation and migration — and the official projections to 2051, with the caveats the reports themselves attach.

People of Nepal

The people overview →

Ethnicity, language, religion, provinces and ecological belts — the full Census 2021 portrait of who Nepalis are and where they live.

Ethnic groups

All 142 groups →

The top-20 table with populations, the eight broad social categories, and the inclusion framework written into the 2015 constitution.

Sources & data note

The live counter is a projection only: it grows the final 2021 census total (29,164,578) forward at the NSO's 0.92%-a-year intercensal rate and is not an official or measured figure. All census totals, growth rates and 2021 indicators are the final published figures of the National Statistics Office (NPHC 2021 National Report, March 2023) — not the January 2022 preliminary release. Literacy, urbanization, fertility and life-expectancy series carry definitional caveats stated alongside the numbers: the four censuses before 1952/54 were simple headcounts; the literacy definition tightened in 1991; the post-2014 urban share is administrative; the 2021 TFR has both a census-based (1.94) and a survey-based (NDHS 2022: 2.1) value. Note that the legacy census portal censusnepal.cbs.gov.np serves broken links — the working official host is censusresults.nsonepal.gov.np, mirrored by UNFPA Nepal. Where credible sources disagree, the disagreement is stated; no single 'tidy' number is invented.