Delhi’s population is 2.3cr, up 37.5% in 15 years: Census

NEW DELHI: The first phase of Census in Delhi, which concluded Sunday, has revealed that 2.3 crore people live in the capital, 37.5% more than the number (1.7 crore) in the last count conducted in 2011.

North East Delhi, with 28.7 lakh residents, is the city’s most populated district while New Delhi has the fewest people at 2.4 lakh.The total number of households in the city has risen by nearly 60% to 55 lakh, from 34 lakh in 2011, showing a much higher rate of growth than the population. This points to a steady decline in the average family size, with nuclear families and single-person households becoming more common across the city, an official said.

South West Delhi, with 25 lakh residents, is the second most populous district, followed by West Delhi at 24.4 lakh. The three districts together account for around 34% of Delhi’s population. East Delhi has a population of 21.6 lakh, followed by South East Delhi (22.7 lakh), North West Delhi (19.1 lakh) and South Delhi (20.5 lakh).While North East Delhi is the most populous district, South West Delhi has the highest number of households at 6.2 lakh, followed by North East Delhi at 6.1 lakh and West Delhi at 5.9 lakh.

South East Delhi has 5.4 lakh households and South Delhi 5.3 lakh.The houselisting exercise found 8.2 lakh census houses in South West Delhi, the highest among all districts, followed by North East Delhi with 8 lakh and West Delhi with more than 8 lakh. Outer North Delhi has 7.2 lakh census houses, while South District has 7.5 lakh.

Among the districts, New Delhi recorded the lowest population at 2.4 lakh and the fewest households at 63,050.

It also had the lowest number of census houses at around 1 lakh.Comparisons with district-level data from Census 2011 are difficult because Delhi’s districts have increased from nine to 13, and boundaries have been redrawn. Officials said these population figures, from the houselisting phase, were provisional and the final numbers will be known after the enumeration phase, scheduled for Feb 2027.According to Census authorities, the houselisting phase was conducted between April and Sept 2026. The population figures are based on a reference date of March 1, 2027, and only 3% of Delhi households used self-enumeration during the exercise.