Today's fact
More than half of Pakistan's districts are below 50% literacy
72 of 136 districts had a literacy rate under 50% in the 2023 census.
See the full story53%Districts below 50% literacy
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Extreme
Fewer than one in five people can read in Kolai Palas Kohistan
18.8% of people aged 10 and over in Kolai Palas Kohistan could read and write, the lowest rate of any district.
18.8%Can read and write
Ranked
Pakistan's five most literate districts
Islamabad leads, with 84.0% of people aged 10 and over able to read and write.
Ranked
Where the literacy gap between men and women is widest
In Hangu, 66.0% of men aged 10 and over could read and write, but only 22.0% of women.
Contrast
Karachi Central has almost no literacy gap between men and women
83.8% of men and 83.3% of women aged 10 and over could read and write.
Men83.8%
Women83.3%
People
Pakistan's 15-point literacy gap between men and women
68.0% of men aged 10 and over could read and write, compared with 52.8% of women.
Men68.0%
Women52.8%
Comparison
Islamabad's literacy rate is twice Balochistan's
84.0% of people aged 10 and over in Islamabad could read and write, compared with 42.0% in Balochistan.
Education
Pakistan counted 25 million out-of-school children
The 2023 census counted 25.4m children aged 5 to 16 who were not in school.
Education
Four in ten Pakistanis aged 10 and over cannot read and write
The 2023 census counted 60.7% of people aged 10 and over as able to read and write. The other 39.3% could not.
39.3%Cannot read and write
Ranked
Where the census counted the most men per 100 women
Chaman recorded 127.4 men for every 100 women—the highest district ratio.
Ranked
One district is home to 13 million people
Lahore is Pakistan's largest district by census population, ahead of Faisalabad and Rawalpindi.
Extreme
Pakistan's district density gap is more than 9,000 to one
Karachi Central had 55,396 people per square kilometre; Chagai had just 6.0.
Karachi Central55,396
Chagai6.0
People
Pakistan counted 106 men for every 100 women
The 2023 census recorded 124.3m men and 117.2m women.
106:100Men
Men51.5%Women48.5%
Ranked
Sindh is Pakistan's most urban province
54.0% of Sindh's population was urban, compared with 15.0% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Scale
The largest district has 100 times the population of the smallest
Lahore counted 13.0m people; Harnai counted 128k.
Lahore13.0m
Harnai128k
Contrast
Balochistan has 44% of the land—and 6% of the people
Pakistan’s largest province by area holds only a small share of the national census population.
Share of Pakistan's land43.6%
Share of Pakistan's population6.2%
Comparison
Islamabad is four times as dense as Punjab
The capital territory had 2,609 people per square kilometre, compared with 622 in Punjab.
People
Three in five Pakistanis live in rural areas
147.6m people were counted in rural Pakistan, compared with 93.9m in towns and cities.
61.1%Rural population
Scale
Punjab is home to more than half of Pakistan
127.7m of Pakistan's 241.5m people were counted in Punjab in 2023.
52.9%Punjab
Punjab52.9%Rest of Pakistan47.1%
Change
Pakistan added nearly 34 million people in six years
The census count rose from 207.7m in 2017 to 241.5m in 2023.
2017 census207.7m
2023 census241.5m
Ranked
Pakistan's five most crowded districts
Karachi Central had 55,396 people per square kilometre—far above every district outside Karachi.
Ranked
Where Pakistan's population grew fastest
Washuk recorded the highest average annual population growth between the 2017 and 2023 censuses.
Comparison
Pakistan's biggest household-size gap
The average household in Barkhan had 9.1 people, compared with 4.1 in Kech.
Barkhan9.1
Kech4.1