Sri Lanka Population by District (Census 2024)
Population, density, growth and composition for every Sri Lankan district, from the 2024 census. Official figures, no signup.
How it works
Every count on this page is a published figure from the Department of Census and Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2024, Final Report (ISBN 978-624-6716-46-2). The 15th census of Sri Lanka was taken with a reference date of 19 December 2024 and counted 21,781,800 people. Nothing here is a projection or a mid-year estimate. Ten tables are transcribed: 3.1 for the national series, 3.2 for population by province and district, 3.3 for the 1981 to 2024 series with growth rates, 3.4 for density, 3.5 and 3.6 for sector, 5.2.1 for people temporarily living abroad, 6.1.11 for ethnicity and 6.1.14 with 6.1.15 for religion.
What is computed, and what is copied. Counts are copied. Four things are worked out here, and each is labelled on the page where it appears:
- Share of the national total.
share = district population / 21,781,800 × 100, to one decimal. This is checkable rather than merely asserted: the census prints its own percentage in Table 3.2, and the computed figure matches it for all 25 districts and all nine provinces. - Rank. Districts sorted descending on the metric, then the 1-based index. Population ranks come off Table 3.2, density ranks off Table 3.4.
- Intercensal change.
absolute = P2024 − P2012andpercent = (P2024 − P2012) / P2012 × 100. These are not in the report at district level, so they are marked as derived wherever they appear. - Composition shares.Each group's count over the district total, to one decimal. Note that this is a different figure from the census's own percentage table 6.1.12, which gives each ethnic group's share acrossdistricts rather than each district's internal split.
Density is read, never derived.It would be easy to divide a population by a land area and call the result density. That would produce a figure contradicting the source. The census cites the Survey Department's August 2024 revised national land area of 67,240 km², but 21,781,800 divided by that is 324, while the census publishes 350. The difference is that district densities are computed on land area excluding inland waters. So the published column in Table 3.4 is used as printed.
Growth rates are the census's own. The average annual growth rate in Table 3.3 is never recomputed for display, because the census reference dates are not whole years apart. The 2012 and 2024 censuses are 4,657 days apart, which is 12.75 years, not 12. Mullaitivu is the case that proves it: from 92,238 to 122,619, the exponential rate ln(P2024 / P2012) / 12.75 gives 2.2%, which is exactly what the census prints, while dividing by a flat 12 years gives 2.4%, which does not. The page runs that formula as a cross-check on all 25 districts and shows the result in the reconciliation table below, but it always displays the published rate.
Gaps are left as gaps.The 2001 census was not completed in Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Batticaloa and Trincomalee, so those cells read "not enumerated" rather than carrying an interpolated number. Jaffna and Kilinochchi were a single district in 1981, so Kilinochchi has no 1981 density. A zero, by contrast, is a real count: Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Moneragala genuinely have no urban sector, and the page shows 0, not a dash.
Rounding is not fudged. Composition shares are each rounded to one decimal independently, so they sometimes total 100.1% rather than 100.0%. The panel says so rather than quietly adjusting a row to force the total.
Worked examples
Checked against the census report
The figures are reconciled before the page renders, and the reconciliation is shown rather than claimed. 19 of 21 checks agree exactly. The 2 that do not are discrepancies inside the published report, not in this transcription, and each one carries a note saying exactly what the difference is.
The strongest check costs nothing and catches almost everything: the 350 ethnicity cells and 300 religion cells across the 25districts are summed and compared against the "Sri Lanka" rows of the same tables, which were transcribed separately. One mistyped digit anywhere in those tables would break it. The same applies to the district populations against the national total, the province subtotals against their own districts, and each district's sector, ethnicity and religion rows against its own population.
| Check | Expected | Computed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| The 25 district populations sum to the national totalTable 3.2 | 21781800 | 21781800 | Agrees |
| The 25 district populations sum to the 2012 national totalTable 3.3 | 20359439 | 20359439 | Agrees |
| The 1981 district counts sum to the Table 3.3 national figureTable 3.3, which differs from Table 3.1 by 476The gap of 217,050 is in the source, not in this transcription: Table 3.3 restates each district's 1981 count to today's boundaries but keeps the originally published 1981 national total, so the column does not add up to its own total row. Every district figure here matches the printed table exactly. The page shows the 1981 row as published and never computes a 1981 share or a national 1981 figure from the district column. | 14846274 | 14629224 | Source differs |
| Each province total equals the sum of its districtsTable 3.2 | 0 provinces differ | 0 provinces differ | Agrees |
| Our computed share matches the published percentage for all 25 districtsTable 3.2 | 25 of 25 agree | 25 of 25 agree | Agrees |
| Each district's ethnic group counts sum to its total, 2012 and 2024Table 6.1.11 | 0 districts differ | 0 districts differ | Agrees |
| Each district's religion counts sum to its total, 2012 and 2024Tables 6.1.14 and 6.1.15 | 0 districts differ | 0 districts differ | Agrees |
| Each district's four sector counts sum to its totalTable 3.6 | 0 districts differ | 0 districts differ | Agrees |
| Male plus female equals the district total living abroadTable 5.2.1 | 0 districts differ | 0 districts differ | Agrees |
| District counts of people temporarily abroad sum to the national figureTable 5.2.1 | 672249 | 672249 | Agrees |
| All 350 district ethnicity cells sum to the published national rowTable 6.1.11, Sri Lanka row, transcribed separately | every column agrees | every column agrees | Agrees |
| All 300 district religion cells sum to the published national rowsTables 6.1.14 and 6.1.15, Sri Lanka rows, transcribed separately | every column agrees | every column agrees | Agrees |
| Published 2012 to 2024 growth rates reproduced from the census datesTable 3.3, recomputed as ln(P2024 / P2012) / 12.75 yearsKilinochchi is the single exception. The census dates give 1.4585%, which rounds to 1.5%, where Table 3.3 prints 1.4%. The source rounds the other way elsewhere (Colombo's 0.1704% is printed as 0.2%), so this is a rounding convention inside the report rather than a different formula. The published rate is what the page displays. | 25 of 25 agree | 24 of 25 agree | Source differs |
| Worked example 1: Colombo's share of the national total2,375,415 / 21,781,800, hand-computed as 10.9% | 10.9% | 10.9% | Agrees |
| Worked example 2: Mullaitivu's rank and change since 2012Table 3.2, hand-computed as rank 25 and +32.9% | rank 25, +30,381 (32.9%) | rank 25, +30,381 (32.9%) | Agrees |
| Worked example 3: Mullaitivu's growth rate from the census dates, not whole yearsTable 3.3 publishes 2.2%; a flat 12-year divisor returns 2.4% | 2.2% by dates, 2.4% by whole years | 2.2% by dates, 2.4% by whole years | Agrees |
| Worked example 4: Vavuniya barely moved between the two censuses172,312 - 172,115, hand-computed as +197 and +0.1% | +197 (0.1%) | +197 (0.1%) | Agrees |
| Worked example 5: Mannar's population fell between 1981 and 201299,570 - 105,276, hand-computed as -5,706 and -5.4% | -5,706 (-5.4%) | -5,706 (-5.4%) | Agrees |
| Worked example 6: Mullaitivu has no urban sector at allTable 3.6, hand-computed as 0.0% urban and 100.0% rural | 0.0% urban, 100.0% rural | 0.0% urban, 100.0% rural | Agrees |
| Worked example 7: the national intercensal increase matches Table 3.1Table 3.1 prints +1,422,361 and 7.0% | +1,422,361 (7.0%) | +1,422,361 (7.0%) | Agrees |
| Density is read from Table 3.4, never divided out of the revised land areaTable 3.4 note (iii): 21,781,800 / 67,240 km² would give the wrong answer | 350 published, 324 if derived | 350 published, 324 if derived | Agrees |
On the growth rate row: Kilinochchi's 2012 to 2024 rate works out at 1.5% from the census dates where the report prints 1.4%. The report rounds the other way elsewhere, so this is a rounding convention inside the publication. The published figure is what this page displays.
Population of all 25 districts, Census 2024
The full table, largest first. Population and density are published figures; share and the change since 2012 are worked out from them.
| # | District | Province | Population 2024 | Share | Density | 2012 to 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gampaha | Western | 2,436,142 | 11.2% | 1,776 | +5.7% |
| 2 | Colombo | Western | 2,375,415 | 10.9% | 3,551 | +2.2% |
| 3 | Kurunegala | North Western | 1,768,156 | 8.1% | 380 | +9.2% |
| 4 | Kandy | Central | 1,461,895 | 6.7% | 780 | +6.3% |
| 5 | Kalutara | Western | 1,305,784 | 6.0% | 805 | +6.9% |
| 6 | Ratnapura | Sabaragamuwa | 1,145,423 | 5.3% | 356 | +5.3% |
| 7 | Galle | Southern | 1,097,372 | 5.0% | 695 | +3.2% |
| 8 | Anuradhapura | North Central | 960,080 | 4.4% | 147 | +11.6% |
| 9 | Badulla | Uva | 872,307 | 4.0% | 314 | +7.0% |
| 10 | Kegalle | Sabaragamuwa | 870,476 | 4.0% | 530 | +3.5% |
| 11 | Matara | Southern | 837,889 | 3.8% | 648 | +2.9% |
| 12 | Puttalam | North Western | 818,816 | 3.8% | 278 | +7.4% |
| 13 | Ampara | Eastern | 744,551 | 3.4% | 179 | +14.7% |
| 14 | Nuwara Eliya | Central | 725,280 | 3.3% | 427 | +1.9% |
| 15 | Hambantota | Southern | 671,418 | 3.1% | 273 | +11.9% |
| 16 | Batticaloa | Eastern | 595,918 | 2.7% | 251 | +13.2% |
| 17 | Jaffna | Northern | 594,751 | 2.7% | 631 | +1.9% |
| 18 | Moneragala | Uva | 527,585 | 2.4% | 96 | +17.0% |
| 19 | Matale | Central | 526,870 | 2.4% | 268 | +8.7% |
| 20 | Polonnaruwa | North Central | 447,530 | 2.1% | 137 | +10.2% |
| 21 | Trincomalee | Eastern | 442,745 | 2.0% | 181 | +16.7% |
| 22 | Vavuniya | Northern | 172,312 | 0.8% | 96 | +0.1% |
| 23 | Kilinochchi | Northern | 136,710 | 0.6% | 115 | +20.4% |
| 24 | Mannar | Northern | 123,756 | 0.6% | 66 | +24.3% |
| 25 | Mullaitivu | Northern | 122,619 | 0.6% | 51 | +32.9% |
| Sri Lanka | 21,781,800 | 100.0% | 350 | +7.0% | ||
Source: Census of Population and Housing 2024, Tables 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4. Last checked against the report on 2026-10-16.
Population by province, Census 2024
| Province | Districts | Population | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western | 3 | 6,117,341 | 28.1% |
| Central | 3 | 2,714,045 | 12.5% |
| Southern | 3 | 2,606,679 | 12.0% |
| North Western | 2 | 2,586,972 | 11.9% |
| Sabaragamuwa | 2 | 2,015,899 | 9.3% |
| Eastern | 3 | 1,783,214 | 8.2% |
| North Central | 2 | 1,407,610 | 6.5% |
| Uva | 2 | 1,399,892 | 6.4% |
| Northern | 5 | 1,150,148 | 5.3% |
Every province total equals the sum of its own districts, which the reconciliation table above checks. Source: Table 3.2.
Frequently asked questions
Sources & references
- Department of Census and Statistics: Census of Population and Housing 2024, Final Report (ISBN 978-624-6716-46-2)
- Department of Census and Statistics: Census of Population and Housing 2024 landing page
- Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka: official site
- Survey Department of Sri Lanka: land area revision of August 2024, cited by the census for the 2024 density column
Figures were last checked against the Final Report PDF on 2026-10-16. A census is counted once a decade and the 2024 figures are final, so the numbers themselves do not drift. What is re-checked yearly is whether the department has reissued a corrected edition.
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