The document provides an overview and analysis of key findings from India's population census data. It discusses the following main points: 1. The census has been conducted every 10 years in India since 1871, with the most recent in 2011. It involved over 25 million people and cost $2.2 billion. 2. The census collects demographic and housing data through household surveys. This includes information on population, age, gender, religion, education level, marital status, livelihood, and infrastructure access. 3. Analysis of census data shows that over 50% of India's population lives in just six states. Nearly 69% live in rural areas, and literacy rates are 73% overall but much lower for women and

1. SocialCops Series
DECODING OPEN DATA
Population Census, India

2. We have mined and scraped
thousands of open data sets on
These data sets can be very difficult
to understand and process.
After we process open data, we
share some of our findings with
you, so you don’t have to go
through the same hassle.
This data series brings
you our insights and
analysis on India’s
biggest open data
archives.
Health
Education
Income
and more…

3. What is the
Population Census?

4. URBANIZATION
ECONOMIC
ACTIVITY
HOUSING &
HOUSEHOLD
AMENITIES
The biggest source of primary data on…
LITERACY &
EDUCATION
DEMOGRAPHY
FERTILITY &
MORTALITY
LANGUAGE
SCHEDULED
CASTES &
TRIBES
RELIGION MIGRATION

5. 2011
1991
1981
1971
2001
1961
1951
1941
1881
1931
1921
1911
1901
1891
1871
The census has been conducted
every 10 years since 1871
The most recent census happened
in 2011

6. How many people were involved?
25,42,934
total people
21 lakh
enumerators 4 lakh
supervisors &
master trainers
23,800
charge officers
1,500
district
charge officers
1,065
upper division
clerks6,905
lower division
clerks664
others

7. The Census used…

8. 7,336 x 109
tons of paper

9. comprised of
7,336 x 109
tons of paper
3,400 lakh
questionnaires
54 lakh
manuals
and

10. printed in
18
languages
7,336 x 109
tons of paper

11. The entire exercise cost
₹2,200 crore.
That’s only
₹18.33 per capita.

12. The entire exercise cost
₹2,200 crore.
That’s only
₹18.33 per capita.

13. How does the Census
actually happen ?

14. First, census officials
distribute the blank
census forms…

15. The questionnaires
and other
materials are given
to charge officers
in over 1200
locations.
1

16. The charge
officers
distribute the
blank materials
to census
supervisors.
2

17. The census
supervisors
give the blank
forms to
enumerators.
3

18. Enumerators
travel across
the country to
collect data
through house-
to-house
canvassing.
4

19. Then census officials
collect the completed
census forms…

20. Enumerators
give the filled
forms back to
census
supervisors.
5

21. The census
supervisors
give the forms
back to charge
officers.
6

22. Charge officers
send the filled
forms to one of
17 processing
centers.
7

23. At the processing
centers, 5 things
happen:
8
1. Scanning
2. Image-based
recognition
3. Image validation
4. Completion of
unknown characters
5. Tabulation

24. What data does the Census collect from
households?

25. The Census collects data using
2 different schedules:
30 questions
Houselisting
Schedule
28 questions
Population
Enumeration
Schedule

26. Houselisting Schedule data
Building
number
Census
house
number
Major
house
material
Use of
house
Condition
of house
Household
number
Total
persons
Head of
household
Sex of
head
Caste
Ownership
status
Number
of rooms
Number of
married
couples
Source of
drinking
water
Availability
of drinking
water
Source of
lighting
Latrine
within
premise
Type of
latrine
facility
Waste
water outlet
connection
Kitchen
availability
Fuel used
for cooking
Bathing
facility
Television Radio
Computer
or laptop
Telephone
or mobile
Bicycle
Scooter,
motorcycle
or moped
Car, jeep
or van
Available
banking
services

27. Population Enumeration Schedule data
Relationship
to head
Sex
Date of
birth and
age
Marital
status
Age at
marriage
Religion
Caste Disability
Mother
tongue
Other
languages
known
Literacy
status
Status of
educ.
attendance
Highest
education
level
Working
during last
year
Category
of economic
activity
Occupation
nature
Trade or
service
Class of
worker
Non-
economic
activity
Seeking or
available for
work
Travel to
place of
work
Birthplace
Place of
last
residence
Reason for
migration
Duration of
stay in last
place
Children
surviving
Children
ever born
No.
of children
born alive
last year

28. What did we
learn ?from the Census

29. Between 2001 and 2011,
India increased its population
by 181.5 million people.

30. That’s almost
equivalent to the
entire population
of Brazil

31. More than 50% of India’s population
lives in just six states
16.5%Uttar Pradesh
9.28%Maharashtra
8.6%Bihar
7.54%West Bengal
6.99%Andhra Pradesh
6.0%Madhya Pradesh

32. Villages by population
3.1%
5000-9999
16.1%
2000-4999
23.3%
1000-1999
13.7%
< 200 200-499 500-999
19.2%
23.7%
≥ 10,000
0.8%
There are 635,407 villages and
7,948 towns in India.

33. 69% of India’s
population lives in
rural areas.
Only Puducherry,
Chandigarh and Delhi
have less than 50% of
their population in
rural areas.
Percentage of population in rural areas
0-15%
15-30%
30-45%
45-60%
60-75%
75-90%
NA

34. %ofallfemales
10
20
30
40
50
< 18 18-21 22-25 > 25
2001
2011
Age of marriage (female)
The average age of marriage has risen from
17.7 to 18.7 years for females

35. %ofallmales
10
20
30
40
50
< 18 18-21 22-25 > 25
2001
2011
Age of marriage (male)
The average age of marriage has risen from
22.4 to 23.2 years for males

36. Male-led
87%
Female-led
13%
Divorced or separated
3%
Widowed
69%
Currently married
24%
Never married
4%
Never married Currently married
Widowed Divorced or separated
4%
3%
Female-led households
A quarter of female-led households
are led by a married woman

37. 1.0%
Education level32.7%
Illiterate
4.0%
Literate
without
education
6.7%
Below
primary
14.0%
Primary
11.7%
Middle
10.5%
Secondary
10.2%
Higher
secondary
Diploma,
certificate
8.9%
Graduate

38. 60-66%
66-72%
72-78%
78-84%
84-90%
90-96%
NA
The average literacy
rate is 73%.
For women, this drops
to 65.5%.
That’s 17.1 points
lower than the male
literacy rate (82.1%).
Literacy rate by state

39. In rural areas, the
literacy rate is
68.9%
In urban areas, the
literacy rate is
84.9%

40. In urban areas, the
female literacy rate is
79.9%
In rural areas, the
female literacy rate is
58.8%

41. -400
-350
-300
-250
-200
-150
-100
-50
0
50
100
Only 2 states have more
women than men.
The remaining 33 states and
UTs are missing an average
of 76 women per 1000 men.
Daman & Diu
618 women : 1000 men
Dadra & Nagar Haveli
774
Chandigarh
818
Delhi
868
Kerala
1084 women : 1000 men
Puducherry
1037
All India
943

42. For more insights,
dig into the data
and let us know what you find!

43. In case you get stuck, here’s some
Census jargon

44. CensusAbbreviations
Rural
Urban
All areas that are
not urban. Basic
unit is the revenue
village.
Areas that are
classified as STs,
CTs, and UAs
Census Town (CT)
A place with:
(a) minimum population of 5000,
(b) at least 75% of the main male working
population engaged in non-agricultural
pursuits,
(c) population density of at least 400 people
per square km.
Out Growth (OG)
A viable unit such as a village or part of a
village contiguous to a statutory town
Statutory Town (ST)
All places with a municipal council, municipal
corporation, cantonment board, or notified
area committee, etc.
Urban Agglomeration (UA)
A continuous urban spread constituting either:
(a) a town and its adjoining OGs,
(b) two or more physically contiguous towns
with or without OGs

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