7/21/2019 Srilanka Population http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/srilanka-population 1/21 1. Population Characteristics 1.1 Population size, growth and density of population The total population of Colombo district is 2,251,274. The intercensal increase of population between 1981 and 2001 is 552,033 persons or 32.5 percent. The growth rate of the district is 1.38 percent per annum during the above period. The highest population is reported from Colombo divisional secretary's division and it is 380,946. The population of Padukka divisional secretary's division is 54,338 and it is the divisional secretary's division with lowest population. The urban sector of Colombo district comprised of four Municipal Councils (Colombo, Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Moratuwa, Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte) and two Urban Councils (Kolonnawa, Seethawakapura). Colombo Municipal Council comprises of two divisional secretary's divisions viz. Colombo and Thimbirigasyaya. Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council also comprises of two divisional secretary's divisions viz. Dehiwala and Ratmalana. Moratuwa and Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte Municipal Councils cover the total area of Moratuwa and Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte divisional secretary's divisions respectively. The population of urban sector is 1,229,572 and it is 54.6 percent of the total district population. Colombo Municipal Council is the largest and most densely populated urban area in the district as well as in the country and it is more than half of the urban population in the district (52.6 percent). The rural and estate percentages are 45.1 percent and 0.3 percent respectively. The estate population is concentrated in Hanwella and Padukka divisional secretary's divisions only. Colombo district has a land area of 676 square kilometres (sq.km). It has a population density of 3,330 persons per sq.km. The value was 2,603 persons per sq.km. according to the census 1981. The population density of the urban area is 13,011 persons per sq.km. 1.2 Age-Sex composition Age-sex composition of a population describes the pattern of the distribution of people in different age and sex categories. It is determined by the past trends of fertility, mortality and migration, which are the components of population change. Figure 1 shows the age pyramid for Colombo district, which shows the distribution of population by 5 year age groups and sex.
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1.1 Population size, growth and density of population
The total population of Colombo district is 2,251,274. The intercensal
increase of population between 1981 and 2001 is 552,033 persons or 32.5 percent.
The growth rate of the district is 1.38 percent per annum during the above period.
The highest population is reported from Colombo divisional secretary's division and itis 380,946. The population of Padukka divisional secretary's division is 54,338 and it
is the divisional secretary's division with lowest population.
The urban sector of Colombo district comprised of four Municipal Councils
(Colombo, Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Moratuwa, Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte) and two
Urban Councils (Kolonnawa, Seethawakapura). Colombo Municipal Council
comprises of two divisional secretary's divisions viz. Colombo and Thimbirigasyaya.
Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council also comprises of two divisional
secretary's divisions viz. Dehiwala and Ratmalana. Moratuwa and Sri
Jayawardanapura Kotte Municipal Councils cover the total area of Moratuwa and SriJayawardanapura Kotte divisional secretary's divisions respectively.
The population of urban sector is 1,229,572 and it is 54.6 percent of the total
district population. Colombo Municipal Council is the largest and most densely
populated urban area in the district as well as in the country and it is more than half of
the urban population in the district (52.6 percent). The rural and estate percentages
are 45.1 percent and 0.3 percent respectively. The estate population is concentrated in
Hanwella and Padukka divisional secretary's divisions only.
Colombo district has a land area of 676 square kilometres (sq.km). It has a
population density of 3,330 persons per sq.km. The value was 2,603 persons per sq.km.according to the census 1981. The population density of the urban area is 13,011 persons
per sq.km.
1.2 Age-Sex composition
Age-sex composition of a population describes the pattern of the distribution
of people in different age and sex categories. It is determined by the past trends of
fertility, mortality and migration, which are the components of population change.
Figure 1 shows the age pyramid for Colombo district, which shows the distribution of
Figure 3: Percentage distribution of population by religion
Other
0.1
Roman
Catholic
.1
Other
Christian
!.3
"ind#
.7
Islam
10.7
$#ddhist
70.1
The religious affiliations in Colombo district show that out of the total population
70.1 percent are Buddhists, 8.7 percent are Hindus, 10.7 percent are Islam, 8.1 percent
are Roman Catholics and 2.3 percent are Other Christians. Comparison with the
corresponding 1981 census figures reveals that Buddhists, Roman Catholics and OtherChristians have decreased while Hindus have increased from 7.7 percent to 8.7 percent
by 1.0 percentage points during the intercensal period. Followers of Islam, on the other
1.5 Literacy, School attendance and Educational attainment
Ability to read and write at least one language was regarded as literate. The
literacy rates by sex is shown in Table D.
Table D: Literacy rates by sex
1981 2001
Male 95.8 95.3
Female 92.3 94.0
Total 94.1 94.7
Literacy RateSex
The literacy rate of the population aged 10 years and over is 94.7 percent.
Literacy rate of males (95.3 percent) is higher than that of females (94.0 percent). Overall
rate has increased by 0.6 percentage points during 1981-2001.
Literacy rates in the two major languages, Sinhala and Tamil, are 83.6 percent and
19.4 percent respectively, in Colombo district. Nearly 33.1 percent of the population can
read and write English. These are shown in Figure 4 together with the ability to speak in
the three languages. Ability to speak English is slightly lower than the ability to read and
write English, in contrast to other two languages.
Literacy in a given language is predominantly determined by ethnic affiliations ofthe person. Table E shows the distribution of literate persons of different ethnic groups
by languages in which they are literate.
Figure 4: Percentage distribution of population aged 10 years and over by ability to
As some of the children who completed age 5 by the census date could not get a
chance to enter schooling system in that year, it is more appropriate to consider age range
6-14 years as the group who should compulsorily be at school. A high proportion of 91.6
percent of children in 6-14 years are attending school in Colombo district. Here again
noticeable differentials do not exist between girls and boys. The average attendance of
15-19 year age group is 44.0 percentage points below that of 10-14 year age group. This
is expected as large numbers terminate their formal schooling during 15-19 age group
after G.C.E. (O/L) and G.C.E. (A/L) examinations. School attendance by single years of
age and sex is shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Percentage distribution of school attendance by single years of age and sex
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Age
P e r c e n t a g e
Male Female
As shown in Figure 5 there is no appreciable drop in the level of attendance uptoabout age 14. It started to decline sharply after age 15. Although the boys and girls have
almost equal attendance upto around age 17, female attendance is higher in age 18 and 19
years.
Educational Attainment
The percentage distribution of population 5 years of age and over by educational
attainment is shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6: Percentage distribution of population aged 5 years and over by educational
Among the education categories shown in Figure 6, the highest percentage ofthe population (24.9) aged 5 years and over passed G.C.E. (O/L). Another 19.4
percent passed year 9-10; 15.3 percent passed year 6-8 and yet another 15.2 percent
recorded as completed their G.C.E. (A/L). Only 2.5 percent of the population aged 5
years and over record attainments with a degree and above.
There is no definite pattern in gender differences of educational attainment in
Colombo district. Upto year 8, education attainment of females are better than males; but
the pattern reverses for 'passed year 9-10' and G.C.E. (O/L)' categories. But higher
percentage of females (16.0 percent) passed G.C.E. (A/L) than males (14.4 percent).
Percentage of graduates are more prominent among males (2.8 percent) than females (2.2
percent).
1.6 Labour Force Participation
Economically active population or the labour force comprised of employed and
unemployed persons. The proportion of the economically active population to the total
population aged 10 years and over is called the labour force participation rate. It is 48.4
percent for Colombo district. Female labour force participation rate (28.6 percent) is
very much lower than the males (67.6 percent). Labour force participation rates
computed for five year age groups provide a more refined measure as the overall ratedepends on the age composition of the population.
Figure 7: Labour force participation rate by age and sex
35-39 age group. The sharp increase of female participation rate can be seen upto age
20-24 and it decreases gradually thereafter. The peak value of 46.6 percent can be
seen for 20-24 age group.
The economically inactive rate is highest (98.1 percent) for 10-14 age group. As
expected 94.4 percent of them are students.
Unemployment
The total number of unemployed population in the district is 57,089. Majority ofthem (62.8 percent) are males. Percentage distribution of unemployed persons by age
and sex is shown in Table H.
Table H: Percentage distribution of unemployed population by age and sex
10 - 14 1.1 1.1 1.2 15 - 19 24.6 25.3 23.3
20 - 24 38.5 37.3 40.5
25 - 29 15.7 15.2 16.5
0 - 4 7.6 7.5 7.7
5 - 9 4.7 5.0 4.2
40 - 44 3.0 3.3 2.6
45 - 49 1.9 2.1 1.6
50 - 54 1.3 1.5 1.0
55 - 59 0.8 0.9 0.6
60 - 64 0.4 0.4 0.3
65+ 0.4 0.5 0.4
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
*"e Total Male Female
The highest concentration of unemployed is among young adults in the broad age
group 15-29 which accounts for nearly 79 percent of the total unemployment. In the
15-19 age group, the percentage unemployed is higher for males than females but the
pattern reverse for ages between 20-34.
Unemployment rate, which is expressed as the percentage of unemployed persons
to the total labour force, by age and sex is shown in Table I.
The overall unemployment rate in Colombo district is 6.3 percent. Although the
number of unemployed males exceed that of females, unemployment rate of females (8.0percent) is higher than that of males (5.5 percent). Age specific unemployment rates
reveal that the unemployment rate is very high for 15-19 and 20-24 age groups. Nearly
24 percent of the labour force in the age group 15-19 and nearly 15 percent of the 20-24
age group are unemployed. It is also seen that female rates are higher than the male rates
at all age groups excluding 15-19.
Unemployment rate by level of education is shown in Fig.8.
86.3 percent are permanent, 11.5 percent are semi-permanent and 0.3 percent are
improvised.
2.2 Principal materials of Wall, Floor and Roof
Out of occupied housing units 53.1 percent have walls constructed with bricksand 25.1 percent have walls with cement block. More than 83 percent of occupied
housing units have cement floors and 11.4 percent have tile floors. Asbestos are used for
the roof in 48.8 percent of occupied housing units. The corresponding percentages for tile
and metal sheet are 28.1 and 10.7 respectively.
2.3 Type of Structure
Of the existing occupied housing units in Colombo district 71.7 percent are
single houses and 8.8 percent are attached houses. About 96 percent of housing units are
used only for residential purposes and a very small percentage is used for both residential
and commercial purposes (4.2 percent).
2.4 Average number of Rooms
The average number of rooms per occupied housing unit in Colombo district
is 4.0. Examination by sector shows that the highest value is in the rural sector 4.3.
The corresponding values for the urban and estate sectors are 3.8 and 2.6 respectively.
Average number of rooms by permanent, semi-permanent and improvised housing
units are 4.3, 2.4 and 1.4 respectively.
2.5 Year of Construction
In Colombo district, nearly 43.4 percent of occupied housing units are
constructed during the period 1970-1994. About 22.3 percent are constructed before 1970
and 28.9 percent are built in 1995 and onwards.
Figure 11 : Percentage of occupied housing units by year of construction
About 45 percent of permanent housing units are constructed during the period of
1970-1994; 67.6 percent of improvised housing units and 40.6 percent of semi-permanent
housing units are built in the year 1995 and onwards. A higher percentage of occupiedhousing units in the urban sector is constructed before 1970 (27.0 percent), but the
highest percentage remained during the period of 1970-1994.
2.6 Household Composition
There are 493,085 households in 473,045 occupied housing units in Colombo
district. About 97 percent of the occupied housing units in the district has one household
and a small number of housing units have two or more households (3.3 percent). The
average size of household in the district is 4.4 persons and the average occupants per
room is 1.1.
2.7 Toilet Facilities
Nearly 89 percent of the households in occupied housing units have a
toilet of their own; 75.0 percent have a toilet exclusively for the household and 13.6
percent are sharing with another household. Only 0.3 percent of households are not
using a toilet at all.
Figure 12: Percentage of households in occupied housing units by type of toilet