Staff Reporter
THE latest census report released earlier today found that the Namibian population doubled since 1991 and now exceeded a historical threshold of 3.02 million people.
The report indicates that the Namibian population figure from the 2023 PHC is 3.02 million people. The population has grown almost twofold since the first post-independence census was conducted in 1991. Females make up a greater proportion of the population in the 2023 PHC, continuing the trend observed in the past four censuses.
Furthermore, the report notes that the population is growing at an increasing rate compared to previous censuses. The average household size, which has been on the decline since 1991, is 3.8 persons per household.
The total number of households has grown by 291,500 (representing a 62.7% increase) over the 464,839 households enumerated in 2011.
The Khomas region remains the most populous region in Namibia with a population of 494,729 people. The Ohangwena region closely follows as the second most populous region with a population count of 337,729 people.
The 2023 Population and Housing Census (PHC) is Namibia’s first fully digital census. Alex Shimuafeni, the Statistician General at the Namibia Statistics Agency, explained that the census leveraged technology available to improve operational efficiency, enhance the quality of the data collected, and enable prompt release of results.
“The 2023 PHC counted and collected detailed information on all persons who spent the Census Reference Night, that is Sunday, September 24, 2023, in Namibia (de facto approach). The initial enumeration period was from September 25, 2023, to October 6, 2023, with a mop-up period extending it to October 30, 2023, in some areas that encountered challenges.”
He further said that the 2023 Population and Housing Census Preliminary Report contains provisional results on population size and sex composition, population density, and the number of households by region.
