Nepal’s Central Bureau of Statistics has finally released National Census Report 2068 (2012). The report which was released by Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai at Singha Durbar on Monday puts the current population of the country at 26,494,504. This is a nominal growth of 1.35 per cent compared to last census data held ten years back.

Nepal’s sex ratio has changed dramatically with 94.2 males for every 100 women. Women, whose number stands at 13,645,463 account for 51.5 percent of the total population , while the number of males is 12,849,041.

The census report also shows increased trans-migration from Himalayan regions to the plains. Almost half of Nepal’s population now lives in Tarai, while 43 per cent live in hilly region and 6.7 in the mountain region.

However, the highlight of the census has to be Nepal’s literacy rate, which has reached 65.9 per cent in 2011. According to the report 75 per cent males are educated in Nepal, while the number for women is over 57 per cent.