The population census was started in Nepal from 1968 B.S. But the census taken from 2018 B.S. is only regarded as scientific. The current population situation of Nepal according to the population census by the Central Bureau of Statistics is presented below.

1. Size of Population:
The size of Population of Nepal according to census 2068 B.S. is 2,66,20,809. Out of this total population, male population is 1,29,27,431 (48.56%) and female population is 1,36,93,378 (51.44%).

2. Composition of Population:
The composition of Population is al following:

a) On the basis of sex: If the population of the country is divided into male and female based on sex is called sex composition. Sex ratio is expressed as:

Sex Ratio = ( Total Population of Male ) / ( Total Population of Female ) X 100%

b) On the basis of age group: Age group is that factor which shows inactive or dependent population and active or independent population in the total population. According to this census, there are three age groups on the basis of economic engagement.

* Age (0 – 14)/age (60 – 60+) = They are inactive population because they are not engaged in economic activities.

* Age (16 – 59) = They are active population because they are engaged in economic activities.

c) On the basis of religion: Nepal has declared as the religion-secular country since 2006 A.D. However, more than 80% of people are Hindus. Although it is the birthplace of Lord Buddha, Buddhists are only 10.7%, Muslim is 4.2%, others 5.1%.

d) On the basis of the mother tongue:
According to population census 2058, there are 93 languages in Nepal. On the basis of mother tongue, the people having Nepali language are highest (48.6%). The population speaking Maithili (12.35%), Bhojpuri (7.53%), Tharu (5.86%), Tamang (5.91%), Newari (3.36%) and others (17.15%)

3. Density of Population:
The density of population means the population residing within a square km. According to population census 2068, the average density of the population of Nepal is 181 persons per sq.km. In terms of density of population, the most populated district is Kathmandu (4408 persons per sq. km), whereas, the least populated district is Manang (3 persons per sq.km.)

4. Distribution of population:
The population residing in different geographical regions, development regions, zones, and districts are called distribution of the population. The distribution of the population is as follows:

a) On the basis of geographical regions:
Geographically, Nepal is divided into Mountains, Hills, and Terai. The size of Population in Mt. region is lowest (6.7%), Hilly region (43.1%), and the terai region has the highest number of people (50.2%).

b) On the basis of development regions:

* The distribution on eastern development region is 21.9 %

* The distribution on central development region is 36.5 %

* The distribution on western development region is 18.6 %

* The distribution on Mid-western development region is 13.5 %

* The distribution on Far-western development region is 9.6 %

5. Occupational classification:
Occupational classification is the division of population among different occupation. About 74% of the population is engaged in agriculture and 26% of the population is engaged in the non-agricultural sector.

6. Growth of population:
The growth rate of population has been decreased from 2.24% to 1.4%.