1991 Nepal census

1991 Nepal Census
1991 Nepal Census
← 1981 1991 2001 →
General information
Country	Nepal
Authority	Central Bureau of Statistics
Website	www.cbs.gov.np
Results
Total population	18,491,097 (23.09%)
Most populous Development Region	Central (6,183,955)
Least populous Development Region	Far-Western (1,679,301)

Last updated February 06, 2026

The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of Statistics. According to the census the total population of Nepal was 18,491,097.^[1]

Working with Nepal's Village Development Committees at a district level,^[2] they recorded data from all the main towns and villages of each district of the country. The data included statistics on population size, households, sex and age distribution, place of birth, residence characteristics, literacy, marital status, religion, language spoken, caste/ethnic group, economically active population, education, number of children, employment status, and occupation.^[3]

This census was followed by the 2001 Nepal census.

Key findings

The key findings of 1991 census are as follows:^[1]^[4]

Total population	18,491,097
Intercensal change	3,468,258
Intercensal change percentage	23.09%
Annual growth rate	2.08%
Population density (per km²)	125.6
Male population	9,220,974
Female population	9,270,123
Gender ratio	99.5
Literacy rate	39.6%

Population distribution

Population by ecological region (1991)^[1]^[5]
Ecological region	Population	Percentage (%)	Sex ratio	Annual growth rate (%)	Population density (per km²)
Mountain	1,443,130	7.8	98.43	1.02	27.85
Hill	8,419,889	45.5	95.34	1.61	137.25
Terai	8,628,078	46.7	103.85	2.75	253.58
Nepal	18,491,097	100	99.47	2.08	125.63

Population by development region (1991)^[1]^[5]
Development region	Population	Percentage (%)	Sex ratio	Annual growth rate (%)	Population density (per km²)
Eastern	4,446,749	24.05	100	1.84	156.25
Central	6,183,955	33.44	104	2.61	225.61
Western	3,770,678	20.39	93	1.92	128.26
Mid-Western	2,410,414	13.04	99	2.26	56.87
Far-Western	1,679,301	9.08	96	2.26	85.95
Nepal	18,491,097	100	99	2.08	125.63

Population by caste/ethnicity

Population by caste/ethnicity (1991)^[5]^[6]^[7]
S.N.	Caste/ethnicity	Poulation	Percentage (%)
1	Chhetri/Kshetri	2,968,082	16.05
2	Brahmin-Hill (Bahun)	2,388,455	12.92
3	Magar	1,339,308	7.24
4	Tharu	1,194,224	6.46
5	Newar	1,041,090	5.63
6	Tamang	1,018,252	5.51
7	Kami	963,655	5.21
8	Yadav	765,137	4.14
9	Muslim	653,055	3.53
10	Rai	525,551	2.84
11	Gurung	449,189	2.43
12	Damai/Dholi	367,989	1.99
13	Thakuri	299,473	1.62
14	Limbu	297,186	1.61
15	Sarki	276,224	1.49
16	Teli	250,732	1.36
17	Chamar/Harijan/Ram	203,919	1.10
18	Sanyasi	181,726	0.98
19	Kurmi	166,718	0.90
20	Brahmin-Terai	162,886	0.88
21	Sudhi	162,046	0.88
22	Musahar	141,980	0.77
23	Dhanuk	136,944	0.74
24	Mallaha	110,413	0.60
25	Sherpa	110,358	0.60
26	Kewat	101,482	0.55
27	Dushad/Paswan/Pasi	93,242	0.50
28	Rajbanshi	82,177	0.44
29	Kumal	76,635	0.41
30	Dhobi	76,594	0.41
31	Kumhar	72,008	0.39
32	Kanu	70,634	0.38
33	Khatwe	66,612	0.36
34	Rajput	55,712	0.30
35	Majhi	55,050	0.30
36	Kayastha	53,545	0.29
37	Danuwar	50,754	0.27
38	Halwai	44,417	0.24
39	Sunuwar	40,943	0.22
40	Chepang (Praja)	36,656	0.20
41	Rajbhar	33,433	0.18
42	Marwadi	29,173	0.16
43	Gangai	22,526	0.12
44	Thami	19,103	0.10
45	Dhimal	16,781	0.09
46	Thakali	13,731	0.07
47	Bhote	12,463	0.07
48	Darai	10,759	0.06
49	Punjabi/Sikh	9,292	0.05
50	Bengali	7,909	0.04
51	Badi	7,082	0.04
52	Bote	6,718	0.04
53	Jirel	4,889	0.03
54	Lepcha	4,826	0.03
55	Gaine	4,484	0.02
56	Raji	3,274	0.02
57	Raute	2,878	0.02
58	Churaute	1,778	0.01
Others		813,471	4.40
Not stated		7,809	0.04
Total		18,491,097	100

Population by language

Languages by number of native speakers (1991)^[5]^[7]^[8]
S.N.	Language	Number of speakers	Percentage (%)
1	Nepali	9,302,880	50.31
2	Maithili	2,191,900	11.85
3	Bhojpuri	1,379,717	7.46
4	Tharu	993,388	5.37
5	Tamang	904,456	4.89
6	Newar	690,007	3.73
7	Rai, Kirat	439,312	2.38
8	Magar	430,264	2.30
9	Awadhi	374,635	2.03
10	Gurung	227,918	1.23
11	Limbu	254,088	1.37
12	Urdu	202,208	1.09
13	Hindi	170,997	0.92
14	Bhote, Sherpa	121,819	0.66
15	Rajbansi	85,558	0.46
16	Bengali/Bangla	27,712	0.15
17	Satar	25,302	0.14
18	Chepang	25,097	0.14
19	Danuwar	23,721	0.13
20	Rajasthani	16,514	0.09
21	Jhangar/Dhanga	15,175	0.08
22	Dhimal	15,014	0.08
23	Thami	14,400	0.08
24	Majhi	11,322	0.06
25	Santhali	8,030	0.04
26	Thakali	7,113	0.04
27	Darai	6,520	0.04
28	Jirel	4,229	0.02
29	Raji	2,959	0.02
30	English	2,784	0.02
31	Kumal	1,413	0.01
32	Byansi	1,314	0.01
Others		504,171	2.73
Not stated		9,157	0.05
Total		18,491,097	100

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 POPULATION MONOGRAPH OF NEPAL VOLUME I (Population Dynamics) (PDF). Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Nepal. 2014. ISBN 978-9937-2-8971-9.
↑ "Nepal Census 2001". Nepal's Village Development Committees. Digital Himalaya. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
↑ "1991 Nepal census". Archived from the original on 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
↑ नेपालमा जनगणना [Census in Nepal](PDF) (in Nepali). National Statistics Office (NSO), Nepal. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-07-14.
1 2 3 4 Population Monograph of Nepal 2003. Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Nepal. 2003.
↑ Niraula, Badri P. (January 1998). "Caste/ethnic composition of population of Nepal". Contributions to Nepalese Studies. 25. Kathmandu, Nepal: Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies (CNAS), Tribhuvan University (TU).
1 2 Sharma, Pitamber (2014). SOME ASPECTS OF NEPAL’S SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY (PDF). Social Science Baha & Himal Books. ISBN 978 9937 597 14 2.
↑ Gurung, Harka (1997). "Linguistic Demography of Nepal" (PDF). CNAS Journal. 24.