Karachi, Pakistan Population 2024

Karachi's 2024 population is now estimated at 17,648,600In 1950, the population of Karachi was 1,055,380Karachi has grown by 412,400 in the last year, which represents a 2.39% annual change.These population estimates and projections come from the latest revision of the UN World Urbanization Prospects. These estimates represent the Urban agglomeration of Karachi, which typically includes Karachi's population in addition to adjacent suburban areas.

Karachi is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in Pakistan and the capital of Sindh province. Located on the Arabian Sea, Karachi is also known as the "City of Lights" and "The Bride of the Cities." The 2016 population for the city is estimated to be 16.62 million.

In 2016, Karachi had an estimated population of more than 16 million people, which makes it the the 7th largest urban agglomeration and the largest city in the Muslim world.

City Size and Population Density

Karachi has proliferated in the last few decades, and the metropolitan area has more than 23 million people, with a population density of over 24,000 people per square kilometer, or 63,000 per square mile. This means Karachi is by far more dense than any other "megacity" with an urban population of more than 10 million except Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Mumbai. This makes Karachi the largest city in Pakistan. Karachi was previously the capital of Pakistan until Islamabad was constructed.

Karachi Demographics

Karachi's rapid growth and massive migration mean nearly 5 million people, or 50% of the population, in 2000 lived in slums, a number that is believed to have grown.

Karachiites are made up of many ethno-linguistic groups from around Pakistan, along with South Asia migrants. It is believed that about 90% of Karachi's population are migrants from many backgrounds.

By the time Pakistan gained independence in 1947, the population was mostly Sindhi and Baloch Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus. Karachi has historically been home to a large number of Gujarati Muslims, who were very early settlers to the area and formed a majority in Saddar Town. Large Gujarati Muslim communities in Karachi are the Chhipa, Ghanchi, Memon, Khoja, Bohra, and Tai.

After the 1950s, most non-Muslims left Karachi for India, but there are still small communities of Anglo-Indians, Parsis, and Goan Catholics. Many Muslim Muhajirs came to Karachi after independence from India to escape anti-Muslim programs in the country. This is why Karachi today has many South Asians. Descendants of Muslim refugees who left India are called Muhajirs, and they form a huge group in the city. They include Urdu, Gujarati, Marathi, Konkani, Rajasthani, and Malabari Muslims. Muhajirs are the largest ethnic group, accounting for 50% of the population.

There are about 10 million Bengali and Biharis from Bangladesh as well. Karachi has 1-2 million ethnic Bengalis from Bangladesh, most of whom came during the 1980s and 1990s. There are also many Rohingya Muslim refugees from Burma and Asian refugees from Uganda. Many refugees from Iran and Central Asian countries have settled in Karachi, as well as a large number of Arabs, Filipinos and Sinhalese from Sri Lanka.

The second largest ethnic group are the Pashtuns, originally from Afghanistan and Balochistan, who have been in the city for decades. Karachi has the largest concentration of urban Pakhtun in the world, including 50,000 registered Afghan refugees, making up 25% of the city's population.

Karachi also has a large number of Western expatriates, including Polish, American and British expatriates.

Karachi History

Baloch tribes from Makran and Balochistan founded Karachi as a small fishing community. Many descendants of this original population still live on the island of Abdullah Goth, near Karachi port. This village became a settlement called Kolachi-jo-Goth, which was trading across the Arabian Sea by the early 18th century. A fort was constructed with two gateways leading to the sea and the Lyari River.

After missions to the area, the British East India Company captured Karachi in 1839 and the town was annexed to British India in 1843 by Major General Charles James Napier. Karachi was then made the capital of Sindh, and the British developed its harbor for shipping produce. New businesses began to open, and the town started growing in population.

When the military cantonment was created, it became a "white" town and natives had limited access. The "native" town to the northwest was made larger to accommodate a growing mercantile population. The city was eventually connected to the rest of British India by rail in 1878 and public buildings were constructed. By 1880, the community was mostly comprised of indigenous Balochis and Sindhis. This development also led to many migrants to the city, including Arabs, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Parsis, Goan Christian, Chinese, Marathis, and Gujaratis, with a population that hit 105,000 by the end of the 19th century.

By the time of Pakistan's independence in 1947, the city was a metropolis with just under one million people. It became the capital of Pakistan for about a decade.

Karachi Population Growth

Karachi is growing at a rate of around 5% per year, in large part to due rural to urban migration in the area and the 45,000 migrant workers who come to Karachi every month from around Pakistan.

Karachi's population is now growing much faster than projected. Between 1998 and 2011, Karachi's metropolitan area rose from 9.8 to 21.2 million, an increase of 115%. This is by far the fastest growth of any metro region in the world. This rapid growth is expected to make the city of Karachi the seventh largest in the world by 2030.

Country
Pakistan
Growth Rate
2.39%

86 Rows

Year
Population
203523,128,100
203422,560,400
203322,007,400
203221,468,600
203120,943,600
203020,431,800
202919,933,500
202819,448,800
202718,977,700
202618,520,100
202518,076,800
202417,648,600
202317,236,200
202216,840,000
202116,459,500
202016,093,800
201915,741,400
201815,400,200
201715,020,900
201614,651,000
201514,289,200
201413,936,800
201313,593,000
201213,258,300
201112,930,800
201012,611,900
200912,300,900
200811,997,900
200711,701,600
200611,413,000
200511,131,600
200410,857,400
200310,589,300
200210,328,100
200110,073,400
20009,825,300
19999,582,650
19989,346,320
19979,061,540
19968,759,860
19958,467,440
19948,185,160
19937,912,290
19927,648,880
19917,393,540
19907,147,060
19896,908,800
19886,678,800
19876,455,840
19866,240,630
19856,032,580
19845,831,750
19835,637,070
19825,449,150
19815,267,490
19805,047,820
19794,815,450
19784,594,090
19774,382,890
19764,181,680
19753,989,190
19743,805,810
19733,630,850
19723,460,590
19713,285,090
19703,118,720
19692,960,780
19682,811,030
19672,668,480
19662,533,340
19652,405,040
19642,283,400
19632,167,600
19622,057,830
19611,953,610
19601,853,320
19591,756,960
19581,665,730
19571,579,240
19561,497,340
19551,419,490
19541,345,780
19531,275,900
19521,209,740
19511,146,840
19501,055,380

86 Rows

Year
Population
Change
Growth
19501,055,3800%0
19511,146,8408.67%91,460
19521,209,7405.48%62,900
19531,275,9005.47%66,160
19541,345,7805.48%69,880
19551,419,4905.48%73,710
19561,497,3405.48%77,850
19571,579,2405.47%81,900
19581,665,7305.48%86,490
19591,756,9605.48%91,230
19601,853,3205.48%96,360
19611,953,6105.41%100,290
19622,057,8305.33%104,220
19632,167,6005.33%109,770
19642,283,4005.34%115,800
19652,405,0405.33%121,640
19662,533,3405.33%128,300
19672,668,4805.33%135,140
19682,811,0305.34%142,550
19692,960,7805.33%149,750
19703,118,7205.33%157,940
19713,285,0905.33%166,370
19723,460,5905.34%175,500
19733,630,8504.92%170,260
19743,805,8104.82%174,960
19753,989,1904.82%183,380
19764,181,6804.83%192,490
19774,382,8904.81%201,210
19784,594,0904.82%211,200
19794,815,4504.82%221,360
19805,047,8204.83%232,370
19815,267,4904.35%219,670
19825,449,1503.45%181,660
19835,637,0703.45%187,920
19845,831,7503.45%194,680
19856,032,5803.44%200,830
19866,240,6303.45%208,050
19876,455,8403.45%215,210
19886,678,8003.45%222,960
19896,908,8003.44%230,000
19907,147,0603.45%238,260
19917,393,5403.45%246,480
19927,648,8803.45%255,340
19937,912,2903.44%263,410
19948,185,1603.45%272,870
19958,467,4403.45%282,280
19968,759,8603.45%292,420
19979,061,5403.44%301,680
19989,346,3203.14%284,780
19999,582,6502.53%236,330
20009,825,3002.53%242,650
200110,073,4002.53%248,100
200210,328,1002.53%254,700
200310,589,3002.53%261,200
200410,857,4002.53%268,100
200511,131,6002.53%274,200
200611,413,0002.53%281,400
200711,701,6002.53%288,600
200811,997,9002.53%296,300
200912,300,9002.53%303,000
201012,611,9002.53%311,000
201112,930,8002.53%318,900
201213,258,3002.53%327,500
201313,593,0002.52%334,700
201413,936,8002.53%343,800
201514,289,2002.53%352,400
201614,651,0002.53%361,800
201715,020,9002.52%369,900
201815,400,2002.53%379,300
201915,741,4002.22%341,200
202016,093,8002.24%352,400
202116,459,5002.27%365,700
202216,840,0002.31%380,500
202317,236,2002.35%396,200
202417,648,6002.39%412,400
202518,076,8002.43%428,200
202618,520,1002.45%443,300
202718,977,7002.47%457,600
202819,448,8002.48%471,100
202919,933,5002.49%484,700
203020,431,8002.5%498,300
203120,943,6002.5%511,800
203221,468,6002.51%525,000
203322,007,4002.51%538,800
203422,560,4002.51%553,000
203523,128,1002.52%567,700

Karachi Population Data (Urban Area)

Name
2024 Pop.
2024 Growth
Karachi17,648,6002.39%
Lahore14,407,1003.06%
Faisalabad3,800,1902.41%
Peshawar2,480,5502.85%
Gujranwala2,479,0602.63%
Rawalpindi2,430,3902.23%
Multan2,205,4102.36%
Hyderabad2,011,9602.25%
Islamabad1,266,7902.79%
Quetta1,221,5002.62%
Bahawalpur944,8122.74%
Sialkot770,9622.34%
Sargodha757,9152.17%
Larkana594,0042.63%
Sukkur581,9772.27%
Sheikhupura572,8502.56%
Rahim Yar Khan517,2722.68%
Dera Ghazikhan511,5002.98%
Sahiwal482,2242.72%
Wah473,1102.77%

Other Cities in Pakistan

  1. Karachi Metropolitan Corporation - Karachi information and statistics

Sources