via Zimstat releases final census results | The Zimbabwean 29.11.13 by Clemence Machadu
The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) has finally released the final results of the 2012 Population Census, after eleven months when it released preliminary results.
ZIMSTAT published preliminary results on the Census in December 2012, which only presented information on the sex and geographical distribution of the population. The final results now show detailed information on population size and structure, population distribution, ethnicity and citizenship, marital status, fertility, among other variables.
The final results indicate that the national population of Zimbabwe has increased by 10.9 percent over the past decade. Zimbabwe now has a total population of 13 061 239 people, compared to 11 634 663 in 2002, representing a marginal increase of 1 426 576 people.
There is also evidence of urban-rural migration, as the proportion of people living in urban areas has decreased whilst that of the rural areas has risen up. In 2002, 65 percent of people lived in rural areas whilst 35 percent lived in urban areas. However, the 2012 Census shows that 67 percent now live in the rural areas whilst 33 percent live in the urban areas. The change can be attributed to urban displacements due to things like the Operation Murambatsvina, which saw thousands of illegal shelter being destroyed in cities; as well as company closures which resulted in people losing jobs and moving to their rural areas.
Another interesting variable is the average size of households, whereby it has actually fallen down from 4.4 persons in 2002 to 4.2 persons in 2012. This is largely due to increased family planning awareness and the economic hardships which were experienced over the last decade, forcing families to reduce the number of children.
The levels of communal farmers have also fallen down from 47 percent in 2002 to 37 percent in 2012. Women still dominate the population, representing 51.9 percent with males taking the remainder.
ZIMSTAT will conduct provincial dissemination workshops to inform the public about the final results of the 2012 Census.
COMMENTS
Am I right to think the actual figure is +/- 16 061 239. Has the estimated 3m Zimbabweans(including my 8 member family,plus my clan of 16) in the diaspora been accounted for? I dont think so, because Home Affairs has no record of those who left the country.Its only when you have accurate figures can you plan effectively especially in this day and age of technoledge.
What planning ?havent seen any planning for 33 years
please publish this – musatinyepera, manzwa
Dont trust Zimstat they hve Nikuv inside trying to legitmise elections where do u c more people in rural area than towns its al Zanu pf.
And according to Zimstat if the % of communal farmers has dropped since 2002, what are the droves of people who have supposedly migrated to rural areas surviving on?
@ Kenneth, wakamboverengwa here muZimbabwe? Kana usati wamboverengwa, havaverenge vanhu varikunze kwenyika, vanoverenga vanhu varimunyika zvisinei nekuti ndevekupi uye varudzii. Chinonzi census night, kureva kuti vanhu vakarara pamba kana panzvimbo inogarwa, vanoverenga pavanouya vanobvunza kuti musi iwowo paive nevanhu vangani. chete chete.
In response to Kenneth, for your own information Zimbabwe uses one of the international census method of counting called de facto. This method counts people where they are within the borders of that country regardless of citizenship or nationality. So, of the figure which was released by the ZimStat organisation everyone who was in Zimbabwe on the census night of 17/18 August was supposed to be counted. The government doesn’t plan for ‘your clan in the diaspora’.
For Zindoga, you should know that Zimstat is apolitical, meaning that it is not influenced by anyone of the results that it produces, but dishes them as they are. It has always been the situation ever since, that there are more people who stay in the rural areas than those in the urban. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the trend is still the same and for a long time to come.