Population of Uttar Pradesh: Census 2011 facts and what they mean

Uttar Pradesh is home to roughly one in six Indians. In Census 2011 its population was just under 20 crore, more than Brazil's at the time. Almost every policy question about UP, from jobs and schools to hospitals, water and policing, starts from this one fact: there are a great many people, they are young, and most of them still live in villages.

UPPSC tests population in two places. Prelims GS I asks for the headline Census numbers and the district extremes, often as statement-based questions. GS VI, the UP economy and geography paper, asks you to explain them: why the east has a high sex ratio, why literacy lags, whether the young population is an asset or a strain. This guide gives you both the figures and the reasoning.

The headline numbers (Census 2011)

Work the numbers out yourself

If you know how each figure is built, you can check an option in seconds.

Density

Density is population divided by area.

• Population (Census 2011): about 19,98,12,341
• Area: about 2,40,928 sq km
• 19,98,12,341 ÷ 2,40,928 ≈ 829 persons per sq km

UP's density is more than twice India's 382. Bihar, West Bengal and Kerala were denser (Census 2011), so do not call UP the densest state; it is the most populous.

Decadal growth

Growth rate = (population in 2011 − population in 2001) ÷ population in 2001 × 100.

• 2001 population of UP (present boundaries): about 16.62 crore
• Increase: 19.98 − 16.62 = 3.36 crore
• 3.36 ÷ 16.62 × 100 ≈ 20.2%

That was faster than India's 17.7%, but slower than UP's growth in the previous decade. The state is still growing, just less quickly.

Sex ratio

India measures sex ratio as females per 1,000 males.

• Males (Census 2011): about 10.45 crore; females: about 9.53 crore
• 9.53 ÷ 10.45 × 1,000 ≈ 912

District extremes (Census 2011)

Read the pattern, not just the names:

• Bundelkhand districts such as Lalitpur and Mahoba are large, rocky and dry, so they are thinly populated. See our guide to Bundelkhand.
• Eastern districts such as Jaunpur, Azamgarh and Deoria show a high sex ratio largely because many men migrate out for work, not because of better outcomes for girls. Our guide to Purvanchal covers the migration story.
• NCR districts such as Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad draw male migrant workers, which pulls their sex ratio down while their literacy and density rise.
• Terai districts such as Shravasti and Balrampur combine floods, poverty and weak schooling, which shows in their literacy.

Religion and social groups (Census 2011)

• Hindus about 79.7%, Muslims about 19.3%, with small numbers of Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Jains. UP has the largest Muslim population of any state in absolute numbers.
• Muslim shares are higher in western UP (Rampur, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor) and in parts of the Terai.
• Scheduled Tribes are few. The best known groups are the Tharu (थारू) of the Terai and communities in Sonbhadra and nearby districts in the south-east.

Fertility and health: what changed after 2011

The Census counts people. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) tells you how families are changing between Censuses.

The total fertility rate is the average number of children a woman would have over her lifetime at current rates. Replacement level is about 2.1: the level at which a population eventually stops growing, apart from migration. UP is still above it, but falling. Most southern states reached it long ago, which is why UP and Bihar will account for a large share of India's future population growth.

Behind the fall: more girls in school for longer, more institutional births, better access to contraception and later marriage. The weak spots are child stunting, anaemia among women and children, and uneven health services in the east and in Bundelkhand. For the service side, see the health system of UP.

Population policy

In July 2021 the state released the Uttar Pradesh Population Policy 2021–2030 (जनसंख्या नीति). Its aims include lowering fertility, reducing maternal and infant deaths, widening access to contraception, and improving adolescent health and nutrition.

Dividend or burden?

Regional picture

For cities and towns, see urbanisation in UP.

Prelims practice

1. According to Census 2011, the sex ratio of Uttar Pradesh was:
   • (a) 902
   • (b) 912
   • (c) 929
   • (d) 943
2. Which district of UP had the lowest population density in Census 2011?
   • (a) Sonbhadra
   • (b) Lalitpur
   • (c) Mahoba
   • (d) Shravasti
3. Consider the statements about UP (Census 2011): (1) It had the largest Scheduled Caste population of any state in absolute numbers. (2) Scheduled Tribes formed more than 5% of its population. Which is correct?
   • (a) 1 only
   • (b) 2 only
   • (c) Both
   • (d) Neither
4. In the Census, the literacy rate is calculated for persons aged:
   • (a) 0 and above
   • (b) 6 and above
   • (c) 7 and above
   • (d) 15 and above
5. UP's total fertility rate in NFHS-5 (2019–21) was about:
   • (a) 1.9
   • (b) 2.1
   • (c) 2.4
   • (d) 2.9

Answers:

1. (b) 912. The figure 902 is the child sex ratio (0–6); 943 is India's.
2. (b) Lalitpur, a rocky Bundelkhand district.
3. (a) STs were only about 0.6% of UP's population.
4. (c) 7 and above.
5. (c) About 2.4, down from 2.7 in NFHS-4.

Mains practice

Question: "Uttar Pradesh's population can be its greatest asset or its heaviest burden." Discuss. (about 200 words)

Outline:

• Introduction: about 20 crore people, 16.5% of India, density 829 (Census 2011).
• Asset: young workforce, large market, labour for national growth.
• Burden: literacy 67.7% with a 20-point gender gap, sex ratio 912, stunting and anaemia, jobs concentrated in farming, out-migration from the east.
• Regional angle: NCR versus Purvanchal and Bundelkhand.
• Way forward: female education, nutrition, skills, non-farm jobs in small towns, the Population Policy 2021–2030.
• Conclusion: the dividend is a window, not a guarantee.

What to do next

• Write the Census 2011 table from memory, then check it. Repeat until every figure is right.
• Re-do the density, growth and sex-ratio calculations without looking.
• Mark the four district extremes on a blank UP map and add one line of explanation for each.
• Prepare a two-line explanation of why eastern UP's high sex ratio is linked to migration.
• Read labour and migration in UP to connect demography with the economy.