According to the 2023 Census of Pakistan, Lahore district has a total population of 13,004,135 people, making it the 2nd most populous city of Pakistan after Karachi with a population density of 7338.7 people per km2.
Demographics Latest estimates as of 2025 rank Lahore as the 20th most populous city in the world. The results of the 2023 Census determined the population of Lahore to be 13,004,135, with an annualized growth rate of 2.65% since 2017 Census. Average household size in Lahore is 6.4 persons.
Gender-wise, 52.9% of the population is male, 47.1% is female, and 0.026% are transgender. Lahore has a literacy rate of 79.6% (male 81.41% & female 77.59%), one of the highest in Pakistan. In terms of employment, Lahore has an eligible population of 9,746,671 people of which 609,351 or just 6.25% are unemployed.
It is a demographically young city, with over 45% of its inhabitants below the age of 20. Age distribution follows a typical population pyramid as shown below: +Age bracketTotalMaleFemale70+ years244,270148,23296,03860-69 years506,452283,440223,01250-59 years830,017453,807376,21040-49 years1,334,007724,989609,01830-39 years1,860,468969,859890,60920-29 years2,302,6741,204,3421,098,33210-19 years2,668,7831,417,9331,250,8500-9 years3,231,9901,670,3481,561,642
Religion Majority of the population living in Lahore follow Islam. + Religious groups in Lahore City (1881−2023)Religiousgroup188118911901191119211931194120172023 Islam 86,413 102,280 119,601 129,801 149,044 249,315 433,170 10,530,816 12,363,14995.07% Hinduism 53,641 62,077 70,196 77,267 107,783 139,125 179,422 2,670 2,4870.02% Sikhism 4,627 7,306 7,023 12,877 12,833 23,477 34,021 7150.006% Christianity 529 4,697 5,558 8,436 11,287 16,875 21,495 571,365 602,4314.63% Jainism 227 339 420 467 474 791 1,094 Zoroastrianism 132 166 198 177 150 770.0006% Judaism 14 13 13 Buddhism 128 170 14 Ahmadiyya 13,433 7,1390.055% Others 3,932 9 0 0 0 0 2,457 1,701 2,3390.018% Total population 149,369 176,854 202,964 228,687 281,781 429,747 671,659 11,119,98513,004,135
Language
Punjabi is the native language of the province and is the most widely spoken language in Lahore. Punjabi is the primary means of communication in both the city and adjoining rural areas. Punjabi has no official status in Lahore and some Punjabi activists have raised demands for recognition of Punjabi. Urdu, as the lingua franca of Pakistan, is widely used as the form of informal communication in the industrial and corporate sector. English has become increasingly popular with educated and younger people due to its official status in government and preferred language status for business. Many Punjabi speakers in Lahore are known as Majha Dialect Of Punjabi.
According to the 2023 census, 73.6% or 9.55 million people of the population are Punjabis; 21.1% or 2.74 million are Urdu speakers. +Mother Tongue (2023)Punjabi9,549,169Urdu2,742,020Pashto267,809Mewati260,544Saraiki62,016Hindko33,061Sindhi27,074Balochi4,266Kohistani543Brahvi176Other Language31,983
Notes
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