Kerala
Demography
The state of Kerala has carved out a separate niche for itself in development discourse due to its impressive performance over the years in the demographic and social development front. Kerala is widely cited as a unique example of having positive demographic transition despite poor economic development. It is a model for the rest of India in demographic achievements and attracts international attention. Over the 100 years, Kerala'spopulation increased five times from 6 million in 1901 to 32 million in 2001. Among the different states of India, Kerala ranks 12th in terms population and it has 3.1% share of the population in India. The population of Kerala is 31.84 million, of which 15.4 million were males and 16.3 million were females living in around 6.5 million households Census 2001). Here women constitute 51.4 percent of the total population of the state such that the women outnumbered men by 9 lakhs.
Over the years, Kerala registered a slower pace of population growth rate than in India. However, the growth rate during the last decade worked out to 9.4 percent - the lowest after the formation of the state. At the national level, the growth rate was 21.3 percent. It is appreciable that, despite sluggish economic growth, Kerala had achieved this low growth of population. No wonder, mortality, migration, fertility have played an important role in the dynamics of this low growth of population in Kerala. The decadal growth rate was highest in Malappuram district (1.59%) and the lowest was recorded in Pathanamthitta district (0.36%). Malappuram districts had achieved a deduction of about 11 points between the two (1981-1991, 1991-2001) decadal growth rates, which is the highest among the districts of Kerala. Overall, the northern district of Kerala follows a higher growth pattern and southern districts follow the lower population growth rate.
| District | Population | Males | Females | Sex-ratio (F/M) | Growth rate (1991-2001) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thiruvananthapuram | 3234356 | 1569917 | 1664439 | 1058 | 9.8 |
| Kollam | 2585208 | 1249621 | 1335587 | 1070 | 7.3 |
| Pathanamthitta | 1234016 | 589398 | 644618 | 1094 | 3.7 |
| Alappuzha | 2109160 | 1014529 | 1094631 | 1079 | 5.2 |
| Kottayam | 1953646 | 964926 | 988720 | 1025 | 6.8 |
| Idukki | 1129221 | 566682 | 562539 | 999 | 7.0 |
| Ernakulam | 3105798 | 1538397 | 1567401 | 1017 | 9.1 |
| Thrissur | 2974232 | 1422052 | 1552180 | 1092 | 8.7 |
| Palakkad | 2617482 | 1266985 | 1350497 | 1068 | 9.9 |
| Kozhikode | 2879131 | 1399358 | 1479773 | 1058 | 9.9 |
| Wayanad | 780619 | 391273 | 389346 | 1000 | 17.0 |
| Malappuram | 3625471 | 1754576 | 1870895 | 1063 | 17.2 |
| Kannur | 2408956 | 1152817 | 1256139 | 1090 | 7.1 |
| Kasargod | 1204078 | 588083 | 615995 | 1047 | 12.3 |
| Kerala | 3,18,41,374 | 1,54,68,614 | 1,63,72,760 | 1058 | 9.4 |
Source : Census of India, 2001
In terms of population density, Kerala holds the third position with 819 persons per sq. km., which is nearly thrice than the national average. Among the major states, Kerala had the highest density till 1981, and in1991 West Bengal (903) took the prime position then comes Bihar with 880 persons per square. However, the difference between Kerala and West Bengal was only 17 persons in 1991 and it increased to 85 persons in 2001. Among the 14 districts of the state, 6 districts' (Kasargod, Kannur, Wayanad, Palakkad, Idukki and Pathanamthitta) had density below the state average. The highest density is found in Alappuzha (1489) and the lowest is in Idukki (252) district. The density also played a major role in the accessibility of social facilities such as schools and hospitals and indirectly contributed to the process of demographic transition.
| Year. | Density (per sq. km) | |
|---|---|---|
| Kerala | India | |
| 1961 | 435 | 142 |
| 1971 | 549 | 177 |
| 1981 | 654 | 216 |
| 1991 | 749 | 274 |
| 2001 | 819 | 324 |
Source : Census Reports
Of the total population, urban dwellers figures to 82,66,925 persons which is above one-fourth (26%)of the whole population and rural populace constitute 235.7 lakhs. Districts-wise data (census 2001) on population revealed that, Malappuram is the most populous district with 36.3 lakh followed by Thiruvananthapuram district (32.3 lakh). Wayand (7.8 lakh) and Idukki (11.2 lakh) districts had the least population among the different districts of Kerala. Gender variation showed that the female population topped in twelve districts with an exception in two districts viz. Idukki, Wayanad respectively. In Idukki district men outnumber women by 4143 numbers, whereas in Waynad, only 1927 men are more than women. In Malappuram, and Kannur, more than 1-lakh women outnumber men.
The proportion of child population (0-14 yrs) to the total population is just 26 percent in Kerala, which is lowest among the major states of India. The proportion of people in the working age group (15-59) is 63.4 percent in Kerala as against 55.6 percent in India. In this regard, the state occupies second position, the first being Tamil Nadu (63.7%).
Kerala seems to be aging fast with people who have above 60 years forming 10.5 percent of the total population, which is highest among the major states of India. The aged population of the state (+ 60 yrs) was 33.36 lakhs according to census 2001. The highest percent of old age populace falls in Alappuzha district, succeeding to it comes Ernakulam, Kottayam and Thrissur and the lowest was recorded in Kozhikode and Wayanad districts respectively.
Kerala is also a home of indigenous tribal population constituting 1.14% of the total population and unlike other states, major portion of the scheduled caste population reside in the main stream with other people. As compared to the percentage of the SC/ST to the total population in India it is less in Kerala. Such that the SC/ST population to the total population of India are 6.23% and 8.15 % whereas in Kerala it was 9.81 & 1.14 percent only. The highest distribution of people belonging to scheduled castes is in Palakkad district (13.85%) followed by Thiruvananthapuram (11.87%), Thrissur (11.34%) and Kollam (10.34). Nearly half of SC population of the state is distributed in the above four districts. The Scheduled Tribes in Kerala are not only geographically concentrated, but are overwhelmingly rural. Highest concentration of scheduled tribes is seen in wayanad district(37.36 %) followed by Idukki (14%) and Palakkad (10.89%) and three districts together account for over 60% of STs of the state. The costal districts of Alappuzha has the lowest percentage of tribal population.
Kerala being an agricultural state with an agrarian economy, good percent of its population is confined to agriculture and other agro based industries. An examination into the total workers of the state of Kerala revealed that 32.3% of the total population belonged to the working category (main and marginal workers) and 67.7 percent to non-workers. The distribution of the working population in the state are cultivators (7.2%), agricultural labourers (16%), household industries (3.5%) and others (73.2%) respectively.
Sex ratio in Kerala maintains to be woman friendly and it is the only state in India where this excess has grown consistently during the last 100 years. The state has the highest sex ratio in the country - 1,058 females for every 1,000 males. Here also women outlive men. The reasons for highest sex ratio in kerala are better health, high literacy rate and better standard of living when compared to other states of India.
| Year. | Sex Ratio | |
|---|---|---|
| India | Kerala | |
| 1901 | 972 | 1004 |
| 1911 | 964 | 1008 |
| 1921 | 955 | 1011 |
| 1931 | 945 | 1027 |
| 1951 | 946 | 1028 |
| 1961 | 941 | 1022 |
| 1971 | 930 | 1016 |
| 1981 | 934 | 1032 |
| 1991 | 927 | 1036 |
| 2001 | 933 | 1058 |
Source: Census of India, 2001
Nonetheless, sex ratio in the state has been steadily increasing from 1004 in 1901 to 1058 in 2001. This is in sharp contrast to India's933 females per 1000 males in 2001. Further, the overall sex ratio is favourable to females in all the districts in Kerala except Idukki (999) and Wayanad (1000). Idukki district had more male populace and in Wayand the female-male ratio is the same. Highest sex ratio falls in the Pathanamthitta district with 1094 females per 1000 males.
District - wise Sex ratio in Kerala
Kerala underwent a dramatic demographic transition in the last century and it has been inching towards zero population growth. The family planning programme, which the country took up in 1952, has been a roaring success in the state. And the high literacy rate and sharp fall in the infant mortality rate, brought about by improvement in public health standards, helped the people to restrict family size with a view to impart children better education and ensuring that they could lead better lives in the future.
* Exclusively prepared content for NPI by CSP, Kerala
Courtesy : Economic Review - 2007 published by Kerala State Planning Board
Human Development Report-2005 published by Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.
Gender profile in Kerala, prepared by Integrated Rural Technology Centre, Palakkad, Kerala.
Source: IT Department, Government of Kerala 
