Kolkata Population 2024

March 1, 2024 by Babji

Kolkata is the Indian state capital of West Bengal. Formally called Calcutta, served as capital of India between 1773-1911 during British rule. As per the Urban Agglomeration of UN World Population Prospects, Kolkata population in 2024 is estimated to be 15.8 million (1.58 crores), while the suburb population taken into consideration for UA with an area of 1887 sq. km., and ranked third most populous metropolitan city in India. According to 2011 census of India, Population of Kolkata is 4.4 million under Kolkata Municipal Corporation with mega city area of 205 sq km. Since 19th century, Kolkata was serving the capital of India and this capital has long been a paradise for the migrants and the people who are in search of work, it was known to have drawn scores of thousands of migrants, both from adjoining districts of Bengal as well as from far flung states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Assam. It was the capital centre of India during British Colonial rule till 1911, when the capital shifted to New Delhi. Most of the migrants were single males, who had left their family behind in the villages. This happened due to extreme housing shortages as due to most of the migrants were from long distance areas of northern India who came to work in the industries of jute, textile, hosiery, iron and steel, paper and other industries.

Contents
Population Ranking
Languages
Religion
History

Kolkata city UN Urban Agglomeration Population Prospects - 1950 to 2035

Year	Kolkata Population
1950	4,604,143
1955	5,219,086
1960	5,910,210
1965	6,589,384
1970	7,329,372
1975	8,165,629
1980	9,100,166
1985	10,003,665
1990	10,974,177
1995	11,992,194
2000	13,097,153
2005	13,595,152
2010	14,002,798
2011	14,085,783
2015	14,422,670
2020*	14,850,066
2025*	15,845,219
2035*	19,564,170

Source: population.un.org/wpp/, 1950 to 2035 Kolkata city Population(UA)

Kolkata Population Ranking & Density

	Kolkata City(2011)	Kolkata UA(2020)
Population	4.5 million	14.8 million
Area	205 sq km	1887 sq km
Rank	3 (India)	16 (World)

Kolkata population in 2023 is estimated to be 15.5 million (1.55 crores), population in 2022 is estimated to be 15.2 million (1.52 crores), and in 2021 is estimated to be 14.9 million (1.49 crores), and in 2020 is 14.8 million, Kolkata is densely populated with 22,000 persons per sq.km. Kolkata UA includes 99 constituents from Kolkata, Nadia, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Hughli and Haora districts. Kolkata district is urban and forms part of Kolkata Municipal corporation. It contains one-third population of Kolkata and another one-third is from North 24 Parganas, followed by 15% from Haora, 10% from Hughli, 7% from South Parganas and 1% from Nadia district. As per 2001 census The total number of net migrats from with the state to Kolkata is 470,601, 297,279 are from other states. Kolkata received 54,509 are from other countries most likely from Bangladesh. It is recorded a total of 822,389 people moved to Kolkata UA, during the last 10 years from 1991 to 2001.

Religion wise Kolkata Population

Kolkata population religion wise, being a cosmopolitan city it represents a blend of different religions in the eastern part of the country. Majority of the kolkata people inhabiting are Hindus. Muslims are in minority, other minority religions include Christians, Buddhist, Sikhs and Jains.
Source: 2011 Census: Language and Mother Tongue

Kolkata Language demographics

Major language spoken in Kolkata is Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, English, Maithili and Bhojpuri.

Disability

Disable population of Kolkata represented as per the table below.

Type of disability	Total Persons	Males	Females
In Seeing	84,289	44,589	39,700
In Hearing	63,739	33,617	30,122
In Speech	28,580	15,540	13,040
In Movement	37,031	22,536	14,495
Mental Retardation	22,406	12,554	9,852
Mental Illness	9,954	5,726	4,228
Others	77,714	42,732	34,982
Total disabled population	342,319	187,359	154,960

Source: 2011 Census: Distribution of Disabled(India & States/UTs)

Kolkata Population age wise

The gender ratio of Kolkata city is gradully improving over the period of last 70 years, 899 per 1000 males in 2011, compared to 893 in 2001, 858 in 1991, 819 in 1981, 751 in 1971, 701 in 1961, 660 in 1951. Kolkata population pyramid shows the gender difference between female and male. The population is more in the age group of 5-14 years and 40-49 years. The least population observed in the age group of 70-74, 75-79 and 80+ years. The population is stable in the age group of 20-40 years.

Kolkata History

As on 1897 San Francisco call, the Calcutta population in 1897 was estimated to be 771,144. The Calcutta city and its port were bombed several times by the Japanese between 1942 and 1944, during World War II. The partition of Bengal happened in 1905 along religious lines of Muslim and Hindu that led to mass protests, making Calcutta a less hospitable place for the British, due to the massive protests in Calcutta, The capital was moved to New Delhi in 1911. According to United Nations Population Fund 1988, Calcutta's 1980 population density was 31,779 persons per sq. km.