Census Results: Women Outnumber Men By Half A Million

Zimbabwe released preliminary results of a census conducted in April, showing the population grew by 16.2 percent between 2012 and 2022.

The country’s population grew from 13,061,239 in 2012 to 15,178,979 in 2022, the national statistics agency, Zimstat, said on Tuesday.

The gap between the female and male population grew by about 100,000. In 2012, there were 500,000 more men than females. In this year’s count, Zimstat said the population split was 52-48 percent, with 7,289,558 men compared to 7,889,421 women.

The census also reconfirmed Harare as the most populous province, hosting 16 percent of the population while Bulawayo brings the rear with 4.4 percent of the population.

The count also threw up surprising statistics. Bulawayo’s population was 655,675 in 2012 and in 2022 it grew to 665,940 – a growth of just 10,265, or about 1,000 a year or around 85 people per month. That, or a hell lot of people left the city.

A census 10 years earlier, in 2002, put Bulawayo’s population at 676,650.

The census figures are used by central government to allocate resources to provinces, and also the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for the purposes of delimitation of ward and constituency boundaries.

Population Breakdown by Province

Harare – 2,427,209

Manicaland – 2,037,762

Mashonaland West – 1,893,578

Midlands – 1,811,908

Mashonaland East – 1,731,181

Masvingo – 1,638,539

Mashonaland Central – 1,384,891

Matabeleland North – 827,626

Matabeleland South – 760,345

Bulawayo – 665,940 ZimLive