Pakistan records a population increase of 35 million people in 6 years

The population of Pakistan has reached 250 million, according to the latest census published on Saturday and showed a population increase of 35 million people in six years.

Prime minister Shahbaz Sharif said the 2.5 percent annual growth rate was a “big challenge” for the cash-strapped country.

The statistics bureau of Pakistan conducted the first digital census in the country in May. Sharif explained that the next elections scheduled for mid-November will be held based on the latest population census, noting that the data will be used to determine electoral districts.

There are speculations that the elections could be postponed if the census results are not ratified within the deadlines, or if it is not possible to amend the electoral districts as dictated by the population census.

“Now it is up to the Election Commission and the speed with which it completes (scoping) the electoral districts,” Pakistani justice minister Akbar Nazir said in a statement to a local television channel, referring to the possibility of postponing the election date by up to two and a half months.

The ministers of the four provinces and representatives of the coalition parties approved the results of the census, according to the presidency of the Pakistani government.