Tunisia has 10 million 982 thousand 754 inhabitants, including foreigners residing in Tunisia during a period of at least 6 months, against 9 million 910 thousand 900 inhabitants in 2004, according to the general population and housing census for 2014.
The preliminary results of the census conducted from April 23 to May 20, 2014 were presented Friday at a press conference held at the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
The number of housing units reached 3 million 289 thousand 903 units, compared with 2 million 500 thousand 800 units in 2004, i.e. up. 2.78%
The number of families totalled 2 million 712 thousand 976 families against 2 million 185 thousand 800 families in 2004 (up 2.12%).
Low population growth rate of 1.03%
INS Director General Hedi Saidi pointed to the existence of a margin of error in the results of census which will be evaluated at the end of the counting operation by conducting a posteriori census on a representative sample.
He announced that the population growth rate has declined over the past decade (2004-2014) to 1.03% from 1.21% in 1994-2004 and 2.35% in 1984-1994.
The official also noted that the number of inhabitants censored in communes (7,447 thousand people), far exceeds those in non-municipal areas (3,535.3 thousand).
The census shows that the capital Tunis is in the first position in terms of number of inhabitants (1,056 thousand), followed by Sfax (955.4 thousand) and Nabeul (787.9 thousand). The governorates of Tataouine and Tozeur are on the bottom of the list with 149 thousand 107 thousand inhabitants, respectively.
"In fact, one quarter of the Tunisian population is established in the four governorates of Greater Tunis (Tunis, Ariana, Ben Arous and Manouba), and 60% of this population lives in Greater Tunis and the country's coastal regions," also said the Director General of INS.
He added that for the first time, the three governorates of Kef, Siliana and Jendouba recorded a negative growth in the number of their inhabitants over the past decade, while population growth in the governorate of Beja has not increased.
However, Ariana has recorded the most significant population growth rate (3.16%) followed by Ben Arous (2.25%).
Regarding growth by gender, it appears from the census that the number of female inhabitants represents 50.2% of the population (5,510 thousand), against 49.8% of male inhabitants (5,472 thousand).
Drop in average size of households to 4.05 people
The census also pointed to the decline in the average size of households to 4.05 people in 2014 from 4.53 in 2004 and 5.15 in 1994. "29.8% of the households are established in non-municipal areas and 70.2% in communes, including 55% in Greater Tunis and coastal regions."
Mr. Saidi recalled that the census operation has mobilised a budget of around 34 million dinars (MTD), 31 MTD of which have already been spent. The rest of the amount will serve to finalise the counting operations.
Speaking at the conference, Secretary of State for Development and International Co-operation Noureddine Zekri stressed the importance of this census whose periodicity has been kept (10 years), particularly in developing the country's future strategies.
"These data will serve as a platform for the next government allowing it to adjust its programme to the country's priorities, as part of a new economic model that will especially aim to promote employment and social balances."
The final results of the census will be published by the end of 2014 or the beginning of 2015. These results will reveal the exact number of the Tunisian people, compared with the foreign residents, including Libyans.