List of states and union territories of India by population

India is a union consisting of 28 states and 8 union territories. As of 2026, with an estimated population of 1.47 billion, India is the world's most populous country. India occupies 2.4% of the world's area and is home to 17.5% of the world's population. The Indo-Gangetic Plain has one of the world's biggest stretches of fertile not-deep alluvium and are among the most densely populated areas of the world. The eastern and western coastal regions of Deccan Plateau are also densely populated regions of India. The Thar Desert in western Rajasthan is one of the most densely populated deserts in the world. The northern and north-eastern states along the Himalayas contain cold arid deserts with fertile valleys. These states have relatively low population density due to indomitable physical barriers.

Census of India

thumb|left|250px|2001 India population density map

The first population census in British India was conducted in 1872. Since India's independence in 1947, a census has been conducted every 10 years, the first occurring in 1951. The census in India is conducted by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner under the Ministry of Home Affairs, and is one of the largest administrative tasks conducted by a federal government.

The latest population figures are based on data from the 2011 census of India. During the decade of 2001–2011, India's annual population growth rate has slowed down from 2.15 percent to 1.76 percent.

India has 641,000 inhabited villages and 72.2 percent of the total population reside in these rural areas. India's 27.8 percent urban population lives in more than 5,100 towns and over 380 urban agglomerations. In the decade of 1991–2001, migration to major cities caused rapid increase in urban population. On the basis of net migrants by last residence during the past decade, Maharashtra had most immigration with 2.3 million, followed by National Capital Territory of Delhi (1.7 million), Gujarat (0.68 million) and Haryana (0.67 million). Uttar Pradesh (−2.6 million) and Bihar (−1.7 million) topped the list for interstate emigration. The five states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh account for almost half (47.90 percent) of the total Indian population.

List

Data from Government of India Unique Identification Authority of India Report circa October 31st 2024 Aadhaar Card Saturation Report and 2011 Census for Rural Population (population density is rounded to the nearest integer)

{| class="wikitable sortable col2left"

|+List of states and union territories of India by population (Population number as of Oct 31st, 2024, Rural population from 2011 Census of India)

! rowspan=2|Rank

! rowspan=2|State or

! rowspan=2|Population (2024)

! rowspan=2|% India (2024)

! rowspan="2" |2023 Population estimate

! rowspan="2" |2011 Census Population

! rowspan="2" |Growth (2001–2012)

! colspan="2" |Rural pop. (2011 Census)

! colspan="2" | Urban pop. (2011 Census)

! rowspan="2" |Density 2011

! rowspan="2" |Sex ratio

! Nos.

! %

! Nos.

! %

|1 (S1)

|Uttar Pradesh

|241,066,874

|235,687,000

|20.2%

|828

|912

|2 (S2)

|Bihar

|128,592,000

|126,756,000

|25.4%

|1,102

|918

|3 (S3)

|Maharashtra

|127,528,000

|126,710,000

|16%

|365

|929

|4 (S4)

|West Bengal

|99,563,000

|99,084,000

|13.8%

|1,029

|953

|5 (S5)

|Madhya Pradesh

|87,610,000

|86,579,000

|20.3%

|236

|931

|7 (S7)

|Tamil Nadu

|77,089,000

|76,860,000

|15.6%

|555

|996

|6 (S6)

|Rajasthan

|81,897,000

|81,025,000

|21.3%

|201

|928

|8 (S8)

|Karnataka

|68,115,000

|67,692,000

|15.6%

|319

|973

|9 (S9)

|Gujarat

|72,367,000

|71,507,000

|19.3%

|308

|919

|10 (S10)

|Andhra Pradesh

|53,340,000

|53,156,000

|11.0%

|303

|993

|11 (S11)

|Odisha

|46,566,000

|46,276,000

|14.0%

|269

|978

|12 (S12)

|Telangana

|38,272,000

|38,090,000

|13.58%

|312

|988

|13 (S13)

|Kerala

|35,920,000

|35,776,000

|4.9%

|859

|1,084

|14 (S14)

|Jharkhand

|39,963,000

|39,466,000

|22.4%

|414

|948

|15 (S15)

|Assam

|36,047,000

|35,713,000

|17.1%

|398

|958

|16 (S16)

|Punjab

|30,926,000

|30,730,000

|13.89%

|551

|895

|17 (S17)

|Chhattisgarh

|30,524,000

|30,180,000

|22.6%

|189

|991

|18 (S18)

|Haryana

|30,573,000

|30,209,000

|19.9%

|573

|879

|19 (UT1)

|Delhi

|21,752,000

|21,359,000

|21.2%

|11,297

|868

|20 (UT2)

|Jammu and Kashmir

|13,701,000

|13,603,000

|23.6%

|297

|890

|21 (S19)

|Uttarakhand

|11,755,000

|11,637,000

|18.8%

|189

|963

|22 (S20)

|Himachal Pradesh

|7,505,000

|7,468,000

|12.9%

|123

|972

|23 (S21)

|Tripura

|4,184,000

|4,147,000

|14.8%

|350

|960

|24 (S22)

|Meghalaya

|3,379,000

|3,349,000

|27.9%

|132

|989

|25 (S23)

|Manipur

|3,253,000

|3,223,000

|24.5%

|122

|992

|26 (S24)

|Nagaland

|2,253,000

|2,233,000

|−0.6%

|119

|931

|27 (S25)

|Goa

|1,583,000

|1,575,000

|8.2%

|394

|973

|28 (S26)

|Arunachal Pradesh

|1,576,000

|1,562,000

|26.0%

|17

|938

|29 (UT3)

|Puducherry

|1,391,163

|1,646,000

|28.1%

|2,598

|1,037

|30 (S27)

|Mizoram

|1,250,000

|1,238,000

|23.5%

|52

|976

|31 (UT4)

|Chandigarh

|1,243,000

|1,231,000

|17.2%

|9,252

|818

|32 (S28)

|Sikkim

|695,000

|689,000

|12.9%

|86

|890

|33 (UT5)

|Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu

|657,587

|1,263,000

|55.1%

|970

|711

|34 (UT6)

|Andaman and Nicobar Islands

|404,000

|403,000

|6.9%

|46

|876

|35 (UT7)

|Ladakh

|302,000

|300,000

|17.8%

|2.8

|853

|Lakshadweep

|69,000

|6.3%

|2,013

|946

|- class="sortbottom" style="background:#9cf;"

!Total

!India

!1,399,754,750

!100%

!1,388,163,000

!1,210,854,977

!17.7%

!833,463,448

!68.84%

!377,106,125

!31.16%

!382

!943

Notes

References

External links

Official website of Census of India
Census of India - Density of population
2011 Indian Census
Official website of Census of India in 2016
Official website of Census of India in 2020

Census of India

List

See also

References

External links