Census 2027 to retain 2011 Census definition of an urban area

The upcoming Census 2027 proposes to retain the same definition of an urban area as that used during Census 2011 to ensure uniformity while comparing the urbanisation trends in the country, according to an official communication.

During 2011 Census, other than statutory areas such as municipal corporation, cantonment board, notified town area committee, town panchayat, nagar palika, an urban unit or a “census town” was defined as “all other villages” with a minimum population of 5,000 persons with a density of population of 400 persons per sq. km. and where 75% of the male working population is engaged in non-agricultural pursuits.

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According to the 2011 Census, out of the total population of 121 crore, around 83.3 crore Indians or nearly 68.8% of people are living in rural areas, while 37.7 crore people or 31.2% of the population reside in urban areas. During the 1951 Census, the first one after Independence, the percentage of urban areas in the country stood at 17.3%. In 2011, there were 6,40,867 villages in India while there were 15,870 urban units, towns, and cities.

Registrar General of India (RGI) and Census Commissioner Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan in a letter dated August 14 to the States’ Directorates of Census Operations (DCO) said, “It is proposed to retain the same definition for urban areas for Census 2027 as this will ensure comparability with the previous Census and provide the basis for analysis of urbanisation trends in the country.”

The letter said that as the preparatory work for the Census begins, the first task to be handled by DCOs is the demarcation of rural and urban areas by preparing an updated list of villages and towns/wards after incorporating the jurisdictional changes that have taken place since the Census 2011 up to December 31, 2025.

The letter added that for finalising the rural-urban frame for Census 2027, the statutory towns will be counted as they exist on January 1, 2026, the day when the administrative boundaries across the country will be frozen, ahead of the first phase of the Census which starts April 1 the same year.

“For the purpose of identification of urban units based on the demographic criteria i.e., population size and proportion of workers, like in the previous Censuses, all villages having a population of 4,000 or more at the preceding Census 2011 are required to be taken up for examination because a village having a population of 4,000 or more in Census 2011 expected to cross the population mark of 5,000 persons by Census 2027,” the letter said.

It said that while counting non-agricultural pursuits of male workers, those working as cultivators, agricultural labourers, and those engaged in plantation, livestock, forestry, fishing, hunting, and allied activities are to be excluded.

The RGI said that a district/sub-division/tehsil headquarters, if not a statutory town, needs to be treated as a census town only if it satisfies the demographic criteria mentioned as mentioned above.

“Further, during 2021, it was observed that some of the DCOs were continuing the practice of classifying groups of villages as a single census town, even though the criteria for identifying a census town were meant to be applied at the individual village level. As per instructions from RGI, this practice has to be discontinued and the frame to be prepared accordingly by taking into consideration the individual village as a separate rural or urban unit,” the letter said.

Census 2021, which was initially delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic, is now known as Census 2027.

The first phase of the massive exercise — Houselisting and Housing Census (HLO) — will start from April 2026, and the second phase of Population Enumeration (PE) will be conducted in February 2027. This will be the first time that caste will be enumerated during the Census. On April 30, the Union Cabinet decided to include caste enumeration as part of the next Census exercise.

The RGI had earlier informed the States that the boundaries of administrative units will be frozen by December 31, and if any changes are to be made to the limits of tehsils, districts, etc., they should be done before the said date.

Published – August 23, 2025 11:44 pm IST