Census 2027 · checked 4 October 2026

Census 2027

Census 2027 is India’s 16th census and the 8th since independence, and the first done digitally: enumerators record answers on a phone app, and households can fill the form online themselves. It replaces the census due in 2021, which was postponed because of COVID-19.

Two phases

Phase I, Houselisting and Housing Census: April–September 2026, a 30-day window in each State/UT, preceded by 15 days of optional self-enumeration. It records buildings, amenities and assets. Completed across the country.
Phase II, Population Enumeration: February 2027 for most of India, reference moment 00:00 hours on 1 March 2027. In Ladakh and the snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand it ran from 1 September 2026 to 30 September 2026, with a revision round to 5 October 2026; reference date 1 October 2026.

Caste is being enumerated in Phase II, the first comprehensive caste count since independence (decision of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, 30 April 2025).

By the numbers

Frame as on 1 January 2026: 36 States/UTs, 7,092 sub-districts, 5,128 statutory towns, 4,580 census towns and about 6,39,902 villages (2011: 7,935 towns and 640 districts).
About 31 lakh enumerators and supervisors; app and self-enumeration portal in 16 languages.
Budget: ₹11,718 crore.
Administrative boundaries frozen from 1 January 2026 to 31 March 2027, so every district page on this site already uses the units the census will report on.

What happens to this site’s numbers

Until the Registrar General publishes results, figures here are the official 2026 projection (India and states) or our labelled estimates (districts and cities). When provisional totals appear they will replace those figures on the same pages, at the same addresses, the same day.

Sources: PIB, Registrar General’s press conference on Census 2027 (30 March 2026); PIB backgrounder: Census 2027, India’s first digital enumeration (25 April 2026); MHA notification of Phase II for snow-bound areas (3 August 2026), reported by ANI.

Frequently asked questions

When is Census 2027?

Phase I (houselisting) ran April–September 2026. Phase II, counting people, takes place in February 2027 with the reference moment at 00:00 hours on 1 March 2027 (Ladakh and snow-bound areas: September 2026, reference 1 October 2026).

Is caste being counted in Census 2027?

Yes. Caste is recorded in Phase II (question 10), following the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs decision of 30 April 2025.

When will Census 2027 results come?

No date has been announced. In 2011 provisional totals came about a month after counting ended.

What is India’s population before Census 2027?

The official projection is 142.34 crore on 1 March 2026.