srilanka population
DESCRIPTION
Population Characteristics SrilankaTRANSCRIPT
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1. Population Characteristics
1.1 Population size, growth and density of population
The total population of Colombo district is 2,251,274. The intercensal
increase of population between 1981 and 2001 is 552,033 persons or 32.5 percent.
The growth rate of the district is 1.38 percent per annum during the above period.
The highest population is reported from Colombo divisional secretary's division and itis 380,946. The population of Padukka divisional secretary's division is 54,338 and it
is the divisional secretary's division with lowest population.
The urban sector of Colombo district comprised of four Municipal Councils
(Colombo, Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Moratuwa, Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte) and two
Urban Councils (Kolonnawa, Seethawakapura). Colombo Municipal Council
comprises of two divisional secretary's divisions viz. Colombo and Thimbirigasyaya.
Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council also comprises of two divisional
secretary's divisions viz. Dehiwala and Ratmalana. Moratuwa and Sri
Jayawardanapura Kotte Municipal Councils cover the total area of Moratuwa and SriJayawardanapura Kotte divisional secretary's divisions respectively.
The population of urban sector is 1,229,572 and it is 54.6 percent of the total
district population. Colombo Municipal Council is the largest and most densely
populated urban area in the district as well as in the country and it is more than half of
the urban population in the district (52.6 percent). The rural and estate percentages
are 45.1 percent and 0.3 percent respectively. The estate population is concentrated in
Hanwella and Padukka divisional secretary's divisions only.
Colombo district has a land area of 676 square kilometres (sq.km). It has a
population density of 3,330 persons per sq.km. The value was 2,603 persons per sq.km.according to the census 1981. The population density of the urban area is 13,011 persons
per sq.km.
1.2 Age-Sex composition
Age-sex composition of a population describes the pattern of the distribution
of people in different age and sex categories. It is determined by the past trends of
fertility, mortality and migration, which are the components of population change.
Figure 1 shows the age pyramid for Colombo district, which shows the distribution of
population by 5 year age groups and sex.
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Figure 1: Age Pyramid
One prominent feature of the age pyramid is the general decline in the population
below 20 with slight increases in 0-4 and 5-9 age groups compared to immediately
preceding age groups. The decline is mainly attributable to declining fertility levels. The
highest population is seen in 20-24 age group for both sexes. But in that age group males
are much higher than females. The pattern was the same in 1981 census. The population
is conveniently divided into three broad age groups; young (0-14 years), working age
(15-59 years) and old age (60 years and over). Percentages of these age groups are
shown in Table A together with the corresponding data for 1981.
Table A: Percentage distribution of population by broad age group
Age
1981 2001
0 -14 29.7 21.4
15 -59 63.2 69.0
60 + 7.1 9.6
Dependency Ratio 58.1 45.0
Percentage
It is clearly seen that the proportion of young population has declined
significantly by 8.3 percentage points during 1981–2001; on the other hand the
proportion of old age population has increased by 2.5 percentage points. Working age
population too shows an increase. The ratio of the population in the age groups 0-14
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years and 60 years and over, to the population in the age group 15-59 years is called
dependency ratio. It is an approximation of the average number of dependants that each
person of working age must support. This is 45.0 percent in 2001. The corresponding
value for Colombo in 1981 was 58.1 percent. So, there is a significant decline in
dependency ratio during 1981-2001 period.
In Colombo district, the total number of males outnumber the females by 51,552.
Sex ratio, which is defined as the number of males per 100 females, is 104.7. It was
111.2 according to the previous census of 1981.
1.3 Ethnic Composition
The distribution of the population by major ethnic groups is shown in Table B and
Figure 2.
Table B: Percentage distribution of population by ethnicity
1981 2001
Sinhalese 77.6 76.6
Sri Lanka Tamil 10.0 11.0
Indian Tamil 1.2 1.1
Sri Lanka Moor 8.2 9.0
Malay 1.3 1.0
Other 1.7 1.3
Total 100.0 100.0
PercentageEthnicity
Figure 2 : Percentage distribution of population by ethnicity
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Sri Lanka
Tamil
11.0
Indian Tamil
1.1
Sri Lanka
Moor
9.0Other
1.3
Sinhalese
76.6
Malay 1.0
In Colombo district, 76.6 percent are Sinhalese. Sri Lanka Tamil, Indian Tamil,
Sri Lanka Moor and Malay population comprises of 11.0 percent, 1.1 percent, 9.0 percent
and 1.0 percent respectively. Comparison with the corresponding 1981 census figures
reveals that the percentage decreased for Sinhalese by 1.0 percentage point. On the
otherhand, Sri Lanka Tamil population increased by the same magnitude but Indian
Tamil Population declined very marginally by 0.1 percentage points. An increase of 0.8
percentage points is seen among Sri Lanka Moors during 1981-2001. Malay population
decreased slightly from 1.3 percentage points to 1.0 percentage point.
1.4 Religious Composition
The distribution of the population by major religion is shown in Table C and
Figure 3.
Table C: Percentage distribution of population by Religion
1981 2001
Buddhist 70.4 70.1
Hindu 7.7 8.7
Islam 9.9 10.7
Roman atholic 9.4 8.1
Other hristian 2.4 2.3
Other 0.2 0.1
Total 100.0 100.0
PercentageReligion
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Figure 3: Percentage distribution of population by religion
Other
0.1
Roman
Catholic
.1
Other
Christian
!.3
"ind#
.7
Islam
10.7
$#ddhist
70.1
The religious affiliations in Colombo district show that out of the total population
70.1 percent are Buddhists, 8.7 percent are Hindus, 10.7 percent are Islam, 8.1 percent
are Roman Catholics and 2.3 percent are Other Christians. Comparison with the
corresponding 1981 census figures reveals that Buddhists, Roman Catholics and OtherChristians have decreased while Hindus have increased from 7.7 percent to 8.7 percent
by 1.0 percentage points during the intercensal period. Followers of Islam, on the other
hand, have increased by 0.8 percentage points.
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1.5 Literacy, School attendance and Educational attainment
Ability to read and write at least one language was regarded as literate. The
literacy rates by sex is shown in Table D.
Table D: Literacy rates by sex
1981 2001
Male 95.8 95.3
Female 92.3 94.0
Total 94.1 94.7
Literacy RateSex
The literacy rate of the population aged 10 years and over is 94.7 percent.
Literacy rate of males (95.3 percent) is higher than that of females (94.0 percent). Overall
rate has increased by 0.6 percentage points during 1981-2001.
Literacy rates in the two major languages, Sinhala and Tamil, are 83.6 percent and
19.4 percent respectively, in Colombo district. Nearly 33.1 percent of the population can
read and write English. These are shown in Figure 4 together with the ability to speak in
the three languages. Ability to speak English is slightly lower than the ability to read and
write English, in contrast to other two languages.
Literacy in a given language is predominantly determined by ethnic affiliations ofthe person. Table E shows the distribution of literate persons of different ethnic groups
by languages in which they are literate.
Figure 4: Percentage distribution of population aged 10 years and over by ability to
speak, read and write Sinhala, Tamil and English.
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0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
Ability to
Speak
Sinhala
Ability to
Read & Write
Sinhala
Ability to
Speak Tamil
Ability to
Read & Write
Tamil
Ability to
Speak
English
Ability to
Read & Write
English
P e r c e n t a g e
Table E: Literacy rates in languages by major ethnic group
Sinala Tamil !n"li#
Sinale#e 94.8 2.4 30.9
Sri Lan$a Tamil 35.4 84.3 36.1
%n&ian Tamil 35.8 78.2 27.7
Sri Lan$a Moor 54.9 78.4 41.8
Literacy in!tnic "ro'(
About 94.8 percent of the Sinhalese are literate in their mother tongue but only
2.4 percent can read and write Tamil and 30.9 percent can read and write English
Language. Literacy in Tamil for Sri Lanka Tamils and Indian Tamils are 84.3 percent
and 78.2 percent respectively and more than 35 percent of Sri Lanka Tamils and Indian
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Tamils are literate in Sinhala. Literacy of Tamil is 78.4 percent for Sri Lanka Moor
community and significant percentage (54.9 percent) of them can read and write Sinhala.
Literacy in English is highest among Moors and lowest among Indian Tamils. Further,
literacy in English is higher among Sri Lanka Tamils than Sinhalese.
Ability of English language of people living in urban areas is higher compared to
rural and estate sectors; nearly 38 percent of urban residents can speak and read and write
English Language.
School Attendance
In this analysis, school attendance is regarded as attendence at any government or
recognized school which provides regular education for any number of grades from grade
1 to G.C.E. (A/L). Usually children in the age group 5-14 years are treated as the
population which should compulsorily be at school. Out of 315,776 children in the age
range 5-14 years, 274,717 children i.e nearly 87.0 percent are attending school as shown
in Table F. There is no significant difference between girls and boys.
Table F: School attendance by age and sex
Total Male Female
6 - 9 93.2 93.2 93.3
10 - 14 90.3 90.1 90.5 15 - 19 46.3 44.7 48.0
5 - 14 87.0 86.9 87.2
6 - 14 91.6 91.5 91.8
)ercenta"e*"e
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As some of the children who completed age 5 by the census date could not get a
chance to enter schooling system in that year, it is more appropriate to consider age range
6-14 years as the group who should compulsorily be at school. A high proportion of 91.6
percent of children in 6-14 years are attending school in Colombo district. Here again
noticeable differentials do not exist between girls and boys. The average attendance of
15-19 year age group is 44.0 percentage points below that of 10-14 year age group. This
is expected as large numbers terminate their formal schooling during 15-19 age group
after G.C.E. (O/L) and G.C.E. (A/L) examinations. School attendance by single years of
age and sex is shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Percentage distribution of school attendance by single years of age and sex
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Age
P e r c e n t a g e
Male Female
As shown in Figure 5 there is no appreciable drop in the level of attendance uptoabout age 14. It started to decline sharply after age 15. Although the boys and girls have
almost equal attendance upto around age 17, female attendance is higher in age 18 and 19
years.
Educational Attainment
The percentage distribution of population 5 years of age and over by educational
attainment is shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6: Percentage distribution of population aged 5 years and over by educational
attainment
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0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
20.0
22.0
24.0
26.0
!o
S"hooling
Attending
year
#assed
year $%
# assed
year 4$
# assed
year 6$8
# assed
year '$0
# assed
()E *+,-
# assed
()E *A,-
/egree
and aboe
!ot
Stated
Ed1"ational attainments
Among the education categories shown in Figure 6, the highest percentage ofthe population (24.9) aged 5 years and over passed G.C.E. (O/L). Another 19.4
percent passed year 9-10; 15.3 percent passed year 6-8 and yet another 15.2 percent
recorded as completed their G.C.E. (A/L). Only 2.5 percent of the population aged 5
years and over record attainments with a degree and above.
There is no definite pattern in gender differences of educational attainment in
Colombo district. Upto year 8, education attainment of females are better than males; but
the pattern reverses for 'passed year 9-10' and G.C.E. (O/L)' categories. But higher
percentage of females (16.0 percent) passed G.C.E. (A/L) than males (14.4 percent).
Percentage of graduates are more prominent among males (2.8 percent) than females (2.2
percent).
1.6 Labour Force Participation
Economically active population or the labour force comprised of employed and
unemployed persons. The proportion of the economically active population to the total
population aged 10 years and over is called the labour force participation rate. It is 48.4
percent for Colombo district. Female labour force participation rate (28.6 percent) is
very much lower than the males (67.6 percent). Labour force participation rates
computed for five year age groups provide a more refined measure as the overall ratedepends on the age composition of the population.
Figure 7: Labour force participation rate by age and sex
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0.0
0.0
20.0
%0.0
40.0
0.0
60.0
0.0
80.0
'0.0
00.0
1 0 - 1 4
1 5 - 1 9
2 0 - 2 4
2 5 - 2 9
3 0 - 3 4
3 5 - 3 9
4 0 - 4 4
4 5 - 4 9
5 0 - 5 4
5 5 - 5 9
6 0 - 6 4
6 5 - 6 9
7 0 - 7 4
7 5 &
o v e r
Age group
a t e
!otal Male Female
Table G: Labour force participation rate by age and sex
10 - 14 1.9 2.3 1.5
15 - 19 30.2 35.5 24.5
20 - 24 61.8 75.2 46.6
25 - 29 66.0 87.5 42.5
0 - 4 64.6 91.2 36.0
5 - 9 62.9 91.5 33.9
40 - 44 62.0 90.2 33.6
45 - 49 60.3 88.2 32.6
50 - 54 55.2 82.5 27.9
55 - 59 44.9 69.8 21.3
60 - 64 30.1 48.7 12.8
65 - 69 21.5 36.4 8.6
70 - 74 14.9 26.0 5.8
75 , oer 8.6 15.4 3.4
Total 48.4 67.6 28.6
*"e Total Male Female
The male age specific labour force participation rates are higher than females
for all ages. The labour force participation of children in 10-14 age group is very
small for both sexes. More than 69 percent of the male population of 20-59 age
group are economically active and they reach the peak value of 91.5 percent in the
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35-39 age group. The sharp increase of female participation rate can be seen upto age
20-24 and it decreases gradually thereafter. The peak value of 46.6 percent can be
seen for 20-24 age group.
The economically inactive rate is highest (98.1 percent) for 10-14 age group. As
expected 94.4 percent of them are students.
Unemployment
The total number of unemployed population in the district is 57,089. Majority ofthem (62.8 percent) are males. Percentage distribution of unemployed persons by age
and sex is shown in Table H.
Table H: Percentage distribution of unemployed population by age and sex
10 - 14 1.1 1.1 1.2 15 - 19 24.6 25.3 23.3
20 - 24 38.5 37.3 40.5
25 - 29 15.7 15.2 16.5
0 - 4 7.6 7.5 7.7
5 - 9 4.7 5.0 4.2
40 - 44 3.0 3.3 2.6
45 - 49 1.9 2.1 1.6
50 - 54 1.3 1.5 1.0
55 - 59 0.8 0.9 0.6
60 - 64 0.4 0.4 0.3
65+ 0.4 0.5 0.4
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
*"e Total Male Female
The highest concentration of unemployed is among young adults in the broad age
group 15-29 which accounts for nearly 79 percent of the total unemployment. In the
15-19 age group, the percentage unemployed is higher for males than females but the
pattern reverse for ages between 20-34.
Unemployment rate, which is expressed as the percentage of unemployed persons
to the total labour force, by age and sex is shown in Table I.
Table I: Unemployment rate by age and sex
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10 - 14 22.2 21.2 24.0
15 - 19 23.8 25.1 21.6
20 - 24 14.5 13.6 16.1
25 - 29 6.6 5.7 8.4
0 - 4 3.6 3.1 5.1
5 - 9 2.5 2.3 3.1
40 - 44 1.8 1.7 2.1
45 - 49 1.3 1.3 1.5
50 - 54 1.1 1.1 1.2
55 - 59 1.0 1.0 1.2
60 - 64 1.0 0.8 1.5
65 - 69 1.0 0.8 1.5
70 - 74 1.3 1.1 1.7
75 , oer 1.7 1.4 2.9
Total 6.3 5.5 8.0
*"e Total Male Female
The overall unemployment rate in Colombo district is 6.3 percent. Although the
number of unemployed males exceed that of females, unemployment rate of females (8.0percent) is higher than that of males (5.5 percent). Age specific unemployment rates
reveal that the unemployment rate is very high for 15-19 and 20-24 age groups. Nearly
24 percent of the labour force in the age group 15-19 and nearly 15 percent of the 20-24
age group are unemployed. It is also seen that female rates are higher than the male rates
at all age groups excluding 15-19.
Unemployment rate by level of education is shown in Fig.8.
Figure 8: Unemployment rate by level of education
0.0
.0
2.0
%.0
4.0
.0
6.0
.0
8.0
!o
S"hooling
#assed year
$
# assed year
6 $ 0
#assed
()E,*+,-
#assed
()E,*A,-
/egree and
aboe
!ot Stated
-eel o3 ed1"ation
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Nearly 7.0 percent of the economically active population with education
qualifications of G.C.E (O/L) are unemployed. The unemployment rate for persons
who passed year 6-10 and G.C.E. (A/L) are 6.7 and 6.4 percent respectively whereas
2.5 percent of those who completed education with degree and above are unemployed.
Examination of unemployed persons by marital status reveals that 79.8 percent of
the unemployed persons are never married and the corresponding percentages for males
and females are 81.8 percent and 76.4 percent respectively.
Occupation Pattern and Employment Status
The vast majority of economically active population is employed persons and
it accounts for 93.7 percent. The highest proportion of male employed population
belongs to elementary occupations. It is about 19.5 percent. The second and third
higher proportions of male employed persons are engaged as craft and related
workers and technicians and associate professionals. The percentages are 16.2 percent
and 11.9 percent respectively. Another 11.7 percent of males belong to the categories
of service workers and shop and market sales workers. Male private business owners
constitute 7.3 percent. Wholesale and retail business owners and owners of private
enterprises regardless of the capital invested in the business are categorized under the
private business owners. Nearly 78.0 percent of male private business owners are
own account workers.
Among the employed females the highest proportion is engaged in elementary
occupations as for males. The percentage is 20.2 percent. But 14 percent of total
female employed population is engaged as professionals in contrast to 4.7 percent for
males. Majority of that category consists of teaching professionals. Another 13.6
percent of employed females are clerks.
In Colombo district among total employed population 80.9 percent are
employees; 2.1 percent are employers, 15.3 percent are own account workers and 1.7
percent are unpaid family workers. Out of total employees, employers and own account
workers majority are males; The percentages are 69.2, 89.8 and 83.0 respectively. But
percentage of female unpaid family workers are higher than males (55.7 percent). About
78 percent of employed men and 87 percent of employed women comprise of employees.
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1.7 Nuptiality
Figure 9: Percentage of never married population by age and sex
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
" n # e r 1 5
1 5
- 1 9
2 0
- 2 4
2 5
- 2 9
3 0
- 3 4
3 5
- 3 9
4 0
- 4 4
4 5
- 4 9
5 0
- 5 4
5 5
- 5 9
6 0
- 6 4
6 5
- 6 9
7 0
- 7 4
7 5 &
o v e r
Age group
P e r c e n t a g e
Male Female
Figure 9 shows the percentage of never married population by age and sex. As
expected females are getting married earlier than males. For example, among females in
25-29 age group only 35.6 percent are never married but the corresponding percentage is
as high as 57.5 percent for males. These patterns are reflected in singulate mean age at
first marriage, which stands at 25.0 years for females and 28.5 years for males. The
corresponding values for 1981 were 25.5 years and 28.9 years respectively.
1.8 Fertility
Mean number of children ever born is an indicator of cumulative fertility. Mean
number of children ever born for ever married women aged 15 years and over is 2.3. Its
distribution by five year age groups of ever married women is shown in Figure 10.
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Figure 10: Ever married female population (aged 15 and over) by mean number of children
ever born and age
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
1 5 - 1
9
2 0 - 2
4
2 5 - 2
9
3 0 - 3
4
3 5 - 3
9
4 0 - 4
4
4 5 - 4
9
5 0 - 5
4
5 5 - 5
9
6 0 - 6
4
6 5 - 6
9
7 0 & o v e
r
Age $roup
M e a n v a l u e
Mean number of children ever born gradually increases with the age of the
woman. It is also observed that women in Colombo district give birth on the average to
about 2 children around 40 years of age.
2. Housing Characteristics
There are 509,238 housing units in Colombo district. About 93 percent of
housing units are occupied and more than half of them i.e. 240,531 housing units out of
473,045 units are in the urban sector. Another 230,684 occupied housing units are in the
rural sector and the estate sector is very small as it has only 1830 occupied housing units.
During intercensal period of 20 years, 1981-2001, the total number of housing units has
increased by 82.4 percent from 279,142 and the number of occupied housing units has
also increased from 272,489 to 473,045 by 73.6 percent.
2.1 Quality of Housing Units
Based on materials of construction used for wall, floor and roof, housing units
have been divided into three types viz; Permanent, Semi-Permanent and Improvised (see
concepts and definitions for details). Out of occupied housing units in Colombo district
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86.3 percent are permanent, 11.5 percent are semi-permanent and 0.3 percent are
improvised.
2.2 Principal materials of Wall, Floor and Roof
Out of occupied housing units 53.1 percent have walls constructed with bricksand 25.1 percent have walls with cement block. More than 83 percent of occupied
housing units have cement floors and 11.4 percent have tile floors. Asbestos are used for
the roof in 48.8 percent of occupied housing units. The corresponding percentages for tile
and metal sheet are 28.1 and 10.7 respectively.
2.3 Type of Structure
Of the existing occupied housing units in Colombo district 71.7 percent are
single houses and 8.8 percent are attached houses. About 96 percent of housing units are
used only for residential purposes and a very small percentage is used for both residential
and commercial purposes (4.2 percent).
2.4 Average number of Rooms
The average number of rooms per occupied housing unit in Colombo district
is 4.0. Examination by sector shows that the highest value is in the rural sector 4.3.
The corresponding values for the urban and estate sectors are 3.8 and 2.6 respectively.
Average number of rooms by permanent, semi-permanent and improvised housing
units are 4.3, 2.4 and 1.4 respectively.
2.5 Year of Construction
In Colombo district, nearly 43.4 percent of occupied housing units are
constructed during the period 1970-1994. About 22.3 percent are constructed before 1970
and 28.9 percent are built in 1995 and onwards.
Figure 11 : Percentage of occupied housing units by year of construction
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e/ore 1970
22.
ot #tate&
5.4
1970 - 1994
4.4
1995
nar&#
28.9
About 45 percent of permanent housing units are constructed during the period of
1970-1994; 67.6 percent of improvised housing units and 40.6 percent of semi-permanent
housing units are built in the year 1995 and onwards. A higher percentage of occupiedhousing units in the urban sector is constructed before 1970 (27.0 percent), but the
highest percentage remained during the period of 1970-1994.
2.6 Household Composition
There are 493,085 households in 473,045 occupied housing units in Colombo
district. About 97 percent of the occupied housing units in the district has one household
and a small number of housing units have two or more households (3.3 percent). The
average size of household in the district is 4.4 persons and the average occupants per
room is 1.1.
2.7 Toilet Facilities
Nearly 89 percent of the households in occupied housing units have a
toilet of their own; 75.0 percent have a toilet exclusively for the household and 13.6
percent are sharing with another household. Only 0.3 percent of households are not
using a toilet at all.
Figure 12: Percentage of households in occupied housing units by type of toilet
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)o'r /l'#
16.8ot '#in" a
toilet
0.)it
2.1
ot #tate&
2.9
ter
0.6
3ater #eal
77.
More than 77 percent of households in the district are having water seal type
toilets. The corresponding percentages for pour flush and pit types are 16.8 and 2.1
respectively. In the rural and urban sectors most of households have water seal typetoilets 79.7 and 75.1 respectively.
2.8 Source of Drinking Water
Majority of households in occupied housing units in Colombo district drink
piped born water (62.3 percent) and 32.4 percent of households get water from protected
wells. Another 1.6 percent of households drink water from unprotected wells and 0.8
percent drink water from tube wells. Only 0.3 percent use river/ tank / stream etc. for
drinking water.
Figure 13: Percentage of households in occupied housing units by source of drinking water
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%n&rotected
'ell
1.6
(rotected
'ell
3!.)
*ot stated
!.3
Other
0.3
Tank+Ri,er
etc
0.3
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Most of the households in the urban sector (90.3 percent) use piped born
water for drinking. In rural areas, the main source of drinking water is well; 61.7 percent
drink water from protected wells and 3 percent use water from unprotected wells.
2.9 Lighting
Electricity is the major type of lighting in Colombo district (86.0 percent) and
almost all the other households used kerosene as the source of lighting (11.4 percent).
The percentage of households using solar power for lighting is negligible (0.1 percent).
As expected electricity is found mostly in the permanent type of housing units and
kerosene is used mostly in the semi-permanent type housing units.
2.10 Cooking Fuel
Majority of households in Colombo district use gas as cooking fuel (48.3
percent). Nearly 34 percent use firewood and kerosene is used only 3.6 percent. Majority
of the households in urban sector use gas as cooking fuel (54.3 percent) and another 21.3
percent use kerosene. In the rural sector a considerable percentage of households use gas
as the cooking fuel (42.3 percent) but still their main source of cooking fuel is firewood
(49.3 percent).
2.11 Tenure
Majority of the households in occupied housing units in Colombo district is owned by
a member of the household (71.4 percent); 16.9 percent live in rented/ leased households
and 5.5 percent live in rent free housing units.
7/21/2019 Srilanka Population
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While owner occupied housing units are predominate in the urban sector
(65.1 percent) a considerable percentage live in rented/ leased housing units (21.0
percent).