Population of Karnataka
| Source | 2011 - Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation |
| 2011-36 - Report of The Technical Group On Population Proiecttons (page no 89) | |
| Date | 23 Feb 2026 |
As per the report of the Technical Group by the National Commission, the population of Karnataka is projected to be 69,074,000, or 69.07 million, or 6.91 crore as of July 1, 2026. Karnataka is the 9th most populous state in India and the second-most populous state in South India. Karnataka’s population is projected to reach 7.20 crore in 2036.
The size of the population of Karnataka is equivalent to that of the United Kingdom, the 22nd most populous country in the world. Only one country in South America, three in Europe, two in North America, and five in Africa have more people than Karnataka.
In 2026, the sex ratio of the total population in Karnataka is 102.980 males per 100 females. There are 35,044,000, or 35.04 million, or 3.50 crore, males and 34,030,000, or 34.03 million, or 3.40 crore, females in Karnataka. Karnataka has 1,014,000 or 1.01 million more males than females.
Karnataka accounts for 4.83 percent of India's population, 0.65% less than the peak of 5.48% in 1901. The population growth rate for 2026 is projected at 0.58%, the 9th lowest among states. Karnataka will add 423k more people in 2026.
According to the Census of India 2011, the population of Karnataka was 6.11 cr, increasing from 5.29 cr in 2001. There were 30,966,657 males and 30,128,640 females, with a sex ratio of 102.781 males per 100 females. The percentage of decadal growth during 2001-2011 was 15.60%, 1.91% lower than in 1991-2001. The population of Karnataka increased by 8.24 million during the decade 2001-2011.
The population of Karnataka, which at the turn of the twentieth century was around 13.05 million, has expanded by approximately 5.29 times in 125 years to reach 69.04 million in 2026. In 1901, Karnataka was the 8th most populous state, but as of 2026, it has overtaken Andhra Pradesh and been surpassed by Gujarat and Rajasthan.
- Population
- Growth rate
- Net change
| Year | Population | Growth | Share (%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Male | Female | Net Change | rate (%) | India | |
| 2011 | 61,304,000 | 31,073,000 | 30,231,000 | - | - | 5.04 |
| 2012 | 61,931,000 | 31,394,000 | 30,537,000 | 627,000 | 1.023 | 5.03 |
| 2013 | 62,558,000 | 31,714,000 | 30,844,000 | 627,000 | 1.012 | 5.01 |
| 2014 | 63,184,000 | 32,034,000 | 31,151,000 | 626,000 | 1.001 | 5.00 |
| 2015 | 63,811,000 | 32,354,000 | 31,457,000 | 627,000 | 0.992 | 4.98 |
| 2016 | 64,403,000 | 32,657,000 | 31,746,000 | 592,000 | 0.928 | 4.97 |
| 2017 | 64,926,000 | 32,926,000 | 32,001,000 | 523,000 | 0.812 | 4.96 |
| 2018 | 65,450,000 | 33,194,000 | 32,255,000 | 524,000 | 0.807 | 4.94 |
| 2019 | 65,973,000 | 33,463,000 | 32,510,000 | 523,000 | 0.799 | 4.93 |
| 2020 | 66,496,000 | 33,732,000 | 32,764,000 | 523,000 | 0.793 | 4.91 |
| 2021 | 66,986,000 | 33,983,000 | 33,003,000 | 490,000 | 0.737 | 4.90 |
| 2022 | 67,409,000 | 34,198,000 | 33,211,000 | 423,000 | 0.631 | 4.89 |
| 2023 | 67,833,000 | 34,413,000 | 33,419,000 | 424,000 | 0.629 | 4.87 |
| 2024 | 68,256,000 | 34,628,000 | 33,628,000 | 423,000 | 0.624 | 4.86 |
| 2025 | 68,679,000 | 34,844,000 | 33,836,000 | 423,000 | 0.620 | 4.85 |
| 2026 | 69,074,000 | 35,044,000 | 34,030,000 | 395,000 | 0.575 | 4.83 |
| 2027 | 69,412,000 | 35,215,000 | 34,198,000 | 338,000 | 0.489 | 4.82 |
| 2028 | 69,750,000 | 35,385,000 | 34,365,000 | 338,000 | 0.487 | 4.81 |
| 2029 | 70,088,000 | 35,556,000 | 34,533,000 | 338,000 | 0.485 | 4.80 |
| 2030 | 70,426,000 | 35,726,000 | 34,700,000 | 338,000 | 0.482 | 4.79 |
| 2031 | 70,738,000 | 35,883,000 | 34,855,000 | 312,000 | 0.443 | 4.77 |
| 2032 | 70,997,000 | 36,011,000 | 34,986,000 | 259,000 | 0.366 | 4.76 |
| 2033 | 71,257,000 | 36,140,000 | 35,117,000 | 260,000 | 0.366 | 4.75 |
| 2034 | 71,516,000 | 36,268,000 | 35,248,000 | 259,000 | 0.363 | 4.74 |
| 2035 | 71,775,000 | 36,397,000 | 35,378,000 | 259,000 | 0.362 | 4.73 |
| 2036 | 72,034,000 | 36,525,000 | 35,509,000 | 259,000 | 0.361 | 4.72 |
| Year | Population | Growth | Share (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net Change | rate (%) | India | ||
| 1901 | 13,054,754 | - | - | 5.48 |
| 1911 | 13,525,251 | 470,497 | 3.60 | 5.37 |
| 1921 | 13,377,599 | -147,652 | -1.09 | 5.32 |
| 1931 | 14,632,992 | 1,255,393 | 9.38 | 5.25 |
| 1941 | 16,255,368 | 1,622,376 | 11.09 | 5.10 |
| 1951 | 19,401,956 | 3,146,588 | 19.36 | 5.37 |
| 1961 | 23,586,772 | 4,184,816 | 21.57 | 5.37 |
| 1971 | 29,299,014 | 5,712,242 | 24.22 | 5.34 |
| 1981 | 37,135,714 | 7,836,700 | 26.75 | 5.43 |
| 1991 | 44,977,201 | 7,841,487 | 21.12 | 5.31 |
| 2001 | 52,850,562 | 7,873,361 | 17.51 | 5.14 |
| 2011 | 61,095,297 | 8,244,735 | 15.60 | 5.05 |
| Age group | Male | Female | Total | M per 100 F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persons | Share (%) | ||||
| 00-04 | 2,582,024 | 2,464,695 | 5,046,719 | 8.26 | 104.760 |
| 05-09 | 2,696,670 | 2,544,839 | 5,241,509 | 8.58 | 105.966 |
| 10-14 | 2,955,287 | 2,781,359 | 5,736,646 | 9.39 | 106.253 |
| 15-19 | 3,042,048 | 2,785,229 | 5,827,277 | 9.54 | 109.221 |
| 20-24 | 3,109,586 | 2,942,972 | 6,052,558 | 9.91 | 105.661 |
| 25-29 | 2,879,254 | 2,892,352 | 5,771,606 | 9.45 | 99.547 |
| 30-34 | 2,389,594 | 2,308,786 | 4,698,380 | 7.69 | 103.500 |
| 35-39 | 2,319,088 | 2,376,363 | 4,695,451 | 7.69 | 97.590 |
| 40-44 | 1,977,768 | 1,848,944 | 3,826,712 | 6.26 | 106.967 |
| 45-49 | 1,804,833 | 1,714,949 | 3,519,782 | 5.76 | 105.241 |
| 50-54 | 1,381,969 | 1,317,301 | 2,699,270 | 4.42 | 104.909 |
| 55-59 | 1,056,054 | 1,086,450 | 2,142,504 | 3.51 | 97.202 |
| 60-64 | 994,630 | 1,065,422 | 2,060,052 | 3.37 | 93.355 |
| 65-69 | 723,687 | 796,432 | 1,520,119 | 2.49 | 90.866 |
| 70-74 | 510,419 | 550,706 | 1,061,125 | 1.74 | 92.684 |
| 75-79 | 249,834 | 274,592 | 524,426 | 0.86 | 90.984 |
| 80-84 | 156,766 | 205,258 | 362,024 | 0.59 | 76.375 |
| 85-89 | 58,153 | 75,585 | 133,738 | 0.22 | 76.937 |
| 90-94 | 30,770 | 43,764 | 74,534 | 0.12 | 70.309 |
| 95-99 | 13,387 | 18,870 | 32,257 | 0.05 | 70.943 |
| 100+ | 9,426 | 13,331 | 22,757 | 0.04 | 70.707 |
| Age not stated | 25,410 | 20,441 | 45,851 | 0.08 | 124.309 |
| Total | 30,966,657 | 30,128,640 | 61,095,297 | 102.781 | |
- Population pyramid
- Gender ratio
| Rank | District | Population | Rural (%) | Urban (%) | Sex ratio | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | Total | Share (%) | F per 1000 M | M per 100 F | ||||
| 2 | Belgaum | 2,423,063 | 2,356,598 | 4,779,661 | 7.82 | 74.66 | 25.34 | 973 | 102.820 |
| 11 | Bagalkot | 950,111 | 939,641 | 1,889,752 | 3.09 | 68.36 | 31.64 | 989 | 101.114 |
| 7 | Bijapur | 1,111,022 | 1,066,309 | 2,177,331 | 3.56 | 76.95 | 23.05 | 960 | 104.193 |
| 16 | Bidar | 870,665 | 832,635 | 1,703,300 | 2.79 | 74.99 | 25.01 | 956 | 104.567 |
| 10 | Raichur | 964,511 | 964,301 | 1,928,812 | 3.16 | 74.58 | 25.42 | 1,000 | 100.022 |
| 21 | Koppal | 699,926 | 689,994 | 1,389,920 | 2.28 | 83.19 | 16.81 | 986 | 101.439 |
| 27 | Gadag | 537,147 | 527,423 | 1,064,570 | 1.74 | 64.37 | 35.63 | 982 | 101.844 |
| 12 | Dharwad | 937,206 | 909,817 | 1,847,023 | 3.02 | 43.18 | 56.82 | 971 | 103.010 |
| 20 | Uttara Kannada | 726,256 | 710,913 | 1,437,169 | 2.35 | 70.85 | 29.15 | 979 | 102.158 |
| 18 | Haveri | 819,128 | 778,540 | 1,597,668 | 2.62 | 77.75 | 22.25 | 950 | 105.213 |
| 6 | Bellary | 1,236,954 | 1,215,641 | 2,452,595 | 4.01 | 62.48 | 37.52 | 983 | 101.753 |
| 17 | Chitradurga | 840,843 | 818,613 | 1,659,456 | 2.72 | 80.14 | 19.86 | 974 | 102.716 |
| 9 | Davanagere | 986,400 | 959,097 | 1,945,497 | 3.18 | 67.67 | 32.33 | 972 | 102.847 |
| 15 | Shimoga | 877,415 | 875,338 | 1,752,753 | 2.87 | 64.41 | 35.59 | 998 | 100.237 |
| 23 | Udupi | 562,131 | 615,230 | 1,177,361 | 1.93 | 71.63 | 28.37 | 1,094 | 91.369 |
| 25 | Chikmagalur | 566,622 | 571,339 | 1,137,961 | 1.86 | 78.95 | 21.05 | 1,008 | 99.174 |
| 4 | Tumkur | 1,350,594 | 1,328,386 | 2,678,980 | 4.38 | 77.64 | 22.36 | 984 | 101.672 |
| 1 | Bangalore | 5,022,661 | 4,598,890 | 9,621,551 | 15.75 | 9.06 | 90.94 | 916 | 109.215 |
| 13 | Mandya | 905,085 | 900,684 | 1,805,769 | 2.96 | 82.92 | 17.08 | 995 | 100.489 |
| 14 | Hassan | 883,667 | 892,754 | 1,776,421 | 2.91 | 78.79 | 21.21 | 1,010 | 98.982 |
| 8 | Dakshina Kannada | 1,034,714 | 1,054,935 | 2,089,649 | 3.42 | 52.33 | 47.67 | 1,020 | 98.083 |
| 30 | Kodagu | 274,608 | 279,911 | 554,519 | 0.91 | 85.39 | 14.61 | 1,019 | 98.105 |
| 3 | Mysore | 1,511,600 | 1,489,527 | 3,001,127 | 4.91 | 58.50 | 41.50 | 985 | 101.482 |
| 28 | Chamarajanagar | 512,231 | 508,560 | 1,020,791 | 1.67 | 82.86 | 17.14 | 993 | 100.722 |
| 5 | Gulbarga | 1,301,755 | 1,264,571 | 2,566,326 | 4.20 | 67.44 | 32.56 | 971 | 102.940 |
| 24 | Yadgir | 590,329 | 583,942 | 1,174,271 | 1.92 | 81.21 | 18.79 | 989 | 101.094 |
| 19 | Kolar | 776,396 | 760,005 | 1,536,401 | 2.51 | 68.75 | 31.25 | 979 | 102.157 |
| 22 | Chikkaballapura | 636,437 | 618,667 | 1,255,104 | 2.05 | 77.60 | 22.40 | 972 | 102.872 |
| 29 | Bangalore Rural | 509,172 | 481,751 | 990,923 | 1.62 | 72.88 | 27.12 | 946 | 105.692 |
| 26 | Ramanagara | 548,008 | 534,628 | 1,082,636 | 1.77 | 75.27 | 24.73 | 976 | 102.503 |