This statistic shows the ten largest cities in Nepal in 2021. Around 0.85 million people lived in Kathmandu in 2021, making it the largest city in Nepal.

Nepal NP: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data was reported at 22.290 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 22.235 % for 2016. Nepal NP: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data is updated yearly, averaging 24.042 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 34.032 % in 1960 and a record low of 19.984 % in 2001. Nepal NP: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Nepal – Table NP.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the percentage of a country's urban population living in that country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; Weighted Average;

This layer is Compiled by WFP Nepal Engineering Unit, It contains the locations of Metropolitan city, Sub Metropolitan city, Small Towns and Market centers. The purpose of compiling this layer is to use it for preparing general logistic planning map for emergency response and National level reference map with primary cities. The source of information are National Urban Development Strategy (NUDS) 2015, and Wikipedia List of cities of Nepal. This layer is yet to be updated and verified.

Population in the largest city (% of urban population) in Nepal was reported at 24.45 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Nepal - Population in the largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Nepal NP: Population in Largest City data was reported at 1,266,114.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,224,098.000 Person for 2016. Nepal NP: Population in Largest City data is updated yearly, averaging 364,819.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,266,114.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 119,177.000 Person in 1960. Nepal NP: Population in Largest City data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Nepal – Table NP.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the urban population living in the country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; ;

Accessibility to cities dataset is modeled as raster-based travel time/cost analysis. The model travel time/cost from/to cities is defined as the OpenStreetMap national capital, cities, and towns within Nepal.

This 1km resolution raster dataset is part of FAO's Hand-in-Hand Initiative, Geographical Information Systems - Multicriteria Decision Analysis (GIS-MCDA) aimed at the identification of value chain infrastructure sites (or optimal location)

Data publication: 2021-10-15

Contact points:

Metadata Contact: FAO-DATA

Resource Contact: Andry Rajaoberison

Data lineage:

Produced using OpenStreetMap data for roads, railways, waterways, Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Data 30s (GMTED2010), The Hand-in-Hand Initiative, 2020

Resource constraints:

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC BY-NC- SA 3.0 IGO)

Online resources:

Zipped raster TIF file for accessibility to major cities (Nepal ~ 1Km)

Population in largest city in Nepal was reported at 1621642 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Nepal - Population in largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Geographical Outreach: Number of Branches in 3 Largest Cities, Excluding Headquarters, for Commercial Banks for Nepal (NPLFCBODCLNUM) from 2004 to 2014 about Nepal, branches, banks, and depository institutions.

Abstract

The survey is part of the project work on "Strengthening Central Bureau of Statistics in Socio-economic Statistics and National Accounts," supported by UNDP.

In spite of the efforts made by varioius agencies in producing statistics, a number of key areas are still faced with critical data gaps. While activities of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) remained tied up for a long time in conducting periodic censuses and their analyses, the demand for current economic statistics for development planning and policy formulation are being felt to be ever increasing. it was realised that the existing critical data gaps, could be fulfilled only by conducting sample surveys in different areas on a regular basis.

The Multipurpose Production Survey is indeed a step forward in thsi direction initiated by the CBS to reduc the critical data gaps gradually. The undertaken survey had envisaged to generate statistics to augment the task of improving National Accounts estimates and serve other users in various fields.

The Multipurpose Production Survey (Urban) includes altogether 1500 sub wards (to be considered as an enumeration block) from the entire 33 towns. Sub-wards consisted of 150-200 dwellings. On the basis of level of urbanization of towns, towns were categorized in three levels - Urban, Semi Urban and Partly Urban. Reference period was the average of the twenty months stretching from April 1989 to November 1990.As shown by the survey result, percentage of households engaged in these type of economic activities is higher (26.3%) in the towns under the category "Urban" and are lower in other categories with 21.9% in the "Semi-urban" and 20.7% in the "Partly urban".

Limitations of the survey

As any statistical investigation, the MPS (Urban) has its own limitations.

Despite the importance of mapping operation carried out for this survey it should be realised that the operation was more experimental and accurate results can not be expected from a firsthand attempt like this. Besides the survey was seriously affected by the poor state of maps and unavialiability of auxiliary informations required. Moreover, there was no clarity of ward boundaries even in among local authorities and residents, as the boundaries were delineated not strictly on a scientific way and were frequently changed for political reas ons. pnder the circumstances, initiation by CBS to prepare subsequent maps for survey purpose faced serious problems . Possibility of omission of some households especially in the large cities cannot be rejected.

The aspect of reference period regarding the necessity of sub-sampling of time over a year for data collection was mentioned in the Report on the MPS (Rural). Situation could not be improved in the MPS (Urban) too. In order to avoid the possibility of seasonal effect, intensity characteristics like number of months worked during the year, number of working days during the month etc. were used while estimating the annual aggregates.

Geographic coverage

National urban areas only

Analysis unit

Households.

Universe

All households in Urban areas of all 33 towns of Nepal.

Though this is basically a household survey in nature, some parts of the investigation necessarily had to be done through establishments and hence an overlap between the two. This was true especially in the case of manufacturing and retail trade.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The complexity in the sampling design of the MPS (Urban) was further simplified by the formation of smaller enumeration blocks from the large municipality wards. A single stage stratified sampling was adopted by maintaining the sample fraction of 1/10 of urban enumeration blocks for all strata. Sub-division of wards was done by distributing the number of dwellings in each ward into blocks consisting of 150-200 dwellings.

For an appropriate area sampling it is necessary that enumeration area be more or less equal in size in population and the characteristics to be investigated be homogeneous to the extent possible. However, existing size of municipality wards are not fit to be considered as an enumeration unit due to various reasons. First of all, high variation in the size of population among the wards is noteworthy. Secondly, most of the urban wards, belonging to big towns like Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Birgunj, etc. are too large and are not manageable even for field operation. So it was decided to form the sub-wards with 15-200 dwellings through an intensive field work in order to prepare a sampling frame for the MPS (Urban). Despite several constraints of resources and lack of experience in such activity, altogether 1500 sub wards (to be considered as an enumeration block) from the entire 33 towns were formed and subsequently maps for these blocks were prepared.

Different level of urbanization of towns was another aspect to be considered for sampling design. In Nepal, some of the towns seem nothing more than an administrative center or major district settlement and are either partly urbanized or yet to be urbanized. The others possess urban characteristics to a large extent but still include some rural type of settlements. Only Kathmandu and Lalitpur can be considered as urbanized municipalities. Hence, the towns were divided into three groups for stratification purposes.

1. Urban - Kathmandu, Lalitpur (2)
2. Semi Urban - (towns with more than 40,000 population according to 1981 census) i.e. Biratnagar, Birgunj, Bhaktapur, Dharan, Pokhara and Mahendranagar (4)
3. Partly urban - Ilam, Bhadrapur, Damak, Dhankuta, Inarwa, Rajbiraj, Malangwa, Kalaiya, Lahan, Janakpur, Jaleswore, Hetauda, Bharatpur, Banepa, Dhulikel, Bidur, Tansen, Bhairawa, Butwal, Taulihawa, Trivhuvan Nagar, Nepalgunj, Birendra Nagar, Dhangadi, Dipayal (25)

After formation of sub-wards and subsequent mapping operation it became possible to avoid complicated sampling procedure. A single stage sampling of enumeration areas was adopted for all three strata. The details of the sampling scheme are found in the Report.

Selection of sub-wards was made according to the method for linear systematic sampling where the towns were arranged in the order of economically active population.

The stratification adopted here has been vindicated by results of the survey also. Percentage of households engaged in these four sectors of economic activities is higher (26.3%) in the towns under the category "Urban" and are lower in other categories with 21.9% in the "Semi-urban" and 20.7% in the "Partly urban" as shown by the survey results.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The Multipurpose Production Survey (Urban) employed a different questionnaire for each of the three sectors covered:

Questionnaire No. 11 - Small-scale Manufacturing and Cottage Industry Questionnaire No. 12 - Retail Trade Questionnaire No. 13 - Non-mechanised Transport

For a copy of the Questionnaires in Nepali please refer to the attached file of the Report: Questionnaire No. 10 - Listing Sheet Questionnaire No. 11 - Small-scale Manufacturing and Cottage Industry Questionnaire No. 12 - Retail Trade Questionnaire No. 13 - Non-mechanised Transport

Cleaning operations

All the questionnaires were edited thoroughly prior to processing in the computer. Number of rejections, i.e. those that did not fall within the scope was negligible. Efforts were made to make the classification and tabulation as much comparable to those as presented in the report of the MPS (Rural).

Graph and download economic data for Geographical Outreach: Number of Branches in 3 Largest Cities, Excluding Headquarters, for Non-deposit Taking Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) for Nepal (NPLFCBMFNLNUM) from 2012 to 2015 about microfinance, Nepal, and branches.

Digital point dataset of location of major cities of Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) Region. This dataset is basic vector layer derived from ESRI Map & Data in 2001.

The raster dataset consists of a 1km score grid for major cereals storage location, produced under the scope of FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, Geographical Information Systems - Multicriteria Decision Analysis for value chain infrastructure location. Major cereals include barley, millet, wheat, maize, sorghum, and rice. The location score is achieved by processing sub-model outputs that characterize logistical factors for selected crop warehouse location: • Supply: Crop. • Demand: Human population density, Major cities population (national and bordering countries). • Infrastructure/accessibility: main transportation infrastructure. It consists of an arithmetic weighted sum of normalized grids (0 to 100): ("Crop Production" * 0.4) + ("Human Population Density" * 0.2) + (“Major Cities Accessibility” * 0.3) + (”Regional Cities Weighted Accessibility” *0.1 )

New political and administrative boundaries Shapefile of Nepal. Downloaded and republished from the Survey Department website.

The raster dataset consists of a 1km score grid for vegetables storage location, produced under the scope of FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, Geographical Information Systems - Multicriteria Decision Analysis for value chain infrastructure location. The location score is achieved by processing sub-model outputs that characterize logistical factors for selected crop warehouse location: • Supply: Crop. • Demand: Human population density, Major cities population (national and bordering countries). • Infrastructure/accessibility: main transportation infrastructure. It consists of an arithmetic weighted sum of normalized grids (0 to 100): ("Crop Production" * 0.4) + ("Human Population Density" * 0.2) + (“Major Cities Accessibility” * 0.3) + (”Regional Cities Weighted Accessibility” *0.1 )

Abstract

This research of registered businesses with one to four employees was conducted in Nepal from March 8 to June 15, 2009, at the same time with 2009 Nepal Enterprise Survey. Data from 118 establishments was analyzed.

Micro-Enterprise Survey topics include firm characteristics, gender participation, access to finance, annual sales, costs of inputs/labor, workforce composition, bribery, licensing, infrastructure, trade, crime, competition, capacity utilization, land and permits, taxation, informality, business-government relations, innovation and technology, and performance measures. Over 90% of the questions objectively ascertain characteristics of a country's business environment. The remaining questions assess the survey respondents' opinions on what are the obstacles to firm growth and performance.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

The primary sampling unit of the study is an establishment with one to four employees.

Universe

The whole population, or the universe, covered in the Enterprise Surveys is the non-agricultural economy. It comprises: all manufacturing sectors according to the ISIC Revision 3.1 group classification (group D), construction sector (group F), services sector (groups G and H), and transport, storage, and communications sector (group I). Note that this population definition excludes the following sectors: financial intermediation (group J), real estate and renting activities (group K, except sub-sector 72, IT, which was added to the population under study), and all public or utilities sectors.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sample for Nepal was selected using stratified random sampling. Two levels of stratification were used for the Micro-Enterprise Survey: industry and region.

Industry stratification was designed at three levels: the universe was stratified into manufacturing, retail, and other services industries. Other services were further divided into tourism and non-tourism as the World Bank wanted to oversample tourism firms.

Regional stratification was defined in terms of the geographic regions with the main cities of economic activity in the country. Western Nepal included Butwal, Dhangadhi, Nepalgunj, and Pokhara; Central Nepal included Banepa, Bhaktapur, Bharatpur, Birgunj, Hetauda, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Simara; Eastern Nepal included Bhadrapur, Biratnagar, and Itahari.

120 micro establishments were targeted for interviews.

Initially a sample frame was sought from the Government of Nepal and from appropriate trade associations; but the lists that were obtained were deemed incomplete and potentially out of date. In consultation with the contractor, the World Bank decided to undertake block enumeration, i.e. the contractor would physically create a list of establishments from which to sample from. In total, the contractor enumerated 6,755 establishments for the survey fieldwork.

Detailed information about block enumeration strategy can be can be found in "Description of Nepal Implementation 2009" in "Technical Documents" folder.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The current survey instruments are available: - Core Questionnaire + Manufacturing Module [ISIC Rev.3.1: 15-37] in English with Nepali translation - Core Questionnaire + Retail Module [ISIC Rev.3.1: 52] in English with Nepali translation - Core Questionnaire [ISIC Rev.3.1: 45, 50, 51, 55, 60-64, 72] in English with Nepali translation - Screener Questionnaire in English

The “Core Questionnaire” is the heart of the Enterprise Survey and contains the survey questions asked of all firms across the world. There are also two other survey instruments - the “Core Questionnaire + Manufacturing Module” and the “Core Questionnaire + Retail Module.” The survey is fielded via three instruments in order to not ask questions that are irrelevant to specific types of firms, e.g. a question that relates to production and nonproduction workers should not be asked of a retail firm. In addition to questions that are asked across countries, all surveys are customized and contain country-specific questions. An example of customization would be including tourism-related questions that are asked in certain countries when tourism is an existing or potential sector of economic growth.

Micro-Enterprise Survey topics include firm characteristics, gender participation, access to finance, annual sales, costs of inputs/labor, workforce composition, bribery, licensing, infrastructure, trade, crime, competition, capacity utilization, land and permits, taxation, informality, business-government relations, innovation and technology, and performance measures. Over 90% of the questions objectively ascertain characteristics of a country’s business environment. The remaining questions assess the survey respondents’ opinions on what are the obstacles to firm growth and performance.

Cleaning operations

Data entry and quality controls are implemented by the contractor and data is delivered to the World Bank in batches (typically 10%, 50% and 100%). These data deliveries are checked for logical consistency, out of range values, skip patterns, and duplicate entries. Problems are flagged by the World Bank and corrected by the implementing contractor through data checks, callbacks, and revisiting establishments.

Response rate

Complete information regarding the sampling methodology, sample frame, weights, response rates, and implementation can be found in "Description of Nepal Implementation 2009" in "Technical Documents" folder.

The raster dataset consists of a 1km score grid for fruits and nuts storage location, produced under the scope of FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, Geographical Information Systems - Multicriteria Decision Analysis for value chain infrastructure location. The location score is achieved by processing sub-model outputs that characterize logistical factors for selected crop warehouse location: • Supply: Crop. • Demand: Human population density, Major cities population (national and bordering countries). • Infrastructure/accessibility: main transportation infrastructure. It consists of an arithmetic weighted sum of normalized grids (0 to 100): ("Crop Production" * 0.4) + ("Human Population Density" * 0.2) + (“Major Cities Accessibility” * 0.3) + (”Regional Cities Weighted Accessibility” *0.1 )

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Kathmandu, Nepal metro area from 1950 to 2025.

NP：最大城市人口：占城镇人口百分比在12-01-2017达22.290%，相较于12-01-2016的22.235%有所增长。NP：最大城市人口：占城镇人口百分比数据按年更新，12-01-1960至12-01-2017期间平均值为24.042%，共58份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-1960，达34.032%，而历史最低值则出现于12-01-2001，为19.984%。CEIC提供的NP：最大城市人口：占城镇人口百分比数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于World Bank，数据归类于Global Database的尼泊尔 – 表 NP.世界银行：人口和城市化进程统计。

NP：最大城市人口在12-01-2017达1,266,114.000人，相较于12-01-2016的1,224,098.000人有所增长。NP：最大城市人口数据按年更新，12-01-1960至12-01-2017期间平均值为364,819.500人，共58份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-2017，达1,266,114.000人，而历史最低值则出现于12-01-1960，为119,177.000人。CEIC提供的NP：最大城市人口数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于World Bank，数据归类于Global Database的尼泊尔 – 表 NP.世界银行：人口和城市化进程统计。