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;

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.

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.

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.; ;

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.

Graph and download economic data for Geographical Outreach: Number of Branches in 3 Largest Cities, Excluding Headquarters, for Other Deposit Takers for Nepal (NPLFCBODDLNUM) from 2012 to 2015 about Nepal and branches.

In 2023, the share of urban population in Nepal increased by 0.5 percentage points (+2.33 percent) compared to 2022. With 21.9 percent, the share thereby reached its highest value in the observed period. Notably, the share continuously increased over the last years.A country's urbanization rate refers to the share of the total population living in an urban setting. International comparisons of urbanization rates may be inconsistent, due to discrepancies between definitions of what constitutes an urban center (based on population size, area, or space between dwellings, among others).

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.

Abstract

The 2021 NPHC is tthe first census conducted under the federal structure of Nepal. The main census enumeration was originally scheduled to take place over 15 days- from June 8 to 22, 2021, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the enumeration was postponed for five months. Once the impact of the pandemic subsided, the enumeration was carried out according to a new work plan for a 15 dya period from November 11 to 25, 2021.

This report contains statistical tables at the national, provincial, district and municipal levels, derived from the topics covered in the census questionaires. The work of the analyzing the data in detail is still in progress. The report provides insights into the different aspects of the census operation, including its procedure, concepts, methodology, quality control, logistics, communication, data processing, challenges faced, and other management aspects.

This census slightly differs from the previous censuses mainly due to the following activities: i. three modes of data collection (CAPI, PAPI and e-census); ii. a full count of all questions instead of sampling for certain questions, as was done in the previous two censuses, iii. collaboration with Ministry of Health and Population to ascertain the likely maternal mortality cases reported in the census by skilled health personnel; iv. data processing within its premises; v. recuitment of fresh youths as supervisor and enumerators; and vi. using school teachers as master trainers, especially for the local level training of enumerators.

The objectives of the 2021 Population Census were:

a) to develop a set of benchmark data for different purposes. b) to provide distribution of population by demographic, social and economic characteristics. c) to provide data for small administrative areas of the country on population and housing characteristics. d) to provide reliable frames for different types of sample surveys. e) to provide many demographic indicators like birth rates, death rates and migration rates. f) to project population for the coming years.

The total population of Nepal, as of the census day (25 November 2021) is 29,164,578, of which the number of males is 14,253,551 (48.87 %) and the number of females is 14,911,027 (51.13 %). Accordingly, the sex ratio is 95.59 males per 100 females. Annual average population growth rate is 0.92 percent in 2021.

Geographic coverage

National Level, Ecological belt, Urban and Rural, Province, District, Municipality, Ward Level

Analysis unit

The census results provide information up to the ward level (the lowest administrative level of Nepal), household and indivisual.

Universe

The census covered all modified de jure household members (usual residents)

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f] and online

Research instrument

In this census three main questionnaires were developed for data collection. The first was the Listing Form deveoped mainly for capturing the basic household informatioin in each Enumeration area of the whole country. The second questionnaire was the main questionnaire with eight major Sections as mentioned hereunder.

Listing Questionaire Section 1. Introduction Section 2. House information Section 3. Household information Section 4. Agriculture and livestock information Section 5. Other information

Main Questionaire Section 1. Introduction Section 2. Household Information Section 3. Individual Information Section 4. Educational Information Section 5. Migration Section 6. Fertility Section 7.Disability Section 8. Economic Activity

For the first time, the NPHC, 2021 brougt a Community Questionnaire aiming at capturing the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the Wards (the lowest administrative division under Rural/Urban Municipalities). The Community Questionnaire contains 6 Chapters. The information derived from community questionnaire is expected to validate (cross checks) certain information collected from main questionnaire.

Community questionaire Section 1. Introduction Section 2. Basic information of wards Section 3. Caste and mother tongue information Section 4. Current status of service within wards Section 5. Access of urban services and facilities within wards Section 6. Status of Disaster Risk

It is noteworty that the digital version of questionnare was applied in collecting data within the selected municipalities of Kathmandu Valley. Enumerators mobilized in Kathmandu Valley were well trained to use tablets. Besides, online mode of data collection was adpoted for all the Nepalese Diplomatic Agencies located abroad.

Cleaning operations

For the concistency of data required logics were set in the data entry programme. For the processing and analysis of data SPSS and STATA programme were employed.

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).

Abstract

The 2022 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) is the sixth survey of its kind implemented in the country as part of the worldwide Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program. It was implemented by New ERA under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) of the Government of Nepal with the objective of providing reliable, accurate, and up-to-date data for the country.

The primary objective of the 2022 NDHS is to provide up-to-date estimates of basic demographic and health indicators. Specifically, the 2022 NDHS collected information on fertility, marriage, family planning, breastfeeding practices, nutrition, food insecurity, maternal and child health, childhood mortality, awareness and behavior regarding HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), women’s empowerment, domestic violence, fistula, mental health, accident and injury, disability, and other healthrelated issues such as smoking, knowledge of tuberculosis, and prevalence of hypertension.

The information collected through the 2022 NDHS is intended to assist policymakers and program managers in evaluating and designing programs and strategies for improving the health of Nepal’s population. The survey also provides indicators relevant to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Nepal.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

• Household
• Individual
• Children age 0-5
• Woman age 15-49
• Man age 15-49

Universe

The survey covered all de jure household members (usual residents), all women aged 15-49, men ageed 15-49, and all children aged 0-4 resident in the household.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sampling frame used for the 2022 NDHS is an updated version of the frame from the 2011 Nepal Population and Housing Census (NPHC) provided by the National Statistical Office. The 2022 NDHS considered wards from the 2011 census as sub-wards, the smallest administrative unit for the survey. The census frame includes a complete list of Nepal’s 36,020 sub-wards. Each sub-ward has a residence type (urban or rural), and the measure of size is the number of households.

In September 2015, Nepal’s Constituent Assembly declared changes in the administrative units and reclassified urban and rural areas in the country. Nepal is divided into seven provinces: Koshi Province, Madhesh Province, Bagmati Province, Gandaki Province, Lumbini Province, Karnali Province, and Sudurpashchim Province. Provinces are divided into districts, districts into municipalities, and municipalities into wards. Nepal has 77 districts comprising a total of 753 (local-level) municipalities. Of the municipalities, 293 are urban and 460 are rural.

Originally, the 2011 NPHC included 58 urban municipalities. This number increased to 217 as of 2015. On March 10, 2017, structural changes were made in the classification system for urban (Nagarpalika) and rural (Gaonpalika) locations. Nepal currently has 293 Nagarpalika, with 65% of the population living in these urban areas. The 2022 NDHS used this updated urban-rural classification system. The survey sample is a stratified sample selected in two stages. Stratification was achieved by dividing each of the seven provinces into urban and rural areas that together formed the sampling stratum for that province. A total of 14 sampling strata were created in this way. Implicit stratification with proportional allocation was achieved at each of the lower administrative levels by sorting the sampling frame within each sampling stratum before sample selection, according to administrative units at the different levels, and by using a probability-proportional-to-size selection at the first stage of sampling. In the first stage of sampling, 476 primary sampling units (PSUs) were selected with probability proportional to PSU size and with independent selection in each sampling stratum within the sample allocation. Among the 476 PSUs, 248 were from urban areas and 228 from rural areas. A household listing operation was carried out in all of the selected PSUs before the main survey. The resulting list of households served as the sampling frame for the selection of sample households in the second stage. Thirty households were selected from each cluster, for a total sample size of 14,280 households. Of these households, 7,440 were in urban areas and 6,840 were in rural areas. Some of the selected sub-wards were found to be overly large during the household listing operation. Selected sub-wards with an estimated number of households greater than 300 were segmented. Only one segment was selected for the survey with probability proportional to segment size.

For further details on sample design, see APPENDIX A of the final report.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

Four questionnaires were used in the 2022 NDHS: the Household Questionnaire, the Woman’s Questionnaire, the Man’s Questionnaire, and the Biomarker Questionnaire. The questionnaires, based on The DHS Program’s model questionnaires, were adapted to reflect the population and health issues relevant to Nepal. In addition, a self-administered Fieldworker Questionnaire collected information about the survey’s fieldworkers.

Input was solicited from various stakeholders representing government ministries and agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and international donors. After all questionnaires were finalized in English, they were translated into Nepali, Maithili, and Bhojpuri. The Household, Woman’s, and Man’s Questionnaires were programmed into tablet computers to facilitate computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) for data collection purposes, with the capability to choose any of the three languages for each questionnaire. The Biomarker Questionnaire was completed on paper during data collection and then entered in the CAPI system.

Cleaning operations

Data capture for the 2022 NDHS was carried out with Microsoft Surface Go 2 tablets running Windows 10.1. Software was prepared for the survey using CSPro. The processing of the 2022 NDHS data began shortly after the fieldwork started. When data collection was completed in each cluster, the electronic data files were transferred via the Internet File Streaming System (IFSS) to the New ERA central office in Kathmandu. The data files were registered and checked for inconsistencies, incompleteness, and outliers. Errors and inconsistencies were immediately communicated to the field teams for review so that problems would be mitigated going forward. Secondary editing, carried out in the central office at New ERA, involved resolving inconsistencies and coding the open-ended questions. The New ERA senior data processor coordinated the exercise at the central office. The NDHS core team members assisted with the secondary editing. The paper Biomarker Questionnaires were compared with the electronic data file to check for any inconsistencies in data entry. The pictures of vaccination cards that were captured during data collection were verified with the data entered. Data processing and editing were carried out using the CSPro software package. The concurrent data collection and processing offered a distinct advantage because it maximized the likelihood of the data being error-free and accurate. Timely generation of field check tables allowed for effective monitoring. The secondary editing of the data was completed by July 2022, and the final cleaning of the data set was completed by the end of August.

Response rate

A total of 14,243 households were selected for the sample, of which 13,833 were found to be occupied. Of the occupied households, 13,786 were successfully interviewed, yielding a response rate of more than 99%. In the interviewed households, 15,238 women age 15-49 were identified as eligible for individual interviews. Interviews were completed with 14,845 women, yielding a response rate of 97%. In the subsample of households selected for the men’s survey, 5,185 men age 15-49 were identified as eligible for individual interviews and 4,913 were successfully interviewed, yielding a response rate of 95%.

Sampling error estimates

The estimates from a sample survey are affected by two types of errors: nonsampling errors and sampling errors. Nonsampling errors result from mistakes made in implementing data collection and in data processing, such as failing to locate and interview the correct household, misunderstanding of the questions on the part of either the interviewer or the respondent, and entering the data incorrectly. Although numerous efforts were made during the implementation of the 2022 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (2022 NDHS) to minimize this type of error, nonsampling errors are impossible to avoid and difficult to evaluate statistically.

Sampling errors, on the other hand, can be evaluated statistically. The sample of respondents selected in the 2022 NDHS is only one of many samples that could have been selected from the same population, using the same design and expected sample size. Each of these samples would yield results that differ somewhat from the results of the selected sample. Sampling errors are a measure of the variability among all possible samples. Although the exact degree of variability is unknown, it can be estimated from the survey results.

Sampling error is usually measured in terms of the standard error for a particular statistic (mean, percentage, and so on), which is the square root of the variance. The standard error can be used to calculate confidence intervals within which the

Abstract

The objective of the survey was to study continuous and rapid socio-economic and demographic changes that took place in urban areas, i.e., the municipalities in the context of Nepal. In addition, the migration pattern of the urban areas has also been an area of study in this survey. Specifically, age-sex distribution, employment status, literacy, fertility and mortality situation, and household physical facilities of the municipalities are major focus areas of this survey.

Geographic coverage

Urban areas

Analysis unit

Individual, household

Universe

The UPS 1996 covered the following:

• All private households in urban areas of Nepal.
• All ever married women of reproductive age (15-49 years)
• All men/women aged 10 years and above
• All men/women

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sample size was set at 4,000 in 100 compact clusters known as ward/sub-ward. Size of each cluster was 40 households. Two clusters were allocated purposively in each municipality, totaling 72 clusters in 36 municipalities. This enhanced the representativeness of each municipality. The remaining 28 clusters were distributed in the municipalities with probability proportion to size. As a result the number of clusters per municipality varied from a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 8. The assigned number of clusters were then selected at equal probability by systematic sampling with a random start from a list of clusters (ward/sub-ward) arranged by given natural number to the ward within each municipality.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Data were collected through a household survey by means of several separate questionnaires. In this regard, basically two types of questionnaire were used in this survey - the household questionnaire and the individual questionnaire.

The household questionnaire listed all members of each sampled household on the basis of usual place of residence. Some basic information of each person listed, like age, sex, education, marital status, place of birth and others was collected. This enlisted basic information was also used to sort out men/women eligible to administer the individual questionnaires. Besides the household questionnaire, another set of questionnaire of physical facilities available to each household was also administered at the household level.

Three sets of questionnaire were used to get information on migration, marital indices including recent child births and employment at the individual level. These questionnaires were administered to each eligible men/women as identified by the household roaster in the sample areas.

Response rate

The response rate in this survey was 99.5 percent.

Abstract

Although various socio-economic surveys are being conducted in Nepal, at times these surveys do not coincide with the planning and reporting cycles of HMG and UN agencies. Also, different surveys have different objectives, but the data from a comprehensive survey that covers indicators related to women and children is always valuable. A comprehensive Nepal Family Health Survey was conducted in 1996, which provided data for the mid-decade review in retrospect. Current data and indicators relating to issues of women and children are needed for gender specific planning and policy formulation. These data can also be used in planning other national-level programmes which are to begin in the middle of next year. This has led to the planning and execution of the present survey to generate data and indicators related to issues of women and children.

The primary objective of the Between Census Household Information for Monitoring and Evaluation System (BCHIMES) was to provide social indicators on issues related to women and children. This survey has come up with indicators on issues related to women and children for an end-decade assessment of progress of this decade and provide benchmark data for the next programme cycle.

Geographic coverage

National coverage Urban/Rural areas Ecological zones Sub-regions All eco-development regions of the Hills and Terai For mountain eco-development regions:

Eastern, Central & Western Mountains combined in one group Mid- and Far-western Mountains combined in another group Kathmandu Valley

Analysis unit

Household as well as individual

Universe

The survey covered all selected household members, all women aged 15-49 years resident in the household, and all children aged 0-4 years (under age 5) resident in the household.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The NMIS evaluation report suggested that instead of two cycles per year in NMIS one survey be carried out every year with detailed analysis that would have wide-ranging dissemination and plans of data use. In the future, BCHIMES (Between Census Household Information, Monitoring and Evaluation System) will be conducted on a regular basis to generate needed data. The following suggestions were also made in the NMIS evaluation report for the effective design of the sample:

• For every new study, always select a new sample so as to minimise the Hawthorne effect.
• In order to minimise the standard error of the estimate, always try to make the cluster size small, i.e., around 50, as compared to an average cluster size of 120 for the NMIS cycles.

Thus, the new sample design should limit the average cluster size to 50 or smaller and a new sample should be drawn for a new study every time for the minimisation of the Hawthorne effect.

Domains of estimation A sample design to provide district level estimates was desirable keeping in view the decentralisation programme of the His Majesty's Government of Nepal. However, as the sample size needed for this would be very large and the survey undertaking also huge as well as expensive, it was decided that the size of the survey should provide national as well as some sub-regional estimates. Under the guidance of the Steering Committee as well as the discussion between the CBS personnel and UNICEF led to the conclusion that a minimum of 13 estimates is needed for different geographic areas and these are 1. Five eco-development regions each from the Terai and Hills; 2. Estimates for the Kathmandu Valley; and finally 3. Two estimates for the mountain region, for which the Central, Eastern and Western Mountain regions would be combined as one and the other would be the combination of the Mid-western and Far-western Mountain regions.

Although there are some variations within these mountain regions, regions having comparable characteristics would be combined as one. Since the number of households was the basis of the selection of our sample, we used average size of the household as an indicator to provide the similarity between these combined areas. For example, the average household size was 5.5 in both the Far-western and Mid-western Mountains. Likewise, the average household size for the Eastern, Central and Western Mountains is, respectively, 5.3, 5.0 and 4.8. That is, the average household size was slightly higher in the Far-western and the Mid-western regions and was slightly lower in the others including the Eastern, Central and Western Mountains. In other words, the areas that were combined were quite close in terms of average household size.

Stratification In domains with urban areas, the stratification was done according to urban/rural residence. Although the urban/rural estimates for these domains would be of interest, it would have increased the sample size considerably. Thus, at this stage, there were no plans to obtain urban/rural estimates for these 13 domains of estimation. Note, however, that the urban/ rural estimates could be available for the national level, as well as for the Hills and Terai. Because the sample was selected separately for each domain, there was a built-in stratification for the Hills, Terai and Mountains as well as the development regions for most of the domains of study.

Estimation of sample size Estimates of the sample size, to a large extent, depend on the variable under study. As some variables have a larger variation, sample size estimates depend on the variables. To circumvent this problem, statisticians usually resort to estimating the sample size for variables where the largest sample size is needed and use this as the required minimum sample size. Also, because most of the sample survey use the cluster sample approach, it was necessary to make an allowance of about 2 for the design effect. The magic figure of 2 was based on the design effect calculated for different variables in the Nepal Family Health Survey 1996. It was estimated that a sample size of 800 was adequate for most of the variables, taking into account a design effect factor of 2. This sample size of 800 was regarded as the minimum sample size required for the domain of analysis. Since there are 13 domains, a total of 13x800 = 10400 households were required.

Sample frame The sample frame for this study was the data from the 1991 Census data on Households for VDCs and their wards. When the census was undertaken in 1991 there were only 31 urban areas in Nepal. However, after 1991 Census, the government declared new municipalities. As a result, there are currently 58 municipalities, of which one is a metropolitan city and three are sub-metropolitan cities. The census data was updated to take into account the change in urban areas.

Allocation of the sample In domains that have urban areas, the urban sample was be allocated proportionately. Urban and rural samples were selected separately using a PPS (Probability Proportional to Size) method. Examples for this are provided in Table A1, page 161 of the Report on the Situation of Women, Children and Households, Between Census Household Information, Monitoring and Evaluation system (BCHIMES), March-May 2000.

The total number of clusters surveyed was 208 with an average cluster size of 50, providing a sample size of nearly 10,400. Likewise, the number of urban clusters will be 27 and the number of rural clusters will be 181. The proportion of urban clusters was 13 percent (See Table A1, Appendix 1 of the Report on the Situation of Women, Children and Households).

Selection procedure used For any given domain, the districts were arranged according to the code for districts provided by the Central Bureau of Statistics. If the code of a district is lowest, it appears first in the list. Within the district, VDCs are listed in an alphabetical order. For each VDC, there will be nine wards, for which there is data regarding number of households, total population, males and females.

Initially, the number of households in a domain was cumulated. The total number of households in a domain is divided by the number of clusters selected in the domain. This provided the systematic interval. Then, a random number between 1 and the systematic interval was selected for the first selection. Once the first selection was made, the systematic interval was added to that for the second selection and so on, until the last selection for the domain was made. If a domain consisted of urban and rural areas, then the selection was made separately for the urban and rural areas. Obviously, a proportionate allocation of sample was done for urban as well as rural areas within a domain. Note that a cluster size of 50 was used for the purpose of data collection. In fact, a number of wards will have a population well over 50, and in some cases a ward could have a population substantially less than 50. In some cases, some wards may have to be split and other wards merged to provide a cluster size of around 50.

Distribution of the samples A total of 208 clusters (10,295 households), with 181 rural clusters (87%) and 27 urban clusters (13%s) were selected from 69 districts for the survey. The average cluster size was 50 households per cluster. Since the sample was stratified by region, it is not self-weighting; hence, sample weights were used for reporting national-level results.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Questionnaires were administered to households, currently married women aged 15-49 years, children aged 6-15 years, and children under 5 years of age in each selected household. The questionnaires were based on the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) model questionnaire. The English version of the questionnaires was

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。

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。

Abstract

Nepal Living Standards Survey II 2003/2004 (NLSS II) is the second multi-topic national household survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) from April 2003 to April 2004. As a follow up to the first NLSS of 1995/96 (NLSS I), the main objective of the NLSS II was to track changes in living standards and social indicators of Nepalese population between 1995/96 and 2003/2004. The survey provides information on the different aspects of households' welfare (consumption, income, housing, labor markets, education, health etc.). NLSS II data are largely comparable to the NLSS I data and follows the methodology of the Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) developed by the World Bank.

Geographic coverage

National Domains: Urban/rural; ecological zones (Mountains, Kathmandu Valley (urban), Hills (urban), Hills (rural), Tarai (urban), Tarai (rural)).

Analysis unit

• Households
• Individuals
• Communities

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

SAMPLE DESIGN The sampling design of the NLSS II included two components. The first one was nationally representative random cross-section sample of 4008 households from six explicit strata of the country. The second one was panel sample of 1232 households drawn from those households interviewed in NLSS I.

SAMPLE FRAME The 2001 Population Census of Nepal provided a basis for this survey's sample frame. The size of each ward (as measured by number of households) was taken as a unit of sample frame. Some larger ards were divided into smaller units (sub-wards) of clearly defined territorial areas supported by reliable cartography while some of the smaller wards with fewer than 20 households were appended to neighbouring wards in the same VDC. The resulting sampling frame consisted of 36,067 enumeration areas (wards or sub-wards) spread over 3 ecological zones, 5 development regions, 75 districts, 58 Municipalities and 3,914 Village Development Committees (VDCs) of the country. The sample frame was sorted by district, VDC, ward and sub-ward and districts were numbered from geographical East to West.

The three ecological zones are Mountains in the north (altitude 4877 to 8848 meters), Hills in the middle (altitude 610 to 4876 meters) and Tarai in the south. Mountains make up 35 percent of total land area of the country, while Hills and Tarai 42 percent and 23 percent respectively.

STRATIFICATION The design of the cross-section part of NLSS II was similar to that of the NLSS I. The total sample size (4,008 households) was selected in two stages: 12 households in each of 334 Primary Sampling Units. The sample of 334 PSUs was selected from six strata using Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) sampling with the number of households as a measure of size. The numbers are all multiples of 12 with the intention of implementing a two-stage selection strategy with that many households per PSU in the second stage. Within each PSU, 12 households were selected by systematic sampling from the total number of households listed.

The NLSS II cross-section sample was allocated into six explicit strata as follows: Mountains (408 households in 34 PSUs), Kathmandu valley urban area (408 households in 34 PSUs), Other Urban areas in the Hills (336 households in 28 PSUs), Rural Hills (1,224 households in 102 PSUs), Urban Tarai (408 households in 34 PSUs) and Rural Tarai (1,224 households in 102 PSUs). The NLSS II panel sample is composed of 100 of the 275 PSUs visited by the NLSS I in 1995/96. The panel PSUs were selected with equal probability within each of the four strata defined by NLSS I, as follows: 12 (out of 33) in the Mountains, 18 (out of 50) in the Urban Hills, 33 (out of 92) in the Rural Hills and 37 (out of 100) in the Tarai.

In NLSS I, the strata were composed of Mountains (424 households), Urban Hills (604 households), Rural Hills (1,136 households) and Tarai (1,224 households). The sampling frame was taken from the Population Census 1991.

CARTOGRAPHIC UPDATING AND HOUSEHOLD LISTING

The NLSS II cartographic updating was conducted between December 2001 and May 2002. There were 334 PSUs from the cross-sectional sample where listing operation provided a precise and up to date measure of households in each PSU. The 235 PSUs contained 400 or fewer households while 99 PSUs had larger than 400 households according to the 2001 Population Census. Those PSUs with more than 400 households were segmented into smaller units containing 150-200 households by means of a cartographic updating operation. The operation defined territorial boundaries for the segments within the PSUs and established a rough measure of the size of each segment based on a quick count of dwellings. One of the segments was then selected randomly with PPS in each PSU, and a complete household listing was conducted in that segment. A new cartographic updating was needed for 59 of the large PSUs since some of the large PSUs corresponded to wards that had already been segmented in 1995 as a part of the NLSS I operations. This updating included verification of the boundaries and quick count of dwellings.

A complete household listing operation was undertaken in all cross-section PSUs during March-May of 2002, about a year prior to the survey. The information collected in the listing included dwelling/household serial number, name of the village/settlement, block number, name and nickname (if any) of the household head, household size and name of the landlord when the housing unit was rented. The cover page for listing was designed to furnish information on the language spoken, the mode of transport and the traveling time to reach the selected ward/sub-ward/segment. This was utilized while preparing schedules of fieldwork. There were 25 teams for listing operation and each team consisted of two enumerators. Field-based 32 enumerators were selected from CBS and Branch Statistical Offices (BSOs) while the rest 18 were hired on contract from outside Kathmandu for listing operation in the selected PSUs under the separate component of the project named "Listing and Cartography Work for NLSS II". Two day training was conducted on listing procedure for the enumerators outside of Kathmandu at Biratnagar (East), Hetaunda (Central) and Nepalgunj (West). Because of insurgency in different parts of the country, listing operation in 10 PSUs could not be completed during the specified period but was completed later.

Sampling deviation

During the implementation of NLSS II, altogether 13 rural enumeration areas (PSUS) could not be interviewed comprising 8 from cross-section and 5 from the panel samples. The missing panel PSUs include 1 from Central Hills, 1 from Mid Western Mountains, 1 from Far Western Mountains, 1 from Far Western Hills and 1 from Far Western Terai. One of these five PSUs, the one from the Far Western Terai (Pipaladi-2 of Kanchanpur), vanished completely due to the merging of enumeration area to the Royal Shukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve. The other four PSUs could not be enumerated due to the ongoing conflict even after the repeated attempts. All together 370 households could not be re-interviewed.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The Household Survey Section of CBS developed an initial questionnaire of NLSS II on the basis of the questionnaires used in the NLSS I and others. The draft questionnaire was subsequently modified through experience gained from pre-tests. Two types of questionnaires were administered in NLSS II: household questionnaire and community questionnaires (urban and rural). In order to generate comparable data with NLSS I, as many of the NLSS I questions as possible were retained in NLSS II. However, some important additions were made on the household questionnaire to address some contemporary issues such as population migration and child labor. Some questions were omitted based on whether such questions were poorly answered or collected in NLSS I. Detailed discussions were made on the household questionnaire with members of NLSS II Technical Committee, representatives from different donor agencies and other stakeholders. For instance, questions on anthropometrics section were dropped for the reason stated above. Questions on new areas of concern and economic activities were added (child labour - merged from a planned ILO "Nepal Child Labor Survey" for members 5 years of age and over). Sections on changes in household composition for the panel component of the survey and children (under 15 years of age) away from home were added. Questions on migration were asked of all members of the household 5 years and older in this survey instead of just the household head in previous survey. Other additions and modifications included own account production of goods, extended economic activities, underemployment status, health information including HIV/AIDS and household facilities. Some gender specific questions were added in agricultural wages whereas a few questions were dropped from the agriculture section. There were separate sets of questionnaires for urban and rural communities, as in NLSS I. Community questionnaires were designed to measure community characteristics and market prices to supplement the information collected through household questionnaire. The questionnaires were revised intensively with the feedback from pre-test in the field. The pre-test was done in different ecological zones, development regions and urban/rural areas during July-August 2002. The pre-test was also designed to track panel households and the tracking was found to be 80 percent.

Household Questionnaire There was a 74-paged household questionnaire with 19 sections and 10 appendices.

Abstract

Annual Household Survey is a recent endeavor of the CBS conducted with a purpose of providing frequent socio-economic information on household consumption, employment and other socioeconomic aspects of Nepalese households. The survey aims to provide estimates for Nepal, urban and rural area and also by consumption quintiles and deciles. Altogether 3,000 households (1500 from urban and 1500 from rural) were selected from 200 wards/sub wards.

Geographic coverage

National, Urban and Rural sectors.

Analysis unit

The Annual Household survey have the following unit of analysis: income, expenditure, consumption,employment, unemployment,and educational status of individual and households.

Universe

The survey covered all de jure household members (usual residents), all individual aged 5 years and above.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The survey has followed two stage sampling design with stratifications of the households into urban and rural area. A complete list of wards with number of households provided by National Population Census 2011 was used as a sampling frame for the survey. Altogether, there were 806 wards in urban area and 35,214 wards in rural area of Nepal. In order to avoid extremity of the size of wards, some big wards were segregated into blocks or enumeration areas (EAs). The sampling frame contained 4,861 EAs in urban and 36,181 EAs in rural areas making a total of 41042 EAs in Nepal.

The survey aimed to provide estimates for Nepal, urban and rural area, and accordingly, the population was stratified into urban and rural area. Wards or sub wards (EAs) were the primary sampling units (PSUs). The number of PSUs to be selected were 100 from rural and 100 from urban area making a total of 200 PSUs. The sample size was determined on the basis of the sampling variance of previous surveys. PSUs were selected on the basis of probability proportional to the size (PPS), the measure of the size being the number of households in each ward. Selected PSUs were spread over 65 districts.

Households were the ultimate sampling units (USUs) selected with equal probability on the basis of systematic random sampling technique. Fifteen (15) households were selected from each PSUs.Altogether 3000 households (1500 from urban and 1500 from rural) were selected for the interview. In a nutshell, procedures followed to select sample households were: - selection of PSUs based on PPS from the frame, - listing of households in the selected PSU, and - selection of SSUs from the updated list of household in the selected PSU.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The questionnaire mainly contain household information and Individual information. Parts 2, 3 and 4 cover housing, food and non-food consumption expenditure while part 1 and 5 cover individual information. Part 1 contains questions on demographic characteristics, migration, literacy/education, and Part 5 on economic activities.

Cleaning operations

For the data entry,editing, and verification at the field, a simple and clear data entry programme was developed in CSPro software, and each team was given a personal computer having the entry program so that every team could be able to enter the interviewed household data in the respective field area. To maintain uniformity in consistency check and skip pattern check, a 3-day review meeting was organized in Kavre comprising all the team leaders who were responsible for data entry and data editing at the PSU level. During the review meeting, necessary instructions were issued to rectify the errors and inconsistencies found in the field work especially in the computer data entry programme.

At the center, completeness and structural checking was done by using STATA software after gathering all electronic files of the raw data. During this checking, mannual review of questioniare was reviewed mannually and outliers were omitted if necessary.

Abstract

The 2024 Nepal Informal Sector Enterprise Survey was conducted by the World Bank Group's (WBG) Enterprise Analysis Unit (DECEA) in several cities in Nepal. The survey covers the following cities: Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Dhankuta, Janakpur, Birgunj, Pokhara, Butwal, and Nepalgunj. The fieldwork was implemented by Solutions Consultant Pvt. Ltd., and the data was collected between November 2024 and March 2025.

The primary objectives of the Informal Sector Enterprise Surveys are to: i) understand demographics of the informal sector in the covered cities, ii) describe the environment within which these businesses operate, and iii) enable data analysis based on the samples that are representative at each city level.

Geographic coverage

The survey covers the following cities: Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Dhankuta, Janakpur, Birgunj, Pokhara, Butwal, and Nepalgunj.

Analysis unit

• Informal business

Universe

For the 2024 Informal Sector Enterprise Surveys in cities in Nepal, a business is considered informal if it is not registered with the Inland Revenue Department (IRD). Thus, the universe of the survey includes all businesses that meet the above definition of informality, including all sectors of activity of any size. The universe excludes, however, any illicit or illegal activity.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

A challenge to conducting a representative survey of informal sector businesses is the lack of a proper sampling frame since these businesses are not registered and, therefore, they are almost always absent from official registries or any other potential sampling frame. The Informal Sector Enterprise Surveys follow an area-based sampling methodology. Each city is overlayed with a spatial grid, dividing the area into squares of equal size. In the case of the 2024 Informal Sector Enterprise Surveys in cities in Nepal these squares measured 150 meters by 150 meters. This spatial grid is prepared using a GIS software. Often, the boundaries of the city match a set of administrative boundaries. Nevertheless, when appropriate, a wider urban area (possibly outside of administrative boundaries) is used to best capture the extent of informal business activity in an area. The resulting map is reviewed and approved by the relevant WBG Task Team Leader (TTL) in consultation with the implementing contractor.

Note: Detailed sampling methodology can be found on the Enterprise Surveys website under the Informal Businesses section, Methodology page (https://www.enterprisesurveys.org/en/informal-businesses/methodology).

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]