As per the report of the Technical Group by the National Commission, the population of West Bengal is projected to be 99,723,000, or 99.72 million, or 9.97 crore, as of July 1, 2024. West Bengal is the fourth-most populous state in India. West Bengal’s population is projected to reach 10.3 crore in 2036.

The size of the population of West Bengal is equivalent to that of Viet Nam, the 16th most populous country in the world. Only one country in South America and Europe, two in North America, and four in Africa have more people than West Bengal.

In 2024, the sex ratio of the total population in West Bengal will be 103.916 males per 100 females. There are 50,819,000, or 50.82 million, or 5.08 crore, males and 48,904,000, or 48.90 million, or 4.89 crore, females in West Bengal. West Bengal has 1,915,000, or 1.92 million, more males than females.

West Bengal accounts for 7.10 percent of the Indian population, 0.98% less than the peak level of 8.08% in 1971. The population growth rate in 2024 is projected at 0.48%, the 5th lowest among states. West Bengal will add 480k more people in 2024.

According to the Census of India 2011, the population of the state of West Bengal was 9.13 crore, increasing from 8.02 crore in 2001. There were 46,809,027 males and 44,467,088 females, with a sex ratio of 105.267 males per 100 females. The percentage of decadal growth during 2001–2011 was 13.84%, 3.93% lower than 1991–2001. The population of West Bengal increased by 11.01 million during the decade 2001–2011.

The population of West Bengal, which at the turn of the twentieth century was around 16.94 million, increased by approximately 5.89 times in 123 years to reach 99.7 million in 2024. West Bengal was the 5th most populous state, but as of 2024, it has overtaken Tamil Nadu.

West BengalPopulation (2011-2036)

Year Population Growth Share (%)
TotalMaleFemaleNet Changerate (%)India
201191,530,00046,932,00044,597,000--7.53
201292,290,00047,301,00044,989,000760,0000.8307.49
201393,051,00047,671,00045,380,000761,0000.8257.45
201493,811,00048,040,00045,771,000760,0000.8177.42
201594,572,00048,409,00046,162,000761,0000.8117.39
201695,282,00048,752,00046,530,000710,0000.7517.35
201795,891,00049,040,00046,852,000609,0000.6397.32
201896,500,00049,328,00047,173,000609,0000.6357.29
201997,109,00049,616,00047,494,000609,0000.6317.25
202097,719,00049,903,00047,815,000610,0000.6287.22
202198,285,00050,168,00048,117,000566,0000.5797.19
202298,764,00050,385,00048,379,000479,0000.4877.16
202399,243,00050,602,00048,642,000479,0000.4857.13
202499,723,00050,819,00048,904,000480,0000.4847.10
2025100,202,00051,035,00049,167,000479,0000.4807.07
2026100,631,00051,225,00049,406,000429,0000.4287.04
2027100,960,00051,361,00049,600,000329,0000.3277.01
2028101,290,00051,497,00049,793,000330,0000.3276.98
2029101,619,00051,632,00049,986,000329,0000.3256.95
2030101,948,00051,768,00050,180,000329,0000.3246.93
2031102,218,00051,873,00050,345,000270,0000.2656.90
2032102,371,00051,917,00050,453,000153,0000.1506.87
2033102,524,00051,962,00050,562,000153,0000.1496.84
2034102,676,00052,006,00050,670,000152,0000.1486.81
2035102,829,00052,051,00050,779,000153,0000.1496.78
2036102,982,00052,095,00050,887,000153,0000.1496.75
  • Population
  • Growth rate
  • Net change

West BengalPopulation (1901-2011)

Year Population Growth Share (%)
Net Changerate (%)to India
190116,940,088--7.11
191117,998,7691,058,6816.257.14
192117,474,348-524,421-2.916.95
193118,897,0361,422,6888.146.77
194123,229,5524,332,51622.937.29
195126,299,9803,070,42813.227.28
196134,926,2798,626,29932.807.95
197144,312,0119,385,73226.878.08
198154,580,64710,268,63623.177.99
199168,077,96513,497,31824.738.04
200180,176,19712,098,23217.777.79
201191,276,11511,099,91813.847.54

West Bengal population by Age Group (2011)

Age group Male Female Total M per 100 F
PersonsShare (%)
00-04 3,743,862 3,589,281 7,333,143 8.03 104.307
05-09 4,216,763 4,031,046 8,247,809 9.04 104.607
10-14 4,677,506 4,479,017 9,156,523 10.03 104.432
15-19 4,702,325 4,355,706 9,058,031 9.92 107.958
20-24 4,422,630 4,335,692 8,758,322 9.60 102.005
25-29 4,044,904 3,953,005 7,997,909 8.76 102.325
30-34 3,464,659 3,376,931 6,841,590 7.50 102.598
35-39 3,523,361 3,489,285 7,012,646 7.68 100.977
40-44 3,219,604 2,933,456 6,153,060 6.74 109.755
45-49 2,814,212 2,521,507 5,335,719 5.85 111.608
50-54 2,317,232 1,940,648 4,257,880 4.66 119.405
55-59 1,746,903 1,521,747 3,268,650 3.58 114.796
60-64 1,406,401 1,339,053 2,745,454 3.01 105.030
65-69 991,280 991,713 1,982,993 2.17 99.956
70-74 686,881 703,726 1,390,607 1.52 97.606
75-79 360,216 379,551 739,767 0.81 94.906
80-84 207,192 238,611 445,803 0.49 86.833
85-89 92,037 105,008 197,045 0.22 87.648
90-94 53,823 70,239 124,062 0.14 76.628
95-99 25,628 31,837 57,465 0.06 80.498
100+ 27,856 31,330 59,186 0.06 88.912
Age not stated 63,752 48,699 112,451 0.12 130.910
Total 46,809,027 44,467,088 91,276,115 105.267
  • Population pyramid
  • Gender ratio

Population of West Bengal districts 2011

District Rank Population Rural (%) Urban (%) Sex ratio
MaleFemaleTotalShare (%)F per 1000 MM per 100 F
Darjiling 18937,259909,5641,846,8232.0260.5839.42970103.045
Jalpaiguri 121,983,0641,889,7823,872,8464.2472.6227.38953104.936
Koch Bihar 171,451,5421,367,5442,819,0863.0989.7310.27942106.142
Uttar Dinajpur151,551,0661,456,0683,007,1343.2987.9512.05939106.524
Dakshin Dinajpur19857,199819,0771,676,2761.8485.9014.10956104.654
Maldah 112,051,5411,937,3043,988,8454.3786.4213.58944105.897
Murshidabad 43,627,5643,476,2437,103,8077.7880.2819.72958104.353
Birbhum141,790,9201,711,4843,502,4043.8487.1712.83956104.641
Barddhaman 33,966,8893,750,6747,717,5638.4660.1139.89945105.765
Nadia 72,653,7682,513,8325,167,6005.6672.1627.84947105.567
North Twenty Four Parganas15,119,3894,890,39210,009,78110.9742.7357.27955104.683
Hugli 62,814,6532,704,4925,519,1456.0561.4338.57961104.073
Bankura 131,838,0951,758,5793,596,6743.9491.678.33957104.522
Puruliya161,496,9961,433,1192,930,1153.2187.2612.74957104.457
Haora 92,500,8192,349,2104,850,0295.3136.6263.38939106.454
Kolkata102,356,7662,139,9284,496,6944.930.00100.00908110.133
South Twenty Four Parganas24,173,7783,988,1838,161,9618.9474.4225.58956104.654
Paschim Medinipur53,007,8852,905,5725,913,4576.4887.7812.22966103.521
Purba Medinipur82,629,8342,466,0415,095,8755.5888.3711.63938106.642