29 Dec 2009

Early Vanuatu census figures confirm surge in population

4:17 pm on 29 December 2009

Preliminary data on the 2009 census in Vanuatu shows the country has experienced an average population growth rate of 2.8 percent over the past ten years.

The Daily Post newspaper reports the early figures have been released by the Vanuatu Government Statistics Office with final results due in the middle of next year.

Vanuatu's population is estimated at 243,000, up nearly 60,000 from the last census ten years ago.

The figures show the capital, Port Vila, grew at an average annual rate of 4.7 percent, with Luganville town just behind on 4.2 percent.

The acting director of the Statistics Office, Pita Toa, and the Census co-ordinator, Benuel Lenge, are quoted by the paper saying Vanuatu's population growth rate is one of the highest in the Pacific.