An official population census counted 11,6-million people in Zimbabwe and estimated nearly 3-million Zimbabweans are living outside the troubled southern African nation, state radio reported on Wednesday.
Announcing what it called preliminary results of the August 17-27 census, the radio said the population in the last census 10 years ago was 10,4-million people, when the population growth rate was 3,1% a year.
It quoted the state Central Statistical Office saying the new figure only included people in the country during the 10-day count.
”Taking into consideration the number of people living outside the country, the total population is estimated at about 14,5-million,” the CSO said.
Zimbabwe is suffering its worst economic crisis since
independence in 1980. At least 6,7-million Zimbabweans face hunger in coming weeks because of a sharp drop in farming production blamed on a drought and the government’s chaotic seizures of thousand of white-owned commercial farms for handing over to black
settlers.
Economic hardships, acute food and gasoline shortages and spiraling unemployment and inflation, political violence and the farm seizures have forced an exodus of Zimbabweans in the past 30 months.
At least 1-million are estimated to be living in neighbouring South Africa, about 600 000 in Britain and many more are working or studying in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States.
About half the nation’s 60 000 whites in 2000 are estimated to have emigrated. State radio said of the total population recorded in August, about 6-million were female. Of all eight districts, the capital of
Harare had the largest population of 1,8-million.
About 676 000 people live in the second city of Bulawayo. Food and gas shortages have left long lines outside shops and gas stations. At one suburban shopping centre on Tuesday women protesters beat
cooking pots with spoons and corn meal porridge stirring sticks and yelled slogans demanding the government improve food supplies for their hungry families.
Last week, the World Food Program said Zimbabwe needed to sharply increase food imports and warned the country’s humanitarian crisis was deteriorating at ”a dangerously rapid pace.”
It said it failed to raise enough donor funds for food and faced a shortfall of about 200 000 tons of cereals needed between now and March.
Government imports were also inadequate, it said. A shortage of hard currency has crippled the government’s ability to import food and buy the fuel needed to distribute it.
With inflation expected to reach 200% by the end of the year and stores depleted of corn, bread, milk and sugar, even Zimbabwean wage earners were struggling to feed their families.
Wage earners do not qualify for food aid.
Unemployment has reached 60%. Tens of thousands of black farm workers and their family members have lost their livelihood in farm seizures. In its latest food security bulletin, the 14 nation Southern African Development Community said Zimbabwe was among nations in the region facing shortages of seeds, fertilisers and tractors and other drought power for ploughing.
It said Zimbabwe, once a regional bread basket, produced 500 000 tons of corn this year, down from 1,8-million tons that more than met average consumption in previous seasons.
The government so far imported 452 000 tons of grain this year and the WFP had received about half the donor funds it appealed for.
For immediate needs, ”an uncovered gap of 330 000 tons of maize remains to be addressed,” the bulletin said. – Sapa-AP