Srilanka Population

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1. Population Characteristics

1.1 Population size, growth and density of population

The total population of Colombo district is 2,251,274. The intercensal

increase of population between 1981 and 2001 is 552,033 persons or 32.5 percent.

The growth rate of the district is 1.38 percent per annum during the above period.

The highest population is reported from Colombo divisional secretary's division and itis 380,946. The population of Padukka divisional secretary's division is 54,338 and it

is the divisional secretary's division with lowest population.

The urban sector of Colombo district comprised of four Municipal Councils

(Colombo, Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Moratuwa, Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte) and two

Urban Councils (Kolonnawa, Seethawakapura). Colombo Municipal Council

comprises of two divisional secretary's divisions viz. Colombo and Thimbirigasyaya.

Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council also comprises of two divisional

secretary's divisions viz. Dehiwala and Ratmalana. Moratuwa and Sri

Jayawardanapura Kotte Municipal Councils cover the total area of Moratuwa and SriJayawardanapura Kotte divisional secretary's divisions respectively.

The population of urban sector is 1,229,572 and it is 54.6 percent of the total

district population. Colombo Municipal Council is the largest and most densely

populated urban area in the district as well as in the country and it is more than half of

the urban population in the district (52.6 percent). The rural and estate percentages

are 45.1 percent and 0.3 percent respectively. The estate population is concentrated in

Hanwella and Padukka divisional secretary's divisions only.

Colombo district has a land area of 676 square kilometres (sq.km). It has a

population density of 3,330 persons per sq.km. The value was 2,603 persons per sq.km.according to the census 1981. The population density of the urban area is 13,011 persons

per sq.km.

1.2 Age-Sex composition

Age-sex composition of a population describes the pattern of the distribution

of people in different age and sex categories. It is determined by the past trends of

fertility, mortality and migration, which are the components of population change.

Figure 1 shows the age pyramid for Colombo district, which shows the distribution of

population by 5 year age groups and sex.



Figure 1: Age Pyramid

One prominent feature of the age pyramid is the general decline in the population

below 20 with slight increases in 0-4 and 5-9 age groups compared to immediately

preceding age groups. The decline is mainly attributable to declining fertility levels. The

highest population is seen in 20-24 age group for both sexes. But in that age group males

are much higher than females. The pattern was the same in 1981 census. The population

is conveniently divided into three broad age groups; young (0-14 years), working age

(15-59 years) and old age (60 years and over). Percentages of these age groups are

shown in Table A together with the corresponding data for 1981.

Table A: Percentage distribution of population by broad age group

Age

1981 2001

0 -14 29.7 21.4

15 -59 63.2 69.0

60 + 7.1 9.6

Dependency Ratio 58.1 45.0

Percentage

It is clearly seen that the proportion of young population has declined

significantly by 8.3 percentage points during 1981–2001; on the other hand the

proportion of old age population has increased by 2.5 percentage points. Working age

population too shows an increase. The ratio of the population in the age groups 0-14



years and 60 years and over, to the population in the age group 15-59 years is called

dependency ratio. It is an approximation of the average number of dependants that each

person of working age must support. This is 45.0 percent in 2001. The corresponding

value for Colombo in 1981 was 58.1 percent. So, there is a significant decline in

dependency ratio during 1981-2001 period.

In Colombo district, the total number of males outnumber the females by 51,552.

Sex ratio, which is defined as the number of males per 100 females, is 104.7. It was

111.2 according to the previous census of 1981.

1.3 Ethnic Composition

The distribution of the population by major ethnic groups is shown in Table B and

Figure 2.

Table B: Percentage distribution of population by ethnicity

1981 2001

Sinhalese 77.6 76.6

Sri Lanka Tamil 10.0 11.0

Indian Tamil 1.2 1.1

Sri Lanka Moor 8.2 9.0

Malay 1.3 1.0

Other 1.7 1.3

Total 100.0 100.0

PercentageEthnicity

Figure 2 : Percentage distribution of population by ethnicity



Sri Lanka

Tamil

11.0

Indian Tamil

1.1

Sri Lanka

Moor

9.0Other

1.3

Sinhalese

76.6

Malay 1.0

In Colombo district, 76.6 percent are Sinhalese. Sri Lanka Tamil, Indian Tamil,

Sri Lanka Moor and Malay population comprises of 11.0 percent, 1.1 percent, 9.0 percent

and 1.0 percent respectively. Comparison with the corresponding 1981 census figures

reveals that the percentage decreased for Sinhalese by 1.0 percentage point. On the

otherhand, Sri Lanka Tamil population increased by the same magnitude but Indian

Tamil Population declined very marginally by 0.1 percentage points. An increase of 0.8

percentage points is seen among Sri Lanka Moors during 1981-2001. Malay population

decreased slightly from 1.3 percentage points to 1.0 percentage point.

1.4 Religious Composition

The distribution of the population by major religion is shown in Table C and

Figure 3.

Table C: Percentage distribution of population by Religion

1981 2001

Buddhist 70.4 70.1

Hindu 7.7 8.7

Islam 9.9 10.7

Roman atholic 9.4 8.1

Other hristian 2.4 2.3

Other 0.2 0.1

Total 100.0 100.0

PercentageReligion



Figure 3: Percentage distribution of population by religion

Other

0.1

Roman

Catholic

.1

Other

Christian

!.3

"ind#

.7

Islam

10.7

$#ddhist

70.1

The religious affiliations in Colombo district show that out of the total population

70.1 percent are Buddhists, 8.7 percent are Hindus, 10.7 percent are Islam, 8.1 percent

are Roman Catholics and 2.3 percent are Other Christians. Comparison with the

corresponding 1981 census figures reveals that Buddhists, Roman Catholics and OtherChristians have decreased while Hindus have increased from 7.7 percent to 8.7 percent

by 1.0 percentage points during the intercensal period. Followers of Islam, on the other

hand, have increased by 0.8 percentage points.



1.5 Literacy, School attendance and Educational attainment

Ability to read and write at least one language was regarded as literate. The

literacy rates by sex is shown in Table D.

Table D: Literacy rates by sex

1981 2001

Male 95.8 95.3

Female 92.3 94.0

Total 94.1 94.7

Literacy RateSex

The literacy rate of the population aged 10 years and over is 94.7 percent.

Literacy rate of males (95.3 percent) is higher than that of females (94.0 percent). Overall

rate has increased by 0.6 percentage points during 1981-2001.

Literacy rates in the two major languages, Sinhala and Tamil, are 83.6 percent and

19.4 percent respectively, in Colombo district. Nearly 33.1 percent of the population can

read and write English. These are shown in Figure 4 together with the ability to speak in

the three languages. Ability to speak English is slightly lower than the ability to read and

write English, in contrast to other two languages.

Literacy in a given language is predominantly determined by ethnic affiliations ofthe person. Table E shows the distribution of literate persons of different ethnic groups

by languages in which they are literate.

Figure 4: Percentage distribution of population aged 10 years and over by ability to

speak, read and write Sinhala, Tamil and English.



0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

Ability to

Speak

Sinhala

Ability to

Read & Write

Sinhala

Ability to

Speak Tamil

Ability to

Read & Write

Tamil

Ability to

Speak

English

Ability to

Read & Write

English

P e r c e n t a g e

Table E: Literacy rates in languages by major ethnic group

Sinala Tamil !n"li#

Sinale#e 94.8 2.4 30.9

Sri Lan$a Tamil 35.4 84.3 36.1

%n&ian Tamil 35.8 78.2 27.7

Sri Lan$a Moor 54.9 78.4 41.8

Literacy in!tnic "ro'(

About 94.8 percent of the Sinhalese are literate in their mother tongue but only

2.4 percent can read and write Tamil and 30.9 percent can read and write English

Language. Literacy in Tamil for Sri Lanka Tamils and Indian Tamils are 84.3 percent

and 78.2 percent respectively and more than 35 percent of Sri Lanka Tamils and Indian



Tamils are literate in Sinhala. Literacy of Tamil is 78.4 percent for Sri Lanka Moor

community and significant percentage (54.9 percent) of them can read and write Sinhala.

Literacy in English is highest among Moors and lowest among Indian Tamils. Further,

literacy in English is higher among Sri Lanka Tamils than Sinhalese.

Ability of English language of people living in urban areas is higher compared to

rural and estate sectors; nearly 38 percent of urban residents can speak and read and write

English Language.

School Attendance

In this analysis, school attendance is regarded as attendence at any government or

recognized school which provides regular education for any number of grades from grade

1 to G.C.E. (A/L). Usually children in the age group 5-14 years are treated as the

population which should compulsorily be at school. Out of 315,776 children in the age

range 5-14 years, 274,717 children i.e nearly 87.0 percent are attending school as shown

in Table F. There is no significant difference between girls and boys.

Table F: School attendance by age and sex

Total Male Female

6 - 9 93.2 93.2 93.3

10 - 14 90.3 90.1 90.5 15 - 19 46.3 44.7 48.0

5 - 14 87.0 86.9 87.2

6 - 14 91.6 91.5 91.8

)ercenta"e*"e



As some of the children who completed age 5 by the census date could not get a

chance to enter schooling system in that year, it is more appropriate to consider age range

6-14 years as the group who should compulsorily be at school. A high proportion of 91.6

percent of children in 6-14 years are attending school in Colombo district. Here again

noticeable differentials do not exist between girls and boys. The average attendance of

15-19 year age group is 44.0 percentage points below that of 10-14 year age group. This

is expected as large numbers terminate their formal schooling during 15-19 age group

after G.C.E. (O/L) and G.C.E. (A/L) examinations. School attendance by single years of

age and sex is shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Percentage distribution of school attendance by single years of age and sex

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Age

P e r c e n t a g e

Male Female

As shown in Figure 5 there is no appreciable drop in the level of attendance uptoabout age 14. It started to decline sharply after age 15. Although the boys and girls have

almost equal attendance upto around age 17, female attendance is higher in age 18 and 19

years.

Educational Attainment

The percentage distribution of population 5 years of age and over by educational

attainment is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Percentage distribution of population aged 5 years and over by educational

attainment



0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

20.0

22.0

24.0

26.0

!o

S"hooling

Attending

year

#assed

year $%

# assed

year 4$

# assed

year 6$8

# assed

year '$0

# assed

()E *+,-

# assed

()E *A,-

/egree

and aboe

!ot

Stated

Ed1"ational attainments

Among the education categories shown in Figure 6, the highest percentage ofthe population (24.9) aged 5 years and over passed G.C.E. (O/L). Another 19.4

percent passed year 9-10; 15.3 percent passed year 6-8 and yet another 15.2 percent

recorded as completed their G.C.E. (A/L). Only 2.5 percent of the population aged 5

years and over record attainments with a degree and above.

There is no definite pattern in gender differences of educational attainment in

Colombo district. Upto year 8, education attainment of females are better than males; but

the pattern reverses for 'passed year 9-10' and G.C.E. (O/L)' categories. But higher

percentage of females (16.0 percent) passed G.C.E. (A/L) than males (14.4 percent).

Percentage of graduates are more prominent among males (2.8 percent) than females (2.2

percent).

1.6 Labour Force Participation

Economically active population or the labour force comprised of employed and

unemployed persons. The proportion of the economically active population to the total

population aged 10 years and over is called the labour force participation rate. It is 48.4

percent for Colombo district. Female labour force participation rate (28.6 percent) is

very much lower than the males (67.6 percent). Labour force participation rates

computed for five year age groups provide a more refined measure as the overall ratedepends on the age composition of the population.

Figure 7: Labour force participation rate by age and sex



0.0

0.0

20.0

%0.0

40.0

0.0

60.0

0.0

80.0

'0.0

00.0

1 0 - 1 4

1 5 - 1 9

2 0 - 2 4

2 5 - 2 9

3 0 - 3 4

3 5 - 3 9

4 0 - 4 4

4 5 - 4 9

5 0 - 5 4

5 5 - 5 9

6 0 - 6 4

6 5 - 6 9

7 0 - 7 4

7 5 &

o v e r

Age group

a t e

!otal Male Female

Table G: Labour force participation rate by age and sex

10 - 14 1.9 2.3 1.5

15 - 19 30.2 35.5 24.5

20 - 24 61.8 75.2 46.6

25 - 29 66.0 87.5 42.5

0 - 4 64.6 91.2 36.0

5 - 9 62.9 91.5 33.9

40 - 44 62.0 90.2 33.6

45 - 49 60.3 88.2 32.6

50 - 54 55.2 82.5 27.9

55 - 59 44.9 69.8 21.3

60 - 64 30.1 48.7 12.8

65 - 69 21.5 36.4 8.6

70 - 74 14.9 26.0 5.8

75 , oer 8.6 15.4 3.4

Total 48.4 67.6 28.6

*"e Total Male Female

The male age specific labour force participation rates are higher than females

for all ages. The labour force participation of children in 10-14 age group is very

small for both sexes. More than 69 percent of the male population of 20-59 age

group are economically active and they reach the peak value of 91.5 percent in the



35-39 age group. The sharp increase of female participation rate can be seen upto age

20-24 and it decreases gradually thereafter. The peak value of 46.6 percent can be

seen for 20-24 age group.

The economically inactive rate is highest (98.1 percent) for 10-14 age group. As

expected 94.4 percent of them are students.

Unemployment

The total number of unemployed population in the district is 57,089. Majority ofthem (62.8 percent) are males. Percentage distribution of unemployed persons by age

and sex is shown in Table H.

Table H: Percentage distribution of unemployed population by age and sex

10 - 14 1.1 1.1 1.2 15 - 19 24.6 25.3 23.3

20 - 24 38.5 37.3 40.5

25 - 29 15.7 15.2 16.5

0 - 4 7.6 7.5 7.7

5 - 9 4.7 5.0 4.2

40 - 44 3.0 3.3 2.6

45 - 49 1.9 2.1 1.6

50 - 54 1.3 1.5 1.0

55 - 59 0.8 0.9 0.6

60 - 64 0.4 0.4 0.3

65+ 0.4 0.5 0.4

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0


The highest concentration of unemployed is among young adults in the broad age

group 15-29 which accounts for nearly 79 percent of the total unemployment. In the

15-19 age group, the percentage unemployed is higher for males than females but the

pattern reverse for ages between 20-34.

Unemployment rate, which is expressed as the percentage of unemployed persons

to the total labour force, by age and sex is shown in Table I.

Table I: Unemployment rate by age and sex



10 - 14 22.2 21.2 24.0

15 - 19 23.8 25.1 21.6

20 - 24 14.5 13.6 16.1

25 - 29 6.6 5.7 8.4

0 - 4 3.6 3.1 5.1

5 - 9 2.5 2.3 3.1

40 - 44 1.8 1.7 2.1

45 - 49 1.3 1.3 1.5

50 - 54 1.1 1.1 1.2

55 - 59 1.0 1.0 1.2

60 - 64 1.0 0.8 1.5

65 - 69 1.0 0.8 1.5

70 - 74 1.3 1.1 1.7

75 , oer 1.7 1.4 2.9

Total 6.3 5.5 8.0


The overall unemployment rate in Colombo district is 6.3 percent. Although the

number of unemployed males exceed that of females, unemployment rate of females (8.0percent) is higher than that of males (5.5 percent). Age specific unemployment rates

reveal that the unemployment rate is very high for 15-19 and 20-24 age groups. Nearly

24 percent of the labour force in the age group 15-19 and nearly 15 percent of the 20-24

age group are unemployed. It is also seen that female rates are higher than the male rates

at all age groups excluding 15-19.

Unemployment rate by level of education is shown in Fig.8.

Figure 8: Unemployment rate by level of education

0.0

.0

2.0

%.0

4.0

.0

6.0

.0

8.0

!o

S"hooling

#assed year

$

# assed year

6 $ 0

#assed

()E,*+,-

#assed

()E,*A,-

/egree and

aboe

!ot Stated

-eel o3 ed1"ation



Nearly 7.0 percent of the economically active population with education

qualifications of G.C.E (O/L) are unemployed. The unemployment rate for persons

who passed year 6-10 and G.C.E. (A/L) are 6.7 and 6.4 percent respectively whereas

2.5 percent of those who completed education with degree and above are unemployed.

Examination of unemployed persons by marital status reveals that 79.8 percent of

the unemployed persons are never married and the corresponding percentages for males

and females are 81.8 percent and 76.4 percent respectively.

Occupation Pattern and Employment Status

The vast majority of economically active population is employed persons and

it accounts for 93.7 percent. The highest proportion of male employed population

belongs to elementary occupations. It is about 19.5 percent. The second and third

higher proportions of male employed persons are engaged as craft and related

workers and technicians and associate professionals. The percentages are 16.2 percent

and 11.9 percent respectively. Another 11.7 percent of males belong to the categories

of service workers and shop and market sales workers. Male private business owners

constitute 7.3 percent. Wholesale and retail business owners and owners of private

enterprises regardless of the capital invested in the business are categorized under the

private business owners. Nearly 78.0 percent of male private business owners are

own account workers.

Among the employed females the highest proportion is engaged in elementary

occupations as for males. The percentage is 20.2 percent. But 14 percent of total

female employed population is engaged as professionals in contrast to 4.7 percent for

males. Majority of that category consists of teaching professionals. Another 13.6

percent of employed females are clerks.

In Colombo district among total employed population 80.9 percent are

employees; 2.1 percent are employers, 15.3 percent are own account workers and 1.7

percent are unpaid family workers. Out of total employees, employers and own account

workers majority are males; The percentages are 69.2, 89.8 and 83.0 respectively. But

percentage of female unpaid family workers are higher than males (55.7 percent). About

78 percent of employed men and 87 percent of employed women comprise of employees.



1.7 Nuptiality

Figure 9: Percentage of never married population by age and sex

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

" n # e r 1 5

1 5

- 1 9

2 0

- 2 4

2 5

- 2 9

3 0

- 3 4

3 5

- 3 9

4 0

- 4 4

4 5

- 4 9

5 0

- 5 4

5 5

- 5 9

6 0

- 6 4

6 5

- 6 9

7 0

- 7 4

7 5 &

o v e r

Age group

P e r c e n t a g e

Male Female

Figure 9 shows the percentage of never married population by age and sex. As

expected females are getting married earlier than males. For example, among females in

25-29 age group only 35.6 percent are never married but the corresponding percentage is

as high as 57.5 percent for males. These patterns are reflected in singulate mean age at

first marriage, which stands at 25.0 years for females and 28.5 years for males. The

corresponding values for 1981 were 25.5 years and 28.9 years respectively.

1.8 Fertility

Mean number of children ever born is an indicator of cumulative fertility. Mean

number of children ever born for ever married women aged 15 years and over is 2.3. Its

distribution by five year age groups of ever married women is shown in Figure 10.



Figure 10: Ever married female population (aged 15 and over) by mean number of children

ever born and age

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

1 5 - 1

9

2 0 - 2

4

2 5 - 2

9

3 0 - 3

4

3 5 - 3

9

4 0 - 4

4

4 5 - 4

9

5 0 - 5

4

5 5 - 5

9

6 0 - 6

4

6 5 - 6

9

7 0 & o v e

r

Age $roup

M e a n v a l u e

Mean number of children ever born gradually increases with the age of the

woman. It is also observed that women in Colombo district give birth on the average to

about 2 children around 40 years of age.

2. Housing Characteristics

There are 509,238 housing units in Colombo district. About 93 percent of

housing units are occupied and more than half of them i.e. 240,531 housing units out of

473,045 units are in the urban sector. Another 230,684 occupied housing units are in the

rural sector and the estate sector is very small as it has only 1830 occupied housing units.

During intercensal period of 20 years, 1981-2001, the total number of housing units has

increased by 82.4 percent from 279,142 and the number of occupied housing units has

also increased from 272,489 to 473,045 by 73.6 percent.

2.1 Quality of Housing Units

Based on materials of construction used for wall, floor and roof, housing units

have been divided into three types viz; Permanent, Semi-Permanent and Improvised (see

concepts and definitions for details). Out of occupied housing units in Colombo district



86.3 percent are permanent, 11.5 percent are semi-permanent and 0.3 percent are

improvised.

2.2 Principal materials of Wall, Floor and Roof

Out of occupied housing units 53.1 percent have walls constructed with bricksand 25.1 percent have walls with cement block. More than 83 percent of occupied

housing units have cement floors and 11.4 percent have tile floors. Asbestos are used for

the roof in 48.8 percent of occupied housing units. The corresponding percentages for tile

and metal sheet are 28.1 and 10.7 respectively.

2.3 Type of Structure

Of the existing occupied housing units in Colombo district 71.7 percent are

single houses and 8.8 percent are attached houses. About 96 percent of housing units are

used only for residential purposes and a very small percentage is used for both residential

and commercial purposes (4.2 percent).

2.4 Average number of Rooms

The average number of rooms per occupied housing unit in Colombo district

is 4.0. Examination by sector shows that the highest value is in the rural sector 4.3.

The corresponding values for the urban and estate sectors are 3.8 and 2.6 respectively.

Average number of rooms by permanent, semi-permanent and improvised housing

units are 4.3, 2.4 and 1.4 respectively.

2.5 Year of Construction

In Colombo district, nearly 43.4 percent of occupied housing units are

constructed during the period 1970-1994. About 22.3 percent are constructed before 1970

and 28.9 percent are built in 1995 and onwards.

Figure 11 : Percentage of occupied housing units by year of construction



e/ore 1970

22.

ot #tate&

5.4

1970 - 1994

4.4

1995

nar&#

28.9

About 45 percent of permanent housing units are constructed during the period of

1970-1994; 67.6 percent of improvised housing units and 40.6 percent of semi-permanent

housing units are built in the year 1995 and onwards. A higher percentage of occupiedhousing units in the urban sector is constructed before 1970 (27.0 percent), but the

highest percentage remained during the period of 1970-1994.

2.6 Household Composition

There are 493,085 households in 473,045 occupied housing units in Colombo

district. About 97 percent of the occupied housing units in the district has one household

and a small number of housing units have two or more households (3.3 percent). The

average size of household in the district is 4.4 persons and the average occupants per

room is 1.1.

2.7 Toilet Facilities

Nearly 89 percent of the households in occupied housing units have a

toilet of their own; 75.0 percent have a toilet exclusively for the household and 13.6

percent are sharing with another household. Only 0.3 percent of households are not

using a toilet at all.

Figure 12: Percentage of households in occupied housing units by type of toilet



)o'r /l'#

16.8ot '#in" a

toilet

0.)it

2.1

ot #tate&

2.9

ter

0.6

3ater #eal

77.

More than 77 percent of households in the district are having water seal type

toilets. The corresponding percentages for pour flush and pit types are 16.8 and 2.1

respectively. In the rural and urban sectors most of households have water seal typetoilets 79.7 and 75.1 respectively.

2.8 Source of Drinking Water

Majority of households in occupied housing units in Colombo district drink

piped born water (62.3 percent) and 32.4 percent of households get water from protected

wells. Another 1.6 percent of households drink water from unprotected wells and 0.8

percent drink water from tube wells. Only 0.3 percent use river/ tank / stream etc. for

drinking water.

Figure 13: Percentage of households in occupied housing units by source of drinking water



%n&rotected

'ell

1.6

(rotected

'ell

3!.)

*ot stated

!.3

Other

0.3

Tank+Ri,er

etc

0.3

( i&ed -orn

6!.3

T#-e 'ell

0.

Most of the households in the urban sector (90.3 percent) use piped born

water for drinking. In rural areas, the main source of drinking water is well; 61.7 percent

drink water from protected wells and 3 percent use water from unprotected wells.

2.9 Lighting

Electricity is the major type of lighting in Colombo district (86.0 percent) and

almost all the other households used kerosene as the source of lighting (11.4 percent).

The percentage of households using solar power for lighting is negligible (0.1 percent).

As expected electricity is found mostly in the permanent type of housing units and

kerosene is used mostly in the semi-permanent type housing units.

2.10 Cooking Fuel

Majority of households in Colombo district use gas as cooking fuel (48.3

percent). Nearly 34 percent use firewood and kerosene is used only 3.6 percent. Majority

of the households in urban sector use gas as cooking fuel (54.3 percent) and another 21.3

percent use kerosene. In the rural sector a considerable percentage of households use gas

as the cooking fuel (42.3 percent) but still their main source of cooking fuel is firewood

(49.3 percent).

2.11 Tenure

Majority of the households in occupied housing units in Colombo district is owned by

a member of the household (71.4 percent); 16.9 percent live in rented/ leased households

and 5.5 percent live in rent free housing units.



While owner occupied housing units are predominate in the urban sector

(65.1 percent) a considerable percentage live in rented/ leased housing units (21.0

percent).

Srilanka Population

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