Nepal housing & population census dashboard — NHPC 2021

753 local-level units · 7 provinces · Mountain, Hill & Tarai regions · Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Nepal

National overview
Total population
28.9M
28,925,480
Urban population
65.5%
18.96M people
Total households
6.66M
Avg size 4.34
Local units
753
Metro, Sub-Metro, Urban, Rural
Grid electricity
91.6%
lighting access
LPG cooking
42.3%
Clean fuel access
Cement walls
51.1%
Durable housing
Fuelwood cooking
52.5%
Pollution risk
Key policy priorities
Clean cooking gap

52.5% still rely on fuelwood. Mountain regions at 86.6% — major indoor air pollution burden.

Mud wall housing

73.1% of Mountain households use mud-bonded walls. Disaster risk is high in seismic zones.

Solar off-grid gap

Karnali has only 47.3% grid access — 50.2% depend on solar. Last-mile grid extension needed.

Electricity gains

91.6% national grid coverage achieved. Tarai leads at 96.7%, but Mountain lags at 75.1%.

Population & households by ecological region

Population distribution by region

Mountain (6.1%) Hill (40.2%) Tarai (53.8%)
Tarai 53.8%, Hill 40.2%, Mountain 6.1%
Tarai holds the majority population despite smaller geographic footprint

Avg household size by region

Household size
Mountain 4.28, Hill 3.95, Tarai 4.70
Tarai has largest average household size (4.70), indicating higher fertility rates
Cooking fuel by region & municipality type

LPG vs fuelwood cooking — by region

LPG (%) Fuelwood (%)
LPG vs fuelwood by region
Weighted population averages. Mountain communities overwhelmingly rely on fuelwood (86.6%).
Lighting sources

National lighting fuel mix

Grid (91.6%) Solar (7.0%) Other (1.4%)
Grid 91.6%, Solar 7%, Other 1.4%

Grid electricity access by province

Grid electricity (%)
Karnali 47.3% is lowest
Karnali at 47.3% is the critical gap. Solar fills much of the remainder there.
Wall & roof construction by region

Wall type by region (%)

Mud bonded Cement bonded Other
Mountain: 73.1% mud, Hill: 46.6% mud, Tarai: 13.2% mud
Mountain areas overwhelmingly use mud-bonded brick — vulnerable to earthquakes

Roof type by region (%)

Cement Tile Other
Mountain: 11.3% cement, Hill: 36.1%, Tarai: 41.1%
Mountain regions have 88.3% non-cement/non-tile roofs — poor climate resilience
Asset ownership — urban vs rural vs metro

Household asset ownership by municipality type (%)

Metro Sub-Metro Urban Rural
Metro vs Rural gap is large
Metro municipalities show 90.7% LPG, 51.6% refrigerator — vs Rural 20.1% LPG, 8.8% refrigerator. Urban–rural divide is stark.
Province comparison — cooking, lighting & housing

Cooking fuels by province (%)

LPG Fuelwood Animal dung Biogas
Province comparison
LPG adoption vs grid electricity — 753 local units

Energy development scatter: LPG cooking (x) vs grid lighting (y) — all locals

Mountain Hill Tarai
Each point is a local unit. Tarai cluster at top-right shows high access in both. Mountain units at bottom-left show energy poverty.
Bottom-left cluster (low LPG, low grid) = high energy poverty — mostly Karnali Mountain units. Top-right cluster = Kathmandu Valley & Tarai urban centers.