In 2011, the population of Nepal was 26,494,504 (census 2011). The present median growth rate is 1.596% and the median age is 21.6 years. Female median age is estimated at 22.5 years, and male median age at 20.7 years. Only 4.4% of the population are estimated to be more than 65 years old, comprising 681,252 females and 597,628 males, whereas 61.1% of the population is between 15 and 64 years old, and 34.6% is estimated at younger than 14 years. Birth rate is estimated at 22.17 births/1,000 population with an infant mortality rate at 44.54 deaths per 1,000 live births. Life expectancy at birth is estimated at 67.44 years for females and 64.94 years for males. Death rate is estimated at 681 deaths per 100,000 people. Net migration rate is estimated at 61 migrants per 100,000 people. According to the 2011 census, only 68.6% of the total population is literate,.

The words "Nepali" and "Nepalis" are gaining widespread popularity in English usage as opposed to Nepalese, which is an Anglicized version.