NEW DELHI: The first phase of Census in Delhi, which concluded in Delhi on Sunday, has found a 2.3 crore population living normally in the National Capital Territory (NCT), with North East Delhi emerging as the most populated district with 28.7 lakh normal residents and New Delhi with the least population at 2.4 lakh.In Census 2011, the total population was listed at nearly 16.8 lakh. However an exact comparison with the population returned by houselisting operations phase of Census 2027 is not possible, as the latter is only a provisional figure. Census officials told TOI that the final population of NCT of Delhi shall be known only after the second phase of Census 2027, namely population enumeration phase due only in February next year.While a total 55 lakh households were enumerated across the NCT of Delhi — including 1.66 lakh (3%) which opted for self-enumeration — the total number of houses stands at nearly 76 lakh. Census officials told TOI that the increase in households and population is on expected lines, keeping in mind the nearly 15-year interval since the last census.A census household means a group of people, whether related by blood or not, sharing food from a common kitchen, whereas census houses include all residential, non-residential or commercial units, worship places, educational institutions, offices etc.A districtwise comparison with Census 2011 data may also not be feasible as the total number of districts and their boundaries have undergone changes during the interim one-and-a-half decades. While the total districts in NCT of Delhi stood at nine in 2011, their number has since gone up to 13 with the addition of Outer Delhi, South East Delhi, Old Delhi and Central North Delhi districts.The houselisting phase of Census 2027 has returned a population of 28.7 lakh in North East Delhi, 25 lakh in South West Delhi, 24.4 lakh in West Delhi, 22.7 lakh in South East Delhi, 21.6 lakh in East Delhi, 20.6 lakh in North West Delhi, 20.5 lakh in South Delhi, 19.1 lakh in Outer North district, 17 lakh in North Delhi, 11.3 lakh in Central North district, 9.6 lakh in Central Delhi, 7.5 lakh in Old Delhi and 2.4 lakh in New Delhi.In terms of number of households, South West Delhi leads with 6.2 lakh households, followed by North East with 6.1 lakh, West Delhi with 5.9 lakh, East Delhi with 5.5 lakh, South East with 5.4 lakh, South Delhi with 5.3 lakh, North West Delhi with 4.7 lakh, Outer North with 4.4 lakh, North Delhi with nearly 4 lakh, Central North Delhi with 2.7 lakh, Central Delhi with 2.4 lakh, Old Delhi with 1.6 lakh and New Delhi with 63,050 households.South West Delhi has the most houses (for the purpose of Census) at over 8.2 lakh, followed by North East Delhi and West Delhi at a little more than 8 lakh, East Delhi at 7.5 lakh, Outer North at 7.2 lakh, South East Delhi at 7.1 lakh, South Delhi at 6.8 lakh, North West Delhi at 6.3 lakh, North Delhi at 5.4 lakh, Central North at 3.8 lakh, Central Delhi at 3.6 lakh, Old Delhi at 2.9 lakh and New Delhi at over 1 lakh.Census 2027 will be held in two phases. While the houselisting phase is being conducted between April 1 and Sept 30, 2026 over 45 days, including 15 days for self-enumeration, individually notified by each state or Union territory, the second phase — involving population enumeration, during which caste will also be recorded — is due in February 2027.The reference date for Census 2027 is March 1, 2027. This being a digital census, the datasets and census tables are expected to be out much sooner.Interestingly, self-enumeration facility was availed of by just 3% of the households in Delhi.