Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this Zone has a total population of 2,637,657, of whom 1,323,424 are men and 1,314,233 women; with an area of 19,825.22 square kilometres, Arsi has a population density of 133.05. While 305,701 or 11.59% are urban inhabitants, a further 7,098 or 0.27% are pastoralists. A total of 541,959 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.87 persons to a household, and 523,342 housing units. The two largest ethnic groups reported were the
Oromo (84.15%) and the
Amhara (14.3%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.55% of the population.
Oromiffa was spoken as a first language by 81.38% and
Amharic was spoken by 17.76%; the remaining 0.86% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were
Muslim, with 58.1% of the population having reported they practised that belief, while 40.01% of the population professed
Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and 1.43% of the population professed
Protestantism. The official estimate of population for this zone was 3,894,248 as at mid 2022, of which 1,944,164 were male and 1,950,084 were female; the population density was 196.4 per km2. According to a May 24, 2004
World Bank memorandum, 4% of the inhabitants of Arsi have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 45.0 kilometres per 1000 square kilometres (compared to the national average of 30 kilometres), the average rural household has 1.2 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 1.14 for the Oromia Region) and the equivalent of 1.1 heads of livestock. 16.5% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a Regional average of 24%. Concerning
education, 84% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school, and 22% in secondary schools. 17% of the zone is exposed to
malaria, and none to
Tsetse fly. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 364. == Notes ==