Agusan del Sur registered a total population of 559,294 persons in Census 2000, an increase of 44,558 persons from 1995 Census of Population. This figure translated to an annual growth rate of 1.79 percent, a sudden decrease of 2.06 percentage points from that of the 1990 to 1995 period. The number of households also rose to 103,637, compared to 95,188 households from the 1995 figure. The average household size was 5.39 persons, the same as that of 1995 but higher than the national average of five persons.