] Population Trend Census Pop.  %± 1961 35,983,000 — 1971 43,503,000 20.9% 1981 53,550,000 23.1% 1991 66,508,000 24.2% 2001 75,727,000 13.9% Source:Census of India [20] Telugu is the official language of the state, spoken by 80.5% of the population. Telugu is the third most widely spoken language in India, after Hindi