1.      Population Size and Growth – Anao has a population of only 11,733 as of December 2007.  The municipality has a growth rate of 3.04% per annum based on the geometric projection used by the NSO.

2.      Urban-Rural Distribution – With only 4.43 percent of its population living in the urban area, Anao is considered a rural municipality.  The rate of increase of urban population is low as there is virtually no migration from rural to the urban area.

3.      Sex and Age Structure – The population of Anao is almost equally divided between male and female. The productive section of the population, or those who are between the ages of 15 and 64, is more that one-half or 58.64 percent.  The young dependent group, or those under the age of 15, constitutes 34.79 percent while the senior age group is about 6.58 percent.  This means, almost 6 out of 10 people in Anao are of productive age.

4.      Dialects and Languages – Owing to its ancestry, Anao is predominantly an Ilocano-speaking community with nine (9) out of ten (10) of the population speaking the dialect.  The only other dialect spoken by a significant number of the population is Tagalog, at about 8.13 percent.  Even migrants to the area learn the  Ilocano dialect in no time at all.

5.      Religion – Roman Catholic Church, the Philippine Independent Church, and the Aglipayan Church are the three dominant religious groups in the area.  Small as it is, Anao is disputed to be the municipality with almost all religious sects.