Municipality Cerkno, which is part of the Goriška statistical region, measures 132 km2; this ranks it 50th among Slovene municipalities.
Statistical data for 2022 reveal the following:
In the middle of 2022 about 4,540 people (about 2,330 men and 2,210 women) were living in the municipality, which ranks Cerkno 112th among Slovene municipalities. The population density was 35 people per square kilometre, which was lower than the national average of 104 people per square kilometre.
The number of live births was higher than the number of deaths, which means that natural increase per 1,000 population in the municipality was positive. It was 0.2 (in Slovenia –2.3). The number of people who moved from the municipality was higher than the number of people who moved into the municipality, so net migration per 1,000 population in the municipality was negative. It was –6.6. The sum of natural increase and net migration per 1,000 population in the municipality was negative. It was –6.4 (in Slovenia 4.6).
The mean age of people in Cerkno was 44.9 years, which was higher than the national average (43.9).
As in most Slovene municipalities, in Cerkno the number of old people was higher than the number of young people: there were 152 people, aged 65 or more, per 100 people aged 0–14. This ratio shows that the value of the ageing index was higher than the national average of 142. It also shows that the mean age of people in Cerkno is growing more rapidly than in Slovenia as a whole. Data by sex show that the ageing index for women was in all municipalities except in four (Črna na Koroškem, Dobrovnik/Dobronak, Jezersko in Mislinja) higher than the ageing index for men. In Cerkno – as in most Slovene municipalities – more women were 65+ years old than 14 or less; for men the situation was the same.
Cerkno had 1 kindergarten, which was attended by 178 children. Of all children in the municipality aged 1–5, 89% were included in kindergartens, which was more than the national average of 82%. In the school year 2022/23 elementary schools in Cerkno were attended by about 350 pupils, while various upper secondary schools were attended by about 190 pupils. There were 37 students and 10 graduates per 1,000 people in the municipality; in Slovenia the averages were 38 per 1,000 and 8 per 1,000, respectively.
Among people aged 15–64 (i.e. working age population) about 73% were persons in employment (i.e. persons in paid employment or self–employed persons), which is more than the national average (69%).
In Cerkno, average monthly gross earnings per person employed by legal persons were about 23% lower than the annual average of monthly earnings for Slovenia; net earnings were about 20% lower.
Among 1,000 inhabitants in the municipality, 628 had a passenger car. The car was on average 12 years old.
In 2022, 231 kg of municipal waste per person was collected in Cerkno, which is 130 kg less than on average in Slovenia.