86% of Estonian people are willing to review and update their personal information in the population register and in the register of buildings before the population census begins at the end of this year. Still, only 16% of the population, on average, have logged into these registers over the last year, as revealed by the survey carried out by Kantar Emor.

The big Estonian population e-census, which begins at the end of the year, is largely based on register data. For reliable census results, all Estonian residents are invited in the next few months to check and, if necessary, correct population register data concerning their education, ethnicity, place of residence and contacts.

In three months’ time, on 28 December, the big Estonian e-census will be launched. During the census, all people and their dwellings are counted. In order to do that and simplify the census, all data in registers must be gathered. Although most of this work can be done automatically, it does not yet work with a push of a button, instead everyone needs to contribute.

There are just a few months left until the census and preparations are in full swing. Many people want to know when and how the census will be conducted as well as when the census results will be published.

The population census is the biggest data collection and consolidation project everywhere in Europe over this and the following year. This time, let’s take a look at England where some clever scammers tried to take advantage of the census. There is a valuable lesson to learn from this.

There is not much time left until the beginning of the big Population and Housing e Census. What makes this census special is that Statistics Estonia is organising it mainly with data obtained from registers. What else should you know about the upcoming census?

In the Population and Housing Census, which starts at the end of the year, among else, people will be able to give an assessment of their health. Health questions in the same wording were also included in the census ten years ago, which is why the results will provide an overview of Estonian people’s health and how it has changed in a decade.

The places where people live have been recorded in one way or another for centuries. Previously, the place of registration could have been a church, municipality government, city address board, housing board or the Population Register. In recent decades, developed countries have found that register data are usually more accurate than survey data, and so population censuses have also begun to use them. Back in 2011, eight European Union countries conducted the census on a register basis: in addition to the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Slovenia.

Researchers and officials have a special interest to find out through the census how many people living in Estonia have two nationalities and speak two mother tongues. Although information on nationality and mother tongue is also available in the population register, it is the first time that it is possible to choose two options in the census questionnaire.

During the first days of June, Statistics Estonia tested readiness to conduct an online survey of the Population and Housing Census in a new survey application. According to the census project manager Liina Osila, the testing was successful and Statistics Estonia is technologically ready for the census.

Latvia conducted a census based entirely on register data on the first day of this year, and it can be considered as a complete success. In addition to various databases, a large amount of information from private companies was used to specify and compare information, for example, on housing. The first most important result of the census: last year, Latvia had the lowest population growth in a hundred years.

Urmet Lee, who became the Director General of Statistics Estonia at the beginning of August, assures that we are ready for the big e-census of Estonia. We asked him to explain what is going to be different this time and why everyone should participate in the population census.