Information from state registers as well as a questionnaire will be used for the population census
Today, a team from Statistics Estonia met with the census committee of the Estonian Government to present the questionnaire of the Population and Housing Census 2021 and discuss the current state of the project. The exact census methodology will be decided once the allocation of additional funds from the government reserves for 2021 and from the 2022 state budget has been confirmed.
According to Director General of Statistics Estonia Mart Mägi, the census will definitely be conducted using a combined method. “Most of the necessary data can be obtained from state registers and people will be asked to answer just a few questions for which there is no information in any register. People will be asked, for example, to specify their knowledge of foreign languages, their religion, and existence of health problems and their impact on everyday life,” said Mägi. “The use of the data in registers will save people a lot of time. The e-questionnaire takes less than ten minutes to complete for each person.”
The census methodology and forms of data collection are determined by Statistics Estonia, pursuant to the Official Statistics Act, in compliance with the regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. “The final decision on the methodology of next year’s census has to be made this year,” noted Mägi. If the government agrees to allocate an additional 7.9 million euros, all the residents of Estonia will be required to complete the questionnaire. Otherwise, Statistics Estonia is prepared to survey 60,000 people and use the results for conclusions about the entire population of Estonia. “Regardless of whether the survey is completed by all residents in Estonia or by 60,000 people, we will use state registers to count all people and dwellings.”
At the end of this year and at the start of next year, Statistics Estonia will run a census test, in order to test the methodology, the performance of technical systems and the notification of respondents as well as how well respondents can understand the questions. Based on the analysis of the test results, any necessary improvements will be made so as to ensure complete readiness for the census taking place at the end of 2021.
Statistics Estonia has carried out two trial censuses to assess the register-based collection of census data. Both of these trial censuses (the first in 2016 and the second in 2019) confirmed that all the data available in registers comply with international quality requirements. Starting 2024, all the European Union countries will be conducting a census annually, meaning a transition to fully register-based censuses.
For further information:
Kadri Kütt
Media Relations Manager
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel 625 9181