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Balkan statisticians travelling to Estonia to study population census organisation

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Posted on 16 August 2010, 11:00
According to Statistics Estonia, starting today, 16 August, until Thursday, employees from the statistical institution of Bosnia-Herzegovina will be familiarising themselves with Estonia’s experience in organising population censuses, and with the preparatory work taking place for the 2011 Population and Housing Census (PHC 2011).

Members of the delegation on the study trip, taking place from 16–19 August, include thirteen officials from federal and regional statistical offices in Bosnia-Herzegovina who wish to receive an overview of Estonia’s experience in organising a population and housing census and of the preparatory work and methodology of the 2011 Population Census (PHC 2011).

“Statisticians from Bosnia-Herzegovina are most interested in the PHC 2011 methodology and information systems being developed for conducting the Census,” said Ms. Diana Beltadze, Project Manager of PHC 2011. “For example, in 2011 it will be possible for the first time to complete the Population Census questionnaire via the Internet, which has only been done by about ten other countries around the world. We also saw during the pilot Census of PHC 2011, which was conducted at the beginning of this year, that people are prepared to complete the Population Census questionnaire themselves via the Internet,” explained Beltadze. She added that statisticians from Bosnia-Herzegovina will also be introduced to Estonia’s experience in ensuring the quality of data collected during a census and in the publication of such data. Besides, the statisticians of Bosnia-Herzegovina will gain information about the standards of the European Statistical System.

The next population census in Bosnia-Herzegovina is planned for 2011. The last population census on this territory took place in 1991.

In Estonia, the Population Census (PHC 2011) will take place from 31 December of next year until the end of March 2012, by using the combined methodology: questionnaires can be completed as an e-census on the Internet; those who do not complete the e-census questionnaire will be visited by an enumerator. From 31 December of last year to 31 March of this year, the pilot Census of PHC 2011 took place, in the course of which over 10,000 persons in nine municipalities were enumerated. Of those, nearly 20% enumerated themselves by using the e-census.

In 2011 the Population Census will be conducted for the eleventh time on the territory of Estonia. Previous censuses were carried out in 1881, 1897, 1922, 1934, 1941, 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989 and 2000. In 2010 and 2011 Population and Housing Censuses will be held in the majority of countries all over the world.