Population and housing censuses are the foundation of statistical systems, providing benchmarks of a country's population and housing stock, and baseline information for the production of other statistics.
We facilitate international exchange of ideas on emerging issues in census methodology, technology and management, and coordinate work on innovative approaches for improving efficiency in the face of ever-increasing concerns about costs, data quality, respondent burden and privacy raised by traditional censuses.
We promote the preparation and implementation of the CES Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses, and support UNECE member States in their preparations for conducting censuses. The use of censuses and registers has been identified as an area of strategic priority by the CES, which has established a Steering Group to oversee this work.
We facilitate international exchange of ideas on emerging issues in census methodology, technology and management, and coordinate work on innovative approaches for improving efficiency in the face of ever-increasing concerns about costs, data quality, respondent burden and privacy raised by traditional censuses.
We promote the preparation and implementation of the CES Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses, and support UNECE member States in their preparations for conducting censuses. The use of censuses and registers has been identified as an area of strategic priority by the CES, which has established a Steering Group to oversee this work.
Resources
- UNECE's Work on Population and Housing Censuses: 2-page overview
- Population in the UNECE Statistics Database
- UNECE Census Wiki: information and materials related to the population and housing censuses in the UNECE region, including detailed tables of information about the 2020 and 2010 census round in member countries and a collection of papers on transitions to new census methods. Additional content and interactive services for registered users.
- Population and housing census videos (2010 round)
- Census 2000 - forms and related information
- 2020 World Population and Housing Census Programme (external link: United Nations Statistics Division)
Key publications and documents
- Guidelines on the Use of Registers and Administrative Data for Population and Housing Censuses (2018)
- CES Recommendations for the 2020 Censuses of Population and Housing (2015)
- CES Recommendations for the 2010 Censuses of Population and Housing (2006)
- Measuring Population and Housing - Practices of UNECE countries in the 2010 round of censuses (2013)
- Measuring Population and Housing - Practices of UNECE countries in the 2000 round of censuses (2008)
- Measuring population and housing in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia - Review of practices in the 2010 round of censuses (2016)
- Register-Based Statistics in the Nordic Countries (2007)