Experiences of the 2010 Round
of Population and Housing
Censuses: A global Overview
Margaret Mbogoni
United Nations Statistics Division
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Summary
 Implementation of 2010 census round
 Country experiences
o Census methodology
o Enumeration methods
o Use of technology
o Methods of data dissemination
o Collaboration among countries
o Successes/achievements
o Challenges experienced
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Surveys on country experience during 2010
round
 Mid-2011 and early 2012 UNSD and USCB
conducted survey on country practices for
2010 censuses
 Objectives of the survey
o Document early lessons learned from the 2010 round
o Identify preliminary recommendations for the Statistical
Commission to consider as planning begins on the 2020
World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses
 2009-2010 UNSD survey
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Response to 2011/2012 survey by
region
 126 countries or areas responded to survey
Geographical area
Number of responding countries
Africa
27
America North
18
America South
7
Asia
31
Europe
36
Oceania
7
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Salient findings

More countries undertaking a census in 2010 round than in 2000
round
o 26 did not conduct a census for 2000 round
o Only 7 countries with no information on plans for 2010 round
o 25 countries rescheduled their censuses for 2010 round (20%)
- Initially, 2010 was peak year for census taking for 2010 round
- Due to postponements, 2011 became peak for the round

Reasons for postponement include:
o
o
o
o
Budgetary constraints
Technical issues
Lack of skilled staff
Political situations
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Salient findings (contd.)
 As of 1 November 2012
o 192 countries already conducted census
o Population enumerated = 6.1 billion representing 89% of world
population
Countries already conducted census
36
Population enumerated
7
192
Census conducted
Census scheduled
No census scheduled
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Salient findings (contd.)

Changes in how countries conduct censuses
o
o
o
o
Increase in use of alternative methodologies from 2000 round
Use of multiple sources to generate census data
Multi-mode enumeration methods
Increased use of improved technology in all phases of census
- Implementation of new technologies most cited successful aspect of census

Reasons for changes:
 Reduce cost of census
 Improve quality of data
 Improve timeliness of dissemination of census results
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Main methodology for census
In 2010 census round:
 Full field enumeration still dominant methodology for
population and housing censuses (85%)
 Use of alternative methodologies
o
10% use administrative registers
o
5% use other methods mainly combinations
 Application of alternative methods not uniform across
countries and needs careful documentation and study
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Main census Methodology by region
Geographical area
Full field
enumeration
Administrative
registers
Others
Africa
27
100
America North
17
100
America South
7
100
Asia
26
87
2
7
2
7
Europe
22
61
10
28
4
11
Oceania
6
100
Total
105
85
12
10
6
5
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Use of other sources of data
Data source
Total countries
Administrative registers
33
26
Pre-existing administrative
records
11
9
Annual or other regular
surveys
22
17
Ad hoc sample surveys
19
15
Other
11
9
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Use of multi-sources of data
Data source
Full field
enum.
Admin.
registers
Other
Administrative
registers
26
25
4
33
3
50
Pre-existing
administrative
records
7
7
2
17
2
33
Annual or other
regular surveys
17
16
5
42
Ad hoc sample
surveys
12
11
4
33
3
50
Other
9
9
2
17
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Use of alternative methodologies
No.
%
Used in 2000 and 2010 rounds
13
11
Used in 2010 round only
18
15
Cost and time savings perceived
29
81
Cost and time savings realized
16
73
Will use alternative next census
30
94
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Enumeration methods
Total Countries
126
100
Face-to-face interviewer, paper questionnaire
94
74.6
Face-to-face interviewer, electronic questionnaire
14
12.2
Telephone
14
11.1
Self-enumeration, paper questionnaire, collected by enumerators
30
23.8
Self-enumeration, paper questionnaire, return by mail
18
14.3
Self-enumeration, internet
33
26.2
Register-based enumeration
18
14.3
Pre-existing administrative records
8
6.3
Other
2
1.6
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Use of technology during 2010round
Internet
Laptop computers
Hand-held/pocket computers
Tablet computers
Geographical information systems (GIS)
Computer-assisted coding
Optical mark reading/recognition (OMR)
Optical character reading/recognition (OCR)
Other imaging techniques and scanner devices
Other
None of the above
50
31
10
4
75
57
38
49
44
25
6
43
26
9
3
64
49
32
42
38
21
5
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Use of technology - Cartography
 Census cartography one of census domains that have
benefited the most from technological innovations
 In 2010 census round:
o
58% use digitized maps
o
74% use GPS/GIS
o
25% aerial photography
o
24% satellite imagery
Source: UNSD survey conducted in 2009-2010
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Use of technology (contd.)
 Predicted cost or time savings by using new technology
o Yes: 79 – 76%
o No: 25 – 24%
 Realized cost or time savings by using new technology
o Yes: 70 – 74%
o No: 25 -26%
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Use of technology (contd.)
 Benefits of using new technology
o
o
o
o
o
Time savings - 62%
Improved data quality - 57%
Improved coverage - 37%
Cost savings
- 36%
Increased participation/response rates – 23%
 Risks of using new technology
o
Increased cost – 29%
 Obstacles faced in use of new technology
o
o
Staff resources/expertise – 52%
Financial resources – 37%
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Contracting out use of technology
 Yes: 49%
 No: 51%
 Successes about contracting out use of technology
o
o
o
o
o
o
Contract management ~ 23 – 18%
Staying within scope ~28 - 22%
Adhering to budget ~29 – 23%
Adhering to schedule ~30 - 24%
Improved census integration ~25 - 20%
Other ~5 – 4%
 Challenges of contracting out use of technology
o
o
o
Contract management ~ 16 - 13%
Adhering to schedule ~ 14 - 11%
Adhering to budget ~ 13 - 10%
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Contracting out use of technology (contd.)
 More in-depth analysis of results on previous slide is needed to
show successes and challenges by census methodology
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Data dissemination – primary method
 Primary method of data dissemination
o
o
o
Paper publications ~ 66 - 52%
Static web pages (html, pdf, Excel) ~ 34 – 28%
Interactive online databases ~ 17 - 14%
Africa
o
o
Paper publications – 88%
Static web pages – 8%
America North
o
o
o
Static web pages - 44%
Paper publications – 31%
CD-Rom/DVD – 19%
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Data dissemination – primary method
America South
o
o
o
Interactive online databases – 43%
Static web pages (29%)
Paper publications, CD-Rom/DVD – 14%
Asia
o
o
Paper publications – 73%
Static web pages – 23%
Europe
o
o
o
Static web pages – 39%
Interactive online databases – 36%
Paper publications - 22%
Oceania
o
o
Paper publications - 67%
Static web pages - 33%
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Collaboration among countries
Areas in which collaborated with other countries
Total
o
o
o
o
Data dissemination - 27%
Questionnaire design – 21%
Alternative methodologies - 21%
New technologies – 18%
Africa
o
o
o
o
Post enumeration survey (PES) – 30%
Cartography - 26%
Data dissemination – 22%
Data analysis - 22%
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Collaboration among countries (contd.)
Areas in which collaborated with other countries
America North
o
o
o
Data capture – 39%
Questionnaire design – 33%
Data processing – 33%
America South
o
Cartography, data processing, data analysis - 29%
Asia
o
o
Data dissemination - 26%
New technologies, questionnaire design, data capture – 23%
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Collaboration among countries (contd.)
Areas in which collaborated with other countries
Europe
o
o
o
Data dissemination – 31%
Alternative methodologies – 28%
New technologies – 11%
Oceania
o
o
o
Alternative meth., questionnaire design, data collection – 57%
Cartography, data processing, data dissemination – 43%
New technologies, data capture, data analysis – 29%
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Successes in 2010 round






Implemented new technologies ~ 70 - 56%
Met deadlines ~ 62 - 49%
Kept within a budget ~ 59 - 47%
Improved/maintained data quality ~ 58 - 46%
Improved logistics and coordination ~ 56 - 44%
Improved data dissemination ~ 50 - 40%

Improved/maintained response/participation rates ~ 47 - 37%
 Implemented new methodologies ~ 46 – 37%
 Other ~ 21 - 17%
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Challenges during 2010 round






Cost ~ 88 - 70%
Timeliness ~ 56 - 44%
Data quality ~ 43 - 42%
Public perception ~ 46 - 37%
Response rates ~ 45 - 36%
Privacy ~ 37 - 29%
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Challenges for the 2010 round
In spite of achievements during 2010 round, still challenges:
Use of new technology (scanning, GIS, PDA)
Financing for the census
Lack of adequate skilled personnel
Institution of annonymization procedures for dissemination of
micro-data
Census evaluation (both operation and data)
Public concerns over privacy issues
Enhancing statistical literacy of basic data users
Implementing alternative approaches to traditional census
Political situations
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Thank You!
United Nations International Seminar on Population and Housing Censuses: Beyond the 2010 Round
27 – 29 November 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea