7 March 2019

The 2021 Population and Housing Census (hereinafter the 2021 Census) will be more user-friendly and most of the population will be counted on-line. Currently, a nationwide field preparation takes place in the form of collection of background materials on the territory. This week, statisticians sent a bill on the Census for an interdepartmental consultation. Although the next Census will be carried out in two years, the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO) has been preparing for this important nationwide project for several years already.

Population and Housing Censuses are carried out in the Czech Republic in decennial intervals and resulting from them are unique data for the entire population; such data cannot be provided by any other survey. The data and their use are of considerable importance for municipalities, the state administration, enterprises, as well as for citizens. “They help significantly, for example, in the area of regional planning to correctly adjust the public transport service. Information about the housing stock is actively used by fire brigades and other components of the integrated rescue system. Other indicators enable easier and more effective planning of construction of nursery schools, schools, or retirement homes,” Marek Rojíček, President of the Czech Statistical Office, underlines some of the benefits of censuses.

The 2021 Census will be carried out 100 years after the first Czechoslovak population census of 1921. However, it will differ much even when compared to that of 2011. “The next Census will be easier, more user-friendly, and more effective. Citizens will get the possibility to be counted on-line via a computer or a mobile phone; there will not be any other need to communicate with officers. The number of questions will be reduced to a half compared to the Census ten years ago,” Marek Rojíček says. Data already existing in databases of the state administration will be used in a maximum extent during the Census thanks to active cooperation of the CZSO with ministries and other authorities. Thus, administrative burden on the population will decrease and it will take much less time to fill in the electronic forms. Paper forms should be used afterwards only for those, who will not participate in the Census over the Internet.

The bill on the Census is now in the interdepartmental consultation. The draft subject-matter of the law was approved by the Government in June 2018. The Czech Statistical Office now focuses mainly on territorial preparation of the Census itself and it intensively communicates with representatives of authorities of towns and municipalities. Compared to 2011, the project will cost in real terms by up to 22% less and it will require less employees to be involved in it. Thanks to the on-line Census and using of administrative data sources, there will be huge savings of paper and the results will be processed faster. Unique resulting data will be provided for free and to anybody; the offer of the data in open formats will be bigger and it will be possible to make own data tables and outputs in the form of maps according to the current needs of users. At the same time, however, results of the Census are liable to the highest possible security; during the entire Census, security and personal data protection will be emphasised.

Contact:
Jan Cieslar
Spokesman of the CZSO
T (+420) 274 052 017 | M (+420) 604 149 190
E jan.cieslar@czso.cz   | Twitter @statistickyurad