11 March 2021

The Census will start on the midnight from 26 to 27 March. It is carried out every ten years; since 1991, it is always in spring. The determined date complies with European legal standards and will enable to acquire internationally comparable data. For the first time, this year's Census will be primarily online; collection of paper census forms (questionnaires) from the remaining households will take place under strict sanitary measures.   

The whole course of the Census is fully in accordance with strict anti-epidemic requirements. “The Czech Statistical Office (CZSO) has modified the form of the Census with regards to the pandemic situation. In accordance with requirements of health officers, essential measures were adopted that enable the Census to take place in the regular term, and, primarily, in a contactless and safe way. All these changes were negotiated and approved on a meeting of the Central Crisis Staff,” Marek Rojíček, President of the CZSO, says.

From 27 March, one can get counted online in a simple way, without being in contact with any officer, comfortably from home. You can fill in the electronic census form (questionnaire) not only for yourself, but also for the whole household or for your relatives.  

As of 17 April, those who will not get counted online will have to fill in the paper census form (questionnaire). “That way to get counted also complies with strict anti-epidemic measures. The census officer (census enumerator) will only ring the doorbell when distributing the paper census forms (questionnaires) and will wait outside your house for you to come; it is similar to recorded delivery. During that he/she will absolutely obey up-to-date sanitary measures and will be equipped with a respirator and disinfectant. Moreover, he/she will be negatively tested for coronavirus,” said Ondřej Škorpil, Director of the Development and Strategy unit of the Czech Post, which takes care of this phase of the Census. You will then put your filled in paper census form (questionnaire) in a return envelope into any post box or you will hand it over at determined contact points. You will have time to do so until 11 May. Already on Wednesday 10 March, census officers (census enumerators) gradually started to go to the field; they are checking the actual condition of census districts. It means that without contact with the population they will check, for example, whether the surveyed buildings exist and where they are located, whether their addresses are correct, and how the buildings are used.

The Census, as the only survey, enables to fully capture how life of the Czech society changes. Without having these data, it would not be possible to fully analyse what the impacts of the emergency anti-epidemic measures on the economic and demographic situation are. “The Census is an irreplaceable source of data on households. Mainly data about the number of persons by age and locality are necessary more than ever before. Without them we would not have, for example, necessary details about distribution of the elderly and availability of health establishments. In lockdown, the importance of statistics on commuting to work between municipalities and Districts is obvious,” Robert Šanda, Director of the Population Statistics Department of the CZSO, summarises.  

Results of the Census will be very important and widely usable for the future. Thanks to them, it will be possible to base analyses of economic and social impacts of the pandemic on reliable and objective data. We will also benefit from an exceptionally long time series of Census results that are available in ten-year intervals. Their regularity was interrupted only once during World War II.

The Census is organised by the Czech Statistical Office, an independent and apolitical authority, that collects and publishes data from the following domains: demography, economy, health, labour market and social security, culture, sport, tourism, education, and the environment. Since 1990, it processes and publishes results of all elections. The main principles of work of the CZSO are as follows: Independence, Impartiality, Objectivity, Accuracy and Reliability, Same information to everybody at the same time, Protection of confidential data. In 2020, 61% of the population trusted the Czech Statistical Office and thus it belongs to the most trustworthy institutions in the country, according to the Public Opinion Research Centre.

Contact:
Jolana Voldánová
2021 Census spokeswoman
Mobile phone number: +420 704 659 357
e-mail: jolana.voldanova@scitani.cz