21 January 2021
The Population and Housing Census will take place even under the current epidemic situation. It was also confirmed by yesterday's meeting of the Central Crisis Staff, including a positive recommendation and approval of the Ministry of Health. The Census will start on Saturday 27 March and it will finish on Tuesday 11 May 2021. People will be counted in a simple and safe way over the Internet from 27 March to 9 April.
“The Online Census is, considering the current epidemic situation, obviously the safest and also the fastest way to be counted. That is because it eliminates contact with census enumerators who will distribute paper census forms to those who could not be counted online for some reason,” Marek Rojíček, President of the Czech Statistical Office, says. Activity of census enumerators during an additional field survey between 17 April and 11 May will be adjusted in cooperation of the CZSO with Czech Post so that physical contacts between census enumerators and the population are considerably reduced. Statisticians will also monitor the current epidemic situation on an ongoing basis and respond to its possible impacts on the preparation and progress of the Census.
The Population and Housing Census takes place once in ten years. This frequency is considered an acceptable period for collected data to be able to be used for decision making about the future and better life of the population even in the smallest territorial unit. Censuses have been taking place in our territory regularly since 1869. The up to now last one took place ten years before, in 2011. During the past 150 years, a population census did not take place in a decennial interval only once – during the WWII. The first Czechoslovak census took place exactly a hundred years ago, in 1921. The census will take place for the third time in an independent Czech Republic in 2021. Moreover, it is not just our country in which the Census takes place. Based on a decision of the United Nations Organisation (UN), 55 countries are going to carry out a census in their territories in 2021. In the European Union, despite the difficult situation, the Census will be carried out in all of its Member States this year.
“The Census serves all of us. It is hard to imagine that a society could function without having comprehensive information about itself. That is why censuses have been carried out in different forms since the ancient times, all around the world, from the poorest to the most economically advanced countries,” Marek Rojíček explains.
We carry out censuses so that data on the whole population, its distribution, demographic, social, and economic characteristics, structure and way of housing of households are available, that is in mutual relationships from the nationwide perspective as well as down to the smallest territorial detail. Results later help in many areas – e.g. for planning of transport, capacities of health establishments, retirement homes, or kindergartens, as well as for preparation of territorial plans or rides of firefighters out of their stations.
Contact:
Jolana Voldánová
2021 Census spokeswoman
Mobile phone number: +420 704 659 357
e-mail: jolana.voldanova@scitani.cz
