2022 census: the most important information about the census

census
This is the most important information about the 2022 census

In Germany there will be another census next year. Eleven years after the last census, numerous data are to be updated – for example on the number of residents as well as their employment and living situation. Existing administrative data are primarily to be used, but millions of citizens will also be interviewed directly, as the Federal Statistical Office announced in Wiesbaden on Wednesday. The results are expected to be available from the end of 2023. How the census works:

When do the surveys start?

The deadline is May 15, 2022. As of this date, around 10.2 million people will receive the information by post that they have been randomly selected for a survey on age, marital status, nationality, and living and working situation. Residents of dormitories are also interviewed; in the case of shared accommodation such as old people’s homes, the management must provide information.

Only some of the questions should be clarified in short personal contact, for example at the front door with distance and mask. The rest of the information can be submitted online. In addition, around 23 million owners or administrations should provide information about their apartments and residential buildings online.

Who conducts the surveys?

Volunteers are already being sought in the municipalities; the city of Frankfurt, for example, is looking for around 450 so-called survey officers who, after a one-day course, will each carry out around 150 surveys and transmit the data. You will receive an expense allowance of around 1300 euros. The interviewers must undertake in writing to maintain statistical confidentiality and receive a special ID. Those addressed are obliged to provide information.

What is the goal of the census?

The census is intended to collect precise population and housing figures in order to create a reliable planning basis for decisions in the federal, state and local governments, explained the authority. Among other things, it is about correcting inaccuracies in the population registers that arise when people have not yet registered at their new place of residence, for example after moving. With the help of random surveys, such errors could be eliminated from the statistics. In addition, data would be collected that are not available in the registers, such as information on education and training or employment. The total cost of the census is given as 1.5 billion euros. The census is carried out across the EU.

How often does a census take place?

A census is planned every ten years; this would normally have been the case in 2021 – but the date was postponed due to the corona pandemic. In 2011, it turned out that in many cities and towns there were fewer people than assumed – with painful financial consequences, as the amount of payments from the financial equalization scheme is based on the size of the population.

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The current procedure cannot be compared with the census in the 1980s in what was then federal territory, underlined the Federal Statistical Office. There had been calls for boycotts and a successful constitutional complaint against them. At that time all citizens were obliged to provide information, it was a so-called full survey.

What will happen to the data?

The Federal Office emphasized that data protection requirements from the Federal Statistics Act and the General Data Protection Regulation would be observed. The data would not be passed on to authorities outside of the official statistics. Personal data would be required for processing and deleted at the earliest possible point in time. The data would only be evaluated anonymously. It is not about finding out something about the individual living conditions or attitudes of the residents, but about obtaining a database.

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