Press release No. Z 01 of 12 September 2019
WIESBADEN – In September and October 2019, the 2021 Census online questionnaire counting buildings and dwellings will be tested. The goal is that the survey to be conducted in 2021 will provide reliable results on how many buildings and dwellings there are in Germany. At the same time, the effort required of the respondents should be kept to a minimum. The census determines how many people live in Germany and how they live and work. Many decisions taken at the federal, Land and municipal levels are based on population and housing data. Regular stocktaking of the number of inhabitants is required to have reliable basic data for planning.
Voluntary and anonymous
For the test, 50,000 owners have been selected at random all over Germany. They will receive login details for the electronic questionnaire from the relevant Land statistical office. Participation is voluntary. Any data entered will be processed in an anonymised form in accordance with statistical confidentiality and will only be used to improve the questionnaire.
Easy to use
The test is required in order to design an easy to understand online questionnaire. Also, the questionnaire should be easy to use on any device - smartphone, tablet or PC.
The goal is to reduce the questionnaire completion time to less than ten minutes by means of interactive navigation. This would be impossible to achieve with a traditional paper questionnaire. At the same time, the procedure saves postage and is good for the environment.
Buildings and dwellings will also be counted as part of the census. The information thus collected will help to answer major questions such as whether there are sufficient dwellings in Germany or where constructing new dwellings is urgently required. There are no administrative registers of data on buildings and dwellings in Germany. Therefore, all owners of dwellings will be surveyed in May 2021 to get information on the housing situation of the population all over Germany and on housing space offered. In 2021, owners will be contacted in writing and asked to answer a few questions on their housing space in an online questionnaire. As participation in the survey will then be compulsory, the task should be facilitated by an easy to use questionnaire.
The Federal Statistical Office and the statistical offices of the Länder would like to thank in advance all those participating in the test. By giving just a few minutes of their time, the participants will help now to produce reliable results in 2021 and to keep the effort of the respondents to a minimum. Also, the questionnaire test is an opportunity to familiarise oneself with the content before the real survey starts.
Starting in November 2019, a pilot study will also be carried out, testing the survey of households (individuals).
More information on the methodology and use of the census is available on the redesigned website www.zensus2021.de
