Press release No. Z 01 of 10 December 2020
WIESBADEN – The next census will be postponed to 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. 15 May 2022 became the new census reference date when the Act postponing the census was passed. The Act entered into force on 10 December 2020. The postponement was effected on account of the restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, which also affected census preparation in the public administration. Initially, the census had been scheduled for 2021.
Census preparations affected by corona pandemic
At times, the preparatory work on the most extensive statistical survey in Germany could be carried out only to a limited extent due to the coronavirus pandemic. Staff members of many municipalities and also statistical offices had been entrusted with other tasks such as supporting the public health offices. At present, public service personnel has been tasked to assist in contact tracing.
As a matter of fact, most census data are obtained from existing sources such as population registers. Nevertheless, inquiries on the spot are necessary to collect information not stored in registers (for example, for quality assurance of register data); such inquiries could not be prepared under the conditions applying in the pandemic. The pandemic restrictions prevented, for instance, the envisaged establishment of local survey offices responsible for on-the-spot enquiries.
The next census in Germany will be part of an EU-wide census round scheduled to take place every ten years since 2011. The EU requires its Member States to record the official population figures and cover other census variables. To meet the obligation of the EU to provide data for 2021, the census results will be recalculated to 31 December 2021 for deliveries to the EU.
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 figures. A regular assessment of the number of inhabitants is required to have reliable basic data for planning purposes. The data used for this purpose are mainly taken from administrative registers so that the majority of the population is not required to provide information. The census in Germany will be a register-based population census supplemented by a sample survey and combined with a census of buildings and housing.
More information on the census is provided at www.zensus2021.de
Census-related photos for the media are available on our press page at www.zensus2021.de/DE/Presse
