Press release No. 03 of December 10, 2020

WIESBADEN – The next census has been postponed until 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now that the law to postpone the census has entered into force, the census has been rescheduled for 15 May 2022. The law entered into force on 10 December 2020. The postponement is due to the restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic, which have also affected the census preparations in the public administration. The census was originally scheduled for 2021.

Census preparations restricted by the coronavirus pandemic

The preparations for the most extensive statistical survey in Germany have sometimes been restricted over the course of the coronavirus pandemic. The employees of many municipalities and the statistical offices have been assigned to other tasks, such as supporting the health authorities. For example, some public administration employees have been asked to work for track and trace departments.

Although most of the census data is obtained by evaluating existing sources such as population registers, on-site surveys are required to collect information that is not available in registers (to ensure the quality of register data and for other purposes) and the authorities have not always been able to prepare such on-site surveys during the ongoing pandemic. For example, the local offices responsible for on-site surveys could not be set up as planned due to the restrictions during the pandemic

The upcoming census in Germany will form part of a series of censuses throughout the European Union that have been taking place every ten years since 2011. The EU requires its member states to record their official population figures and other census data. In order to meet the requirements for the year 2021, as stipulated by the EU, the census results supplied to the EU will be calculated back to 31 December 2021.

The aim of the census is to determine how many people live in Germany and how they live and work. Many decisions at national, regional and local level are based on population and housing figures. The national population has to be regularly counted to provide reliable figures for planning. As most of this data is sourced from administrative registers, most inhabitants do not have to provide any information. In Germany, the census is based on administrative registers, supplemented by a random sample and combined with a census of buildings and housing.

You can find photos for the census in the Press section.