15th Population And Housing Census To Begin September 12

Jamaica’s 15th Population and Housing Census is scheduled to get under way on September 12, 2022.

This was disclosed by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, while opening the 2022/23 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on March 8.

He informed that the main data-collection phase is expected to last up to December 2022, with a general census report available by December 2023.

The census provides information about the size of the population in areas such as age, sex, religion and education.

Dr. Clarke said that a count will be made and data collected in respect of persons who are usual residents of Jamaica, whether physically present or not, at the time of the census. The objective is to provide an estimate of the Jamaican population at a single point in time.

Dr. Clarke said that the census data will be used by Government to inform policies. The information is also useful for the private sector and influences the location of businesses and services.

The Finance Minister informed that recruitment and training is under way for 8,000 temporary field workers, including area managers, census supervisors, census takers, and data editors.

Interviewers will be deployed islandwide to visit each household, private and non-private, to complete a questionnaire for each household and each member of that household.

The 15th Population and Housing Census was initially scheduled for 2021 but was delayed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The last census was done in 2011.