Relevance
The
Census of Population and Housing is a nationwide exercise which is generally
carried out approximately every ten years. It is an official measure of
persons, households and dwellings in Malta and Gozo, taken at a point in
time. Official censuses in Malta date back to 1842, with the 2021 Census
being the 18th in the series. The next round of collection of census data
will be held in 2031. Such data collection provides definitive statistics
on the demographic and social condition of residents and households, including
information on housing and amenities at a national, regional and local
level. This information is compiled on the basis of a harmonised
methodology as stipulated by European Regulations (EC) No. 763/2008 and (EC)
No. 543/2017.
Methodological description
The 2021 Census questionnaire ensured continuation
with previous censuses that were carried out in Malta and conformed to the
UNECE and Eurostat recommendations on concepts and definitions for population
censuses. The 2021 Census permitted people, for the
first time, to fill-in the census questionnaire through an online form which
was accessible to the public from October 2021. Nearly 230,000 dwellings
received an official letter with the login credentials via post in September
2021.
In a step towards a
fully digitalised census, enumerators visiting dwellings recorded the
information on tablet computers, rather than traditional paper questionnaires.
Data collection by means of telephone was also possible. An application
available on the tablet devices allowed the enumerators to identify any
dwellings which did not submit the questionnaire online so that they could
assist them in the process or fill out the form on their behalf. The
synchronisation of multiple systems occurred overnight to ensure a smooth
running of the process. Data collection from the field or by telephone was
carried out between 8 and 28 November 2021. The enumeration process in certain
areas was also extended to 15 December 2021.
Nearly 1,000
enumerators were recruited for canvassing and fieldwork activities within their
designated area (formally referred to as enumeration areas) consisting of
several streets or parts thereof in a locality, typically encompassing an
average of 200 dwellings. The delineation of enumeration areas was carried out
by means of optimisation algorithms developed internally and the use of
Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
To ensure a
high-coverage rate of the preliminary Census results, the Census Office made
extensive use of several administrative registers to estimate the information
which was not yet available at the time of the writing of the preliminary
report which was issued in August 2022.
Accuracy
and reliability of data
Wrong
or inconsistent data was double-checked at source by the enumerators,
supervisors, and district managers, as well as at a later stage with the
corresponding household members (if necessary). Available administrative
sources and survey registers are used in order to improve the consistency of
recorded data as well as for benchmarking purposes.
Timeliness and punctuality of data
A number of publications related to census data are
available on the NSO’s website. For the Census of Population and Housing
2011, a preliminary report was published in October 2012 while a final report
on population and dwellings was published in January 2014.
For the last census round,
a one-time news release entitled ‘Census of Population and Housing 2021: Status report’ was published
in March 2022 and a preliminary
report was issued in August 2022.
Information
about the final population count, together with any other information not
included in the preliminary report will be included in a series of thematic
reports which will be published starting from the last quarter of 2022.
A subset of
statistical census data broken on the 1km2 reference grid will be
sent to Eurostat in December 2022, whereas final data in the form of hypercubes
will be made available to Eurostat by March 2024.
Accessibility and clarity of data
Census
publications and news releases are available to external users on the NSO
website. In addition, a metadata report for the 2021 census will be
submitted to Eurostat and made available on Eurostat’s website. A similar
report will be produced at a national level and disseminated on the NSO’s
metadata website.
Coherence and
comparability/consistency of data
Data is comparable between all Member States
through the use of harmonised concepts as established in the regulating
framework. In particular, the concept of ‘usual residence’ whereby
enumerated persons had to live in the reporting country for a continuous period
of at least 12 months; or arrived during the 12 months before the reference
date with the intention of staying there for at least one year, was adopted by
all member states.
Census data is comparable with demographic data
in view of intercensal revisions and the application of similar
principles. Comparison of data between different censuses should be
done with caution due to definitions underlying the total enumerated population
in a particular census. The same holds when comparing data by region
between different censuses, since the boundaries of some of the local councils
which identify the localities may have changed over time.
Questionnaire