Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 5) — The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) will roll out its census of population and housing in May 2020.
National Statistician Dennis Mapa made the early announcement on Thursday after reporting latest figures on inflation and employment.
“We enjoin all of you to participate in the upcoming 2020 census of population and housing, a very important activity for the country, spearheaded by the PSA,” Mapa said during the press briefing.
He appealed for public cooperation in disclosing their household data: “We will conduct the census this coming May 2020 and we hope that you will all welcome our enumerators.”
The agency has kicked off the census in eight areas chosen for pilot testing from May 20 to June 17 this year to test their new computer-aided system. PSA personnel to be deployed nationwide will be using an electronic questionnaire using digital tablets for the survey.
Covered by the census are population count, demography and socioeconomic characteristics, types of houses and household, and barangay data. The PSA is aims to cover all communities and locations.
“The census also aims to provide government executives, policy makers, and planners with population and housing data on which to base their social and economic development plans, policies and programs,” the PSA previously said.
The upcoming census of population will be the 15th to be conducted in the country. The PSA has said that it will spend ₱12.8 million for the exercise, covering salaries of enumerators, travel costs, supplies, and printing expenses.
The PSA’s last census was done in 2015, which showed that the Philippines had a total population of 100.98 million, growing by an average rate of 1.7 percent yearly.
