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2011 Census

For General Information on the 2011 Census Click Here

Background

The census is the largest and most complex statistical exercise carried out in Northern Ireland. It usually happens once every ten years.

The most recent in Northern Ireland took place on Sunday 27 March 2011. This was the same date as the rest of the UK to help produce consistent results for the UK as a whole, as well as for each country.

Legislation is required to allow the Census to take place: a Census Order and Regulations, which are approved by the Northern Ireland Assembly.   

Why do we have a Census?

The census is unique as it provides important information on the population and nature of Northern Ireland as well as small areas and population groups.  This information is used extensively across the public, private and voluntary sectors and has many important uses including:  

  • Acting as a benchmark for demographic statistics by providing a base count of the population; 
  • Informing policy and funding decisions, and supporting delivery and evaluation work across all parts of Government, including housing, education, health, transport and emergency services;
  • Providing a base for population and housing projections, which are required for planning and decision making for front line services between censuses;
  • Supporting equality monitoring by providing demographic information for geographical areas and population groups;
  • Identifying and targeting areas of need and disadvantage;
  • Benchmarking and improving the quality of information collected from other data sources such as administrative systems, address registers and sample surveys;
  • Providing information on small population subgroups, such as ethnic minority populations, for which sample surveys cannot provide robust statistics; and
  • Informing and supporting research.

The 2011 Census - Frequently Asked Questions

Planning the census

The census is an extremely large-scale and complex exercise, which requires significant government funding. The information it provides has many important uses and failure to deliver would have considerable implications, be very costly and would undermine both user and public confidence. Detailed planning is therefore required to ensure that the aims of the census are met and that public investment can be properly allocated.

As the census only takes place once every ten years, there are a number of complexities and challenges that go hand-in-hand with such an exercise. Problems need to be anticipated and contingencies developed to ensure that operations run smoothly, even in the event of a crisis (e.g. the Foot and Mouth outbreak during the 2001 Census).

New questions and questionnaire designs need to be tested to determine public reaction, as well as our systems and processes. 

Find out more about how we are planning for the census.