Bawumia to announce date for 2021 Population & Housing Census

The Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will launch the count down to the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) Census Night to determine the actual date for the conduct of the Census.

The conduct of the Census is in accordance with the mandates of Ghana Statistical Service as stipulated in Clause 3 of the Statistical Service Act, 2019 (Act 1003) to provide comprehensive, reliable, quality, relevant, accurate and timely statistical information to guide national development.

The 2021 PHC was initially scheduled to be conducted in 2020 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the Service is on course for the collection of data in the second quarter of the year.

Preparations for the Census have reached an advanced stage with several key activities like the delineation of the entire country into about 52,000 enumeration areas (EAs), finalisation of enumeration instruments and quality assurance procedures concluded. In addition, three trial censuses, two trial post enumeration surveys and procurement of logistics have been completed while recruitment and training of approximately 75,000 census officials to be deployed for the exercise are ongoing.

The programme will bring together a diverse group of policymakers and stakeholders who will be strategic partners in the implementation of the Census. The magnitude and complexity of census implementation requires the involvement of key stakeholders and the public for success.

The lead implementing agency for the 2021 PHC is the Ghana Statistical Service.

The Census Night is the reference date for census enumeration and all questions asked during enumeration will relate to that Night.

The launch will be streamed live on the Ghana Statistical Service Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/statsghana and other social media channels.

Ghana has conducted five post-independent population censuses in 1960, 1970, 1984, 2000 and 2010 with the last two consisting of both a population census and a housing census making the 2021 PHC the third Population and Housing Census to be conducted in Ghana.

The 2021 PHC is designed to generate statistics that are essential for policy and planning purposes. It is therefore of the greatest importance to every person living in Ghana.