Preliminary report of national census due by 1st half of 2024 – Finance Minister

– says completed report will be ready by next year-end

The 2023 population census became a subject of discussion in the National Assembly on Tuesday, with Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh revealing that a preliminary report is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2024 and the final report, by next year-end.
Dr Singh was at the time responding to questions from A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Opposition Member of Parliament Annette Ferguson. Not only was he asked for a projected timeline to complete the census report, but also how much enumerators were being paid.

“We share the concern for a timely completion of the census. I want to assure the Honourable Members on the other side that we would like a timely completion… we should have a preliminary report by the second quarter of 2024. And subsequent to the preparation of that preliminary report, the Bureau will require a further four to six months for the preparation and completion of all reports.”
The Finance Minister spoke of some of the challenges faced by the Guyana Bureau of Statistics in carrying out its mandate including inclement weather, competing national interests and persons not making themselves available to be counted.
“The Bureau of Statistics has, on a regular basis, been keeping me informed on the progress of the fieldwork and the challenges that they have been encountering. And these challenges are, I believe, unknown to us. They include various instances of inclement weather.”
“Competing national events, including around census time there was the big period of cricket which meant a lot of people were out of their homes. A lot of instances of respondent unavailability. So, the Bureau has been keeping me advised of the challenges they’ve been encountering

However, Dr Singh noted the efforts that have been made by the Guyana Bureau of Statistics to ensure everyone is counted. Further, he had pointed out that Guyana is not alone in the timeline it takes to complete its census, noting that Guyana is part of a regional census-taking cycle. When it comes to payment for the enumerators, the Finance Minister noted that enumerators received a flat fee of $80,000, as well as travelling and telephone allowances and performance bonuses.
In October, Chief Statistician at the Bureau, Errol La Cruez had said that the Bureau is striving to ensure accuracy, validity, and quality in the process and its data. He had noted that while the initial phase of enumeration was completed, additional enumeration was being conducted.
“There were households that we were not able to meet, there were persons that we were not able to meet when we did the initial pass, and we are now working to reach out to those persons to be able to count everyone,” he stated.
He had said the Bureau strives to achieve 100 per cent coverage in the census and is reaching out to several agencies to identify individuals or households that have not been counted.
“We are also checking administrative data, which is looking at data from utility companies and other data sets, where we have information on households, the location of households. We would’ve used information from the Ministry of Housing, and this is all to ensure that we reach everyone and we are continuing that effort to get as close as possible to 100 per cent coverage of the population.”
“We are also checking the quality of the data to see if there is anything that we need to go back into the fields and correct, or if there are any quality issues that need to be addressed before we bring a close to the census operation,” the Chief Statistician had further explained, adding that the Bureau is hopeful that field activities may be completed by the end of the year.
The National Population and Housing Census is a process where all persons in Guyana are counted. The census provides detailed information on the population size, age structure, educational attainment, labour force, housing, and many other socio-economic characteristics.
Persons who have not been counted in the census can reach out via WhatsApp or telephone at 701-8700 or 701-8701. (G-3)