A register-based census system reduces the cost of traditional census operations by 90%, the head of the Statistical Center of Iran said.
“Each round of traditional census costs over 4,200 billion rials [$16 million], but the register-based census system would not only reduce these expenses significantly, but also create added value in the quality of data at smaller geographical scales needed by regional planners,” Javad Hosseinzadeh was also quoted as saying by IRIB News.
Register-based census is a method of producing data on population, households and dwellings by the statistical linking of administrative and statistical data sources without using fieldwork enumeration.
“To conduct traditional census operations, a high number of staff members need to be employed at various locations across the country. The process is time-consuming and cost-intensive whereas the register-based census system taps into data provided by executive agencies. It is more of an investment and leads to the improvement of electronic government and public services,” he said.
In May 2020, the Iranian Cabinet approved the formation of the National Headquarters for Register-Based Population and Housing Census scheduled for 2026-27.
Based on the ratification, all ministries and government organizations and institutions as well as Islamic Republic foundations and non-governmental public organizations are required to collaborate with SCI when it comes to providing data and information.
“Iran has a register-based census law and many ministers are members of the National Headquarters for Register-Based Population and Housing Census. At present, 15 ministries and government organizations are members of the headquarters,” Hosseinzadeh said.
“This year, we piloted register-based census for nomads and unveiled it on World Statistics Day in October. Expenses associated with carrying out the nomadic census declined by 94%.”
The last national census was held nationwide on Sept. 24, 2016, and ended on Nov. 18 of the same year through online and door-to-door registration.
It put Iran's population at over 79.92 million – about 4.77 million more compared to the previous figure registered by the census conducted in the fiscal 2011-12.
Based on the findings of the census, among all Iranian provinces, Hamedan and North Khorasan recorded negative population growths compared to the previous round of census.
The two provinces registered a population growth of minus 0.23% and minus 0.11% respectively.
South Khorasan (3.02%), Hormozgan (2.30%) and Alborz (2.37%) top the list of provinces with the highest population growth, IRNA reported.
"Out of the total 79,926,270 Iranians or 24,196,035 households, 59,146,847 or 18,125,488 households live in urban and 20,730,625 people or 6,070,547 households live in rural areas. The urban population shows an increase of 5,500,186 and the rural population has decreased by 772,383 compared with the previous national census," the former head of Statistical Center of Iran, Omid Ali Parsa, was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
The census put the number of men at 40,498,442 and the number of women at 39,427,828, meaning the sex ratio stands at 103:100. The previous census put the ratio at 102:100.
Parsa also noted that the number of households in urban and rural areas increased by 2,697,640 and 312.748 over the same period of the previous year respectively.
