Why do government conduct population census?

Answer Details

A population census is the official counting of all the people living in a country at a particular time, together with information about their characteristics. Governments conduct it for the following reasons:

• To know the total size of the population and its rate of growth, which is basic to all national planning.
• For economic and development planning: to plan the provision of schools, hospitals, roads, housing, water and other social amenities according to numbers.
• To know the distribution of the population: by age, sex, occupation and geographical area, which guides policy on employment, health and education.
• To estimate the size of the labour force: the number of people available for work, needed for manpower planning.
• For revenue and budgeting: to help plan taxation and the sharing of national revenue and resources among regions.
• For political and administrative purposes: to determine the number of electoral constituencies, seats and representation, and to delimit boundaries.
• To determine population density: and detect problems of over-population or under-population in different areas.
• For international relations and aid: reliable data help in dealings with, and assistance from, other countries and international bodies.