2011 Census in the European Union

The 2011 census (in Germany 2011 census ) was the first joint census in the member states of the European Union . The reference date for the survey was Monday, May 9th, 2011 ( Europe Day ). The results of the evaluation have been published gradually since May 2013. In Germany, on May 31, 2013, the population figures for the federal, state and local authorities as well as the results of the building and apartment census were announced.

Framework of the European Union

prehistory

In the past, the member states of the European Union carried out censuses on their own, which were difficult to compare due to the different questionnaires. The different survey dates and periods also differed considerably from one another. For example, the last census in the Federal Republic of Germany took place in 1987; at that time Germany was still divided. The last census in the GDR took place in 1981. In Austria, surveys have been carried out every 10 years (with interruptions) since the 19th century; here the 2011 census is in the time series of the last census from 2001. An EU-wide census took place in 2000/2001, but Germany and Sweden did not take part . In future, Europe-wide censuses are to follow every ten years.

Objectives

The common census is intended to give various data used by Eurostat , which play an important role in European Union policy, a common basis and to make them reliable and comparable. For example, the allocation of financial resources from the EU structural funds depends on the demographics of a region. The number of inhabitants also plays an important role for the voting weight of a country in the Council of Ministers .

With the census, it should be possible to compile complete statistics across Europe at least from November 2012. Individual countries published an overview of the evaluation just a few months after the census.

EU legal basis

The EU Regulation 763/2008 of 9 July 2008 required the Member States of the European Union to collect data using an established catalog of characteristics for the census 2011th This should make the results comparable across the EU. How the data is collected in the individual Member States is optional.

EU requirements on the subjects of the census

Since the 2011 census takes place throughout the European Union, the community has defined criteria that are valid for all member states in order to obtain comparable data. In Regulation (EC) No. 763/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 9, 2008 on population and housing censuses , which was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (edition L218 of August 13, 2008) and on September 2 came into force the same year. The NUTS and LAU systems are used to define the administrative units . In addition, there is a distinction in the list of topics for the population and for the apartments between derived and non-derived topics.

At NUTS level 3 and LAU 2 personal information, such as are residence , gender , age , marital status and nationality applicable, from which evidence on the overall population , the households and nuclear families are to be derived. At national level and for NUTS 1 and NUTS 2, information on education and employment is also provided. The statistics on the apartments contain, among other things, information on the type of accommodation / apartment, the residents, the usable area and the year of construction and, as a derived topic, the density of apartments .

National

Germany

2011 census

In Germany, the census is carried out using a register-based procedure.

German census laws

With a cabinet decision of August 29, 2006, the then federal government of the CDU / CSU and SPD decided that Germany should participate in the EU-wide 2011 census with a register-based procedure.

On December 12, 2007 in the Federal Law Gazette , the Census Preparation Act 2011 announced ( BGBl. 2007 I, p 2808 ), which entered into force the following day. The preparatory work that was regulated in this law included the establishment of an address and building register and the transmission of the addresses of the apartment owners. The 2011 census in Germany was actually carried out in accordance with the 2011 Census Act , which was announced in the Federal Law Gazette on July 15, 2009 ( Federal Law Gazette I, p. 1781 ) and came into force the day after. This law defined the reference date (May 9, 2011), the survey criteria (age, gender, school leaving certificate, living space, etc.) and the persons obliged to provide information. It also contained statements on merging the survey parts and deletion deadlines for auxiliary variables. According to this law, the federal government granted the federal states a financial allocation of 250 million euros on July 1, 2011 to offset the costs.

The working group census put on 16 July 2010, a constitutional complaint against the Census Act one (ref. 1 BvR 1865/10), which was supported by 13,077 citizens. By decision of September 21, 2010, the Federal Constitutional Court did not accept the complaint for decision.

Register-based census

In contrast to previous decades, there was no traditional census in which all residents were interviewed. Instead, most of the data was obtained from administrative registers - especially those of the municipalities and the Federal Employment Agency . This data was supplemented and checked with three surveys:

• When counting buildings and apartments, the owners provided information about their properties for which there is no comprehensive administrative data.
• During the household survey, interviewers obtained personal data from residents in randomly selected households. These samples affect approximately ten percent of the population.
• When surveying the special areas, data were collected on residents in nursing homes, prisons and other special facilities.

The procedure of the register-based census should lead to just as reliable results as a traditional census. At the same time, there should be lower costs for taxpayers. While a new census using the conventional method would have cost an estimated one billion euros, according to the German Institute for Economic Research , the new model would cost around 300 million euros. Estimates by the Federal Statistical Office were around 1.4 billion euros for a traditional census and around 450 million euros for a register-based census. The information portal www.zensus2011.de states total costs of 710 million euros.

Conducting the surveys

Counting of buildings and apartments

All owners or managers of buildings and apartments received a questionnaire by post and were obliged to provide truthful information. The questions about the buildings related to the type, the year of construction and the ownership structure as well as the heating. For the apartments, information about the residents, owners, use and size was required. The apartment owners had to send the questionnaires back to the authorities within 14 days in order to avoid a dunning procedure.

Household survey

To carry out the household survey, the survey centers called on around 80,000 interviewers nationwide. The surveyors visited the households selected at random between May 9 and July 31, 2011 and interviewed all citizens living there using a standardized questionnaire. As an alternative to the personal interview in the apartment, the residents who were required to provide information had the option of filling out the questionnaire themselves and sending it to the survey center by post or online via the 2011 Census website. With the exception of diplomats and members of foreign armed forces, all selected citizens were legally obliged to answer the questions truthfully; if they refused, there was a threat of a fine.

The questionnaire comprised a total of 46 questions. These related to nationality, religion, marital status, immigration to the Federal Republic, school and professional training and current employment. People who did not belong to any religious society under public law could state their religious orientation in the eighth question. That was the only question that could be answered voluntarily.

Survey of the special areas

The survey of citizens in dormitories and communal accommodation was carried out in a similar manner to the household survey. In the non-sensitive special areas, the residents also had to indicate whether it was possible to run a household.

In sensitive facilities such as prisons, emergency shelters or psychiatric clinics, the data on the people living there were collected indirectly with the help of the facility manager. In order to particularly protect the residents in their precarious situation, the questions were very limited.

Scientific control

The official statistics tested the new method of the census in the years 2001 to 2003. The Mannheim Center for Surveys, Methods and Analyzes and the Chair of Economic and Social Statistics at the University of Trier under the direction of Ralf Münnich were engaged in research into a methodology for the small-scale evaluation of the sample results ( small-area methods ) . A sample plan was developed that combines moderate costs and low survey effort with high-quality information from the census. To this end, new survey methods should be researched and tested for their practical applicability.

On September 14, 2007, the Federal Minister of the Interior appointed a scientific commission to scientifically accompany and support the census and the evaluation of its data. The chairman of the Council for Social and Economic Data , Gert G. Wagner , professor of economics at the TU Berlin and research director at DIW Berlin (German Institute for Economic Research) was appointed chairman of the “Census Commission” . The censorship commission has the task of examining the concepts, methods and procedures developed by the statistical offices of the federal and state governments for the register-based census 2011, including the supplementary sample, of critically and constructively accompanying the relevant implementation work, and of making recommendations for further action to pronounce.

On January 22, 2009, the censorship commission passed a statement on the catalog of features in the cabinet draft of the census regulation law (ZensusG2011). From a statistical point of view, it expressly regrets the restriction to the EU compulsory catalog and continues to uphold the additional features required by it. The scientists consider a census feature of the language spoken in the household as an integration indicator to be much more meaningful than religious affiliation. Other required characteristics are the number of children per woman , commuter relationships , the energy source for the heating system and the net rent .

criticism

privacy

"Do you want total coverage?": Protest banner at the old main post office in Leipzig (June 26, 2011)

Data protectionists criticize the extensive collection of personal data by the state without sufficient education of the citizens and fear an abuse of the sensitive information in view of possible desires of the state and economy. Since personal data from numerous sources are combined without the consent or notification of those concerned, the data would be misused by registration offices and authorities. This violates the requirements of the census ruling of 1983. The data protectionists also see a problem in the fact that, for example, the names of who have set up an information block are recorded and stored in a central data collection. This affects people from witness protection programs , former Nazis and radicals, stalking victims, certain judges or celebrities.

The Federal Statistical Office refers to the so-called return game ban, which excludes the transfer of the collected data to other authorities, and the earliest possible deletion of auxiliary features such as names and addresses. These measures are not enough for privacy advocates. Even after personal details have been removed from the database, in their opinion, the “anonymized” data can be re-identified with the help of computers and information from other sources. A real anonymization is therefore not given.

Questions about religion

The questions about belonging to a religious society and about the creed also cause controversial discussions. According to critics, they go beyond the scope required by the EU.

Question 8 (religion) is voluntary and can only be answered if in question 7 (religious society) membership in "no public religious society" was ticked. A user of the census data could thus automatically regard members of a religious community under public law as followers of the religion in question, regardless of their actual belief. In addition, question 8 in the answer option “Other religion, belief or world view” does not break down any further between other religious world views and non-religious world views (e.g. humanism , atheism , pacifism ). The spokesman for the Federal Statistical Office explained in this context: “The consequence of this is that the group of atheists (but also those of other religions) cannot be proven in the census results. The result of the census will therefore be that we have information about the major religious currents (explicitly listed in the questionnaire), but will not know anything about the spread of other religions and atheism. "The EU Eurobarometer" Social Values, Science and Technology " 2005 had previously recorded atheists as a separate group.

interviewer

Some surveyors ended their work prematurely. They criticized the in their opinion too much workload in the household survey and criticized the unfriendly and dismissive reactions of some citizens who are obliged to provide information.

Mishaps

In Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, unjustified reminders against allegedly defaulting house and apartment owners caused annoyance. In January 2012, on behalf of the Statistical Office for Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, 50,000 notices of attraction were sent out with the threat of coercive measures, of which 40,000 had to be annulled a week later due to errors made by a commissioned company.

postage

With the issue of the questionnaires, the preliminary survey and the actual building and apartment census, the statistical offices of the federal states enclosed an envelope for the response. These envelopes were not free of postage; according to Section 15 (3) of the Federal Statistics Act, reimbursement of costs was not provided for. The survey of postage caused displeasure among some of the respondents.

Result

The population of Germany updated as of December 31, 2011 was subsequently corrected to 80,327,900 based on the census results. It is around 1.5 million inhabitants lower than the figures updated on the basis of the update of the population census from 1987 (Federal Republic of Germany including West Berlin) and the register data of the new federal states from October 3, 1990. This corresponds to an error of 1.9%.

A correction of the population update by December 31, 2012 based on the results of the 2011 census is to take place by August 5, 2013. The population as of March 31, 2013 is to be published again at the regular date (August 15, 2013).

As a result of the changed relative proportions of the population of the federal states, there will be redistributions in the state financial equalization and sales tax distribution in 2011 and 2012 . In the run-up to the census, the federal states had agreed to limit the additional payments for 2011 to one third and for 2012 to two thirds. From 2013, the changed proportions of the population should be fully taken into account.

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complain

Comparison of the population figures for Hamburg according to the population register and after updating the census. The 2011 census caused a sharp drop in the updating.

Numerous cities sued the census. In particular, they objected to the fact that the data for cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants were adjusted using different methods than those for smaller municipalities. In 2018, the Federal Constitutional Court decided to dismiss the lawsuits by the city-states of Berlin and Hamburg. The actions of around 340 cities and municipalities before the administrative courts were suspended until this decision.

Austria

In Austria , a large part of the population did not have to fill out questionnaires because a register census was carried out. The press called it "the census that nobody notices".

Census methodology

For the population census  , a special data mining software was developed for Statistics Austria (STAT), the Austrian central statistical office , with which the data collection, linking, processing, analysis and preparation was implemented via a central data warehouse . The data sets already available at other Austrian authorities, offices and other institutions were evaluated. According to Statistics Austria, the costs amounted to 9.9 million euros, whereas the traditional method would have cost 72 million euros. The system was tested with the sample count with a deadline of October 31, 2006, in which data were collected on a random basis throughout Austria using questionnaires and with which the consolidated register data were checked.

Data sources and data protection

A total of 15 databases are recorded in the 2011 census:

Base register (base data) ZMR - Central Resident Register as a person register ( BMI ) GWR - Building and Housing Register (STAT) UR - business register (including LFR - agricultural and forestry business and business register) (STAT) Main Association of Austrian Social Insurance Institutions (HVSV) Tax data ( BMF ) AMS for the unemployed and third-country workers (AMS) BSR - educational level register Student and university student stocks (STAT)

Supplementary register (comparison data) Family benefits register ( BMSG ) Federal Personnel Information System ( BKA ) Personnel information systems of the federal states Central Aliens Register ( BMI ) Data from the social welfare agencies of the federal states Presence or civil service file ( BMLV or BMI) Motor vehicle register (BMI)

All data required by the EU are already recorded in these sources.

According to the federal law on the protection of personal data, the data sets are already anonymized in the special databases and are only merged at Statistics Austria in a 127-digit encryption code of the person, which, according to Statistics Austria , should guarantee data security that meets the most modern requirements . The legal basis for this was created with the E-Government Act , the technology was developed together with the bodies responsible for data protection and e-Government in the Federal Chancellery. Only in extreme exceptional cases of data inconsistencies will the data be returned to a person under the supervision of the data protection commission , the master data registry authority . In order to prevent “registration tourism” on the part of the municipalities - in the temptation to achieve the highest possible number of inhabitants and thus better funding shares - the recording of registered residences was extended to 180 days before the reference date. Critical or sensitive points that have again led to heated discussions in Germany, in particular the survey of religious affiliation, were refrained from from the start.

Evaluation software and publication

The original data supplied by Statistics Austria in its original form is mirrored during the so-called (staging area) . A transfer then takes place from there to the link database, the so-called Central Data Warehouse (CDW). This means that the original source is not lost even in all types of evaluation processes, but is always available as reference material. In addition, a front end optimized for official statistical purposes was worked out with the manufacturer.

As usual, the results are published in the Austrian Statistical Yearbook , the volume of which was published in 2011 in the summer of that year (historically, there were censuses in which the evaluation was only completed four years later) and which is freely accessible, as well as numerous detailed evaluations that partially published in the other special publications (such as the index of the population) and on the Statistics Austria website. In addition, Statistics Austria as a modern service provider - within the strict framework of data protection legislation - also offers the option of ordering more specific statistics against payment.

Final results of the 2011 register census

On June 21, 2013, Statistics Austria announced the final results of the 2011 register census in a press release. The population for Austria is 8,401,940, which is an increase of 4.6 percent compared to the previous census in 2001. Carinthia is the only federal state that has lost residents.

Outlook for future counts

The new software also makes it possible to carry out a small count every year in the future, which can be used as a controlled basis for the financial equalization between the federal, state and local governments - before this data was always out of date and had to be extrapolated.

literature

• Instructions for the surveyors; State Statistical Office
• Mario Martini: The 2011 Census as a Problem of Communal Equal Treatment . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-428-13590-5

Web links

Commons : Census  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Official information

• Census 2011 - German information portal of the Federal Statistical Office
• Statistics Austria - register count

Further information

 Wikinews: The 2011 census has started  - news

• Spiegel Online : The state takes an inventory
• Stern : When the census counter rings
• The Focus : When the interviewer rings the doorbell
• zensus11.de - critical portal for the census

Individual evidence

1. ↑ zensus2011.de The 1987 census ( Memento from April 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ FAQ: What are the results of the 2011 census? ( Memento from May 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) zensus2011.de
3. ↑ ^{a b} Regulation (EC) No. 763/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 on population and housing censuses . In: Official Journal of the European Union. L218 ( EUR-Lex )
4. ↑ ^{a b} Federal Ministry of the Interior: Germany is taking part in the upcoming EU population census 2010/2011 with a register-based census, press release of August 29, 2006
5. ^ Decision of the Federal Constitutional Court
6. ↑ zensus2011.de How the register-based census works ( Memento from May 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
7. ^ German Institute for Economic Research: The Power of Numbers ( Memento from February 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 148 kB), August 23, 2006, accessed on March 20, 2015
8. ↑ zensus2011.de FAQ: What costs are caused by the census and how is the census financed? ( Memento from April 30, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
9. ↑ Sample questionnaire building and apartment census ( Memento of April 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF 978 KB)
10. ↑ zensus2011.de Who conducts the surveys ( Memento from May 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
11. ↑ Census Act 2011, § 2 ( Memento of December 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 288 KB)
12. ↑ Sample questionnaire for the household survey ( Memento from December 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF 0.9MB)
13. ↑ Sample questionnaire for surveys in dormitories and shared accommodation ( Memento from March 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF 1.1 MB)
14. ↑ Sample questionnaire for surveys in sensitive facilities (PDF 1.0 MB)
15. ↑ Federal Statistical Office: Test surveys on the feasibility of a register-based census in Germany ( Memento from June 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) , Wirtschaft und Statistik 11/2004, accessed on March 20, 2015
16. ↑ Federal Ministry of the Interior: "Census Commission" launched by the Federal Government, press release of September 14, 2007
17. ↑ opinion of the Census Commission of characteristics in the Cabinet draft census law arrangement (ZensusG2011) ( Memento of 28 April 2011 at the Internet Archive (pdf, 120 kB)). Adopted January 22, 2009
18. ↑ Torsten Kleinz: Fear of the people's database. Focus , July 9, 2010, accessed May 26, 2011 . 
19. ↑ zensus2011.de Why the census data are safe ( Memento from April 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
20. ↑ Population counters fight against the fear of the census. Spiegel Online , May 9, 2011, accessed May 26, 2011 . 
21. ↑ ^{a b} Frank Patalong: Germany is elevated to the state of believers. Spiegel Online , May 11, 2011, accessed June 19, 2013 . 
22. ↑ Jens Meifert: Census interviewers jump off. Kölnische Rundschau , May 18, 2011, accessed on April 25, 2017 . 
23. ↑ "Breakdowns in the census are increasing", Hamburger Abendblatt, June 24, 2011, [1]
24. ↑ Statistics North, [PDF document http://www.statistik-nord.de/uploads/tx_standocuments/SI12_005.pdf ]
25. ↑ "Breakdown at the statistics office: 40,000 census notices invalid", Lübecker Nachrichten, January 25, 2012, ln-online.de ( Memento from August 4, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
26. ↑ Statistics North, [PDF document http://www.statistik-nord.de/uploads/tx_standocuments/SI12_010.pdf ]
27. ↑ Preliminary results of the 2011 census
28. ↑ Information on updating the population figures based on the results of the 2011 census , accessed on May 31, 2013
29. ↑ Axel Schrinner: Cash injection for the state of Bavaria . In: Handelsblatt . No. 120 , June 26, 2013, ISSN  0017-7296 , p. 9 .
30. ↑ https://www.morgenweb.de/mannheimer-morgen_artikel,-politik-zensus-verfassungsgemaess-stadtstaat-scheitern-in-karlsruhe-_arid,1318316.html
31. ↑ ^{a b c} Press release from Statistics Austria: Statistics Austria revolutionizes the 2011 census , September 3, 2007
32. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Erich Kocina: Population: The census that nobody notices . In: The press . February 18, 2011 ( article archive , diepresse.com [accessed March 8, 2011]).
33. ↑ Register counting → Which registers? statistik-austria.at
34. ↑ Building and Housing Register , statistik.at, according to the Building and Housing Register Act (GWR Act)
35. ↑ Register counting → Data protection. statistik-austria.at
36. ↑ www.stammzahlenregister.gv.at
37. ↑ ^{a b} Austrian Statistical Yearbook , statistik.at (with links from downloads, pdf)
38. ↑ Statistics Austria: Press release from Statistics Austria of June 21, 2013

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