Progression of the 2010 Census Round

Two hundred twenty eight (228) countries or areas have scheduled at least one census in the 2010 census round spanning the period 2005 to 2014. This also includes countries which base their detailed population statistics on population registers, administrative records, sample surveys or other sources or a combination of those sources. Of those 228 countries or areas, 197 have already conducted a census. Seven countries or areas have not yet scheduled any census until 2014 (as of 1 January 2013; for a detailed table see here).

Figure 1 shows the overall temporal distribution of censuses over the period of the 2010 round (first censuses only). The peak of the census round in terms of the number of censuses taken is the year 2011 when 62 countries or areas conducted a census. The graphs in Figure 2 show the temporal distribution of census taking in each major region of the world. Note that the dates of scheduled censuses may change and that countries or areas that have not yet scheduled a census may do so in the future.

Fig. 1: Distribution of conducted and scheduled censuses over the period of the 2010 Census Round. For every country or area only the first census in this round is included.

Fig. 2: Distribution of conducted and scheduled censuses over the period of the 2010 Census Round according to region (n.s. = not scheduled).

An estimated 6 171 586 548 persons (89% of the estimated world population) have been enumerated in the 197 censuses conducted as of 1 January 2013 (this figure is based on the projected population for the year 2010 as estimated by the UN World Population Prospect Revision 2010, Medium Variant). At the end of the first year of the 2010 census round, 2005, an estimated 5.5% of the world's population had been enumerated (see Fig. 3). At the end of 2009 this proportion increased to 21%. The single year with the highest number of persons enumerated is 2010, when 43 countries or areas (including China) with a population of over 2.5 billion (about 37% of the world's population) conducted a census. At the end of the census round in 2014, 96.3% of the world population is expected to be enumerated (based on the current census schedules).

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