1. Towards 2021 Population Census in the Republic of Serbia
Snežana Lakčević
Suzana Stanojković
Technical Coordination Group / Budapest, June 2017

2. 2021 Census preparatory activities have started
Evaluated potential for moving away from traditional census
Drivers for change:
Costs
Data demands
Changes in international practices
SORS strategy in terms of greater use of administrative data for production of official statistics

3. What have we done? Project “Statistical Population Register“
IPA Multi-beneficiary
January November 2015
Tested possibilities of establishing SPR and conducting census based on administrative sources
Created overview of administrative sources status
Evaluated usability of administrative data for census purposes

4. Single Personal Identification Number
Existing administrative sources
Ministry of Interior (records of permanent and temporary residents, citizenship, asylum seekers…..)
National Employment Service
Pension and Disablement Insurance Fund
National Health Insurance Fund
Central Register of Social Contribution Payers
Tax Administration
Register of births, deaths and marriages
Voters Register
Single Personal Identification Number
Statistical Business Register, Statistical Register of Employment (SORS)
Register of Spatial Units (SORS and RGA)
Address Register (RGA)
Cadastre of Real Estates (RGA)

5. Administrative sources - Main findings
Lack of key administrative sources
/Population register, Register of buildings and dwellings, Register of education/
Address register is not complete and updated
Limitations in coverage and quality
Administrative sources cannot provide all core variables
Data on ethnicity and religious affiliation are necessary for implementing national laws and other legal acts concerning realization of ethnic minorities rights
/Law on official use of language and scripts, Law on protection of rights
and freedom of ethnic minorities, Law on churches and religious communities, etc./
Classifications and definitions are not mutually compliant

6. Use of administrative data in 2021 Census
There are no adequate conditions for implementing register based census
In the next census round administrative data
will be used in different phases of census
implementation
EAs definition
Coverage control
Imputation of missing values
2021 Census
EAs
Coverage
Imputation

7. New approach to traditional 2021 Population Census
SORS is going to modernize traditional census by implementing new data collection techniques:
Self-enumeration via Internet (CAWI)
Computer assisted interviews (CAPI)
First paperless census
Expected benefits:
Reduced number of participants
Better quality of training
Improved dissemination timeliness and data quality
Reduced burden of respondents / meeting new habits of users
Improvement !

8. New approach to traditional 2021 Population Census
Challenges
Issues of financing 2021 Census
Insufficient human resources
Improvement of Address Register
Confidentiality assurance / statistical disclosure control (internal WG)
RESOURCES
Address Register
Confidentiality

9. Current situation – Overview
Timetable of the Pilot project
ACTIVITY
2017
2018
2019 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6
Start of the Project
Study visit*
Preparing methodological and organisational instruments
Cooperation with relevant institutions and regular consultations
Defining content of the Pilot census
Testing - focus groups etc.
Selection of the sample for the Pilot and PES
Public procurements
Design and development of information system, programming and tasting of applications
Field updating of spatial data; preparation of the graphical documentation
Selection of direct participants and training at all levels
Preparation of methodological and organizational instruments for PES
Enumeration – CAWI
Enumeration – CAPI
Field work – PES
Data processing
Analysing all phases of the project implementation
Preparing Quality report
Preparing Interim project report
Preparing Final project report
End of the project
Introducing technological and
organizational innovations requires
careful planning and testing
2019 Pilot Census preparation
Project under IPA 2015
260 enumeration areas
( households / persons)
Post Enumeration Survey (15 EAs)
Considering all the coming results
final decision on data collection
technique will be made

10. Current situation – Overview
Establishment of management structure for 2021 Census
Appointed Project team for strategic decisions
Operative working groups are currently being established
(WG for legislation issues, IT strategy....)
Methodological and organizational preparatory activities
Harmonization of methodology with international standards
Defining contents of questionnaires
Creating detailed plan of activities
Cooperation with Republic Geodetic Authority concerning use of GIS technology

11. Current situation – Overview
Simultaneously SORS experts are involved in the activities at the state level, which is of great importance for conducting the next census
Coordination body and WG for upgrading Address Register
significant improvement is expected in the forthcoming period
linkage of census and geo-referenced data will be enabled, i.e. production of a set of census data on a 1 km2 grid
monitoring coverage
Coordination body and WG appointed for establishing and developing Central Population Register
WG for preparing harmonized classification of occupations (ISCO)
Mentioned activities will contribute to creating conditions for producing census statistics based on administrative data beyond 2021

12. Snežana Lakčević Suzana Stanojković
Acting Assistant Director for Social Statistics
Suzana Stanojković
Head of Census Methodology Group