What is the benefit of a census?
Census results provide information on the demographic and socio-economic structure of the population, of persons in employment, households, and families. It is common practice to collect also data on buildings and dwellings. These provide information on the housing situation of the population, of households and families, and general stock data on buildings and dwellings.
The benefits of census results are considerable as population and dwelling data are an essential basis of political and economic planning and decisions in very many instances. Users are for instance the political decision-makers at the Federation, the Länder and municipalities, but to a growing extent also those at European Union level. For business, administration, the scientific community and the citizens, census results also are an indispensable data basis. The following examples show in which areas census data are required:
Citizens benefit from the census
An important goal of a census is determining the official number of inhabitants of the Federation, the Länder and the municipalities. That figure is used, among others, as an assessment basis for revenue equalization between the Länder, and between the Länder and their municipalities. The latest population census in the former territory of the Federal Republic led to marked corrections of revenue equalization at Länder and municipality levels. The official number of inhabitants is also used as a reference for drawing the boundaries of Bundestag constituencies and for calculating the number of votes which a Land has in the Bundesrat.
At European Union (EU) level, for example the number of commissioners a Member State is entitled to and the contributions it has to pay depend on the number of the population. For European Council voting, the number of the population is needed to determine when exactly a qualified majority (at least 65% of EU population) is reached. For the distribution of EU funding, that figure is essential, too; the structurally weak regions to be supported are selected on the basis of the per capita gross domestic product.
In the end all citizens profit from reliable population figures. This holds also for the local level. How many schools and nursery schools does a town need? Is a new hospital necessary? Reliable data are indispensable for such far-reaching decisions.
The census is the basis of other statistics and analyses
Census data are also used as a basis for updating population and dwelling data and as a frame for sampling and expansion in official and non-official sample surveys like the microcensus. That sample survey is the largest official household survey in Germany. Inaccuracies of the updated results thus result in quality losses.
The census will also provide a reliable basis for studies of the future age structure and of other aspects of demographic change in Germany’s regions.