The Statistics Department Montserrat has confirmed that all data has been collected for the latest island-wide census and staff are currently “wrapping up the editing stage”.
A “broad population figure” will be made public before the end of April but the full report will not be published for another few months, the department told Montserrat Focus on 15 April.
The current editing stage consists of checking for any missing, invalid or inconsistent data.
“During this process, we review for possible duplications across the population as well as review and finalise the institutional data along with data from private households,” the department explained.
“This is essential to ensure that we have a complete and consistent dataset that we can use for creating tables based on the variables and subsequently, reporting.”
Mandatory participation
The department began the enumeration process for the 2023 Population and Housing Census in late September last year.
Field staff visited homes and presented residents with individual and household questionnaires which aimed to create a detailed picture of the social and living conditions.
Questions to individuals included age, sex, religious affiliation, ethnic origin, marital status, education, fertility, transportation, and economic activity among others.
On the household questionnaire, participants were asked number of rooms, source of drinking water, type of fuel used for cooking, construction materials and more.
Taking part in the census is mandatory by law, with non-participants risking fines and legal penalties.
“Incomplete census data may result in skewed policy decisions, adversely affecting our island’s development,” a government press release said on 22 Sept, 2023.
A wealth of data
The collected data will help to derive key indicators such as total population count, sustainable development goals, migration statistics, demographics and socio-economics.
It will help the government to identify needs, allocate resources, and plan for the future, as well as guide the provision of services like healthcare, education, and development.
Data collected will only be reported as aggregate data and will not be released to any third party or government agency.
Before the count, last year, Siobhan Tuitt, chief statistician in the Statistics Department Montserrat, said the census is far more than a simple counting exercise.
“There is not a single decision taken on the provision of public services that is not shaped in some way by census data,” she said.
Following a query on the status of the census, on 15 April a spokesperson for Statistics Department Montserrat told Montserrat Focus that data would be available soon.
“Please note that data collection has concluded and we are now wrapping up the editing phase,” they said.
“We anticipate having the broad population figure released to the public by end of April and a few indicators to follow.
“As for a full report, this will take another few months.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was altered at 6.30am on 17 April to include details from the Statistics Department Montserrat on the ‘editing stage’.
