Population and housing statistics

KEY POINTS

Scope of the statistics

The regulation covers statistics in three main domains:

• demography, including population stocks, vital events (such as births and deaths), demographic events, migrant stocks, international migration flows (emigration¹ and immigration²) and the acquisition and loss of citizenship;
• housing, including dwellings, living quarters and buildings intended for habitation;
• families and households.

Statistics are compiled for statistical units, including persons, vital events, families, households, buildings intended for habitation, living quarters (including institutions) and conventional dwellings.

A single, harmonised population base

All population statistics are based on a single harmonised population base, linked to the concept of usual residence at a specified reference date:

• it covers all persons who are usually resident, regardless of citizenship or statelessness;
• it applies at national, regional, local and grid level, where required by the Annex to the regulation;
• EU Member States may use scientifically based statistical estimation methods, including methods based on evidence that a person is still resident (‘signs of life’), when complete data are not available.

Where estimation methods do not allow for full breakdowns of individual characteristics, Member States may use dedicated adjustment categories, provided that the methodology used and the reasons for doing so are documented in quality reports.

Regular statistics and population and housing censuses

Member States must produce population and housing statistics:

• on a quarterly, annual or multi-annual basis, depending on the topic; and
• through a population and housing census every 10 years, for reference years ending in ‘1’, in line with international recommendations.

The first reference date for annual population stock statistics is 31 December 2027.

The first reference date for decennial population and housing census statistics is 31 December 2031.

Other statistics covered by the regulation apply for reference periods starting in 2028, in accordance with the Annex.

Population and housing censuses are intended to re-establish the demographic baseline and to complement regular statistics.

Data sources and methods

Member States and the European Commission (more specifically Eurostat – see summary) may use one or more data sources, provided that the applicable quality requirements are met. These may include:

• administrative data sources;
• statistical surveys or other statistical data collections;
• other data sources, including privately held data; and
• data sharing within the European Statistical System.

Member States must ensure that national statistical authorities have timely access to relevant administrative data held by public bodies, and that the data sources used meet the quality criteria and safeguards laid down in Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 (see summary), so that those data can be used for the production of official statistics.

Data transmission and quality requirements

Member States must transmit pre-checked datasets and metadata to the Commission (Eurostat) in accordance with the Annex, using a technical format specified by Eurostat. Where applicable, they must also transmit revisions and related quality reporting, including explanations of methods, estimation techniques and data limitations.

Data protection and statistical confidentiality

Statistics produced under the regulation are subject to Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, including rules on statistical confidentiality.

Personal data may be requested from private data holders only within defined limits and where relevant, and data from EU-level databases or interoperability systems may be used exclusively for statistical purposes, in accordance with EU data protection rules.

Governance and future development of statistics

The Commission may adopt:

• delegated acts, including to introduce additional data collections, subject to conditions such as limits on reference periods and the completion of feasibility or pilot studies; and
• implementing acts, including on technical specifications, formats and metadata.

These acts are adopted with committee support through the European Statistical System Committee.