Statistics Belgium - Service Public Fédéral Economie, PME, Classes moyennes et Energie

Centre de Collecte / Bases de Données Citoyens

North Gate III
Boulevard du Roi Albert II, 16
1000 Bruxelles

Belgique

Not applicable

ISCO-08, NACE Rev. 2, etc.

Usual residence means the place where a person normally spends the daily period of rest, regardless of temporary absences for purposes of recreation, holidays, visits to friends and relatives, business, medical treatment or religious pilgrimage.

Since the Belgian population census is based on longitudinal information systems, it is possible to measure precisely the duration of residence of each individual as at 1 January 2011. However, it is impossible to know whether they intend to stay in the country in the following twelve months. For instance, the Belgian population at the time of the survey is the population recorded in the Registre National on that date. The place of residence is therefore also as noted in the Registre National on 1 January 2011.

Furthermore, all individuals automatically struck off the Registre national des personnes Physiques (National Register of Natural persons), i.e. without them having indicated their departure from their residence themselves in the course of 2010 and then re-registered before 1 March 2011, were included in the population as at 1 January 2011, since the striking off was then considered incorrect.

(Persons usually resident in the place of enumeration but absent, or expected to be absent, at the time of the census for less than one year shall be considered as temporarily absent persons and thus included in the total unsually population. In contrast, persons living or expected to live outside the place of enumeration for one year or more shall not be considered temporarily absent and shall therefore be excluded from the total population. This is regardless of the length of visits that they may pay to their families from time to time.
Persons who are enumerated but do not meet the criteria for usual residence in the place of enumeration, i.e. do not live or do not expect to live in the place of enumeration for a continuous period of at least 12 months, are considered temporarily present and are therefore not counted in the total usually resident population.)

This variable identifies males and females as indicated in the National Register.

The age reached at the reference date (in completed years).

The definition used by Statistics Belgium is in line with the definition in the Eurostat Regulation.

Marital status is the (legal) conjugal status of an individual in relation to the marriage laws of the country (de jure status).
A person shall be classified according to his/her most recently acquired legal marital status at the reference date.
'Registered partnerships' are reported only by countries that have a legal framework regulating partnerships that:
(a) lead to legal conjugal obligations between two persons;
(b) are not marriages;
(c) prevent persons to commit themselves into multiple partnerships with different partners.

Persons registered in the Registre national as being "séparées de corps et de biens" (legally separated) are included in the section "mariés" (married) for the census.

Belgian legislation recognises the concept of legal cohabitation, a concept which corresponds only partly to that of registered partnership, because the condition set out in point (a) has not been met. For instance, there may be legal cohabitation between a brother and sister, or between a father and his son. In order to provide the most accurate assessment possible of the term registered partnership, individuals who are related to each other have been removed from the population of legally recognised cohabitors.

The family nucleus is defined in the narrow sense, that is as two or more persons who belong to the same household and who are related as husband and wife, as partners in a registered partnership, as partners in a consensual union, or as parent and child. Thus a family comprises a couple without children, or a couple with one or more children, or a lone parent with one or more children. This family concept limits relationships between children and adults to direct (first-degree) relationships, that is between parents and children.
Child (son/daughter) refers to a blood, step- or adopted son or daughter (regardless of age or marital status) who has usual residence in the household of at least one of the parents, and who has no partner or own children in the same household. Foster children are not included. A son or daughter who lives with a spouse, with a registered partner, with a partner in a consensual union, or with one or more own children, is not considered to be a child. A child who alternates between two households (for instance if his or her parents are divorced) shall consider the one where he or she spends the majority of the time as his or her household. Where an equal amount of time is spent with both parents the household shall be the one where the child is found at the time on census night.
The term couple shall include married couples, couples in registered partnerships, and couples who live in a consensual union.
Registered partnerships are reported only by countries that have a legal framework regulating partnerships that:
(a) lead to legal conjugal obligations between two persons;
(b) are not marriages;
(c) prevent persons to commit themselves into multiple partnerships with different partners.
Two persons are considered to be partners in a 'consensual union' when they
— belong to the same household, and
— have a marriage-like relationship with each other, and
— are not married to or in a registered partnership with each other.
'Skip-generation households' (households consisting of a grandparent or grandparents and one or more grandchildren, but no parent of those grandchildren) are not included in the definition of a family.

Consensual union is by definition impossible to measure directly via administrative registers. The population living as husband and wife without a contract within the same household has been evaluated either by the presence in the household of a common child, or by using an algorithm based on potential partnerships. In each household, all individuals aged 18 years or more without a current spouse or registered partner have been identified; if only two persons meet these criteria and are not related to each other, they then form a consensual union couple. If a number of potential partners are present in the household, the couple with the smallest age gap is then declared as living in consensual union, provided that the age difference with the other potential partner(s) is 15 years or more. Otherwise, no consensual union is counted.

As regards the definition of registered partnership, see point 3.4.4. concerning legal marital status.

Private households may be defined according to the 'housekeeping concept' , or, if this is not possible, Member States may apply the 'household-dwelling' concept.
1. Housekeeping concept
According to the housekeeping concept, a private household is either:
(a) A one-person household, that is a person who lives alone in a separate housing unit or who occupies, as a lodger, a separate room (or rooms) of a housing unit but does not join with any of the other occupants of the housing unit to form part of a multiperson household as defined below; or
(b) A multiperson household, that is a group of two or more persons who combine to occupy the whole or part of a housing unit and to provide themselves with food and possibly other essentials for living. Members of the group may pool their incomes to a greater or lesser extent.
2. Household-dwelling concept
The household-dwelling concept considers all persons living in a housing unit to be members of the same household, such that there is one household per occupied housing unit. In the household dwelling concept, then, the number of occupied housing units and the number of households occupying them is equal, and the locations of the housing units and house­ holds are identical.
The category 'Persons living in a private household' comprises 'Persons in a family nucleus' and 'Persons not in a family nucleus'. The category 'Persons in a family nucleus' comprises all persons who belong to a private household that contains a family nucleus of which they are a member. 'Persons not in a family nucleus' comprises all persons who either belong to a non-family household or to a family household without being member of any family nucleus in that household.
A non-family household can be a one-person household ('Living alone') or a multiperson household without any family nucleus. The category 'Not living alone' comprises persons that live either in a multiperson household without any family nucleus or in a family household without being member of any family nucleus in that household. Persons who belong to a skip-generation household and who are not member of any family nucleus in that household shall be classified in the optional category 'Persons living in a household with relative(s)'.
The term 'son/daughter' is defined as the term 'child' in the technical specifications for the topic 'Family status'. 'Husband/wife couple' means a married opposite-sex couple.
'Registered partnership' is defined as in the technical specifications for the topic 'Legal marital status'. 'Consensual union' is defined as in the technical specifications for the topic 'Family status'.
The category 'Partners' comprises 'Persons in a married couple', 'Partners in a registered partnership' and 'Partners in a consensual union'.
'Primary homeless persons' are persons living in the streets without a shelter that would fall within the scope of living quarters as defined in the technical specifications for the topic 'Type of living quarters'. 

The housekeeping concept has been retained. A number of households can therefore occupy the same dwelling.

The Registre National cannot be used to identify the homeless. While they form part of the population legally residing in Belgium, they are included in the total figure for the census population and are entered in the population register with an "administrative address". This concept of administrative address does not refer to the individual's actual place of residence but, for example, to a social assistance centre.

Current activity status' is the current relationship of a person to economic activity, based on a reference period of one week, which may be either a specified, recent, fixed, calendar week, or the last complete calendar week, or the last seven days prior to enumeration.
The 'currently economically active population' comprises all persons who fulfil the requirements for inclusion among the employed or the unemployed.
'Employed' persons comprise all persons aged 15 years or over who during the reference week:
(a) performed at least one hour of work for pay or profit, in cash or in kind, or
(b) were temporarily absent from a job in which they had already worked and to which they maintained a formal attachment, or from a self-employment activity.
The 'unemployed' comprise all persons aged 15 years or over who were:
(a) 'without work', that is, were not in wage employment or self-employment during the reference week; and
(b) 'currently available for work', that is, were available for wage employment or self-employment during the reference week and for two weeks after that; and
(c) 'seeking work', that is, had taken specific steps to seek wage employment or self-employment within four weeks ending with the reference week.
The category 'Currently not economically active' includes persons below the national minimum age for economic activity.
In ascribing a single activity status to each person, priority is given to the status of 'employed' in preference to 'unemployed', and to the status of 'unemployed' in preference to 'not economically active'.

All the CAS, LPW, SIE and IND variables were developed from the labour market and social welfare datawarehouse of the Banque Carrefour de la Sécurité Sociale. The data concerning workers are quarterly, and it is possible to know whether the persons in question worked on the last day of the quarter, in our case 31 December 2010. The information on retired persons and the unemployed refers to the same date. Furthermore, for persons with more than one job, their main job is determined according to the time spent on it and on the income generated (for persons working abroad, only their taxable income is used).

With regard to the variable "Current activity status", the definitions used by Statistics Belgium correspond to those requested by Eurostat. Nevertheless, a number of adjustments had to be made before these definitions could be applied. As regards persons with a job, the data can easily be used to identify those working in Belgium. However, in this group, those aged 60 years or over are over-estimated. A number of corrections had to be made, taking account of earned income, information available through fiscal data. For persons working abroad (who appear as inactive in the data of the Banque Carrefour de la Sécurité Sociale), i.e. around 90 000 individuals, tax declarations also had to be used. However, since these data are based on the total for the year, a model was developed to determine the actvitiy for the last week of the year.

The definition of unemployed used by Statistics Belgium meets the criteria a) and b) above. However, with the available databases, it is impossible to evaluate whether the persons are actively looking for a job, since no information on steps taken by jobseekers exists. Criterion c) therefore has not been met.

Statistics Belgium has data from 1998 to 2011 concerning the last quarter in which the person worked. To obtain earlier information, the results of the 2001 socio-economic survey have been processed. However, the available databases cannot be used to identify the last job held by an unemployed person who arrived in Belgium after 2001 and who had never worked in Belgium.

It has been possible to identify the category of persons of independent means via the income declared in the fiscal database.

A census was taken of the student population using the education databases of the various communities which record those registered in the various teaching institutions. This information was supplemented by data on family benefits, because these benefits are received on the condition that the child is in education. This operation made it possible to recover specific sub-populations, such as pupils in home schooling.

The order of priorities (identification first of the working population, then of unemployed persons, and lastly of inactive persons) is respected.

Occupation' refers to the type of work done in a job (that is the main tasks and duties of the work). Persons doing more than one job are allocated an occupation based on their main job, which is identified according to the time spent on the job or, if not available, to the income received.
The breakdown by occupation is available for persons aged 15 or over that were:
— employed during the reference week, or
— unemployed during the reference week, but have ever been in employment
Persons are classified according to the occupation they had during their most recent employment. The categories included in the breakdown 'occupation' correspond to the major groups of the ISCO-08 (COM) classification.
Persons under the age of 15 years, as well as persons aged 15 or over that were:
— not economically active during the reference week, or
— unemployed, never worked before (i.e. they have never been employed in their lives)
are classified under 'not applicable'.
The allocation of a person within the breakdowns of the topics 'Occupation', 'Industry' and 'Status in employment' is based on the same job.
Information relating to the profession is not available in any administrative database , different models based on survey data have been developed to estimate this variable.
Unfortunately , the results lead to too large approximations to be satisfactory. Statistics Belgium has decided not to publish these results.

Industry (branch of economic activity) is the kind of production or activity of the establishment (or similar unit) in which the job of a currently economically active person is located.
Persons doing more than one job shall be allocated an industry (branch of economic activity) based on their main job, which is to be identified according to the time spent on the job or (if not available) the income received.
The breakdown by industry is available for persons aged 15 or over that were:
— employed during the reference week, or
— unemployed during the reference week, but have ever been in employment
Persons are classified according to the industry they worked in during their most recent employment. The categories included in the breakdown 'industry' list the 21 sections of the NACE Rev. 2 classification and appropriate aggregates.
Persons under the age of 15 years, as well as persons aged 15 or over that were:
— not economically active during the reference week, or
— unemployed, and have never worked before (i.e. have never been employed in their lives)
are classified under 'not applicable'.
The allocation of a person within the breakdowns of the topics 'Occupation', 'Industry' and 'Status in employment' is based on the same job.

The definitions used by Statistics Belgium correspond to those requested by Eurostat, with one exception: temporary workers have been classed as working for temporary employment agencies and not under the NACE heading for work actually performed. This information is not present in the available databases.

An 'employee' is a person who works in a 'paid employment' job, that is a job where the explicit or implicit contract of employment gives the incumbent a basic remuneration, which is independent of the revenue of the unit for which he/she works.
An 'employer' is a person who, working on his or her own account or with a small number of partners, holds a 'self-employment' job and, in this capacity, on a continuous basis (including the reference week) has engaged one or more persons to work for him/her as 'employees'.
If a person is both employer and employee, he/she shall be allocated to only one group according to the time spent on the job or (if not available) the income received.
An 'own-account worker' is a person who, working on his/her own account or with one or a few partners, holds a 'self-employment job' and has not engaged, on a continuous basis (including the reference week), any 'employees'.
A 'contributing family worker' is a person who
— holds a 'self-employment’ job in a market-oriented establishment operated by a related person, living in the same household, and
— cannot be regarded as a partner (that is an employer or own-account worker) because the degree of commitment to the operation of the establishment, in terms of working time or other factors to be determined by national circumstances, is not at a level comparable to that of the head of the establishment.
A 'member of a producers' cooperative' is a person who holds a 'self-employment' job in an establishment organised as a coop­ erative, in which each member takes part on an equal footing with other members in determining the organisation of production, sales and/or other work, the investments and the distribution of the proceeds among the members.
Data are from the data warehouse labor market and social protection of the Crossroads Bank for Social Security and also, in order to identify the producer cooperatives , the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises .
The definitions used by Statistics Belgium are consistent with those of Eurostat.

The location of the place of work is the geographical area in which a currently employed person does his/her job.
The place of work of those mostly working at home is the same as their usual residence. The term 'working' refers to work done as an 'employed person' as defined under the topic 'Current activity status'. 'Mostly' working at home means that the person spends all or most of the time working at home, and less, or no, time in a place of work other than at home.

The definition used by Statistics Belgium is identical to that requested by Eurostat.

For employed workers, the information on the place of work is available in the labour market and social welfare datawarehouse of the Banque Carrefour de la Sécurité Sociale.

For self-employed workers, the information on the place of work is not available in the labour market and social welfare datawarehouse of the Banque Carrefour de la Sécurité Sociale. It had to be searched for in the company database:

- If the person is the authorised representative of a business which has only one establishment, the address of the business shall be considered as his place of work.

- If the business has several establishments, the profession code (specific code of the Banque Carrefour de la Sécurité Sociale) of the person is matched with the activity code of each of the establishments in order to allocate the person to the most relevant establishment.

Furthermore, the database of businesses is incomplete. If the person cannot be found on this database, his professional address shall be that of his private address.

Lastly, in around 40 000 cases for which it was impossible to identify an individual's place of work (self-employed or not), a transfer model was designed and entries were made according to a probabilistic distribution.

'Educational attainment' refers to the highest level successfully completed in the educational system of the country where the education was received. All education which is relevant to the completion of a level is taken into account even if this was provided outside schools and universities.
Persons aged 15 years or over are classified under only one of the categories according to their educational attainment (highest completed level). Persons under the age of 15 years are classified under 'not applicable'.

Definition used by Statistics Belgium is identical to the Eurostat's one.

A locality is defined as a distinct population cluster, that is an area defined by population living in neighbouring or contiguous buildings. Such buildings may either:
(a) form a continuous built-up area with a clearly recognisable street formation; or
(b) though not part of such a built-up area, comprise a group of buildings to which a locally recognised place name is uniquely attached; or
(c) though not meeting either of the above two criteria, constitute a group of buildings, none of which is separated from its nearest neighbour by more than 200 metres.

Statistics Belgium applies criterion c.

Values were imputed in cases where households could not be coupled to a dwelling. If the statistical sector of the household's residence comprises only one town, it is attributed to the household. However, if a number of towns make up the statistical sector, non-coupled households are divided between them in proportion to the distribution observed for coupled households.

Place of birth is defined as the place of usual residence of the mother at the time of the birth, or, if not available, as the place in which the birth took place.
Information on the country of birth is based on the international boundaries existing on 1 January 2011. 'EU Member State', in particular, means a country that is a member of the European Union on 1 January 2011. The list of countries in the breakdown 'country/place of birth' serves only for statistical purposes.
For reporting countries that are EU Member States, the sub-category under the category 'other EU Member State' that refers to their Member State does not apply. For reporting countries that are not EU Member States, the category 'Other EU Member State' shall be read as 'EU Member State'.
The category 'Information not classifiable according to current borders' covers those persons whose country of birth existed at the time of the birth, but no longer exists at the time of the census, and who cannot be allocated uniquely to one country existing at the time of the census, i.e. according to current borders.
The category 'outside any country' covers persons for whom the usual residence of the mother at the time of the birth is not known and who where born outside the borders of any country, for example at sea or in the air.

The place of birth is always defined as the place where birth actually took place; the place of residence of the mother at the time of birth is entered in the Registre National for only half of the population.

Citizenship is defined as the particular legal bond between an individual and his/her State, acquired by birth or naturalisation, whether by declaration, option, marriage or other means according to the national legislation.
A person with two or more citizenships is allocated to only one country of citizenship, to be determined in the following order of precedence:
1. reporting country; or
2. if the person does not have the citizenship of the reporting country: other EU Member State; 3. if the person does not have the citizenship of another EU Member State: other country outside the European Union.
'EU Member State' means a country that is a member of the European Union on 1 January 2011. The list of countries in the breakdown 'Country of citizenship' shall only apply for statistical purposes.
For reporting countries that are EU Member States, the sub-category of the category 'citizenship not of reporting country, but other EU Member State' that refers to their Member State does not apply. For reporting countries that are not EU Member States, the category 'citizenship not of reporting country, but other EU Member State' shall be changed to 'citizenship of an EU Member State'.
Persons who are neither citizens of any country nor stateless and who have some but not all of the rights and duties associated with citizenship shall be classified under 'recognised non-citizens'. 

The definition used by Statistics Belgium is identical to that requested by Eurostat. Belgium does not take into consideration the concept of "recognised non-citizens".

Furthermore, individuals registered as nationals of Palestine and Kosovo have been classed as stateless persons, as requested by Eurostat.

The year of arrival is the calendar year in which a person most recently established usual residence in the country. The data for 2011 refer to the time span between 1 January 2011 and the reference date.

The definition used by Statistics Belgium is identical to that requested by Eurostat.

This indicates the relationship between the current place of usual residence and the place of usual residence one year prior to the census. Children under one year of age are classified under 'Not applicable'.
For all persons that have changed their usual residence more than once within the year prior to the reference date, the previous place of usual residence is the last usual residence from which they moved to their current place of usual residence.

The definition used by Statistics Belgium is identical to that requested by Eurostat. The Registre National is a system for the ongoing collection of information, and all the successive residences of inhabitants are recorded in it. Identifying the place of residence of the population one year before the census therefore does not pose a major problem.

The topic 'Housing arrangements' covers the whole population and refers to the type of housing in which a person usually resides at the time of the census. This covers all persons who are usual residents in different types of living quarters, or who do not have a usual residence and stay temporarily in some type of living quarters, or who are roofless, sleeping rough or in emergency shelters, when the census is taken.
Occupants are persons with their usual residence in the places listed in the respective category.
'Conventional dwellings' are structurally separate and independent premises at fixed locations which are designed for permanent human habitation and are, at the reference date, either used as a residence, or vacant, or reserved for seasonal or secondary use.
'Separate' means surrounded by walls and covered by a roof or ceiling so that one or more persons can isolate themselves. 'Independent' means having direct access from a street or a staircase, passage, gallery or grounds.
'Other housing units' are huts, cabins, shacks, shanties, caravans, houseboats, barns, mills, caves or any other shelter used for human habitation at the time of the census, irrespective if it was designed for human habitation.
'Collective living quarters' are premises which are designed for habitation by large groups of individuals or several households and which are used as the usual residence of at least one person at the time of the census.
'Occupied conventional dwellings', 'other housing units' and 'collective living quarters' together represent'‘living quarters'. Any 'living quarter' must be the usual residence of at least one person.
The sum of occupied conventional dwellings and other housing units represents 'housing units'.
The homeless (persons who are not usual residents in any living quarter category) can be persons living in the streets without a shelter that would fall within the scope of living quarters (primary homelessness) or persons moving frequently between temporary accommodation (secondary homelessness).

The information contained in the register of the Administration Générale de la Documentation Patrimoniale (National Documentation Centre) can be used to identify the occupants of standard housing units and of other housing units, with the exception of caravans, boats and huts.

The occupants of a collective dwelling are identified in the Registre National (the population register).

However, the Registre National cannot be used to identify the homeless. While they form part of the population legally residing in Belgium, they are included in the total figure for the census population and are entered in the population register with an "administrative address". This concept of administrative address does not refer to the individual's actual place of residence but, for example, to a social welfare centre or a body responsible for handling asylum requests.

The family nucleus is defined in the narrow sense, that is as two or more persons who belong to the same household and who are related as husband and wife, as partners in a registered partnership, as partners in a consensual union, or as parent and child. Thus a family comprises a couple without children, or a couple with one or more children, or a lone parent with one or more children. This family concept limits relationships between children and adults to direct (first-degree) relationships, that is between parents and children.
Child (son/daughter) refers to a blood, step- or adopted son or daughter (regardless of age or marital status) who has usual residence in the household of at least one of the parents, and who has no partner or own children in the same household. Foster children are not included. A son or daughter who lives with a spouse, with a registered partner, with a partner in a consensual union, or with one or more own children, is not considered to be a child. A child who alternates between two households (for instance if his or her parents are divorced) shall consider the one where he or she spends the majority of the time as his or her household. Where an equal amount of time is spent with both parents the household shall be the one where the child is found at the time on census night.
The term couple shall include married couples, couples in registered partnerships, and couples who live in a consensual union.
Registered partnerships are reported only by countries that have a legal framework regulating partnerships that:
(a) lead to legal conjugal obligations between two persons;
(b) are not marriages;
(c) prevent persons to commit themselves into multiple partnerships with different partners.
Two persons are considered to be partners in a 'consensual union' when they
— belong to the same household, and
— have a marriage-like relationship with each other, and
— are not married to or in a registered partnership with each other.
'Skip-generation households' (households consisting of a grandparent or grandparents and one or more grandchildren, but no parent of those grandchildren) are not included in the definition of a family.

The definition used by Statistics Belgium is identical to that requested by Eurostat.

Married couples are identified using the Registre National, thanks to a code which specifies the relationship between the members of the household. For couples in a registered partnership or in a consensual union, see points 3.4.4 and 3.4.5, respectively.

Parent-child links are identified using the Registre National by means of the relationship code and information on filiation.

The family nucleus is defined in the narrow sense, that is as two or more persons who belong to the same household and who are related as husband and wife, as partners in a registered partnership, as partners in a consensual union, or as parent and child. Thus a family comprises a couple without children, or a couple with one or more children, or a lone parent with one or more children. This family concept limits relationships between children and adults to direct (first-degree) relationships, that is between parents and children.
Child (son/daughter) refers to a blood, step- or adopted son or daughter (regardless of age or marital status) who has usual residence in the household of at least one of the parents, and who has no partner or own children in the same household. Foster children are not included. A son or daughter who lives with a spouse, with a registered partner, with a partner in a consensual union, or with one or more own children, is not considered to be a child. A child who alternates between two households (for instance if his or her parents are divorced) shall consider the one where he or she spends the majority of the time as his or her household. Where an equal amount of time is spent with both parents the household shall be the one where the child is found at the time on census night.
The term couple shall include married couples, couples in registered partnerships, and couples who live in a consensual union.
Registered partnerships are reported only by countries that have a legal framework regulating partnerships that:
(a) lead to legal conjugal obligations between two persons;
(b) are not marriages;
(c) prevent persons to commit themselves into multiple partnerships with different partners.
Two persons are considered to be partners in a 'consensual union' when they
— belong to the same household, and
— have a marriage-like relationship with each other, and
— are not married to or in a registered partnership with each other.
'Skip-generation households' (households consisting of a grandparent or grandparents and one or more grandchildren, but no parent of those grandchildren) are not included in the definition of a family.

The definition used by Statistics Belgium is identical to that requested by Eurostat.

Links between the individuals of a household are identified using the Registre National, thanks to a code which specifies the relationship between the reference person and the other members of the household. For information on how couples in a registered partnership or consensual union are identified, see points 3.4.4 and 3.4.5, respectively.

Parent-child links are identified using the Registre National, by means of the relationship code and information on filiation.

Private households may be defined according to the 'housekeeping concept' , or, if this is not possible, Member States may apply the 'household-dwelling' concept.
1. Housekeeping concept
According to the housekeeping concept, a private household is either:
(a) A one-person household, that is a person who lives alone in a separate housing unit or who occupies, as a lodger, a separate room (or rooms) of a housing unit but does not join with any of the other occupants of the housing unit to form part of a multiperson household as defined below; or
(b) A multiperson household, that is a group of two or more persons who combine to occupy the whole or part of a housing unit and to provide themselves with food and possibly other essentials for living. Members of the group may pool their incomes to a greater or lesser extent.
2. Household-dwelling concept
The household-dwelling concept considers all persons living in a housing unit to be members of the same household, such that there is one household per occupied housing unit. In the household dwelling concept, then, the number of occupied housing units and the number of households occupying them is equal, and the locations of the housing units and house­ holds are identical.
The category 'Persons living in a private household' comprises 'Persons in a family nucleus' and 'Persons not in a family nucleus'. The category 'Persons in a family nucleus' comprises all persons who belong to a private household that contains a family nucleus of which they are a member. 'Persons not in a family nucleus' comprises all persons who either belong to a non-family household or to a family household without being member of any family nucleus in that household.
A non-family household can be a one-person household ('Living alone') or a multiperson household without any family nucleus. The category 'Not living alone' comprises persons that live either in a multiperson household without any family nucleus or in a family household without being member of any family nucleus in that household. Persons who belong to a skip-generation household and who are not member of any family nucleus in that household shall be classified in the optional category 'Persons living in a household with relative(s)'.
The term 'son/daughter' is defined as the term 'child' in the technical specifications for the topic 'Family status'. 'Husband/wife couple' means a married opposite-sex couple.
'Registered partnership' is defined as in the technical specifications for the topic 'Legal marital status'. 'Consensual union' is defined as in the technical specifications for the topic 'Family status'.
The category 'Partners' comprises 'Persons in a married couple', 'Partners in a registered partnership' and 'Partners in a consensual union'.
'Primary homeless persons' are persons living in the streets without a shelter that would fall within the scope of living quarters as defined in the technical specifications for the topic 'Type of living quarters'.

The definition used by Statistics Belgium is identical to that requested by Eurostat.

Private households may be defined according to the 'housekeeping concept' , or, if this is not possible, Member States may apply the 'household-dwelling' concept.
1. Housekeeping concept
According to the housekeeping concept, a private household is either:
(a) A one-person household, that is a person who lives alone in a separate housing unit or who occupies, as a lodger, a separate room (or rooms) of a housing unit but does not join with any of the other occupants of the housing unit to form part of a multiperson household as defined below; or
(b) A multiperson household, that is a group of two or more persons who combine to occupy the whole or part of a housing unit and to provide themselves with food and possibly other essentials for living. Members of the group may pool their incomes to a greater or lesser extent.
2. Household-dwelling concept
The household-dwelling concept considers all persons living in a housing unit to be members of the same household, such that there is one household per occupied housing unit. In the household dwelling concept, then, the number of occupied housing units and the number of households occupying them is equal, and the locations of the housing units and house­ holds are identical.
The category 'Persons living in a private household' comprises 'Persons in a family nucleus' and 'Persons not in a family nucleus'. The category 'Persons in a family nucleus' comprises all persons who belong to a private household that contains a family nucleus of which they are a member. 'Persons not in a family nucleus' comprises all persons who either belong to a non-family household or to a family household without being member of any family nucleus in that household.
A non-family household can be a one-person household ('Living alone') or a multiperson household without any family nucleus. The category 'Not living alone' comprises persons that live either in a multiperson household without any family nucleus or in a family household without being member of any family nucleus in that household. Persons who belong to a skip-generation household and who are not member of any family nucleus in that household shall be classified in the optional category 'Persons living in a household with relative(s)'.
The term 'son/daughter' is defined as the term 'child' in the technical specifications for the topic 'Family status'. 'Husband/wife couple' means a married opposite-sex couple.
'Registered partnership' is defined as in the technical specifications for the topic 'Legal marital status'. 'Consensual union' is defined as in the technical specifications for the topic 'Family status'.
The category 'Partners' comprises 'Persons in a married couple', 'Partners in a registered partnership' and 'Partners in a consensual union'.
'Primary homeless persons' are persons living in the streets without a shelter that would fall within the scope of living quarters as defined in the technical specifications for the topic 'Type of living quarters'.

The definition used by Statistics Belgium is identical to that requested by Eurostat.

The topic 'Tenure status of households' refers to the arrangements under which a private household occupies all or part of a housing unit.
Households that are in the process of paying off a mortgage on the housing unit in which they live or purchasing their housing unit over time under other financial arrangementsare classified under 'Households of which at least one member is the owner of the housing unit'.
Households of which at least one member is the owner of the housing unit and at least one member tenant of all or part of the housing unit are classified under category 'Households of which at least one member is the owner of the housing unit'. 

The Registre National has been coupled with the register of the Administration générale de la Documentation patrimoniale (the "cadastre") to determine the tenure status of the household.

The data taken from the register of the Administration générale de la Documentation patrimoniale can be used to identify individuals with a title deed to the housing in which they live. Households in which none of the members own at least part of the housing unit are classed in the category "Households in which at least one of the members is the tenant of all or part of the housing unit". The available sources of information do not make it possible to identify "Households occupying all or part of a housing unit under some other form of tenure".

'Conventional dwellings' are structurally separate and independent premises at fixed locations which are designed for permanent human habitation and are, at the reference date, either used as a residence, or vacant, or reserved for seasonal or secondary use.
'Separate' means surrounded by walls and covered by a roof or ceiling so that one or more persons can isolate themselves. 'Independent' means having direct access from a street or a staircase, passage, gallery or grounds.
'Other housing units' are huts, cabins, shacks, shanties, caravans, houseboats, barns, mills, caves or any other shelter used for human habitation at the time of the census, irrespective if it was designed for human habitation.
'Collective living quarters' are premises which are designed for habitation by large groups of individuals or several households and which are used as the usual residence of at least one person at the time of the census.
'Occupied conventional dwellings', 'other housing units' and 'collective living quarters' together represent'‘living quarters'. Any 'living quarter' must be the usual residence of at least one person.

The information in the register of the Administration Générale de la Documentation Patrimoniale makes it possible to identify "other housing units", with the exception of caravans, boats and huts.

Collective dwellings are identified in the Registre National.

'Occupied conventional dwellings' are conventional dwellings which are the usual residence of one or more persons at the time of the census. 'Unoccupied conventional dwellings' are conventional dwellings which are not the usual residence of any person at the time of the census.
Conventional dwellings with persons present but not included in the census are classified under the category 'Dwellings reserved for seasonal or secondary use'.

The definition used by Statistics Belgium is identical to that requested by Eurostat.

Using available administrative sources, it was not possible to distinguish between seasonal or secondary dwellings and vacant dwellings. 

The topic 'Type of ownership' refers to the ownership of the dwelling and not to that of the land on which the dwelling stands.
'Owner-occupied dwellings' are those where at least one occupant of the dwelling owns parts or the whole of the dwelling. 'Cooperative ownership' refers to ownership within the framework of a housing cooperative.
'Rented dwellings' are those where at least one occupant pays a rent for the occupation of the dwelling, and where no occupant owns parts or the whole of the dwelling.

Dwellings are either occupied by their owner or considered as rented; no information is available on the category: "dwellings in other types of ownership" (see point 3.4.23.) Where several households occupy the same dwelling and at least one person in one of the households is the owner, the dwelling is considered to be owner-occupied.

Furthermore, the concept of cooperative ownership has no legal status in Belgium.

The number of occupants of a housing unit is the number of people for whom the housing unit is the usual residence.

The definition used by Statistics Belgium is identical to that requested by Eurostat.

Useful floor space is defined as the floor space measured inside the outer walls excluding non-habitable cellars and attics and, in multi-dwelling buildings, all common spaces; or the total floor space of rooms falling under the concept of 'room'.
A 'room' is defined as a space in a housing unit enclosed by walls reaching from the floor to the ceiling or roof, of a size large enough to hold a bed for an adult (4 square metres at least) and at least 2 metres high over the major area of the ceiling.

After comparing the data of the land registry with those of the 2001 census, it turns out that the variable "Number of rooms" presents a smaller difference between these two sources than the variable "habitable surface area". The "number of rooms" has therefore been used.

A 'room' is defined as a space in a housing unit enclosed by walls reaching from the floor to the ceiling or roof, of a size large enough to hold a bed for an adult (4 square metres at least) and at least 2 metres high over the major area of the ceiling.

The definition of the register of the Administration générale de la Documentation patrimoniale (the land registry) uses the 4m² criterion, but no reference is made to ceiling height.

The topic ‘Density standard’ relates the useful floor space in square metres or the number of rooms to the number of occupants, as specified under the topic 'Number of occupants'.
Data report on the density standard measured by the 'useful floor space', or, if not possible, by the 'number of rooms'.

Since the habitable surface area of the dwelling is not calculated, this density standard which takes account of surface area is not calculated either.

The topic ‘Density standard’ relates the useful floor space in square metres or the number of rooms to the number of occupants, as specified under the topic 'Number of occupants'.
Data report on the density standard measured by the 'useful floor space', or, if not possible, by the 'number of rooms'.

This indicator refers to the number of rooms per occupant.

This information is not available in the register of the Administration générale de la Documentation Patrimoniale. The SILC survey from the spring of 2011, however, estimates the percentage of dwellings with hot water to be 96%. The percentage of dwellings with running water is usually even higher: a decision was therefore made to count all dwellings as being connected to running water.

This information is not available in the register of the Administration générale de la Documentation Patrimoniale. According to the SILC survey from the spring of 2011, however, 98% of dwellings are equipped with toilets: a decision was therefore made to count all dwellings under the heading "Flush toilet in the housing unit".

A bathing facility is any facility designed to wash the whole body and includes shower facilities.

The data from the register of the Administration générale de la Documentation patrimoniale (land register) make it possible to calculate this variable directly for the vast majority of dwellings. However, in some cases, information on the number of bathrooms is available only at aggregate level (for all dwellings with the same owner in the same building). The number of bathrooms in these dwellings is then estimated by combining the data of the land register with those of the 2001 socio-economic survey (2001 survey). However, it should be noted that the vast majority of dwellings (84%) are entered separately in the land register.

Furthermore, it has been noted that the land register underestimates the number of bathrooms and renovations of dwellings, which are incorrectly recorded. The algorithm used therefore stipulates that any dwelling built after 2001 has a bathroom. With regard to older dwellings:

- Where one of the two sources (land register or 2001 socio-economic survey) mentions a bathroom, the dwelling is considered to have a bathroom.

- Where both sources explicitly mention the absence of a bathroom, the dwelling is classed as being without a bathroom.

- Where the situation is unknown in the 2001 census, it is still considered to be unknown in 2011.

A housing unit is considered as centrally heated if heating is provided either from a community heating centre or from an installation built in the building or in the housing unit, established for heating purposes, without regard to the source of energy.

As regards the presence of a bathroom, the information in the land register is aggregated for all dwellings with the same owner and in the same building. In cases where a person owns several dwellings, only one type of heating is indicated. In the census figures, the same type of heating is given for all dwellings with the same owner and in the same building. For instance, if the dwellings have different types of heating, these are not taken into account. The extent of this limit should be relativised by the fact that the majority of dwellings (84%) are recorded separately in the land register.

The algorithm for all dwellings is as follows:

- Where one of the two sources (land register or 2001 socio-economic survey) mentions the existence of central heating, the dwelling is equipped with central heating.

- Where both sources specify the absence of central heating, this information is used.

- Where the situation is unknown in the 2001 census, it is still considered to be unknown in 2011.

The topic 'Dwellings by type of building' refers to the number of dwellings in the building in which the dwelling is placed.

The definition used by Statistics Belgium is identical to that requested by Eurostat.

The topic 'Dwellings by period of construction' refers to the year when the building in which the dwelling is placed was completed.

The definition used by Statistics Belgium is identical to that requested by Eurostat.

The EU programme for the 2011 population and housing censuses include data on persons, private households, family nuclei, conventional dwellings and living quarters

Persons enumerated in the 2011 census are those who were usually resident in the territory of the reporting country at the census reference date. Usual residence means the place where a person normally spends the daily period of rest, regardless of temporary absences for purposes of recreation, holidays, visits to friends and relatives, business, medical treatment or religious pilgrimage

Data are available at different levels of geographical detail: national, NUTS2, NUTS3 and local administrative units (LAU2)

Data refer to the situation in the reporting country at the census reference date (see item 5)

Counts of statistical units

Common reminder of EU legislation

 Statistics Belgium - Service Public Fédéral Economie, PME, Classes moyennes et Energie.

Not applicable

There is no specific legislation concerning the disclosure of statistical information. Nevertheless, this issue is covered by both the law of 4 July 1962 on public statistics (amended on 1 August 1985 and then on 22 March 2006) and the law of 8 December 1992 on the protection of privacy.

Statistical confidentiality is ensured by the use of a pre-tabular data protection method: swapping. For instance, the data are protected against any possibility of primary or secondary identification. Furthermore, the rules adopted to determine which cells will be swapped are not explicitly indicated. This represents additional protection.

Data are made available 27 months after the end of the reference period (March 2014)

Cubes responding to the Eurostat regulations will be published on the website of Statistics Belgium after sending to Eurostat.
- A series of standardized tables will be published in 2014 on the site of Statistics Belgium . These tables present the same variables as those requested in the context of the Eurostat regulations , but at a greater level of detail ( eg, education) or new variables ( for example, the distance between the place of residence and place of work). They will be free to access.
- Ad hoc requests for aggregated data will be examined.
- The use of micro- data will be subject to a specific request from the Commission for the Protection of Privacy ( Commissie voor de Bescherming van de persoonlijk Levenssfeer ).

Data on population and housing censuses are disseminated every decade

Publication of the census results will give rise to press releases.

The cubes as specified in the Eurostat Regulation will be accessible on the Statistics Belgium website, as will other cubes with more detailed variables or other variables calculated specifically to meet national needs.

The cubes published on the Statistics Belgium website will be interactive. Users will be able to select the variables and dimensions which they wish to see included.  

The use of microdata is subject to the prior agreement of the Privacy Protection Committee (Commission de la Protection de la Vie Privée, Commissie voor de Bescherming van de persoonlijk Levenssfeer). Once the specific request has been approved, the data will be delivered by Statistics Belgium.

Provision has not been made for any other format to date.

Not applicable

Not applicable

To be provided on a voluntary basis, where applicable.

The Registre National does not completely cover the de facto population due primarily to the under-declaration of arrivals in Belgium. For instance, there is of course no information on the population in an illegal situation. Furthermore, some foreigners do not register even though they have a residence permit; in particular Europeans who do not wish to settle permanently in the country. Foreigners whose duration of stay does not exceed three months are not required to register. However, non-registration of the latter category of foreigners does not pose a problem for the 2011 census because only individuals residing in the country for more than one year or who intend to stay there for longer than a year must be taken into account.

Departures abroad also seem to suffer from under-registration, for both the Belgian and the foreign population. Although some persons do not declare even their definitive departure from Belgium, this may be on account of insufficient knowledge of the law, to avoid an administrative procedure deemed to be tedious or to keep benefits which depend on residence.

Nevertheless, such under-recording should be kept in perspective: on the one hand, registering with a commune is of obvious interest for permanent residents and, on the other hand, controls are run on the accuracy of declarations from individuals. These primarily involve identifying individuals who have left the territory of the commune permanently without having made a prior declaration. For example, if no response to administrative letters is received, or when a new occupant in a dwelling makes a registration request, the commune can conduct a procedure to verify the address. Moreover, foreigners whose residence permit expires are systematically deleted from the register after eight days. The communes also look into undeclared arrivals and may conduct inquiries based, for example, on the opening of electricity meters or telephone lines.

Following undeclared departures, the communes carry out approximately 40 000 automatic removals from the population register each year. If automatically removed individuals are re-registered before 1 March of the following year, Statistics Belgium considers these removals to be incorrect. These removals are therefore cancelled and the information on the address of re-registration is used on the date of the incorrect removal. These removals considered to be incorrect therefore result in the cancellation of around half of automatic removals.

The Registre National is used to build the population database, which is used to create all demographic variables, including those concerning the nuclear family and the household. The housing database is created on the basis of the register of the Administration Générale de la Documentation Patrimoniale (land register). The main objective of this administrative source is the collection of taxes on real estate. It is possible that some dwellings are not included in this register, particularly where dwellings are subdivided.

There were no post-ennumeration surveys.

The census data disseminated by Eurostat are addressed to policy makers, researchers, media and the general public.

No user satisfaction surveys are carried out. User inquiries are handled by the Eurostat User Support service.

Depends on the availability of data transmitted by the National Statistical Institutes.

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

Registered partnership is not directly measured, but evaluated using an algorithm, which may be a source of bias. It should be noted that a traditional census could not provide a better response to criterion a) of the regulation, in view of the legislation in force in Belgium.

Consensual union is not measured directly but is evaluated using an algorithm which may be the source of bias. The same can be said for registered partnerships.

Consensual union is not measured directly but is evaluated using an algorithm which may be the source of bias. The same can be said for registered partnerships.

Compared with a traditional census, where respondents are asked about their situations, the use of registers offers the significant advantage of objectivity. The limitations lie in points where the registers do not always make it possible to respect the criteria and definitions provided for in the census. In this respect, it should be remembered that the available databases do not show:

- whether an unemployed person is actively searching for a job, or

- whether an unemployed person who has never worked in Belgium and arrived in the country after the 2001 socio-economic survey has previously held a job in another country.  

The data from the various available surveys show too many inconsistencies to be used. Statistics Belgium has thus decided not to publish these results.

It was not always possible to identify the business sector of last employment on 1 January 2011. Old NACE codes were difficult to convert into a more recent nomenclature. These businesses are attributed to the "Not indicated" category. It should be recalled here that the available databases do not make it possible to identify the last job held by an unemployed person who has never worked in Belgium and who arrived in the country after the 2001 socio-economic survey. Furthermore, temporary workers have been classed as working for temporary employment agencies and not under the NACE heading for work actually carried out. This information is not shown in the available databases.

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

The quality of this variable seems to be lower for self-employed workers than for other workers because the database used to determine the place of work of self-employed workers is incomplete and sometimes inaccurate. Ultimately, in around 40 000 cases (0.9% of workers) where it was impossible to identify the place of work of an individual (self-employed or not), a movement model was designed and entries were established in line with probability-based distribution.  

The last census (the 2001 socio-economic survey) was used as a base for the creation of a database on the population's level of education. From 2001, this register was supplemented by the databases concerning the various communities (since education is governed by the communes in Belgium). However, the information in these databases is not strictly comparable. For instance, some of the compulsory schooling diplomas are missing for the years 2001 to 2005 in the French-speaking community. Moreover, the diplomas obtained abroad for which recognition was requested were available only for the Flemish community. These differences between the registers of the communities can be a source of bias in regional comparisons of levels of education. Furthermore, for the country overall, diplomas obtained abroad for which no recognition request was made are missing from the database. It should also be noted that persons who did not provide a response in 2001 and had not obtained a diploma since then have an unknown level of education.

Overall, information is missing in 7.9% of cases.

This variable had to be imputed in 3.4% of cases.

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

The Registre National cannot be used to identify the homeless. While they form part of the population legally residing in Belgium, they are included in the total figure for the census population and are entered in the population register with an "administrative address". This notion of administrative address does not refer to the individual's actual place of residence but for example to a social welfare centre or a body responsible for ruling on asylum requests.

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

The population register was coupled with the register of the Administration générale de la Documentation patrimoniale ("land register") to determine the tenure arrangements of households. Coupling made it possible to find information in 99% of cases. 

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

Using the available administrative sources, it was not possible to make distinguish seasonal and secondary dwellings from vacant dwellings.

The population register was coupled with the register of the Administration générale de la Documentation patrimoniale ("land register") to determine the tenure arrangements of households. Coupling made it possible to find information in 99% of cases. 

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

Not measured 

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic.

The definition of the register of the Administration Générale de la Documentation Patrimoniale does not refer to ceiling height; however, the very concept of a room with a ceiling lower than 2m is unrealistic, which mitigates this limitation.

In total, information is missing in 6.3% of cases.  

Not measured

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic.

In total, information is missing in 5.1% of cases.

This is an imputed variable.

This variable was imputed

The estimate method results in 6.7% of the values remaining unknown.

The estimate method results in 12.1% of the values remaining unknown.

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

There are no particular reasons for data unreliability for this topic

The hypercubes were transmitted to Eurostat at the end of June, with the exception of five cubes concerning housing, which were submitted on 26 August 2014.

In general, the census is based on national registers which are uniform for all regions in the country.

One exception is as follows: the variable concerning the level of education was measured using various registers depending on the community in which the diploma was obtained. However, as seen previously, the information contained in these databases is not strictly identical. These differences between the registers of the different communities can be a source of bias in the regional comparisons of levels of education. The comparison between the communities in Belgium shows the same problems as the international comparison, given the specific national features of the education systems.

Figures provided by the National Statistical Institutes in the framework of the 2011 Population and Housing Census may differ from those transmitted in other statistical domains due to the cross domain differences in definitions and methodologies used.  For additional information please see metadata specific to each domain.                                                                                    

Internal coherence is assured by regulations defining breakdowns and definitions of topics (Regulation (EC) No 1201/2009, Regulation (EU) No 519/2010, Regulation (EU) No 1151/2010).

Belgium has performed a census based on administrative registers. The burden on the population is therefore zero. The financial cost is considerably lower than that of a traditional census.

The census cost around EUR 3 million.

Statistics Belgium has no strict policy on the revision of the census figures.

In practice, only the major errors noted in the figures from the census will give rise to revisions of the statistics. These potential revisions will be accompanied by an explanatory note. This information will be published on the Statistics Belgium website and private users in possession of the incorrect figures will be informed.

- Le Registre National des Personnes Physiques : Le registre de population

- Le datawarehouse marché du travail et protection sociale de la Banque Carrefour de la Sécurité Sociale : registre agrégeant des données socio-économiques provenant de diverses institutions

- La Banque Carrefour des Entreprises : registre contenant des données sur l'identification des entreprises

 - Un ensemble de données fiscales du Service Public Fédéral Finances

- Les informations de l'enquête socio-économique de 2001 (recensement) concernant l'instruction

- La base de données relatives à l'instruction en communauté germanophone

- La base de données relatives à l'instruction  en communauté néerlandophone

- La base de données relatives à l'enseignement obligatoire en communauté française

- La base de données relatives à l'enseignement supérieur non-universitaire en communauté française

- La base de données relatives à l'enseignement supérieur universitaire en communauté française

- Le Registre National des Personnes Physiques : Le registre de population

 - Le Registre National des Personnes Physiques : Le registre de population

- Le registre de l'Administration Générale de la Documentation Patrimoniale ("cadastre"): registre regroupant  des données sur l'ensemble des parcelles bâties.

- Le registre de la Banque-Carrefour des Entreprises : registre contenant des informations sur l'identification des entreprises, nécessaire à l'identification du régime de propriété des logements appartenant à des sociétés.

- Le fichier de référence des adresses : fichier nécéssaire à la localisation des ménages dans les logements.

- Le Registre National des Personnes Physiques : Le registre de population.

- Le registre de l'Administration Générale de la Documentation Patrimoniale : registre regroupant des données sur l'ensemble des parcelles bâties.

Data on population and housing censuses are collected every decade, in a reference year that falls during the beginning of every decade

The 2011 census is the first census for which the population is not directly approached. It draws solely on databases. All the indexes used are primarily administrative in purpose, with the exception of the databases on education which were created in 2001 especially for the 2011 census, with a view to updating the information collected during the previous census. Since education is a community matter in Belgium, the data are collected separately by the various communities.

The population register forms the core of the census, and makes it possible to identify the entire Belgian population. Each commune is obliged to keep a register of the population. All these registers grouped into a "Registre National des Personnes Physiques" are managed by the Service Public Fédéral Intérieur (Home Affairs Federal Public Service) (Law of 8 August 1983). Belgians residing in a commune of the country or entered in a consular register, and foreigners authorised to stay in the country for a period longer than three months must register there. A unique identification number is then allocated to them. Subsequently, any change in the situation of inviduals (arrival, departure, internal migration, change in civil status, etc.) must be reported within the deadline of eight working days. There are very few late declarations because the population on 1 January 2011 is calculated using the data from the Registre National as available on 1 March 2011.

This administrative source does not completely cover the Belgian population, mainly due to the under-declaration of arrivals (population without the right of residence, European population not wishing to settle permanently in Belgium). Departures abroad also seem to suffer from under-registration, for both the Belgian and the foreign population. Nevertheless, under-registration or failure to de-register should be kept in perspective: the communes regularly organise local procedures to check the accuracy of the content of their population registers.

These demographic data from the Registre National are coupled with a series of other databases in order to establish the variables listed in the various themes of the census. TheBanque-Carrefour de la Sécurité Sociale thus makes it possible to answer the questions on economic activity, and the register of the Administration Générale de la Documentation Patrimoniale answers questions on housing. These different connections are made using the unique identifier of each individual as key.

Statistics Belgium, a service which is independent of the service responsible for producing figures, is responsible for the final validation of the data. Internal validation procedures have been set up in order to ensure consistency between all cubes and hypercubes. An external evaluation was also carried out. The aim is, on the one hand, to ensure that the statistics produced are part of a time trend or, if interruptions are found, that these are the consequence of specific, cyclical socio-economic factors. Furthermore, the figures set out in cubes have been compared with information from other sources (LFS or SILC for example).

These procedures for the final validation of data have been performed on cubes after "swapping" (method chosen to ensure data confidentiality).  

Records from the various registers are usually coupled to each other using the national number for individuals as a key (the single identification number allocated by the Registre National des Personnes Physiques). However, other link variables are used in the following cases:

- In order to identify in which dwellings individuals live, the demographic data are coupled with those of the register of the Administration Générale de la Documentation Patrimoniale. The address is then used to facilitate a link between the various registrations.

- The first name associated with the surname, gender and date of birth are used to couple the demographic data and the information on education, for higher education in the French-speaking community (university and non-university) and for all education in the German-speaking community. In other cases, i.e. in the French-speaking community for compulsory education and in the Dutch-speaking community, the coupling key is still the national number.

The Registre National des Personnes Physiques is the source of primary data used to generate households and family nuclei. This database contains information on household composition: the members of the households as declared to the communal services and the reference person, defined as the member of the household who is the most often in contact with the commune. Moreover, the relationship of each household member with the reference person is known. To create the seven variables for the families/households area, the operational introduction of two concepts called for particular care.

First of all, it was necessary to assess the population living in a registered partnership. The Belgian concept of legal cohabitation differs from the definition favoured by Eurostat, since it does not imply a marital relationship between the two contracting parties. To obtain an assessment of the population in registered partnerships, individuals who are related to each other have been excluded from the population of legal cohabitants. The family relationships between individuals have been identified by the relationship with the reference person using data on family relationships.

The second Eurostat concept which is impossible to measure directly is consensual union. The population living as husband and wife without a contract within the same household has been evaluated either by the existence of a common child, or by using an algorithm based on potential partnerships. In each household, all individuals aged 18 or over and without a family link have been identified. The couple with the smallest age gap is then declared as living in consensual union.

- The business number is also used to couple certain records from the register of the Administration Générale de la Documentation Patrimoniale with the Banque-Carrefour des Entreprises in order to determine whether certain individuals are owners of the dwelling in which they live via their business. The link between the two databases is then established using the business number.