Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

F2: Population

Introduction

Key available data are presented on population and housing based on the decennial census rounds 1981-2011.

Separate tables cover:

- Population by sex and major age group

- Population by educational attainment

- Population by activity status

- Population by citizenship

- Households by household size

- Occupied conventional dwellings by number of rooms

Data availability varies between census rounds.

The countries covered by the data vary between different census rounds.

There are also differences in definitions and disaggregations between countries and between census rounds.

Classifications are generally defined or listed in the legislation or agreements governing the European census programme for a particular census round.

Census 2011

For the countries of the EEA, the census round 2011 was governed by four Regulations:

- R 763/2008 (L 218/14 du 13.08.2008)

- R 1201/2009 (L 329/29 du 15.12.2009)

- R 519/2010 (L 151/1 du 17.06.2010)

- R 1151/2010 (L 324/1 du 09.12.2010)

Census 2001

At European level, the 2001 census round was the subject of a "gentlemen's agreement" rather than European legislation. This agreement was based on the "Guidelines and Table Programme for the Community Programme of Population and Housing Censuses in 2001" which was adopted by the Statistical Programme Committee in November 1997.

For detailed information on the classification systems used by the countries see the Recommendations for the 2000 census of population and housing in the ECE region.

Census 1991

At European level, the 1991 census round was the subject of a "gentlemen's agreement" rather than European legislation. This agreement was based on the "Recommendations for the 1990 Censuses of population and housing in the ECE region.

Population by sex and age

Population by educational attainment

Population by sex and current activity status

Population by sex and occupation

Population by age and citizenship

Households by size

Occupied conventional dwellings by number of rooms

Population by sex and major age group 1981-2011

Population may be defined in a census in several different ways.

• Usually resident population is a concept under which individuals are recorded to a geographical area on the basis of the place of residence. People who habitually live in a country are included in the population figures, even if they are temporarily abroad at the time of the census. On the other hand, people from abroad who are temporarily in the country are not included. The term 'de jure' population is sometimes used to describe this concept.
• Population present is a concept under which individuals are recorded to the geographical area where they were present at a specified time regardless of whether this is the place that they usually live. This concept includes, for instance, all non-residents who are on holiday in the country at the time of the census, and excludes all residents who are on holiday abroad on the census date. The term 'de facto' population is sometimes used to describe this concept.

(Source: Handbook of Vital Statistics Systems and Methods, Volume 1: Legal, Organisational and Technical Aspects, United Nations Studies in Methods, Glossary, Series F, No. 35, United Nations, New York 1991; Demographics Statistics: definitions and methods of collection in 31 European countries, Eurostat, 2003)

Age can be expressed in years or in years and months and, in the case of very small children, it may be given in months and days.

The main criteria adopted by most countries in the 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011 census exercises was "age at last birthday", with age recorded as the number of completed years lived at census date.

Many census outputs show age aggregated to age groups:

• High level distribution: by five-year age groups;
• Low level distribution: by broad age groups such as 0-14 years, 15-64 years, 65 years and over.

Concerning France, 2880 Overseas Departments have their 1982 age compilation left in blanck and integrated in "unknown".

Population by educational attainment 1991-2011

Generally, "educational attainment" refers to the highest level successfully completed in the educational system of the country where the education was received. According to the UNECE recommendations, information on educational attainment should be collected for all persons above the maximum age for starting compulsory schooling.

Three broad levels of education may be defined:

1. Primary education;
2. Secondary education, itself often divided into different cycles or tracks;
3. Tertiary education (also called "post-secondary education" or "higher education").

(Source: Multilingual Demographic Dictionary, 1990; Eurostat documentation on 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011 census exercises; UN Handbook on Population and Housing Census Editing, 2010)

The definitions of the various levels of education are given in the International Standard Classification on Education (ISCED). They consist of:

•  No education at all;
•  Pre-primary education (ISCED 0);
•  Primary education (ISCED 1);
•  Lower secondary education (ISCED 2);
•  Upper secondary education (ISCED 3), itself often divided into: ISCED 3a (programmes designed to provide direct access to ISCED 5a); ISCED 3b (programmes designed to provide direct access to ISCED 5b);ISCED 3c (programmes not designed to provide direct access to ISCED 5 programmes);
•  Post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED 4);
•  First stage of tertiary education (ISCED 5), itself often divided into: ISCED 5a (university degrees); ISCED 5b (vocational programmes);
•  Second stage of tertiary education (ISCED 6), which includes doctorates only.

On this database, ED0_2 comprises ISCED 0, ISCED 1 and ISCED 2;  ED3_4 comprises ISCED 3 and ISCED 4; ED5_6 comprises ISCED 5 and ISCED 6 (source: Eurostat dataset).

Concerning FR, censuses 1990-1999 we  based on sampling (a quarter in the metropole and total in the Overseas Departments).

Population by sex and occupation 

Information on economic activity is collected for each person at or above a minimum age, set in accordance with the conditions in each country. For the tables presented here, this minimum age is set at 15.

A distinction can be made between the economically active population and the economically inactive population.

Occupation is coded in accordance with the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO). The latest revision available at this time is the one that was developed by the 14^th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ILCS) in 1987 and adopted by the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1988 (although an update to ISCO was in progress while the last set of census international recommendations was being approved).

 "Employed" persons comprise all persons above the minimum age specified for the measurement of the economically active population who during the reference period of (preferably) one week:

• Performed some work for pay or profit, in cash or in kind, or
• 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 such as a farm, a business enterprise or a service undertaking.

ISCO-88, Definition and Structure, Eurostat, February 1993, provides a list of occupational groups identified for EU-wide occupational statistics:

• Legislators, senior official and managers (ISCO1);
• Professionals (ISCO2);
• Technicians and associate professionals (ISCO3);
• Clerks (ISCO4);
• Service workers and shop and market sales workers (ISCO5);
• Skilled agricultural and fishery workers (ISCO6);
• Craft and related trades workers (ISCO7);
• Plant and machine operators and assemblers (ISCO8);
• Elementary occupations (ISCO9);
• Armed forces (ISCO0).

Concerning FR, using ISCO08 nomenclature was problemativ to rebuilt 1990/1999 census data; therefore it was not possible to transmit any table.

Population by sex and current activity status 

Information on economic activity is collected for each person at or above the minimum age, set in accordance with the conditions in each country.

1991 Census

Unemployed persons and unpaid family workers have not been included in the economically active population (Source: Eurostat documentation on the census exercise 1991).

In the census exercise 1991, the requested information was labelled: "Active and inactive population by sex (ISCED 1997)" (Source: Eurostat database).

2001 Census

In the census exercise 2001, the requested information was labelled: "Population by sex, age and current activity status"(source: Eurostat database).

Please note that the economically active population have been measured in different ways:

(a) The "currently active" population (or, equivalently, the "labour force"), measured in relation to a short reference period such as one week or one day.

To this category belong:

- Employed persons

- Unemployed persons (those, above a specified age, who during the reference period were without work, but currently available for work and seeking work, having taken specific steps in a specified recent period to seek paid employment or self-employment);

  (b) The "usually active" population measured in relation to a long reference period such as a year. So, the concept of "main activity status" of each person above a specified minimum age is introduced and it could be considered as a summary measure of the different statuses of each person during the 52 weeks or the 365 days of the specified 12-month period.

(Source: Eurostat documentation on the census exercise 2001; UNECE, Recommendations for the 2000 censuses of population and housing in the ECE region, 1998)

As regard FR: military was integrated as "actives" and "occupied" although according to FR military are "actives" but neither "occupied" nor "joblesses"

Population by sex and citizenship 

Citizenship depends on each country's definitions. In certain countries, persons born in the country are automatically citizens by birth (jure soli citizenship). In other countries, persons born (even abroad) from parents with the citizenship of a country, are automatically citizens by birth of the same country of their parents (jure sanguinis citizenship).

2011 Census  (Source: Eurostat legislation on the 2011 Population and Housing Censuses; UNECE, Conference of European Statisticians Recommendations for the 2010 Censuses of Population and Housing)

• Citizenship is defined as the particular legal bond between an individual and his/her State, acquired by birth or naturalization, whether by declaration, option, marriage or other means according to the national legislation. Information on citizenship should be collected for all persons and coded in the most feasible detailed manner, based on the three-digit alphabetical codes presented in the classification issued by the UN Statistical Division (Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use, ST/ESA/STAT/SER.M/49/Rev.4/).

2001 Census  (Source: Eurostat documentation on the census exercise 2001; UNECE, Recommendations for the 2000 censuses of population and housing in the ECE region, 1998)

• Citizenship is defined as the particular legal bond between an individual and his/her State, acquired by birth or naturalization, whether by declaration, option, marriage or other means according to the national legislation. Information on citizenship should be collected for all persons and coded in as detailed a manner as is feasible, based on the three-digit alphabetical codes presented in International Standard, ISO 3166-1:1997: Codes for the Representation of Names of Countries, (5th ed., Berlin 1997), published by the International Organization for Standardization.

 1991 Census (Source: Eurostat documentation on the census exercise, 1991)

• Citizenship is defined as the legal nationality of each person, and a citizen is a person who is a legal national of the country of the census by birth or naturalization, whether by declaration, option, marriage or other means.

 A person with two or more citizenship should be allocated to only one country of citizenship, to be determined in the following order of precedence:

• reporting country; or
• if the person does not have the citizenship of the reporting country: other EU Member State; or
• if the person does not have the citizenship of another EU Member State: other country outside the European Union.

For FR, "stateless" could not be filled and remainded empty.

Households by size

The household is a socio-economic unit. It consists of individuals who live together. The aim  is to collect information about the size and composition of the private household to which the respondents belong, on the relationship between household members and the economic activity status of household members of working age. In addition, the household arrangements of an individual could be considered as an indirect measure of the social situation of the individual itself.

Statistical definitions of the household vary. Countries are recommended to use the place of usual residence as the basis of household membership (UNECE, Recommendations for the 2000 censuses of population and housing in the ECE region, 1998). The existence of shared expenses in the household (including benefiting from expenses as well as contributing to expenses) is also used to determine who is regarded as household members (Eurostat, Task Force on Core Social Variables, 2007).

In the data presented here, these units are cross-tabulated with the following topics:

1. Households by size

2. Occupied conventional dwellings by number of rooms

Private households are classified by the total number of household members. So, the size of a household is a count of those people who are usually resident in the household, irrespective of whether or not they are present at the time of the census. Furthermore, those who are present at the time of census but who are members of another household should be excluded.

Living quarters are defined as structurally separate and independent premises which are either designed for permanent human habitation at a fixed location and not used for other purposes at the time of the census or actually used as the principal residence of at least one person at the time of the census (whether or not so designed, whether fixed or mobile, and whether permanent or temporary).

A dwelling is a statistical abstraction denoting housing accommodation appropriate for occupation by one household.

It is useful to distinguish as far as possible housing units used as a primary residence from those that are used as a secondary residence. This is particularly important if the secondary residence has markedly different characteristics from the primary residence, as is the case, for example, when persons in agricultural households move during certain seasons of the year from their permanent living quarters in a village to rudimentary structures located on agricultural holdings (United Nations, 2008, para. 2.466). The recommended classification of occupancy status for conventional dwellings is as follows:

a) Occupied dwellings are dwellings which are the principal usual residence of at least one person at the time of census;

b) Vacant dwellings are dwellings which have no usual residents at the time of the census but are available to become the principal usual residence of at least one person. Vacant dwellings could be either:

• Seasonally vacant
• Holiday homes
• Seasonal workers' quarters
• Other
• Non-seasonally vacant
• Secondary residences
• For rent
• For sale
• For demolition
• Other

A further distinction is made between:

• Conventional dwelling which is a room or a suite of rooms and its accessories in a permanent building or structurally separated part thereof which by the way it has been built, rebuilt or converted; it is designed for habitation by one private household all the year round and is not at the time of the census used wholly for non-residential purposes;
• Non-conventional dwelling all the other housing kinds that do not appear above but homelessness.

Occupied conventional dwellings by number of rooms

A room is defined as a space in a housing unit, or in living quarters other than housing units, enclosed by walls reaching from the floor to the ceiling or roof covering, or at least to a height of 2 metres above the ground, 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. Thus, normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, habitable cellars and attics, servants' rooms, kitchens and other separate spaces used or intended for habitation all count as rooms. Passageways, verandas, lobbies, bathrooms, and toilet rooms should not be counted as rooms, even if they meet the criteria (United Nations, 2008).

 (Source: Multilingual Demographic Dictionary, 1990; Eurostat documentation on 1991, 2001 and 2011 census exercises; UNECE, Recommendations for the 2000 censuses of population and housing in the ECE region, 1998; UN Handbook on Population and Housing Census Editing, 2010)

Several statistical units are taken into account in the different census rounds.

In the data presented here, only  "Persons" (individuals), "Private households" and "Conventional dwellings" are considered.

For the definitions of household and dwelling, please see section 3.4 above.

"Place of usual residence" is the geographic place where the enumerated person usually resides. ie. 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.

In certain cases, residence may be defined in different ways, in particular according to the place of legal or registered residence.

Only those persons:

• who have lived in their place of usual residence for a continuous period of at least twelve months before Census Day; or
• who have arrived in their place of usual residence during the twelve months before Census Day with the intention of staying for at least one year

should be considered as usual residents of the relevant geographic or administrative subdivision.

Census 2011

European Union 27 Member States, European Free Trade Association Member States (4) and Candidate  countries according to data availability.

Census 2001

European Union 15 Member States, European Free Trade Association Member States (4) and Candidate countries according to data availability.

Census 1991

European Union 12 Member States, European Free Trade Association Member States (4) and Candidate countries according to data availability.

Data, where available, relate to the censuses undertaken in the census rounds 1981-2011. The exact census dates differ between countries.

Not applicable

Data are expressed in absolute numbers.

The data relate to the specific census dates set in each country in the census rounds 1981-2011.

The exact census dates differ between countries.

National census operations are frequently governed by specific national legislation, in parallel to the main national legislation on official statisics.

To help ensure the availability of comparable census data at European level, different types of agreement and legslative approaches have been applied at different census rounds:

Census 2011

The Council of the European Union and the European Parlaiment have adopted in 2008 the Regulation (EC) N. 763/2008 on Population and Housing Census containing the concepts to be used in the census exercises. The methodogical elements of this Regulation acknowledge the Conference of European Statician (CES) Recommendations for 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses [ Source: Lanzieri G. (2009), A Framework for the EU Census Quality Reporting and Assessment].

Regulation (EC) N. 763/2008 lists all the topics to be covered in census exercises which are: geographic, demographic, economic and educational characteristics of persons, internatioanal and internal migration characteristics as well as household, family and housing characteristics.

However, Regulation (EC) N. 763/2008 does not stipulate how the census topics are to be broken down. Nor does it specify the census topics in any further detail. Article 5(4) asks the European Commission to do this by means of an implementing Regulation which, for the 2011 round, is Commission Regulation (EC) N. 1201/2009. The aim of this Regulation is that in every Member State the data about the census topics should follow the same definitions and technical specifications and the same breakdowns should be published. This is a pre-condition for Europe comparability [Source: Eurostat (2011), EU legislation on the 2011 Population and Housing Censuses, ISBN: 978 - 92 - 79 - 19717 - 8] .

Specific legal acts implemenyting Regulation (EC) 763/2008 are:

- R 1201/2009 (L 329/29 du 15.12.2009)

- R 519/2010 (L 151/1 du 17.06.2010)

- R 1151/2010 (L 324/1 du 09.12.2010)

Census 2001

At European level, the 2001 census round was the subject of a "gentlemen's agreement" rather than European legislation.  This agreement was based on the "Guidelines and Table Programme for the Community Programme of Population and Housing Censuses in 2001" which was adopted by the Statistical Programme Committee in November 1997.

Countries agreed to create the appropriate legal framework on a national level, in order to ensure the provision of comparable statistical data on the basis of the principle of the protection of personal data.

Census 1991

At European level, the 1991 census round was the subject of a "gentlemen's agreement" rather than European legislation.  This agreement was based on the "Recommendations for the 1990 Censuses of population and housing in the ECE region.

Data sharing may be applicable at national level where data are passed from administrative sources to compile census statistics (see under 18.1 - Source data below). However, data sharing is not applicable to the European-level compilation of census data presented here.

In agreement with national data suppliers, the census data provided to Eurostat do not include confidential data.

Prior to sending data to Eurostat, national data suppliers assess the data for potential statistical disclosure risks and undertake any necessary confidentiality actions to avoid disclosure.

Decisions regarding disclosure risk and the selection and implementation of disclosure control methods rest with the national data suppliers.

Census exercises 1981/1991/2001 are over.

The main route for the dissemination of the 2011 census data is the "Census Hub" online platform that will allow tables to be flexibily defined by users. The Census Hub is planned to come into operation in November 2013, although it will not be fully stocked with data until end-March 2014.  

However, national data providers have already disseminated much of the census 2011 results at national level on their respective websites. A regularly updated calendar of data releases from the 2011 census round on websites of the national statistical institutes is available on the Eurostat website.

See point 8.1 above.

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Not applicable for this collection.

News releases on-line.

Please consult Eurostat's website.

Please consult free data on-line on Eurostat's website.

none

 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

2011 Census

Information on the methodology can be found in the Eurostat document: "EU legislation on the 2011 Population and Housing Censuses - Explanatory notes" Edition 2011 ref. ISBN 978-92-79-19717-8

2001 Census

Information on the methodology can be found in the Eurostat document: "Population and Housing Cesuses 2001 - Results at national and Regional Level with Documentation" available on CD-ROM

1991 Census

Information on the methodology can be found in the Eurostat document: "Population, Households and Dwellings in Europe - Main results of the 1990/1991 censuses" Edition 1996 ref. ISBN 92-827-8838-5

1981 Census

Information on the methodology can be found in the Eurostat document: "Censuses of Population in the Community countries 1981/1982" Edition 1988 ref.  ISBN 92-825-7609-4

2011 Census

Relevant quality information by country can be found in the document "Conference of European Statisticians Recommendations for the 2010 Censuses of Population and Housing" Edition 2006 ref. ISSN 0069-8458

2001 Census

Relevant quality information by country can be found in the document "Recommendations for the 2000 census of population and housing in the ECE region" Edition 1998 ref. ISBN 92-1-116685-3

Done at Member State level.

Census quality assessment takes place at national level.

Census 2011

Eurostat has prepared a census quality framework that is intended to help national data providers to assess and report in a comparable way on the quality of the data provided for the EU census programme.

Census 2001

Many countries conduct a pilot census and/or other tests to improve the quality of the data during the pre-census period.

The duration of the pilot period ranged from one day in Greece, Ireland, Austria to 120 days in Spain; some countries use alternative collection methods, coding and data processing. About 80% of the countries that conducted a traditional or mixed census carried out at least one test, the coverage percentage of which ranged from 0,03 % (Bulgaria) to 1.5 %(Portugal). In Luxembourg, Romania, Slovak Republic, Cyprus and Turkey other pilot surveys or other tests are conducted.

The most common census evaluation method is the post enumeration survey (PES). As far as the sample size adopted for the PES is concerned, most countries had a sample size of 1% or less, only a few have bigger sample sizes. This information highlights the different approaches to the size of post enumeration surveys, because the level of detail on which information on the coverage is seems necessary is different. Moreover, some countries evaluate the coverage based on information obtained during the census operation.

These historical census data are intended to provide statistics users with information on the evolution of the main characteristics of population and dwellings from 1991 to 2011.

Only a limited range of tables was selected in order to provide a user-friendly set of data adapted to the major interest of potential users.

The focus of these tables is on presenting a historical data series.

Not available.

The completeness of the data varies between countries and between census rounds.

Data for the 1981 census round are only available for the table on population by age and sex.

For 1991 and 2001, all relevant data available to Eurostat are included in the tables - all the tables are at least partially complete.

For 2011, data have been compiled for the table on population by age and sex based on data published on national statistical institute websites.

Not available

Not generally applicable

Not available

Not applicable

Not applicable 

All the figures are reported at national level.

National differences in the census methodologies, definitions and concepts used may impact on the comparability of data from different countries. However, detailed information about the extent of this is not generally available.

Over time, countries have made changes to the census methodologies and data sources, as well as to the basic concepts and definitions used. These changes will impact on the comparability of data over time.

Not available

Coherence between table totals

For some countries, there are incoherences between the totals shown in the basic table on population structure (by age and sex) and the totals in the other tables. This impacts in particular on the tables on educational attainment and economic activity. Wherever possible, Eurostat has made adjustments to the totals for the tables on educational attainment and economic activity, based on the totals for the table on populaton structure.

Population by age group and educational attainment

Category "0-14" years was labelled "not applicable" by the following countries:

• 1991 census:  IE- EL- ES - FR - AT - PT - FI - LI - CH
• 2001 census: CZ - FR - CY - NL - AT - SE - FI - UK

Population by age and citizenship

Concept of "unknown" and "not applicable" used in censuses 1991 and 2001 were merged under "unknown " label.

Households by size

In order to harmonise 1991 and 2001 data, the data for 2001 were computed by dividing the figures provided from the censuses by the average household size (EU15 averages from the Labour Force Survey of 2001 and for the potential candidates countries, from the Labour Force Survey of 2003).

Occupied conventional dwellings by number of rooms

In order to harmonise data from 1991 and 2001 census rounds, the maximum number of rooms in a dwelling was limited to 10+.

Not evaluated

Not applicable

Not applicable

Data sources used for the production of census data

The data sources and basic census methodologies differ between countries and between different census rounds. Three main approaches may be defined, although there are detailed differences in terms of how these approaches are implemented:

• The "traditional" census, with enumeration based on questionnaires with interviews of respondents by enumerators or self-compilation of forms by respondents;
• The "Register based" census which enumerates the population on the basis of administrative sources of information. Data collection is based on the use of registers (population registers, registers of buildings and dwellings, geographical co-ordinates, school registers, social security, tax, business and company registers). To ensure provision of all of the data required by the census operation, it is often necessary for data from different administrative sources to be linked - for example, combining data on individuals from a population register with data on the relevant dwelling taken from as buildings register;
• The "mixed" census based on a combination of traditional; census enumeration techniques and/or sample surveys and/or administrative data sources.

(See Regulation (EC) 763/2008, Article 4)

Not applicable.

The statistics presented here were compiled by national statistical institutes as part of their decennial census exercises and were supplied to Eurostat for European-level compilations of census data.

The 2011 data presented have been initially obtained by Eurostat directly from data published on the national statistical institute websites. These will be supplemented at a later date by data produced at national level for use in the Census Hub (due to be fully operational from Q2-2014).

The data used in these tables have been validated by national data providers before supply to Eurostat.

Not applicable

Not applicable

The following flags are used in the database:

:c = not available due to confidentiality reasons

i = more information attached in explanatory texts

For Slovenia, for 2001, some confidential data have been replaced by the letter 'z'.