Page 219 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 1

IPS142 Jorge L. V. V. et al.

Moving towards a Register Based Census in Spain
Jorge L. Vega Valle, Antonio Argüeso Jiménez, Marina Pérez Julián
Socio-Demographic Directorate, National Statistics Institute (INE), Madrid (Spain)

Abstract
Spain plans to carry out its first register-based census in the next 2021 round,
becoming one of the biggest countries in the world using this approach. Since
1996, when the Population Register was created, census methodologies have
evolved enormously and Spain has vastly increased the use of administrative
registers in official statistics. In the last 2011 census, it was too soon to
completely rely on administrative data, so a combined census was performed.
Now, in 2018, 22 years after the creation of this register, INE faces this
challenge with confidence. The availability of a variety of administrative
registers and the fact that INE has access guaranteed by law to them, endorses
this step forward. There are still some difficulties to overcome and a great
effort is being made today, collecting any suitable administrative source,
processing and integrating data, developing new IT tools, and of course,
evaluating the quality of the whole statistical product. A complete population
census test referenced to 2016 proved very satisfactory so we believe in the
success of the 2021 census.

Keywords
Population and Housing Census; Administrative registers; Survey

1. Introduction
Once the 2011 Census was completed, 2021 Population and Housing
Census project was proposed to be based primarily on the treatment of
administrative records. In order to make a final decision about the
methodology to be used in 2021, a work based on real data has been carried
out. This exercise can be considered a pilot of the Population Census and it is
referred to January 1st, 2016. Internally the information built is known as the
2016 preCensus File (2016-PCF). Additionally, the first viability study of the
Housing Census, also based on registers, has also been conducted.
Regarding the Population Census, the results of the feasibility analysis of
the 2016-PCF are conclusive: it is perfectly feasible a Census that is only based
in the combination of administrative records. In certain and enclosed cases it
would be necessary to complete the information with statistical procedures of
imputation, but not to a greater extent than what is used in traditional

208 | I S I W S C 2 0 1 9