The first phase of the national census kicked off in Kazakhstan. Throughout June, interviewers will be touring the country’s population clusters. At this stage, it is important to clarify the addresses of residential and non-residential premises, and the number of citizens permanently residing in them. This will allow in the future to divide cities and villages into separate, counting areas. More than 5,000 people are currently involved in the work. According to the Bureau of National Statistics, the main phase will start in the autumn from September 1. It will be possible to take part in it both in a traditional, offline, format or online. Until mid-October - remotely, and from October 1 to 30 through interviewers.
“Every person can take part in the census at their own convenient time because the website is operating round the clock. There is also such a function as, for example, if a citizen has already answered, let’s say, 20 questions, but he has got some other things to do, then he can stop his survey and continue at a convenient time for him. And the more people participate in the online census, the fewer contacts there will be during the pandemic,” said Olzhas Sailaubekuly, spokesperson, Bureau of National Statistics.
Digitalization is the main innovation of this year’s census. In other words, this time the whole process will be automated. Kazakh citizens will be able to share their information on the website ‘sanaq.gov.kz’. Respondents do not have to worry about the safety of these data as experts guarantee the confidentiality of information. This year’s census will consist of 87 items. Citizens of Kazakhstan will need to answer 67 basic and 20 follow-up questions.
Translation by Assem Zhanmukhanova
Editing by Saule Mukhamejanova
