Stefanus Nashama
The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) has concluded the 2023 population and housing census fieldwork.
Statistician-General, Alex Shimuafeni, made an official announcement yesterday.
Shimuafeni said there would no longer be census officials going around to households for any census-related activities.
“We extend our profound appreciation for the support and full participation of all individuals, households, structures, and institutions, for ensuring that everyone was counted,” he acknowledged.
According to the report from NSA, seen by Windhoek Observer, the census fieldwork commenced with the data collection on 18 September 2023 and concluded with the post-enumeration survey (PES) reconciliation field visits on 14 February 2024.
“Over those past months of the census, NSA dedicated field staff have portrayed unwavering commitment in collecting vital Census data across all 14 regions in Namibia,” announced the Statistician-General.
Shimuafeni highlighted that the 2023 population and housing census data would be processed to provide comprehensive and reliable insights into the composition of the Namibian nation.
This, he said, will be important to inform guiding decisions that affect the well-being of the country’s society.
According to him, the Agency has foreseen the release of the 2023 population and housing census preliminary results in a short period.
The specific release dates will be announced through various communication channels, including the agency’s website and media platforms, he added.
At the same time, Shimuafeni explained that the census preliminary results are the interim summary of the census population count to be released in advance of the final results.
“The preliminary results will provide basic information on the size, sex, regional and rural-urban population distributions,” he further stressed.
In the conclusion of his official announcement, Shimuafeni said the NSA remains grateful for all human resource efforts in fulfilling its national duty.
The Census journey encompassed three phases, namely: pre-enumeration, enumeration phase, and post-enumeration.
Pre-enumeration is the census mapping of all structures in Namibia, which serves to divide the country into manageable portions called Enumeration Areas, which would then support an efficient population total count.
The enumeration phase is the listing and actual census data collection, whereby all and only the people that were in Namibia by midnight of 24 September 2023, the designated census reference night, were counted while post-enumeration is the final lap activity included the post-enumeration survey data collection, matching of census and PES results and then concluded with the reconciliation operation.
