Zensus Municipalities to submit their population register data valid as of 7 February 2021

Date January 25, 2021

One of the main objectives of the census is to determine the official population figures on the census date. The Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder will use data from the official population registers to avoid having to directly interview all inhabitants when preparing and conducting the 2022 Census. The population registers will therefore play an important role in both phases.

The population registers mainly contain basic demographic and geographic data for every person who is registered in Germany (e.g. place and date of birth, nationality, home address). On 7 February, the municipalities will start to submit their population register data to their local statistical office for the fourth time.

Six sets of data to be submitted from the population registers

A total of six data submissions from the population registers and one pilot data submission are planned for the preparation and execution of the 2022 Census. The data that has already been submitted has mainly been used to establish a database of addresses. The submissions contained the addresses and a few personal details of the persons registered in Germany. The aim of the pilot data submission was to check the transmission channels and review the quality of the data to be submitted prior to the largest census submission.

When the next set of population register data is submitted on 7 February 2021 (pursuant to Section 5 of the 2022 Census Act), the reference database will be updated. This contains all potential home addresses and demographic information on the persons entered in the population registers. In the 2022 Census, it will be used as the basis for generating a random sample of households and for identifying addresses with special areas. It will also be used to determine the current addresses of homeowners, which are required for the census of buildings and housing.

The municipalities have been contacted and informed about the steps they have to take to submit their population data. The population register data will technically be received via the central system used by the Federal Statistical Office. As soon as the data is received from each municipality, it will be checked for errors and missing information. Each local statistical office will then check the data for which it is responsible before granting its approval for the data to be transferred to the reference database. The legal foundations are the Federal Statistics Act (BStatG) and the 2022 Census Act (ZensG 2022). The data transmissions will be encrypted.

The census that was originally scheduled for 2021 has been postponed until 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now that the law to postpone the census has entered into force, the census has been rescheduled for 15 May 2022.