Uruguay’s 2023 national census began on Saturday night when a digital form was made available to the population on the web that allows for avoiding face-to-face interviews, informed the National Statistics Institute (INE).
INE director Diego Aboal said the census will be digital until May 17, when it will switch to face-to-face mode with interviews by census takers to ” reach more than 95 percent of the census population.”
“The census is going to mark the public policies of the next 10 years, of the next two governments, for example, to know where to open a school, a polyclinic,” Aboal explained at a press conference in Montevideo.
The survey in each household will provide “a snapshot of the whole country’s citizens”, he said.
The digital form takes about 25 minutes to complete. It includes security mechanisms to confirm the respondent’s identity, who must be over 18 years of age and do so on behalf of the family nucleus.
Completing the form exempts the household from answering the questions in person.
The Household, Population, and Housing Census seeks to determine the number of inhabitants, dwellings, and households in the country, as well as statistical information on the living conditions, socio-cultural level, and needs of the national population.
The previous national census dates back to 2011 when INE estimated the Uruguayan population at almost 3.4 million inhabitants.