Starting May 15, more than 30 million randomly selected people nationwide will be surveyed for the census. It consists of a population census and a building and housing census, the Federal Statistical Office announced in Wiesbaden on Thursday. About 10.3 million randomly selected people in households will be interviewed for the population census.

All residents of residence halls are counted and interviewed in person for five to ten minutes by interviewers at the door. They announce themselves in advance in writing.

Around 75 percent of the interviewees then have to answer further questions online, for example about their education and occupation. This takes about ten to 15 minutes. They receive their access data after the interview. In shared accommodations, the facility management provides information on behalf of everyone.

In exceptional cases, the questionnaire can also be filled out on paper. "Not all people find it easy to use an online questionnaire," explained Katja Wilken from the Federal Statistical Office.

However, online participation is the norm for the building and housing census. In the coming weeks, around 23 million owners will receive a letter with access data from the relevant state statistical office.

The mailing will be staggered. In the questionnaire, data on year of construction, size or rent must be answered. This usually takes less than ten minutes.

Anyone selected for the census is legally obliged to provide information. The census has been scheduled to take place every ten years since 2011. In 2011, Germany took part in an EU-wide census for the first time. At that time, the result was a downward correction of the number of inhabitants. Due to the corona pandemic, the 2021 census was postponed by one year.

Image by Andreas Breitling