The Ministry of Planning and Development and the Ethiopian Statistics Service are rolling out a multibillion birr census slated to cover agriculture, health, business, and population demographics
Nearly two decades have passed since the government last conducted a population census, among other kinds of surveys.
“We’ve been using scientific methods and making assumptions, especially for the population and housing census,” Beker said.
The ESDP will also include the preparation of legislation for the establishment of a statistical board, as well as initiatives to strengthen government finance and monetary statistics, improve data management systems, and expand technology infrastructure. Besides conducting these surveys, the ESDP will have seven other strategic activities and key result areas, bringing the total main activities of the multi-billion project activities to eight.
The Planning Ministry and the Statistics Service, which reports to the Ministry, unveiled the program at the Skylight Hotel on February 1, 2024. Fitsum Assefa (PhD), minister of Planning and Development, disclosed implementation had already begun.
Fitsum hopes to see technology-assisted surveys collect credible information that can be used to recalculate the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). National surveys and censuses are typically conducted every five years, but it has been more than 16 years since Ethiopia last saw one. The Minister claims the government is fully committed to the population and housing census. She disclosed plans for a census in 2019 were cut short by ethnic and political tensions.