MINSK, 20 February (BelTA) – Belarus' population makes up slightly more than 9.4 million people. This was one of the figures from the latest population census cited by Chairwoman of the National Statistics Committee of Belarus Inna Medvedeva at a press conference on 20 February, BelTA has learned.
As of 1 October 2019 Belarus' population totaled 9,454,790 people according to current records and 9,413,446 people according to the census. “The difference is small: the number of people in comparison with the current records did not change much, the discrepancy is not large. The difference of 41,000 people can be explained primarily by external migration. Those are the people, who work for more than a year abroad, who leave the country as entire families while staying in the current records. The population decline in the regions can be explained primarily by internal migration,” Inna Medvedeva noted.
Corrections of the population numbers thanks to the census indicated an increase in residents only in Minsk and the oblast. By the way, according to the census Minsk is home to over 2.018 million people. It is followed by Minsk Oblast (over 1.471 million), Gomel Oblast (over 1.388 million), Brest Oblast (over 1.348 million), Vitebsk Oblast (over 1.135 million), and Grodno Oblast (1.026 million). Mogilev Oblast has the lowest number of residents – about 1,024,700. “The increase in Minsk and the oblast is explained by higher revenues and higher living standards in these regions. Respectively people from other regions are intent on moving here,” Inna Medvedeva added.
The census takers also registered some 20,500 foreigners, who were in Belarus during the census period.
The population census took place in Belarus on 4-30 October 2019. Belarusians were given an opportunity to fill in census forms online, at stationary census stations, or even at workplaces (if the employer requested a mobile census station). Census takers started polling Belarusians in their homes on 21 October using tablets. About 650 stationary census stations were deployed during the census.
“It was the first population census that did not use paper forms but information technologies instead. We were the pioneers in the CIS space. A combined approach was used: information from administrative sources and personal polls. Three ways to submit data were suggested. It was a small springboard for transition to registry censuses, which are growing more and more popular. Northern countries of Europe use them, Sweden, for instance,” Inna Medvedeva noted.
The approaches used by the National Statistics Committee are in demand in other countries. For instance, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan have already indicated their interest in them. “Apart from that, the UK National Statistics Office shows interest in the online census. They've requested more information about the user interface and we've provided it,” Inna Medvedeva added.
A population census is held every ten years. In 2019 Belarusians had to answer 49 questions, primarily focusing on their demographic, national, and ethnic characteristics, migration activity, education, sources of livelihood, employment, the number of kids, housing conditions, and economic activity.
The collected data represents a factual demographic picture of the country. It can be used to adjust roadmaps of large-scale government programs, social and infrastructure projects in the country and individual regions, individual populated localities.
