The Ministry of Planning and Development, along with the Ethiopian Statistics Service, are initiating a significant census project covering various sectors like agriculture, health, business, and population demographics. This project, named the ‘Ethiopian Statistical Development Program’ (ESDP), is anticipated to cost around 35 billion birr (approximately USD 622 million) and will extend until 2026. The plan includes five survey projects encompassing demographics, health, businesses, households, and agriculture.
While four surveys are set to commence this year, the population and housing census will be postponed until the final year of the project, pending stability in the country’s political and social landscape. Beker Shale (PhD), the director-general of the Statistics Service, highlights the importance of public cooperation for a successful population and housing survey, stating that it hinges on public psychology and the overall situation in the country.
It has been nearly two decades since the last population census was conducted by the government, leading to the reliance on scientific methods and assumptions, particularly for the population and housing census. The ESDP will also focus on legislation for establishing a statistical board, enhancing government finance and monetary statistics, upgrading data management systems, and expanding technology infrastructure.
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The program, launched by the Planning Ministry and the Statistics Service, aims to implement technology-assisted surveys to gather reliable information for recalculating the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Despite the typical five-year interval for national surveys and censuses, Ethiopia has not conducted a census after the last one in 2007. Plans for a census in 2019 were disrupted due to ethnic and political tensions, leading to postponement.
Fitsum Assefa (PhD), the Minister of Planning and Development, expressed the government’s commitment to the population and housing census, aiming for a possible census in the 2025/26 fiscal year, contingent upon reassessment and consideration of technological possibilities. However, financing the project poses a challenge, with the government expected to cover half of the costs, donors anticipated to contribute up to 40 percent, and the remainder sought through innovative financial sources.
