E-Census work in Oman 92% complete, results expected this year

Muscat: The e-Census 2020 has exceeded 92 per cent completion, and its results are expected to be announced by the end of 2020, according to the Acting General Director of the E-Census 2020 project.

“Most of the E-Census 2020 tasks, including building its system and integration with the main agencies are in the final stages. This is an evidence of the development of services and databases in the Sultanate, as the country’s government agencies have high-quality databases, and individuals and institutions are keen to constantly update their data,” Zayid bin Khalifa Al Harrasi, Acting General Director of the Electronic Census for Population, Housing, and Establishments, said.

Al Harrasi added, “E-Census 2020 follows recommended methodologies and best practices to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the data. The project seeks to build an electronic system that integrates main administrative registers, which will be available to various agencies and will electronically link them for continuous updates. This will provide decision-makers with accurate and timely information.”

E-Census 2020 is based on data from national registers that cover three statistical hubs; population, housing and establishments. Each hub has one main reference source.
The population database includes data from the Royal Oman Police, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Higher Education Research and Innovation, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Social Development.

The housing database is linked to electricity companies, the National Centre for Statistics and information, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning. The establishments database is linked to the Commerce, Industry & Investment Promotion, the Ministry of Labour and municipalities.

Al Harrasi said, “As the project is based on the principle of community and agencies partnership in building a comprehensive national database of high quality, we have witnessed a great response by citizens, residents and establishments to update their data. Therefore, we encourage every institution or business owner and every citizen and resident to continuously update their data at the concerned authorities on a periodic basis when there is any amendment or change, for example, if a person obtains a master’s degree, he must go to the Ministry of Higher Education Research and Innovation to update his data, and if he moves from one governorate to another or from one home to another he has to update his residence address data with the ROP.”

“The data and indicators that the E-Census will undoubtedly contribute in setting the national plans and strategies in a way that serves the objectives of Oman 2040 Vision, which is related to fields of education, employment, health, economic and other sectors,” he said.

“Providing accurate data on the number of residents, units and establishments in each geographical area will contribute to determining the needs of that region and the necessary services for it, as well as this data aids the investors to know and study the successful projects for each region.”