site.bta18th Population and Housing Census Starts in Bulgaria

Sofia, September 7 (BTA) - The online stage of Bulgaria's 18th population and housing census began at midnight on September 7, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) reported on Tuesday.

Until midnight on September 17, all permanent residents of the country can fill in the questionnaire (33 questions about demographics and some 15 questions about housing) in the Census Information System, at https://www.e-census2021.bg. Alternatively, the questionnaire can be accessed on the State e-Government Agency's Unified Portal for Access to Electronic Administrative Services, at https://egov.bg/wps/portal/egov.

To make sure that this will not be done by an impostor, people must register in the system, using a valid email, personal identification number (EGN) and a Bulgarian identity document number. Once the registration is confirmed, the participant will be emailed a link that must be clicked within two hours. The online questionnaire is accessible by user name, which is the registered email, and a password generated upon registration.

Answering the questionnaire takes an average of 20 minutes. Once the process is successfully completed, the participant in the census will be emailed a unique 15-digit code, which must be kept and delivered to an enumerator either when he or she visits the person's home or by telephone.

The questionnaires are available in Bulgarian, Russian and English.

Next, between September 18 and October 3, 27,000 enumerators, equipped with protective masks and disinfectants and instructed to observe 1.5 metres distance from the interviewees, will make door-to-door calls between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., including on weekends. At hospitals, prisons and care homes, nurses and guards will double as census workers. The enumerators will fill in the questionnaire on paper and will collect the codes from those who have done so online.

While stating untrue data in the questionnaire is not punishable, those who refuse to be counted by either method are liable to a fine of 160 leva.

Online participation is expected to reach 70 per cent in 2021, up from 42 per cent in 2011.

The earliest preliminary results of the census are expected before Christmas, and the final ones will be available in the second half of 2022.

The decennial census was postponed from January because of the pandemic.

First Hacker Attack Blocked

While Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov and NSI President Sergey Tsvetarsky were formally launching the census at a news conference on Tuesday morning, the Institute took just minutes to block the first hacker attack against the census webpage. The attack was stopped even by the first of four protection levels, the NSI specified.

"Getting counted is easy and quick, do it online, this speeds up the process and makes it safer in pandemic conditions," said the Deputy PM whose remit includes statistics.

"While participation in the census is compulsory by law, what is far more important is to have a candid and correct information as possible filled in the questionnaires, which will enable us to draw an adequate picture of Bulgaria," Tsvetarsky said for his part. LG