Census — Census

The first Belgian census was organised in 1846 and was mainly a census of the population. The subsequent ten-year census was mainly of administrative importance, but also had a socio-economic value. Due to the introduction of the national register in the 1980s, counting became unnecessary and the general census lost its administrative character. In 2001, this led to a change of name: “General socio-economic survey 2001”. The census 2011 goes one step further. The classic survey is completely replaced by the use of data already available in administrative databases. However, that doesn't just happen. The new method was thoroughly tested in 2006 with the Microcensus pilot project. The advantages of this way of working are numerous: it is cheaper, the burden on the citizens is gone, less paper is used, and so on. Bringing together different sources of information must of course not jeopardise the confidentiality of the data. Legal and technical measures ensure that citizens’ privacy is guaranteed. The results of the census are stored in a data warehouse system, making it easier to disseminate results — of course only as global and anonymous tables. Policy makers, government institutions, enterprises, universities, students, private individuals, etc. can easily use census data in this way. The results of the 2021 census will be published as they are collected. Demographic data should be available first, followed by data on education and housing. The census in Belgium since 1830 Data Population Data Population 1846 (15 October) 4.337.196 1920 (31 December)** 7.465.782 1856 (31 December) 4.529.460 1930 (31 December) 8.092.004 1866 (31 December) 4.827.833 1947 (31 December) 8.512.195 1876 (31 December)* 5.336.185 1961 (31 December) 9.189.741 1880 (31 December) 5.520.009 1970 (31 December) 9.650.944 1890 (31 December) 6.069.321 1981 (1 March) 9.848.647 1900 (31 December) 6.693.548 1991 (1 March) 9.978.681 1910 (31 December) 7.423.784 2001 (1 October) 10,296,350 2011 (1 January) 11,000,638 * The results of the 1876 census are often disregarded. ** The figure of 1920 includes the new territory including Kelmis, Eupen, Malmédy and Sankt-Vith. Without these municipalities, the population would have counted 7,401.353 inhabitants, which is more in line with the population of 1910.