Geostat to Establish a Population Register with EU Support
Later this month, experts from Estonia will visit Georgia to meet with more than 20 representatives from the National Statistics Office (Geostat) and other relevant ministries and agencies. The mission aims to help the country establish a population register.
Geostat has plans to establish a population register, and the expert mission will share experience and draft a report with recommendations towards that goal.
The population register will be a list of every person in Georgia, with identifying information such as address, date of birth, sex, and personal identification number. Population registers in some cases include additional, more detailed information, such as place of birth, date and place of death, date of arrival/departure in the country, citizenship and marital status – even language, ethnicity, educational attainment, and occupation.
UN Stats explains that a population register is generally a continuous process and must be updated constantly with changes to the characteristics recorded in the database in order to be useful. Comprehensive, detailed population registers can offer researchers and policy makers information on key factors of life in a country, such as internal and international migration and demographic distributions.
A population register can make a national census easier. The most recent national census was conducted in 2014. The next census is scheduled for 2024.
The EU mission has several goals for its visit to Georgia and subsequent report. First, the team will analyze the current legislative framework and the country’s institutional and technical capacity. They plan to provide two sets of recommendations: on the use of definitions and methodologies to establish and maintain the register, and on developing legislation, institutional, technical, financial, and human capacity to establish the register. Finally, they will advise relevant authorities on an implementation plan in line with international best practices.
The mission is built on the foundation of several pieces of legislation – the Association Agreement between Georgia and the EU, the Action Plan: EU-Georgia Sub-Committee on Economic and Other Sector Cooperation, and a 2008 European Council Regulation on population and housing censuses.
The European Commission’s Technical Assistance and Information Exchange Instrument (TAIEX) organized the visit in cooperation with Geostat. TAIEX supports public administrations in EU member states and partner countries, including Georgia, to implement EU legislation and share best practices from Europe. TAIEX delivers workshops, sends expert missions, and organizes study visits.
Currently, Geostat provides a business register, that lists Georgian businesses organized by type of economic activity, ownership type, legal status, region, and business demography indicators.
For more information on Georgia’s population and demographics, visit the Geostat website.
By Samantha Guthrie
Image source: European Union