456. This chapter presents a review of the national practices in UNECE countries with regard to the collection of ethno-cultural characteristics in the censuses of the 2020 round.

457. Data on ethno-cultural characteristics of the population are of increasing relevance to countries of the UNECE region in the context of migration, integration and equality policies. The 2020 CESR suggested that countries with a culturally diverse population might wish to collect information on the ethnic identity (or composition) of the population, mother tongue, the knowledge and practice of languages as well as on religious communities and denominations. These are all characteristics which allow people the flexibility to express their ethno-cultural identity in the way that they recognize and choose. Some countries may also wish to collect information on the ethno-cultural characteristics of parents and grand-parents (ancestry) in order to gain a deeper understanding of the origins of the population and of integration processes.

458. However, ethno-cultural characteristics have generally a subjective dimension as there is often no common understanding, nationally and internationally, as to what ”characteristic” or ”concept” is actually being measured in a particular census. Moreover, different countries may adopt different concepts. The characteristics can also often be politically sensitive and may apply to very small, yet identifiable, population sub-groups. The free and open declaration of the respondents is therefore of essential importance. Members of certain minority groups may be particularly vulnerable to discrimination on the grounds of ethnic group or religion. Consequently the 2020 CESR indicated that special care is required in census procedures and outputs relating to ethnic group and religion, in order to demonstrate to respondents that appropriate data protection and disclosure control measures are in place.

459. For these reasons, together with the fact that the collection of information on topics such as ethnicity and religion is prohibited by law in some UNECE countries, the 2020 CESR proposed that all the topics covered in this chapter should be non-core. In some cases it was suggested that countries should seek to collect such data on a voluntary basis if this is permitted by national legislation.

460. Responses to census questions on ethnicity are subjective in that persons must be free to respond in any way that they choose, including the option not to indicate any specific response category. Considering also that the topic was included in the CES Recommendations as non-core, it was expected that a relatively small proportion of countries would include such questions in their recent censuses compared with those of many other topics. And this, indeed, was the case.

461. As showed in Table 86, information on ethnicity was collected in the censuses in 27 UNECE countries (57% of those responding), compared to 31 countries in the 2010 round (62%).

462. The large majority of those countries collected the information from a full enumeration (21 countries) or from sample data, but three countries used data form registers or administrative records: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In the 2010 round none of the countries with a register-based census reported collecting any information on ethnicity.

463. Almost all countries (23 out of 26) reported that the concept of ethnicity used complies fully with the definition recommended by the CES.

464. In 19 countries (70%) the information on ethnicity was collected on voluntary basis, in 6 countries (22%) it was collected on mandatory basis.

	Total (out of 47 countries)	Type of census
		Field enumeration (16 countries)	Combined (17 countries)	Register-based (14 countries)
Information collected	27	13	12	2
Main data source:
full enumeration	21	11	10	0
sample data	3	2	1	0
registers/admin.rec.	3	0	1	2
Concept used fully comply with CES definition?
Yes	23	10	11	2
No	3	2	1	0
Information collected on mandatory or voluntary basis?
Voluntary	19	10	9	0
Mandatory	6	3	3	0
Other (from registers/admin. sources)	2	0	0	2
What was the format of the question or other method used?
Combined question, with pre-defined response categories and write-in space(s) for other ethnic groups	14	5	8	1
Open-ended (write-in) question, with no pre-defined response categories	9	6	3	0
Closed question, with pre-defined response categories	1	1	0	0
Other question format or other collection method	2	0	1	1
Information not collected	20	3	5	12

465. Almost all countries (23 out of 27) used a question that included a write-in response, as recommended by the CES, together with some pre-defined response categories in 14 countries, or with no pre-defined response categories in 9 countries. Only one country (Malta) used a closed question, with pre-defined response categories.

466. The UNECE survey also asked countries whether information was collected on race (distinct from ethnicity), a topic that is not covered in the CES Recommendations. Information on race was collected by three countries only. In Canada the information is collected to derive the variable visible minority/racialized groups, according to Canada's Employment Equity Act. In Malta, information on racial origin is collected with the same closed-ended question on ethnicity. In the United States, race and ethnicity data are collected in accordance with the 1997 Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity directed by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

467. According to the CESR (para. 713), religion is generally regarded as a set of beliefs and practices, usually involving acknowledgment of a divine or higher being, power or principle, by which people order the conduct of their lives both practically and in a moral sense. For the purposes of collecting information in a census, this concept may be defined as either:

(a) a religious or spiritual belief or faith, regardless of whether or not this belief or faith is represented by an organized group or body; or

(b) an affiliation with, or membership of, an organized group or body having specific religious or spiritual tenets and/or practices.

468. Like ethnicity, religion is also a subjective variable, and respondents must be free to respond in any way that they choose, including the option not to indicate any specific response category.

469. The results of the UNECE survey related to the collection of information on religion are presented in Table 87. In total, 26 countries collected information on religion, including mostly countries with field enumeration (10) or combined census (14) and only 2 countries with register-based census (Iceland and Lithuania).

470. Almost half of the reporting countries (21) collected information on both ethnicity and religion, while six countries collected information on ethnicity but not on religion (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, the Russian Federation and the United States) and 5 countries collected information on religion but not on ethnicity (Germany, Iceland, Israel, Portugal and Switzerland).

471. Information on religion was collected on a voluntary basis in most of the countries (21) and on a mandatory basis only in three countries: Canada, Ireland and Switzerland, where the information was collected in the structural sample survey which is mandatory.

472. As for ethnicity, most countries (19 out of 26) used a question that included a write-in response, as recommended by the CES, together with some pre-defined response categories in 13 countries, or with no pre-defined response categories in 6 countries. Only three countries (Malta) used a closed question, with pre-defined response categories (Malta, Portugal and the United Kingdom).

	Total (out of 47 countries)	Type of census
		Field enumeration (16 countries)	Combined (17 countries)	Register-based (14 countries)
Information collected	26	10	14	2
Main data source:
full enumeration	19	9	9	0
sample data	5	1	3	1
registers/admin.rec.	3	0	2	1
Information collected on mandatory or voluntary basis?
Voluntary	21	9	10	2
Mandatory	3	1	2	0
Other (from registers/admin. sources)	2	0	2	0
What was the format of the question or other method used?
Combined question, with pre-defined response categories and write-in space(s) for other ethnic groups	13	3	9	1
Open-ended (write-in) question, with no pre-defined response categories	6	3	3	0
Closed question, with pre-defined response categories	3	3	0	0
Other question format or other collection method	4	1	2	1
Information not collected	21	6	3	12

473. The 2020 CESR noted that multi-lingual countries and countries with significant immigrant populations may wish to collect data on languages that are currently written or spoken, using different concepts, including: mother tongue, main language, language most often spoken at home and/or at work, and knowledge of languages (para. 723).

474. The UNECE survey included only one question to countries, on whether they collected information on language and from which source. The results are presented in Table 88. Almost two thirds of the countries (30 out of 47) collected information on language, most of them (22) from full enumeration, 5 using sample data and 2 using registers or administrative records.

	Total (out of 47 countries)	Type of census
		Field enumeration (16 countries)	Combined (17 countries)	Register-based (14 countries)
Information collected	30	13	14	3
Main data source:
full enumeration	22	11	11	0
sample data	5	1	2	2
registers/admin.rec.	2	0	1	1
other sources	1	1	0	0
Information not collected	17	3	3	11