The population and housing census is an important pillar of a national statistical system, providing data on the population and its social, demographic and economic characteristics. Internationally, this is recognised in the decennial global census programmes of the United Nations. In July 2025, the United Nations Economic and Social Council adopted a resolution urging Member States to conduct at least one population and housing census under the 2030 World Population and Housing Census Programme, from 2025 to 2034.

To provide guidance and assistance to countries in the planning and execution of their population and housing censuses, the Conference of European Statisticians is issuing a set of recommendations in each decennial census round. While aligned with global guidance, the recommendations reflect the reality and specific needs of countries of Europe, North America, Central Asia and other countries participating in the Conference of European Statisticians. They facilitate and improve the comparability of census data through the identification of a core set of census topics and the harmonization of concepts, definitions and classifications.

The Statistical Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe organized the preparation of the present Recommendations for the 2030 Round of Population and Housing Censuses in close collaboration with Eurostat and the United Nations Statistics Division in New York. Thirteen thematic task forces under the coordination of the Steering Group on Population and Housing Censuses carried out the work from 2022 to 2025. The Recommendations were endorsed at the 73^rd plenary session of the Conference of European Statisticians in Geneva in June 2025.