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Census Recommendations
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. In June 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. The Conference of European Statisticians Recommendations for the 2030 Round of Population and Housing Censuses provide guidance and assistance to countries in the planning and execution of their population and housing censuses. They reflect the reality and needs of countries of Europe, North America, Central Asia and other countries participating in the Conference of European Statisticians. The Recommendations 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 Conference of European Statisticians endorsed the Recommendations in June 2025.
UNECE
November 2025
Annex I Core and non-core topics
Core topics
Non-core topics
Geography
Location of place of usual residence (para. 786)
Population grid (derived) (para. 806)
Locality (derived) (para. 788)
Degree of urbanization (derived) (para. 814)
Location of living quarters (para. 797)
Location of school, college or university (para. 826)
Urban and rural areas (derived) (para. 798)
Mode of transport to work (or to place of education) (para. 827)
Location of place of work (para. 820)
Distance travelled to work (or to place of education) and time taken (para. 831)
Migration and mobility
Country of birth (para. 849)
Country of birth of parents (para. 853)
Country of citizenship (para. 856)
Citizenship acquisition (para. 861)
Ever resided abroad and year of arrival in the country (para. 863)
Country of previous usual residence abroad (para. 867)
Place of birth (para. 880)
Total duration of residence in the country (para. 870)
Previous place of usual residence and date of arrival in the current place (para. 884)
Reason for migration and temporary mobility (para. 871)
Refugee and refugee related populations (derived) (para. 873)
Temporary mobility (para. 876)
Place of usual residence five years prior to the census (para. 890)
Reasons for internal migration (para. 891)
Internally displaced persons (derived) (para. 892)
Demography
Sex (para. 899)
Gender (para. 899)
Age (para. 916)
Total number and sex of children born alive (para. 939)
Legal marital status (para. 921)
Date(s) of legal marriage(s) of ever married women: (i) first marriage and (ii) current marriage (para. 942)
De facto marital status (para. 931)
Date(s) of the beginning of the consensual union(s) of women having ever been in consensual union: (i) first consensual union and (ii) current consensual union (para. 944)
Household and family
Private household size (derived) (para. ‎971)
Type of institutional household (para. ‎955)
Private household type (derived) (para. ‎972)
Reconstituted family type (derived) (para. ‎1005)
Reference-person approach versus relationship matrix approach141 (from para. ‎983)
Presence of the person’s parent(s) in the household (para. ‎1023)
Type of family nucleus (derived) (para. ‎1003)
Presence of the person’s grandparent(s) in the household (para. ‎1026)
Household status of person (derived) (para. ‎1018)
Extended family status of person (derived) (para. ‎1029)
Private household type of person (derived) (para. ‎1019)
Sole or shared occupancy of housing unit by private household (para. 1032)
Family nucleus status and household living arrangement of person (derived) (para. ‎1020)
Tenure status of household (para. ‎1035)
Rent and other topics (para. ‎1039)
Housing142
Type of living quarters (para. ‎1071)
Characteristics of dwellings with no occupants at the time of census (para. 1086)
Housing arrangements (derived) (para. 1076)
Occupancy by number of private households (derived) (para. 1096)
Occupancy status of conventional dwellings (para. 1081)
Type of rooms (para. 1112)
Type of ownership (para. 1091)
Hot water (para. 1129)
Number of occupants (para. 1098)
Type of sewage disposal system (para. 1131)
Useful floor space and/or number of rooms of housing units (para. 1100)
Kitchen (para. 1133)
Density standard (derived) (para. 1108)
Main type of energy used for heating (para. 1141)
Water supply system (para. 1115)
Electricity (para. 1145)
Toilet facilities (para. 1120)
Piped gas (para. 1147)
Bathing facilities (para. 1124)
Air-conditioning (para. 1149)
Type of heating (para. 1137)
Accessibility to dwelling (para. 1151)
Dwellings by type of building (para. 1159)
Position of dwelling in the building (para. 1154)
Dwellings by period of construction of building (para. 1167)
Dwellings by number of floors in the building (para. 1163)
Lift (para. 1165)
Dwellings by materials of which specific parts of the building are constructed (para. 1171)
Dwellings by state of repair of the building (para. 1175)
Education
Educational attainment (para. 1183)
Educational qualifications (para. 1192)
Field of education and training (para. 1194)
School attendance (para. 1200)
Literacy (para. 1207)
Economy
Labour force status (para. 1231)
Type of workplace (para. 1291)
Status in employment (para. 1261)
Institutional sector of employment (para. 1296)
Occupation (para. 1283)
Working time (para. 1298)
Industry (para. 1287)
Income (para. 1302)
Participation in own-use production of goods (para. 1307)
Informal employment (para. 1313)
Agriculture
Own-account agriculture production (para. 1326)
Measure of farmland area and number of livestock (para. ‎1330)
Ethno-cultural characteristics
Ethnicity (para. 1338)
Religion (para. 1351)
Language (para. 1358)
Disability
Disability status (para. 1377)

141 This topic corresponds to the topic called “Relationship between household members” in the CES Recommendations for the 2020 Censuses of Population and Housing.

142 See paragraph 1047 and Table 7 to determine whether the topic is core, non-core or not recommended for different types of housing.