Kosovo population census required to be postponed for 2022

That's because of the David-19 pandemic and holding elections.

Director of the Kosovo Statistics Agency (ASK), say the census, which has a cost of about 11m euros, has had to begin in April 2021, but is delayed for September of this year.

Although, even September for the deputy head of the AKS, Ilir Berisha is inappropriate, as he says local elections, and especially the Devov-19, have influenced institutionally required that registration be postponed for April 2022.

Berisha says that on the basis of the statistics recommendations of the united Eurostat nations and to have a successful census, another period is required because of the conditions of pandemic, which affect the quality of population registration.

The “Ende remains as the official date of September this year, but seeing that the pandemic continues to be present, and considering that the census is directly maintained with the domestic economies, which recommend conditions of this pandemic, then even the trials that will take place in order to take place, will be impacted in these conditions of pandemic, and all of this is that for now we are prepared to institutionally seek that the census be postponed for April 2022. The activities are being carried out according to plan, according to a dynamic, but some of the activities are influenced by the terms of Covid-19, even the institutional situation requiring legal infrastructure”, Berisha says.

From the last census in 2011, the number of residents in Kosovo, according to AKS data, has been 1,820,631.

The census was boycotted by Serbs from northern Mitrovica, Leposaviqi, Zubin Potok and Zvecan, and is still unknown whether to participate in the upcoming population census.

Each time by law the census covers the entire territory of Kosovo, we are working and on the program we have an agenda that we will discuss, we will communicate with all communities, with all the activists, including the Government with all its mechanisms to be involved. However, while legally obliged, the rest remain political. We consider that they will also be realised in (the country) throughout the territory of Kosovo... in 2011, even though they were involved, there have been boycotts (the Serb community), then there has been a law meant for another census, but still no further census has been made for the northern part. Administrative resources have been used, not for the purpose of population registration, but for which we have released and assisted numbers more or less an assessment of the residential population that has been in the northern body of”, he says.

The total cost of the census is estimated to be 11m euros, those that were separated from the Kosovo Government in September last year.

When we say that the official date was set and the document concept was signed, the cost of registration is included in the concept, and the government has shared the means for population registration according to our demands. The budget costs included not only the period of registration activities in the given month, but included in advance other activities, equipment, pre-registering apps and after registration. About 11 million will be the cost of registering the population”, Berisha points out.

According to the AKS in this census, citizens from the diaspora will not be included.

It is learned that the population number has seen decline compared to the last census held in 2011. Directors of this institution see a population decline, as according to AKS data, the total resident population in late 2019 was 1,782,115.