Why is population registration important, how state and citizens benefit

“Were you in for recording?”, “how the procedure lasted?”, “What questions did they have?” These are just some of the pieces of talk that are taking place in recent days regarding population registration, family economies and housing in Kosovo.

The process, carried out by the Kosovo Statistics Agency (ASK), has been launched on 5 April and will last until 17 May.

All are obliged to answer almost every question because, on the contrary, individuals between 30 and 2,000 euros can be fined, and businesses up to 20,000 euros.

The state and individuals benefit from registration, in several ways:

Demography

Through registration, the state is aware of the extent of the population in municipalities and settlements. So said Bekim Salihu, from the Institute for Advanced Studies GAP in Pristina, in a proposal for Radio Free Europe.

“communs receive a budget from Government, in addition to personal revenues, and one form of how the budget is shared through municipalities is the formula based on the population number. If a municipality turns out to have a major population decline, it will certainly be reflected as early as next year in that municipality budget of”.

From budgetary divisions, then, capital investments and the capacity of a municipality to do the first things are reflected.

Economic situation

The real state of movement within the state can be effective for citizens even in creating an idea of their own potential.

These are mostly economic movements. This may indicate for an individual which country is most suitable for moving, if it wants to have a certain job, or a certain future within a given” profession, said Arrian Lumez of the Institute for Social Policy “Mousine Cocalari” in Pristina.

According to Lumez, many changes have taken place since the last census in 2011, the pandemic of Coronavirus -- the consequences of Russia's war in Ukraine -- visa liberalisation - therefore a better mirror of economic trends is necessary.

Lumez has said that the new data will show more about the standard of life in Kosovo: “There is a uncertainty as to what we call wage growth, inflation report, price hikes and other”.

He believes that, for citizens, it is very important to understand whether there has been real or manipulable inflation in order to increase prices.

Community Status

Researchers believe it is very important to understand more about the situation of minorities in Kosovo.

According to the latest census, in 2011, 91 percent of Kosovo's inhabitants are Albanians, 3.4 per cent are Serbs, while the other 5.6 per cent consists of Bosniaks, Gorani, Turks, Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians.

The Serbian List ʹ the largest party of Serbs in Kosovo has called on Serbs not to participate in this year's Kosovo population census, as in 2011.

Salihu and Lumezi believe the census would help produce a clear mirror and the context in which minorities live in Kosovo, particularly Serbs in the northern part.

“cure words that are much better living in the north than in other parts of Kosovo, because there people have not paid electricity. These things, in general, do not stand, for if you go, you see that life is not the way it is presented, and it does not all relate to income or pensions”, Lumez said.

According to official data, the total number of residents in Kosovo is about 1.8 million, out of whom about 25,000 are Serbs. However, according to estimates by nongovernmental Serb organisations in Kosovo, about 100,000 members of the Serb community live in the country.

The Harms of War

For the first time, within the census, a form for registering damage that has been caused to family economies during the war has been included.

Salihu, although welcoming the initiative, believes it would be better to do this in 2011, because generations are changing, memory and many things can be forgotten”.

Authorities, in the past, have said the value of the economic damage Serbia has caused Kosovo in the 1998-99 war is about 22 billion euros, but public data does not exist.

Who will use the data?

In addition to state authorities, some of the data will be able to use researchers, media, academy, nongovernmental and international organisations to translate various reports.

The AKS has warned that the preliminary results of the census will publish within three months.

All the information given by citizens is confidential, and accurate information is very important.

Both Salihu and Lumez believe that authorities have not done enough to awareness of the importance of this process, so some citizens have dilemmas about the census.

These data are not collected for tax purposes, but are done on purpose of study... not to say, for example, Bekim has 10 properties, but Pristina is said to have 10 properties. Entire and not particularly”, Salihu explained.

The AKS has said the census is conducting it in co-operation with the European Union, and that a Brussels team will observe the process, while in the end it will also assess it.