RIYADH - Royal approval was issued that the night of the general population and housing census for the year (1443 AH) will be (2022 AD) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on the evening of Monday 8 Shawwal 1443 AH corresponding to May 9, 2022 AD.

The Minister of Economy and Planning, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Authority for Statistics, Faisal bin Fadhel Al-Ibrahim, expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and to His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister, for what they entrust - may God protect them both - from Sponsorship and attention to the General Population and Housing Census Program.

He said: "The Saudi Census 2022 - which is implemented by the General Authority for Statistics every ten years - is a basic pillar in the planning and policy-making inputs to achieve the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030", praising the great support that the census enjoys from all sectors of the state, and the cooperation shown by citizens and residents. During the initialization and testing phases of the systems used in the census program, which contributed to raising the level of readiness in the General Authority for Statistics.

Al-Ibrahim urged all residents of the Kingdom to participate in the census as a national duty and a societal responsibility, by providing the required data accurately, and cooperating with field researchers, highlighting the importance of the census results, which provide data to policy makers and support decision makers in making evidence-based decisions, to contribute to Developing public services, raising the level of urban planning, in addition to empowering the private sector and investors to advance development.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Working Authority for Statistics stressed the importance of adhering to the highest levels of privacy, confidentiality and protection for the data of those covered by the census, and not disclosing personal information of individuals such as their identities, names or places of residence to any third party, as the organization of the Authority prevents disclosure in any way about the data that you will obtain from Citizens and residents.

He pointed out that the most prominent developments in the Saudi census 2022 included benefiting from the best international standards and practices in population censuses in force in the G20 countries and applied in member countries within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, where for the first time modern technologies are used in the implementation of census work, such as taking advantage of satellite images; To ensure a more comprehensive coverage of the urban area in all regions and governorates that have been covered by the development renaissance during the past ten years.

He revealed that the Saudi census 2022 AD is characterized by providing a self-enumeration option through which the data of the census form can be completed electronically through the authority's portal on the Internet without the need to visit the field researcher, while the participation of field researchers will continue to ensure that the census includes all segments of society, citizens and residents inside the Kingdom.

In the context of reviewing developments related to the Saudi census 2022, His Excellency clarified that cooperation has taken place with the competent security authorities to take advantage of modern security systems, which are among the best international security practices in building accurate security standards to verify the eligibility of field researchers, calling on the general population to cooperate with researchers who are citizens. They work on an official government mission and receive support that contributes to strengthening their role and protecting them from any reason to hinder their work.

His Excellency drew attention to the high coordination with the Ministry of Health to ensure that participants in the census work adhere to the precautionary measures to limit the spread of the emerging Corona pandemic (Covid-19), and the requirement to immunize all researchers and census workers, noting the importance of commitment to wearing masks, and maintaining distance when receiving field researchers.

It is noteworthy that the address update phase, which begins today, Wednesday, January 26, is one of the basic steps in the census work, which is implemented through field researchers’ visit to all housing units, during which all inhabited and uninhabited housing units within the Kingdom are counted, and smart census posters are placed on them that contain On a QR code for each housing unit to digitally link the inhabited units to the identity of the head of the family.