With preparation for the 4th National Census for Population and Housing entering the final phase, the Central Department of Statistics and Information (CDSI) of the Ministry of Planning on Monday launched a massive training program for 43,000 enumerators at 300 centers set up in various parts of the capital. Mohanna Al-Mohanna, Director General of the Census Bureau and Supervisor of the 4th National Census for Population and Housing, announced the launch of the training program for enumerators at a ceremony held at CDSI headquarters here. Sa'ad Dawood, CDSI Deputy Head of Media Center, said about 2,000 trainers have been assigned to train the enumerators for a six-day period before their deployment across the Kingdom for the collection of census data starting April 28. The enumerators will receive training on various aspects of data collection and how to fill out the 59-point questionnaires before submitting them to the CDSI data center. For a smooth running of the census operation, enumerators will work under field inspectors, who will report to supervisors deployed in various districts in each province, Dawood said. The CDSI has already numbered residential buildings and commercial establishments and divided them into blocks and districts, as part of the preparation for the census. Over 8,000 field inspectors have been involved in the numbering process and have surveyed households with the purpose of learning the nationality and number of people in each family. As a precursor to the national census operation, inspectors asked two questions – the number of occupants in each household and their nationality. This has already created a framework for the national census operation. The national census for population and housing will also determine the size of the labor force, as well as the consumer expenditure and demographics of the people in the Kingdom. CDSI officials are urging both Saudis and foreign workers to cooperate with the visiting enumerators in order to make the national census a great success. Saudi Arabia is conducting the 4th National Census for Population and Housing together with other countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The entire census operation in the Kingdom will be completed in a two-week period ending May 12. Saudi Arabia conducted the first official census in 1974 when the Kingdom's population was 7,009,466 of whom 6,218,361 were Saudis. The second census was done in 1992 and showed that the total population was 16,948,388 including 12,310,053 Saudis while the third national census organized in 2004 indicated that the total population had reached 22,678,262 with the number of Saudis standing at 16,527,340.
