Cities and districts are complaining about massive problems with the 2022 census

Created: 07/18/2022, 18:07

"Census 2022" is written on a tablet in the Bavarian State Office for Statistics.

© Daniel Karmann/dpa

The census has been running since May.

The survey is a kind of inventory for Germany.

The municipalities are now sounding the alarm because there are problems with the software.

Berlin - There are considerable concerns in the cities and districts as to whether the current 2022 census can be successfully completed.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for nationwide data collection, admitted software problems on Monday.

However, the successful completion of the census is not in danger, a spokeswoman said on request.

"We are currently receiving a large number of problem reports from various federal states from the local survey offices for the implementation of the 2022 census," says a letter that the German Association of Cities and Districts sent to Markus Richter, the State Secretary for the Interior responsible for digitization.

The nationwide collection of data on the population, living space, rents, heating, education and employment began in May and is expected to last three months.

"Significant performance issues"

The main problem is the software specially developed for the census, which despite corresponding offers from the municipalities "has not been tested sufficiently and reliably", according to the letter, which was first reported by the news portal "The Pioneer".

The software now shows “considerable performance problems” in practical use.

The difficulties with the program led to delays in data collection.

In addition, there are program breaks in the data collection by the survey agencies.

The municipal umbrella organizations fear that these massive disruptions will “call into question the chronological order and completion of the 2022 census”.

In the letter, which is available to the German Press Agency, you also express concern "that the result of the census will also be affected and distorted".

Data already available will be supplemented

The 2022 census is not a classic census like the one last held in Germany in 1987.

Rather, as was the case with the 2011 census, data that is already available in the administration, for example at the residents' registration office, is supplemented by the collection of current information.

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Around 100,000 interviewers interview randomly selected people at their place of residence.

A second survey relates to the subject of housing and is carried out entirely in writing.

There is an obligation to provide information for the citizens.

The publication of all statistics generated from this for the federal and state governments is planned for November 2023.

The data is relevant for the municipalities, among other things, because the number of inhabitants plays a role in the distribution of funds from municipal financial equalization.

The newly gained information should also help with planning, for example when it comes to whether additional daycare centers may have to be built in a region.

"In individual functionalities in the software for survey support, there were or are selective restrictions," admitted the spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

However, these restrictions have either already been resolved or will be "remedied by new software releases" in the coming weeks.

Until then, existing restrictions would be offset by "technical bypasses".

The Ministry of the Interior does not see the timetable for the census in jeopardy.

dpa