Census to Reveal No Surprises, Says Director
With five days to go before the end of Estonia's 2011 population and housing census, the project's director Diana Beltadze has said that the population figure will yield no surprises and is looking very close to the January 1 estimate of 1,318,005.
"I do not dare to predict, but I believe the census data will be very similar to the current statistical data," she told Postimees.
Last year, some academics had speculated that Estonia had undergone a major population drop which would be revealed once the census figures were in.
As of March 26, a total of 1,312,282 people had been counted. Counting in some areas has yet to be completed, and there are approximately 1,800 people who have got in touch with the statistics agency to say they have not yet been visited by census takers.
On the other hand, an estimated 30,000 to 45,000 people have been counted twice for some reason or another, and the data will have to be adjusted accordingly.
A general population number is expected in May, after the duplicates are weeded out. Detailed information, such as populations of individual cities, towns, counties and villages, should be available in October.
Steve Roman