Statistics SA responds to concerns over census data quality
11 July 2024
In response to concerns raised by the Centre for Actuarial Research (CARe) in their report “THE 2022 SOUTH AFRICA CENSUS” released on July 9, 2024, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) continues to clarify that the claims made about the Census 2022 results not meeting standards are unfounded and misleading.
Stats SA is dedicated to upholding standards of data accuracy ensured by quality checks at every stage of the census process from data collection to fieldwork monitoring.
The Post Enumeration Survey (PES) is a quality control measure consistently applied in all democratic censuses. This method helps detect and rectify any errors, ensuring the reliability of the data. For details on the PES process refer to our reports from 2011 and 2022 on the Stats SA Website (www.statssa.gov.za).
Stats SA firmly denies the Centre for Actuarial Research’s claim that Census 2022 figures should be treated as estimates due to undercounting issues. This assertion overlooks the foundation of our census work. The numbers from the Census 2022 Report serve as counts for government planning and resource allocation every decade.