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China starts once-a-decade census of world’s largest population
- The national headcount was almost 1.34 billion in 2010, and Beijing says that could grow to 1.42 billion this time around
- Millions of volunteers will help collect the data but most citizens are expected to enter their information via a smartphone app
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Millions of census-takers began knocking on doors across China on Sunday for a once-a-decade headcount of the world’s largest population that for the first time will use mobile apps to help crunch the massive numbers.
About 7 million community workers and volunteers will drive the two-month data collection effort, visiting homes ranging from residential skyscrapers in downtown Shanghai to remote Tibetan mountain villages.
China conducts the census every 10 years to determine population growth, movement patterns and other trends, using the findings to apportion resources for education, health, transport, labour, elderly care and other services.
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The previous tally in 2010 counted 1,339,724,852 people, an increase of 5.8 per cent from a decade earlier, or almost 74 million people – more than the population of both Britain and France.
02:19
China begins once-in-a-decade census to gather details about its 1.4 billion population
China begins once-in-a-decade census to gather details about its 1.4 billion population
Much of the attention on this year’s census, which is expected to take two years to compile, will focus on whether it indicates any population bump from China’s relaxation of its former “one-child policy”.
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