Date Posted: June 25, 2009.

The Statistics Department of the Government of Anguilla, is in the process of planning for the island's 6th  Population and Housing Census which was last conducted in May 2001 and by law is due in May 2011 - 10 years later. Previous censuses, which are simply processes to acquire information about every member of a given population, were conducted in 1960, 1974, 1984 and 1992.

As part of the preparation for the census 2011, Anguilla secured the technical services of Mr. Carlos Ellis – UNFPA Regional Census Advisor, after discussions with the Director - Mr. Harold Robinson of the regional office of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Mr. Ellis worked along with the staff of the Statistics Department and the Project’s Unit in the Ministry of Economic Development for three days, to plan and complete the document which outlines all the required activities, tasks and associated timelines to be followed and completed to ensure a quality census.

The Statistics Department, the organisation charged with the responsibility of conducting and coordinating surveys and censuses on the island of Anguilla, will in the upcoming months, formally commence the planning and activities for Anguilla’s 2011 Population and Housing census.

The Statistics Department will be setting up and posting articles and information to various business networking sites in the near future, to ensure that the general population and businesses are kept informed about the Anguilla’s 2011 Population and Housing census and its activities. We are therefore soliciting your queries and questions when items are posted.

Population and Housing censuses provide the residents and the government of a country with critical information on demographic issues such as population growth rates, age structure, fertility and mortality, migration and district density among others. Because of the centrality of population issues to development, it is imperative that governments have access to high quality and reliable data. This will enable them to formulate relevant policies and properly plan for the development of their country.