The creation of the independent and sovereign nation of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) under the Compact of Free Association with the United States caused a growing need for social and economic development planning. Consequently, as in many developing countries, administrators and planners in the FSM, in their quest for social and economic development often contend with incomplete or unavailable information when it is needed.
The primary objective of the Census is to determine the official count of the number of persons and households in Kiribati in 2005 and can be used to compare their socio-economic characteristics with those 5 years ago collected in the 2000 Population Census. Results of the census are most useful for government of Kiribati for planning and policy formulation and thus have a direct impact on the Kiribati population.
The National Statistics Office (NSO) strives and continues to support government by providing socio-economic statistics for monitoring and evaluation purposes through population censuses. These socio-economic statistics are also made available to other users such as the businesses, the churches, regional and international organizations. One of the main sources of demographic and social-economic statistics in Kiribati is the population and housing census. Kiribati has been carrying out population and housing censuses in a "modern sense" at intervals of about five years since 1985.
The five-yearly Census of Population and Dwellings is a very important item on Tokelau’s agenda. Its results provide the most authoritative data on how many people we have, what the composition of their households is, what education level they have, how they contribute to Tokelau’s economy, and so on.