The scope of the National Population and Housing Census 1996 includes:
Household: - basic household characteristics of the private dwellings, including tenure, sanitation, water and electricity, household wealth and household activities;
Individual: - basic demographic characteristics of individuals in a particular household dwelling, including age, sex, ethnicity, religion, internal migration, educational attainment, economic activity and fertility.
The scope of the 1996 Population Census includes:
- basic demographic characteristics of individuals in a particular household dwelling, including age, sex, ethnicity, religion, internal migration, educational attainment, economic activity and fertility;
- basic household caharacteristics of the private dwellings, including tenure, sanitation, water and electricity, household wealth and household activities;
- a special module on disability.
A national population census may be thought of as a “stock-taking” of the whole country, particularly of its most precious resource, its people. It is not just a count of people. Information is needed on the structure of the population for instance, the number of males and females and their ages together with a variety of other characteristics related to their civil and economic status.
The objectives of Census changed over time shifting from earlier years where they were essentially household registrations and counts, to now where a national population census stands supreme as the most valuable single source of statistical data for the Fiji Islands.
Census data is now widely used to evaluate:
- The availability of basic household needs in key sectors, to identify disadvantaged areas and help set priorities for action plans;
- Benefits of development programmes in particular areas, such as literacy, employment and family planning;