Dominica’s next population and housing census is scheduled to hold in November 2021, according to the Central Statistics Office. The Acting Chief Statistician, Lorna Prevost-Stephens, revealed that the ultimate objective of the census exercise is to obtain the accurate number of people in the country, as well as the accurate number of residential houses on the island.
Prevost-Stephens disclosed that the results of the census programme will enable the government to understand the demographics, socio-economic, and environmental characteristics of the society. The government will evaluate the new census results of 2021 to the results obtained 10 years ago in 2011 with a view to determining how well the country has grown in terms of population, income growths, infrastructural development, and other major development indices.
According to the Census Visitation Records, the 2011 census results showed that the total population figure of Dominica was 71,293 as at May 14, 2011. The census showed that there were 36,411 males and 34,882 females in the country. Census officials also compared the figures of 2011 to that of 2001 to see how much the population has increased or decreased. Officials were able to determine the number of people increases and declines in different parishes such as St. Paul, St. George, St. John, and St. Andrew among others.
Prevost-Stephens stated that the government is planning to deploy computer-aided programmes to aid the coming 2021 census exercise. “It is basically, fully digitizing the census using tablets to collect the data as the census plays a vital role in national policies and decision making,” she explained.
In a related development, the Dominica Registry Division has revealed that there were more births than deaths in the country in 2020. Between January 1 and November 20, 2020, the civil registry recorded 668 births against 472 deaths in the country.
Acting Registrar-General and Registrar of the High Court, Etienne Marie-Therese, stated that birth certificates for 390 of the births are available for collection, while 279 birth certificates are still pending. She also noted that 337 death certificates are ready for collection by families of people who are now deceased. Marie-Therese equally disclosed that within the period under scrutiny, a total of 103 marriages were registered, and this number is not inclusive of those solemnized by religious ministers.
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