Why do we need a census?

To help tomorrow take shape. Government needs to know how many people live in Northern Ireland so that it can work out what types of services are needed now and in the future. The Census results will matter to you, your children and your grandchildren.

Planning important services

With statistics from the census, central and local government can allocate funds, decide future policy and plan important services such as:

• population - knowing how many people live in an area helps central government allocate funding - local government also uses this data to plan what is needed in their local areas
• health and disability - health services and policies are planned around the census data so that the necessary services are provided where they are needed
• housing - housing needs can be much better planned if we know what the demand is now and likely to be in the future
• employment - by establishing how many people work in different occupations and industries, census information can be used to help plan jobs and training policies
• ethnic groups - census information can be used to help allocate resources and monitor policies to ensure that all groups are treated equally
• transport - identifying how and where people travel to work and study will help us understand the pressures on our transport systems and improve planning for roads and public transport
• education - census information can be used to help plan for education resources, such as schools and teachers