Bangladesh concludes first digital census
Bangladesh will finish conducting its sixth national and first digital census today.
The census, which was initially set to take place in 2021, was delayed due to pandemic-related constraints. The government has procured approximately 400,000 tablet devices for enumerators to use in the survey, using the Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) to capture data. The census collected information on metrics including the number of households, drinking water availability, toilet and power facility, source of fuel for cooking, remittance, age of household members, gender, marital status, income and education. Officials have indicated that non-resident Bangladeshis and foreigners in Bangladesh would also be counted in the survey, thereby adding approximately 20 million people to the national database, presumably including asylum seekers from Myanmar.
Expect that with a more accurate estimation of the size of the population in the database, the government will begin planning for a reallocation of resources for urban planning. Expect also that this may increase financial aid flows and investment from intergovernmental organizations. It is also likely that Bangladesh will apply for a loan from the World Bank or a similar organization to fund the necessary urban planning projects for the newly counted population.
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