DILI – The National Statistics Directorate, together with Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, Finance Minister Emilia Pires and UNFPA Representative Pornchai Suchitta, launches the main results of the 2010 Population and Housing Census. Some tendencies stand out in the vast statistical material: the large increase of the total population, the rapid migration to Dili continues, literacy rates are improving and a large number of new job opportunities will be needed to reverse the trend of declining labour force participation and employment rates.
The findings also suggest that the number of Timorese households with access to social amenities like mobile phones, TV and electricity has increased rather dramatically. At the same time, nine out of ten Timorese households still use firewood for cooking, thus posing an environmental threat to the country.
“I am very pleased with the way the whole 2010 Census operation has been carried out by the literally thousands of staff members who have participated in some stage of this great national effort. We should rejoice and be really proud of ourselves for pulling it off, but I also want to point out that the most important part of our work as a nation starts now, and that is to use this immense knowledge base as much and as effectively as possible," says Pires.
The main census report contains a wealth of information all the way down to the aldeia level. Apart from data on access to household amenities and rates of literacy and employment, interested readers will find information about crop production, livestock, school enrollment, housing materials, sanitation facilities and people with different kinds of disabilities, to name but a few of the indicators included in the report. For most indicators it is also possible to verify the difference between rural and urban areas, men and women and between different age groups.
“We fully understand that the statistical material produced by the census team at the National Statistics Directorate can be rather overwhelming, but at the same time we cannot afford not to make the most of this information. For this reason, we will make sure that policymakers and other stakeholders receive the necessary training to be able to use the data. Census staff will be visiting every district to hold workshops on how to interpret the results and how to maximize the use of the census report, and I urge everyone to participate and pay close attention,” says Pires.
A preliminary census report was launched in October 2010. Towards the end of the year, five out of a total of eleven planned thematic census reports will be published. Some of the topics covered in these reports will be fertility, mortality, migration and urbanization, education, population projections, the labour force, agriculture, disability and gender dimensions.
The 2010 Census is jointly supported by the Government of Timor-Leste and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
The complete census results, as well as a summarized version with some of the key findings, can soon be accessed and downloaded from the website of the National Statistics Directorate:www.dne.mof.gov.tl.
For more information, please contact:
Elias Ferreira, tel. +670 723-0149, edsferreira@mof.gov.tl
Fredrick Otieno, tel. +670 737-8486, fotieno@mof.gov.tl or okwayo@unfpa.org
Filip Andersson, tel. +670 744-8498, fandersson@mof.gov.tl
