Census 2027: Statistics and Statecraft

The census questionnaire is perhaps the most comprehensive manuscript of a nation’s social, economic and political evolution. Far from being a neutral statistical exercise, it is also a record of the state’s priorities and anxieties at a given moment. Every new question added, and every old one dropped, offers clues about what a society values, what policymakers seek to measure, and how governments perceive their citizens.

The evolution of census questionnaires across the world reflects this intimate relationship between statistics and statecraft. The population enumeration phase of the Census, scheduled to begin next month, will have 13 new or modified questions compared with the 2011 Census, including details of a person’s father and mother and their places of birth. These questions were also part of the National Population Register schedule notified in 2020, sparking a political debate, with opposition questioning the government’s motive.