Saudi Census 2021: Data collection to be online

Abu Dhabi: Saudi authorities have announced data collection for the 2021 Census will be made online, after the 2020 Census was suspended due to COVID-19, local media reported.

The Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GASTA) plans to set up an online portal to support the population census in the Kingdom for the year 2021, sources told Al Watan newspaper.

Security and confidentiality

According to the sources, GASTA is planning to set upan electronic portal to allow the visitor to fill out the census questionnaire without the need for field survey, enabling the authority to collect data and review it.

The portal, the sources said, will be installed in GASTA and not on the cloud services environment to maintain security and confidentiality.

The population of Saudi Arabia in 2019 was estimated to be 34.14 million.

The last census in Saudi Arabia was conducted in 2016 and the population of the country then was measured to be 32.55 million.

While there was an almost equal number of men and women in the country in 1960, the gender ratio is now 135 men per 100 females. The country now has 19.60 million men and 14.54 women, meaning women make up 42.60% of the population. Nearly half of the country’s population (nearly 47%) is in the working age range of 25 to 54 years. Men outnumber women in the age group 25 to 54.

The country has given women voting rights and they are being encouraged to play a more inclusive role in society. More and more women are joining the workforce as the government looks to diversify the economy. Women are now allowed to possess and drive cars in the country as per a royal decree issued in June 2018.

The population boom has been particularly evident in the last decade with the population increasing by nearly two million between 2007 and 2008 as well as between 2008 and 2010. From just 23.98 million in 2007, Saudi Arabia has now grown rapidly to exceed 34.14 million. The diversification of the economy driven by the new generation of the Saudi family has made the country into a haven for migrant workers.