SENIOR Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr. Ashni Singh, has said that the completion of the 2022 census is currently at an advanced stage of data analysis.

The minister made this known during a recent sitting of the National Assembly where he provided an update on the process.

He said: “My latest information is that they are at an advanced stage of analysis of the data and triangulating that data and work has been ongoing.”

Dr. Singh said that this work is ongoing alongside the preparation of the report, and he reiterated that it is at a very advanced stage.

According to the minister, the Bureau of Statistics has essentially completed the field work which includes the enumeration and visiting of households.

However, he indicated that there was a level of non-responsiveness in households in different areas, which must be subject to analysis and triangulation with other data sources as he added that they have standard methodologies that are used to validate same.

On that basis, the bureau will then complete its final compilation, tabulation and subsequently its preliminary report followed by the final report.

“I will simply say that the government shares the view that the preliminary census report should be concluded as quickly as possible and we have conveyed that clearly to the leadership of the stats bureau and I have no doubt that they will conclude it and issue it as soon as they possibly can,” Dr Singh said.

To this end, the minister added that census data is important in terms of demographic trends and policy making, including the prediction of spatial trends in relation to the population, where public services are needed and where public services can be scaled back among other things.