Mozambique to hold population census exclusively through digital platforms – Watch

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Mozambique to hold population census exclusively through digital platforms – Watch

7:00 CAT | 05 Jun 2025

Screen grab: TVM

Mozambican Prime Minister Benvinda Levi has announced that the country will hold, in 2027, its first General Population and Housing Census resorting exclusively to digital platforms.

Since 1997, a census has been held every ten years, but this is the first time that the census will be completely digitalised.

The government expects that the census, which will cost 110 million US dollars, will register 36 million inhabitants, ten million more than in the 2017 census. The World Bank has already guaranteed the disbursement of 12.7 million dollars.

According to Levi, who was speaking during the programme launch, in Maputo, the Census will take place between 1 and 15 August 2027.

“The digitalization of this major operation will begin with the cartographic updating of the Enumeration Areas throughout the country, as this is a fundamental step that will make it possible to accurately map housing units, social infrastructure and the location of inhabited areas,” she said.

Levi explained that “this effort will include thousands of young people who will be carefully recruited and trained to work in this and the other phases of the census.”

“The 2027 Census will make it possible to know precisely how many Mozambicans there are, where they are and how they are living”, said the Prime Minister. “This data is indispensable so that the government can better plan the provision of basic infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals, roads, bridges and water supply systems, as well as define the most appropriate social programmes and the public and private investments that are necessary”.

Levi also explained that this census will also provide essential information that can help in the design of programmes aimed at reducing inequalities in access to opportunities and in the definition of assertive public policies, as well as achieving the goals set under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

For her part, Elisa Magaua, the chairperson of the National Statistics Institute (INE), said that the census will only be carried out through tablets and other mobile devices capable of collecting data.

“This census will be more dynamic and efficient than in previous cases due to the use of technologies that allow for a reduction in errors, and greater efficiency and speed in the processing of information. To this end, we need just over 110 million dollars to carry out our biggest statistical operation”, said Magaua.

However, she acknowledged that the process will be challenging “since it will take place in a country with little digitalization, few qualified human resources, partial electricity and internet coverage and poor access roads.”

Source: AIM / TVM