Swiss respond well to nationwide census

Ninety-seven per cent of Swiss have responded to the nationwide census Keystone

More than 90 per cent of citizens have handed in their questionnaires for the first nationwide census in 10 years. The federal authorities say the result and the quality of the answers surpassed their expectations.

Six months after the census was carried out, 97.3 per cent of citizens have returned forms to the Federal Statistics Office.

The office said the good result was a sign of the high acceptance among the resident population. It also pointed out the importance of a high-profile publicity campaign ahead of the census, which was carried out last December.

The office said it recorded major data security problems and criticised the lack of a unified data system among Switzerland’s communes.

More than 10 million forms in the four national languages were sent by post to Switzerland’s resident population. The people were asked to return the questionnaire by post or via the Internet.

Only a small percentage of the population, mainly those living in small communities, were visited by traditional enumerators, going from door to door.

A considerable amount of data came directly from the registers of local authorities.

For the first time ever in a nationwide census, citizens were able to complete questionnaires by Internet. Just over four per cent of people took up the new option.

Werner Haug of the Federal Statistics Office said the financial investment of up to SFr3 million ($1,7 million) to create the electronic option had not paid off yet, because only a limited number of people had access to the Internet. He also said more needed to be done to make e-census more user friendly.

Nevertheless, Haug, said there was great interest in the project from other European countries, the United States and Canada.

The data from the census is now being analysed, with the first real findings expected at the end of the year.

swissinfo with agencies