Census focus for stats office

(CNS): The Economics and Statistics Office (ESO) will be focusing on the forthcoming national census over the next few days as it marks the second annual statistics week from 31 January to 6 February 2010. Government officials said that the Cayman Islands 2010 census is tentatively scheduled to start in October of this year and the statistics week offers an opportunity to campaign to raise community’s awareness of the national count before the official launch which is scheduled for March.

There has been a reluctance in the past by residents to divulge information despite the anonymity but without it the ESO cannot produce accurate or meaningful statistics, a criticism that is often made  by business and in particular the media.

The ESO said that this week key activities during the Week include presentations of “The Census and You”  to over 300 students in Grades 9 – 12 in Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac, and target students of the University College of the Cayman Islands.

The objective of these presentations is to sensitize students on the Census, the process and how the data collected can be used for analytical purposes. The Statistics Week was launched last year to foster greater understanding of how statistics are produced, and to promote their wider use in the local community, particularly among students.

The last national census was conducted in 1999 and at that time Cayman had a resident population of less than 40,000, which was still a 55% increase on the ’89 census. According to the most recent compendium of statistics at the end of 2008 there were just over 57,000 living in Cayman.

In 1999 the percentage of the population which was Caymanian had fallen to an all time low of 53% compared to 67% in 1989. Following the status grants in 2003 the percentage of Caymans increased and reached 61% since then however it has declined again and estimates for 2003 suggest 56% of the population is now Caymanain.

Aside from counting heads the national census will also measure how old people are and where they live, what hey do for a living, their earnings and levels of education as well as issues such as their marital status, which health insurance provider they have and where they go to church.