Romania’s 2011 census to count expats but exclude diplomats, foreign army members

The 2011 census carried out across Romania between October 21 and October 31 will include a component that is relevant for certain segments of the expat community, according to a statement from the British Embassy in Bucharest. The Romanian census operators will record people with foreign citizenship who have permanent or temporary residence in Romania, but they will not record data on individuals with foreign citizenship employed by diplomatic missions and consulates or by international organizations. Members of personnel of foreign armies, commercial naval and air fleet, and press correspondents located in the country that are in Romania at the time of the census will also not be recorded. The census adds the possibility to declare double citizenship, affiliation to a certain ethnicity of religion, as well as questions about disable people, according to the country’s Institute of Statistics. The 2011 census started on October 20 and will end on October 31, 2011, and has a budget of EUR 45 million. The first data from this census will be revealed in January 2012. Data from April 2013 will also include the number of foreign citizens in Romania, as well as data on Romanians who left to work abroad. Final data will be released in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to the INS. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: Sxc.hu)