Exploring the Potential of Population Registers in Africa as an Emerging Data Source for Official Statistics

Gloria Mathenge, Pacific Community
William Muhwava, UNECA

Administrative registers generated by governments are becoming an increasingly important data source for official statistics. Recent experiences in conducting population censuses, show that there is greater use of administrative data sources including population registers for producing demographic statistics among countries in different parts of the world. The Roadmap for the transformation and modernization of official statistics launched by UNECA in 2023 encourages African countries to ‘make use of Government-held administrative data and new forms of digital data’ and to respond to growing national trends of digitalisation of public services. This paper will explore the potential of population registers as an administrative source of demographic statistics in Africa. The paper will discuss current practices in implementation of population registers among African countries, key features and prerequisites for establishment of population registers and methods for assessing the quality of population registers for production of official statistics.