REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 on European demographic statistics
Date: 2018-12-14
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EU Member State, EU statistics, births, data collection, mortality, population dynamics, population statistics, statistical method

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 14.12.2018  COM(2018) 843 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 on European demographic statistics  
 
 
1.  INTRODUCTION 

Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 on European demographic statistics1 (hereinafter also referred 
to  as  ‘the  Regulation’)  establishes  a  common  legal  framework  for  the  development, 
production and dissemination of European statistics on population and vital events. 

Member States had previously submitted such data voluntarily for a number of years but, as 
these were based on their varying demographic definitions, concepts and methods, there were 
risks  of  heterogeneity,  incomparability,  inconsistency  and  lack  of  timeliness.  The  common 
framework was intended to meet the need for the high-quality annual demographic statistics 
considered  fundamental  for  formulating  and  evaluating  a  wide  range  of  policies,  with 
particular  regard  to  social  and  economic  issues,  at  national  and  regional  level.  This  is 
particularly important  as statistics on population  and vital  events  are used as a denominator 
for a wide range of policy indicators. 

Article 11 of the Regulation requires the Commission to submit a first report to the European 
Parliament  and  the  Council  on  the  implementation  of  the  Regulation  by  31 December 2018 
and a second report by 31 December 2023. The present document is that first report. 

Section  2  of  this  report  gives  an  overview  of  European  demographic  statistics  and  in 
particular  of  the  requirements  of  the  Regulation  and  the  related  implementing  measure 
adopted by the Commission.2 

Section  3  takes  stock  of  how  the  Regulation  has  been  implemented,  with  reference  to  the 
established quality criteria for European statistics, including comparability and the burden on 
data providers and respondents in the Member States. 

Section 4 describes the data collection and estimation methods used, including those used to 
estimate total population (Article 4 of the Regulation). 

Section  5  reports  on  the  main  results  of  the  feasibility  studies  on  the  definition  of  ‘usual 
residence’ and its implementation by Member States (Article 8). 

Lastly, section 6 takes a forward look at issues to be considered with a view to improving the 
common framework, in the light of the conclusions of earlier sections. 

2.  OVERVIEW OF DEMOGRAPHIC STATISTICS COVERED BY THE REGULATION 

The principal areas of statistics governed by Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 are: 

 

 

 

population by age, sex and region of residence; 

live births by sex, month of occurrence, live-birth order, mother’s age, mother’s year 
of  birth,  mother’s  country  of  birth,  mother’s  country  of  citizenship  and  mother’s 
region of residence; 

deaths  by  age,  sex,  year  of  birth,  region  of  residence,  country  of  birth,  country  of 
citizenship and month of occurrence; and 

1   Regulation  (EU)  No  1260/2013  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  20  November  2013  on 

European demographic statistics (OJ L 330, 10.12.2013, p. 39). 

2   Commission  Implementing  Regulation  (EU)  No  205/2014  of  4  March  2014  laying  down  uniformed 
conditions  for  the  implementation  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  1260/2013  of  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council  on  European  demographic  statistics,  as  regards  breakdowns  of  data,  deadlines  and  data  revisions 
(OJ L 65, 5.3.2014, p. 10). 

1 

 
                                                 
 

total ‘usually resident’ population3 for specific Union purposes. 

The Regulation provides the legal basis for collecting the data required for: 

  detailed demographic statistics on population, live births and deaths at national and 

regional level (Article 3); and 

  measuring total population for qualified majority voting (QMV) in the Council, in 
particular as required under Article 238(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the 
European Union (Article 4). 

As  regards  Article  3,  while  Member  States  are  required  to  provide  data  on  their  ‘usually 
resident’  population  some  flexibility  is  allowed  and  Member  States  can  provide  data  on 
‘legally  resident’  or  ‘registered’  population  and  related  vital  events  (live  births  and  deaths). 
More  specifically,  the  Regulation  (Article 2(d))  stipulates  that,  where  the  circumstances  for 
usual  residence  cannot  be  established,  ‘usual  residence’  can  be  taken  to  mean  the  place  of 
legal or registered residence. 

To  help  with  the  implementation  of  the  Regulation,  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  cooperates 
closely  with  the  national  authorities  involved  in  the  production  and  supply  of  the  relevant 
data.  Indeed,  it  had  done  so  over  the  many  years  in  which  data  had  been  provided  on  a 
voluntary  basis.  The  statistics  are  supplied  to  Eurostat  by  the  national  statistical  institutes 
(NSIs). 

Pursuant  to  Article  3(4)  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  1260/2013,  the  Commission  adopted 
Implementing Regulation (EU) No 205/2014 in order to lay down practical arrangements for 
data  breakdowns,  transmission  deadlines  and  revision.  As  a  result,  Member  States  provide 
Eurostat additionally with: 

 

 

provisional  annual  data  on  total  population,  total  live  births  and  total  deaths  at 
national level (within six months of the end of each reference year); and 

provisional monthly data on total live births and total deaths for at least the first six 
months of the reference year (by 30 November of that year). 

Besides  data  provided  under  the  Regulation,  Member  States  transmit  a  certain  number  of 
tables on a voluntary basis, e.g. information on deaths by age, sex and educational attainment, 
which is used to calculate life expectancy by educational attainment. 

The Regulation ensures, by means of strict monitoring (on the basis of extensive metadata) of 
adherence to the concept and definition of ‘usual residence’ that the population data produced 
for QMV (Article 4) are comparable between Member States. 

3 

‘Usual  residence’  is  the  place  where  a  person  normally  spends  the  daily  period  of  rest,  regardless  of 
temporary  absences  for  purposes  of  recreation,  holidays,  visits  to  friends  and  relatives,  business,  medical 
treatment  or  religious  pilgrimage.  The  following  persons  are  considered  to  be  usually  residents  of  the 
geographical area in question: 
• 

those  who  have  lived  in  their  place  of  usual  residence  for  a  continuous  period  of  at  least  12  months 
before the reference date or  
those who arrived in their place of usual residence during the 12 months before the reference date with 
the intention of staying there for at least one year. 

• 

2 

 
                                                 
3.  QUALITY OF TRANSMITTED DATA 

This section evaluates the implementation of the Regulation on the basis of standard quality 
criteria in line with the principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice4 and Article 12 
of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics5. 

Regulation  (EU)  No  1260/2013  requires  Member  States  to  collect,  compile,  process  and 
transmit harmonised statistics on population and vital events. They have to ensure the quality 
of the data by applying specific quality criteria such as punctuality and accuracy (see below), 
which they have to report to Eurostat. Eurostat reviews the Member States’ quality metadata 
and assessments, and publishes the statistics on its website in the form of multi-dimensional 
tables or analytical articles accompanied by the relevant metadata. 

Before  the  entry  into  force  of  the  Regulation,  the  Member  States  already  provided  on  a 
voluntary basis most of the data it requires. However, data availability and completeness have 
improved significantly under the new legal basis. General data quality improvements have led 
to  better  data  accuracy,  coherence  and  comparability.  Member  States  have  improved  the 
underlying data sources and the methodologies and statistical tools used for data preparation, 
resulting  in  better  coverage  and  more  punctual  data  transmissions.  This  has  allowed  the 
Commission  to  shorten  the  time  needed  for  data  dissemination,  facilitating  timelier  data 
releases and improving further the accessibility of data by the users, e.g. improved metadata 
and harmonised data (see section 3.4 below). 

In  addition,  the  collection  of  the  data  has  been  merged  with  that  of  the  data  required  under 
Article  3  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  862/2007  on  Community  statistics  on  migration  and 
international  protection,6  in  order  to  achieve  consistency  between  the  various  population 
breakdowns  and,  to  the  extent  possible,  in  the  demographic  balances  between  population, 
vital  events  and  migration  flows.  Member  States’  metadata  submissions  have  also  been 
merged. 

3.1. Relevance 

The  Commission  uses  demographic  statistics  in  preparing  regular  reports,  policy  proposals, 
implementation  reports  required  under  EU  legislation,  and  policy  analysis.  For  example,  its 
reports  on  economic,  social  and  territorial  cohesion7  and  the  ‘special  supplement  on 
demographic  trends’8  of  the  EU  employment  and  social  situation  quarterly  review  use 
regional and national information on population and vital events. One direct application of the 
data  transmitted  under  the  Regulation  is  in  the  field  of  Eurostat’s  three-yearly  demographic 

4   http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-manuals-and-guidelines/-/KS-32-11-955  
5    Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European 
statistics  and  repealing  Regulation  (EC,  Euratom)  No  1101/2008  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  on  the  transmission  of  data  subject  to  statistical  confidentiality  to  the  Statistical  Office  of  the 
European  Communities,  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  322/97  on  Community  Statistics,  and  Council 
Decision 89/382/EEC,  Euratom  establishing  a  Committee  on  the  Statistical  Programmes  of  the  European 
Communities (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164). 

6   Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 on Community 
statistics on migration and international protection and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 311/76 on the 
compilation of statistics on foreign workers (OJ L 199, 31.7.2007, p. 23). 

7   http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/information/cohesion-report/ 
8   http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3217494/6917833/KE-BM-15-003-EN-N.pdf/ 

(available  only 

in 

English). 

3 

 
                                                 
population projections,9 which show how population size and structure could change if certain 
assumptions  on  fertility,  mortality  and  migration  remained  valid.  These  projections  are  also 
used  for  the  Ageing  report,10  to  assess  the  long-term  economic  and  budgetary  impact  of 
population ageing. 

In  addition,  the  statistics  are  a  key  input  in  the  EU  decision-making  process,  as  population 
determines Member States’ QMV weightings in the Council. 

The statistics produced  under the Regulation  are regularly  used by  national  administrations, 
international organisations, academic researchers and civil society groups working on a wide 
range  of  topics  and  for  planning,  monitoring,  and  evaluation  programmes  in  a  number  of 
social and economic policy areas. For example, they are used to: 

 

 

 

analyse population ageing and its effects on sustainability and welfare; 

evaluate fertility as part of the background for family policies; and 

calculate per capita statistics. 

Of  all  the  statistics  disseminated  by  Eurostat,  those  relating  to  population  are  among  those 
consulted  most.  The  ‘Population’  section11  on  Eurostat’s  website  presents  the  statistics 
available, the EU legislation concerned (in particular, Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013) and the 
data collection methods. Since mid-2016, this has been the thematic section that ranks first for 
the number of user consultations with yearly visualisations of the page in the range of half a 
million. 

In 2015-2017,12  yearly population  data at  national  level13 was  consistently the most popular 
(between  11%  and  18%  of  views  yearly)  of  the  social  statistics  tables  and  in  the  top  three 
most  viewed  Eurostat  tables.  There  is  growing  interest  among  users  in  data  on  population 
change.  ‘Demographic  balances  and  crude  rates  at  national  level’14  saw  its  page  views 
increase  by  66 %  in  2015-2017,  thus  consolidating  its  position  as  one  of  the  most  popular 
Eurostat datasets.  

These results confirm the relevance of the data for users and the public at large. 

3.2. Accuracy 

In line with the principle of subsidiarity, Member States are free to decide what data sources 
they  use, 
law  and  practice.  Scientifically-based  and 
well-documented  statistical  estimation  methods  can  be  used  where  appropriate  (Article 7  of 
the Regulation). 

in  accordance  with  national 

Together  with  the  basic  data,  Eurostat  receives  metadata  relating,  in  particular,  to  data 
accuracy and explaining inter alia: 

9   http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/population-demography-migration-projections/population-projections-data 

(available only in English, French and German). 

10   https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/economy-finance/2018-ageing-report-underlying-assumptions-and-

projection-methodologies_en (available only in English). 

11   http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/population-demography-migration-projections  (available  only  in  English, 

French and German). 

12   This  covers  all  dissemination  under  the  Regulation,  as  the  data  collected  under  Article  3  were  first 

disseminated in the first quarter of 2015. 

13   ‘Population on 1 January’ – online data code: tps00001 (available only in English, French and German). 
14   ‘Population change – demographic balance and crude rates at national level’ – online data code: demo_gind 

(available only in English, French and German). 

4 

 
                                                 
 

 

 

the data sources and procedures used; 

any estimation or modelling applied to the data; and  

the possible effects of these on the degree of compliance with the definitions in the 
Regulation. 

Since the entry into force of the Regulation, validation of the data has been improved through 
the introduction of more, and more thorough, checks in the questionnaire. The Member States 
carry  out  these  checks  before  transmitting  the  data,  resulting  in  better  overall  data  quality. 
Similarly,  enhanced  rules  for  the  validation  of  data  in  Eurostat’s  database  prior  to  their 
dissemination have further improved the quality of results. 

Although many improvements have been made, specific accuracy issues still exist as regards: 

 

 

under-coverage (e.g. when people do not register their residence); and  

over-coverage (e.g. when people do not ‘de-register’, as often there is no obligation 
or incentive to do so).  

In  this  context,  Eurostat  promotes  the  use  of  ‘mirror  flows’  reported  by  partner  Member 
States  to  resolve  coverage  errors  due  to  failure  to  register  and  de-register.  It  has  monitored 
this  work  through  in-depth  discussion  with  NSIs  and  by  facilitating  the  exchange  of 
mirror-flow  data  among  Member  States,  taking  into  account  personal  data  protection  rules 
and differences in national legislation. 

Eurostat and the Member States work together continuously to resolve outstanding issues and 
improvements are discussed and agreed in annual meetings of the Commission expert group 
on population statistics, where all NSIs are represented. 

3.3. Timeliness and punctuality 

The main deadline for supplying the bulk of the demographic data to Eurostat is  12 months 
after the end of the reference year; three small datasets are to be transmitted within 6, 8 and 11 
months of the end of the reference year. 

Considerable improvement has been observed in  the punctuality of data provision under the 
Regulation,  as  compared  with  the  previous,  voluntary  approach.  This  is  due  in  particular  to 
the introduction by Member States of automatic extractions from their statistical databases to 
comply  with  Eurostat’s  data  requests  and  Eurostat’s  regular  compliance  monitoring.  Some 
sporadic,  non-recurring  issues  remain,  e.g. disruptions  caused  by  computing  system 
malfunctions. 

The more structured and complete supply of data under the Regulation has allowed Eurostat 
to  prepare  the  data  processing  in  advance  and  so  improve  the  speed  and  efficiency  of  data 
handling  and  dissemination.  Less  time  is  now  needed  between  data  being  received  and 
validated, and then being disseminated on the Eurostat website. The gradual introduction of 
automated internal validation procedures in the questionnaires, with error feedback reporting 
to the national data providers, has further reduced the processing time. 

3.4. Accessibility and clarity 

5 

 
Member  States’  data  and  EU  aggregates  are  freely  available  on  Eurostat’s  website.15  Users 
can access EU demography statistics16 via three main channels: 

 

 

 

under  the  heading  ‘Tables’,  pre-defined  two-dimensional  tables  cover  the  most 
common data needs in an easily accessible way for less frequent or less specialised 
users; 

under the heading ‘Database’, multi-dimensional tables are available that allow users 
to  make  more  advanced  and  detailed  queries.  On  user  request,  Eurostat  provides 
customised extractions to respond to very specialised or detailed data needs; and 

regularly updated articles provide an easy way in to population statistics, combining 
graphs, tables and analysis on a wide range of population-related subjects.17 

The demographic data are included in compendium publications such as Eurostat’s Regional 
Yearbook18  and  detailed  publications  focusing  on  specific  demography-related  topics.19 
Several times a year, data releases are accompanied with widely distributed press releases or 
short  news.  Eurostat  promotes  the  use  of  Statistics  Explained  articles  by  giving  more 
information  on  statistics,  trends  and  their  interpretation.  Such  articles20  are  produced  and 
regularly updated for many data collected under the Regulation. 

3.5. Comparability and coherence 

European demographic statistics draw on a high degree of harmonisation as regards concepts, 
definitions, classifications and methodologies. Methodological issues are regularly discussed 
in the dedicated Commission expert group on population statistics, which also encourages the 
exchange  of  experiences  and  common  practices  in  the  EU  and  elsewhere.  To  ensure  the 
comparability  of  the  statistics,  Eurostat  verifies  whether  the  data  it  receives  are  consistent 
internally and over time, and comparable between regions and Member States, in line with the 
European Statistical System’s quality assurance framework.21 

However,  for  the  detailed  statistics  referred  to  in  Article 3  of  the  Regulation,  the  strict 
application of the population concept of ‘usual residence’ has proven the hardest problem to 
address. Efforts are ongoing and many Member States can now approximate ‘usual residence’ 
on the basis of their national data sources. However, some Member States are aware of gaps 
that  they  cannot  fill  for  all  the  detailed  (in  particular,  regional)  data  levels  required  under 
Article 3. For instance, some are unable to apply the 12-month criterion for population stocks 
and vital events, often because the national statistical condition for a person to be included in 
the population is based on permanent criteria for nationals or a six-month criterion. In a few 
cases,  data  comparability  is  affected  by  specific  minor  issues  concerning  the  use  of  the 

15   Eurostat  home  page  (http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat)  and  database  (http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database) 

(both available only in English, French and German). 

16   http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/population-demography-migration-projections  (available  only  in  English, 

French and German). 

17   http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/population-demography-migration-projections/population-data 

(available 

only in English, French and German). 

18   http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Eurostat_regional_yearbook  (available  only 

in 

English, French and German). 

19   For  example,  see  the  latest  Eurostat  news  release  on  first  population  estimates  (10  July  2018):  ‘EU 
population up to nearly 513 million at 1 January 2018’ (available only in English, French and German). 
20   http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Population  (available  only  in  English,  French  and 

German). 

21   http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/64157/4392716/ESS-QAF-V1-2final.pdf/bbf5970c-1adf-46c8-afc3-

58ce177a0646 (available only in English). 

6 

 
                                                 
concept  of  ‘permanent  registration’  only,  with  no  time  criteria  for  stays.  To  resolve  these 
issues, further work is needed on the statistical definitions of ‘population’. 

Overall, demographic statistics are comparable over time. However, discontinuities may arise 
where  Member  States  improve  or  change  their  methodology,  or  adjust  the  territorial  units 
used  in  statistics.  These  are  duly  indicated  in  the  data  dissemination  tables  in  Eurostat’s 
database  and  documented  for  users  through  the  metadata  on  the  Eurostat  website  or  in 
relevant publications. 

3.6. Measures to improve quality 

Eurostat continues to follow up sporadic cases of non-compliance with the Regulation, where 
data were incomplete, of low quality or not delivered in accordance with the legal deadlines. 
It monitors and assesses these aspects of data provision on an ongoing basis and contacts the 
Member States concerned at technical and administrative level to resolve the issues. 

4.  DATA COLLECTION AND ESTIMATION METHODS 

4.1. Data under Article 3 of the Regulation 

The Member States compile the data using their own national sources and practices, but are 
obliged to ensure the quality of the data and metadata they transmit, and to use data sources 
and methodologies that enable them to comply with common regulated definitions. Eurostat is 
able  to  review  national  practices,  as  the  Member  States  have  to  report  to  it  on  the  data 
sources, definitions and estimation methods they use and to inform it of any changes. 

To  comply  with  the  Regulation,  Member  States  have  improved  the  quality  of  the  statistics 
transmitted  to  Eurostat  under  Article  3  by  using  additional  sources,  e.g. health  insurance 
registers,  tax  registers  and  Census  2011.  In  addition,  in  recent  years  the  vast  majority  of 
Member States have made, or are planning or considering, major changes to the data sources 
and  methods  used  for  their  population  and  housing  censuses;  most  widely,  these  concern 
greater  use  of  data  from  administrative  sources  and  a  move  away  from  traditional 
door-to-door or ‘mail-out mail-in’ census enumerations. This has an important impact on the 
production of annual demographic statistics, as explained below in sections 4.3 and 5. 

4.2. Data under Article 4 of the Regulation 

Article 4 of the Regulation requires Member States to report to Eurostat their total population 
for specific Union purposes on the basis of the strict concept of ‘usual residence’. They may 
estimate this from the ‘legally resident’ or ‘registered’ population using scientifically-based, 
well-documented and publicly available estimation methods. 

According  to  the  national  metadata  files,  most  Member  States  estimate  their  total  ‘usually 
resident’ population, because they are not in a position to measure it directly. 

Some  Member  States  reported  to  Eurostat  that  they  estimate  their  ‘usually  resident’ 
population by applying an overall adjustment to their national population, in order to capture: 

 

 

under-reported migration flows (i.e. people who did not register when arriving in the 
Member State or did not de-register when leaving); and/or  

under-reported  vital  events  (i.e. events  that  occur  abroad,  but  are  not  reported  or 
reported with some delay). 

7 

 
Other Member States have to adjust their national concept of ‘duration of stay’22 in order to 
be able to  estimate the ‘usually  resident’ population on the basis of a 12-month duration of 
stay criterion. 

Eurostat  has  observed  no  inadequacies  in  the  methodology  used  for  the  metadata  files  and 
documentation transmitted by the Member States, and no quality issues in the results. 

4.3. Cost and burden 

Article 7 of the Regulation is aimed at reducing the response burden on the parties responsible 
for providing statistical data; it allows Member States to: 

 

 

choose data sources in accordance with national law and practice; and  

use  appropriate 
scientifically-based and well-documented.  

statistical  estimation  methods,  provided 

that 

these  are 

The  vast  majority  of  Member  States  declare  in  the  metadata  information  that  they  use 
administrative  data  sources  to  produce  demographic  statistics,  so  there  is  no  burden  on 
respondents. 

The  burden  on  NSIs  is  limited  to  selecting  the  data  required  under  the  Regulation  and 
producing  the  relevant  tables.  This  burden  is  considered  to  be  the  minimum  possible. 
However, for NSIs that do not use ‘usual residence’ for their national statistics, the burden of 
producing the population figure (as required under Article 4) for the first reference year could 
be  considered  greater,  as  they  have  had  to  produce  a  special  methodology  and  apply  an 
estimation method from 2014 onwards. 

5.  FEASIBILITY STUDIES 

Article 8 of the Regulation requires Member States to carry out feasibility studies on the use 
of  the  definition  of  ‘usual  residence’  for  population  and  vital  events.  The  studies  involve 
analysing current and potential data sources, data processing and the possibility of estimating 
the  necessary  statistics.  Primarily,  they  aim  to  assess  the  scope  for  improving  the 
comparability of concepts and definitions, and consequently result in better data quality and 
comparability. 

EU/EEA  countries23  carried  out  feasibility  studies  on  the  use  of  the  definition  of  ‘usual 
residence’ for all breakdowns of population and vital events required under the Regulation, in 
order to assess whether it would be possible to converge on the same ‘population’ concept for 
all Member States and all data. Financial support was provided in the form of grants. All the 
countries  submitted  reports  on  the  results  of  the  studies  to  Eurostat  by  the  deadline  in  the 
Regulation (31 December 2016). The reports show that the application of the definition would 
be problematic for some Member States, particularly those using administrative data sources 
to provide Eurostat with data for demographic statistics and population  censuses (which are 
the basis of demographic statistics in several Member States). 

This  problem  may  become  more  widespread  as  the  number  of  Member  States  using 
administrative  data  increases.  For  instance,  the  ongoing  work  to  prepare  the  2021  round  of 
population and housing  censuses shows that  13  of the 31 EU/EEA countries providing data 

22   See section 3.5. 
23   Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 is not yet included in the Agreement between the European Community and 

the Swiss Confederation on cooperation in the field of statistics. 

8 

 
                                                 
under the Regulation are planning a primarily register-based census, 8 a traditional census and 
10 a combined census generally based on a population register. After the 2021 census round, 
the balance may tilt even more towards registers, as some Member States that still conduct a 
traditional census are looking for feasible alternative approaches based on administrative data. 

To summarise: 

 

 

 

some  Member  States  estimate  their  population  stocks  annually,  using  demographic 
components (live births, deaths, immigration and emigration) applied to Census 2011 
figures; 

others estimate population on the basis of statistical population registers; and 

several  use,  or  will  be  using,  multiple  (usually  administrative)  data  sources  to 
measure  ‘usual  residence’,  particularly  in  the  context  of  population  censuses 
evolution. 

The  main  issues  and  difficulties  mentioned  in  Member  States’  reports  as  regards  the 
feasibility of the ‘usual residence’ concept may be grouped as follows: 

 

different  concepts  of  ‘duration  of  stay’  are  used:  3  months,  6  months,  9  months, 
12 months  or  not  time-limited.  Normally,  Member  States  are  able  to  approximate 
12-month  stays,  but  mainly  with  an  overall  adjustment  at  aggregated  level  (i.e. for 
data required under Article 4 of the Regulation). However, they are not in a position 
to approximate 12-month stays at the detailed levels required under Article 3; 

  while  de-registration  and  registration  of  a  new  place  of  residence  is  often 
compulsory, in several Member States this is not done or done only with some delay; 

  Member States are usually able to count only people whose stay is legal or legalised. 
As a consequence, people staying irregularly cannot be counted, even if they could 
be considered part of the usually resident population; 

  Member  States  using  a  population  register  and/or  administrative  data  may  have 
difficulties  in  determining  ‘intention  of  stay’,  as  required  for  the  ‘usual  residence’ 
definition, in particular for some specific population groups (e.g. asylum seekers); 

  when  population  components  from  the  (usual  residence)  census  base  are  used,  an 
assessment should be made as to whether vital events are consistent with the ‘usual 
residence’  concept,  i.e. whether  the  vital  events  data  are  also  collected  under  this 
concept. However, this assessment is not always made; and 
some ‘special groups’ of the ‘usually resident’ population24 cannot be identified or it 
is not possible to assess whether or not they are included, e.g. people living regularly 
at  more  than  one  residence  during  the  year  or  people  who  may  be  irregular  or 
undocumented migrants. 

 

Finally, to sum up the Member States’ conclusions: 

 

some  Member  States  indicate  that  they  already  provide  ‘usual  residence’,  mainly 
the  (usual  residence) 
because 

is  estimated  annually  from 

their  population 

24   There are certain population groups for which some uncertainty may arise as to their inclusion in the ‘usually 
resident’  population  of  a  Member  State  and  which  are  subject  to  special  treatment.  For  more  details,  see 
Chapter V (Population bases) in: 
http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/stats/publications/2015/ECECES41_EN.pdf 
English). 

(available 

only 

in 

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Census 2011  count  using  population  components  (live  births,  deaths,  immigration 
and emigration). Discussions will continue with the countries concerned; 

 

 

some  assess  that  their  ‘national  population’  (mainly  registered  population)  is  very 
close to ‘usually resident population’, particularly at total level, and therefore there is 
no  need  to  change  it,  as  the  quality  is  sufficient  and  any  adjustments  would  incur 
additional  costs.  However,  at  a  more  disaggregated  level  (i.e. at  the  levels  required 
by Regulation (EU) No 205/2014), differences may become greater and the potential 
impact on more detailed demographic statistics should be examined; and 

in  some  Member  States,  ‘usual  residence’  can  be  gauged  using  various  estimation 
methods,  e.g., using  ‘signals’  from  various  administrative  data  to  evaluate  whether 
people  are  living  in  the  Member  State).  These  methods,  however,  require  further 
refinements  as  today  they  do  not  work  for  all  required  breakdowns,  e.g. some 
countries cannot determine the region of residence. 

6.  FURTHER IMPROVEMENT OF EUROPEAN POPULATION STATISTICS 

This  report  has  demonstrated  that  the  Regulation  has  significantly  improved  European 
statistics  on  demography  in  terms  of  data  availability,  completeness,  punctuality  (of  data 
provision by the NSIs) and timeliness (of Eurostat’s data production and dissemination). The 
data quality has benefited from the merging of the collection of the data with that of the data 
received  under  Article  3  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  862/2007  and  related  implementing 
measures, and the Census 2011 round. Quality should continue to be improved in the future, 
in particular by tackling under- and over-coverage. 

Official  European  and  national  bodies,  non-governmental  bodies  and  the  general  public  are 
making  greater  use  of  the  statistics  governed  by  the  Regulation.  The  data  should  reflect 
evolving user needs (e.g. as regards the influx of people seeking refuge in Europe) in the light 
of demographic changes, while taking into account the burden on data providers. 

Ways of improving the situation further will be considered in the context of preparations for 
the post-2021 EU population census.  

7.  CONCLUSIONS 

Thanks to joint efforts involving EU/EEA countries, the implementation of the Regulation has 
increased and improved the output of high-quality European statistics on demography. 

The production of European demographic statistics under the Regulation can be considered to 
be  up  and  running,  and  providing  various  stakeholders  and  local,  regional,  national  and 
international  administrations  with  relevant  data.  However,  demographic  behaviour  and  the 
structure of the population are in constant flux and, as new data sources and methods become 
available,  close  monitoring  of  current  data  production  and  output  under  the  Regulation  and 
parallel  developments  as  regards  future  needs  will  remain  an  important  challenge  in  the 
coming years. 

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