Norway

1. Name and address of the organization responsible for the census:

Statistics Norway, Division for Population and Housing Census, NO-2225 Kongsvinger, Norway.

2. Population censuses conducted since 1945 (years):

1946, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2001. The present description relates to the 2001 census (conducted 3 November).

3. Coverage of the census:

(a) Geographical scope: Whole country. As in previous censuses, Norwegian residents staying on Svalbard and Jan Mayen are registered as residents of a municipality of the mainland, and not separately identified in census results; neither are foreign nationals residing there.

(b) Persons covered: General coverage: the Population and Housing Census 2001 includes all persons, including foreign citizens, who were considered resident in Norway according to the Central Population Register on 3 November 2001.

Coverage for labour market variables: All persons aged 16-74 years.

4. Reference period:

Reference week (current activity): 29 October to 4 November 2001.

Reference year (usual activity): 1 January to 31 December 2001.

5. Main topics:

(a) Total population, by sex and age: yes

Economically active population by:

(b) Sex and age group: yes

(d) Occupation: no

(e) Status in employment: yes

(f) Highest educational level: yes

(g) Hours of work: yes

(h) Other characteristics: yes

Re (a): The main definition of age is in terms of year of birth (age per 31 December 2001). Age is also defined in terms of age as per 3 November 2001.

Re (e): Only two groups specified: Employees and self-employed persons.

Re (g): Weekly working hours: For salaried employees, this refers to settled weekly working hours in the main job. For self-employed persons, usual working hours are estimated on the basis of available register information. Working hours per year refers to working hours for all jobs.

Re (h): The census also collected information on other work related topics such as current activity status, place of work, type of sector, number of persons working in the local unit of the establishment, persons employed 100 hours or more per year and earned income.

General remark: All labour market variables are based on data from administrative and statistical registers. The variables are based on several different sources. Statistics Norway has established a system to jointly utilise these data. The system comprises modules for consistency management between various data sources, selection of the most important job and classification as employed–not employed. The same data system is also used for annual labour market statistics.

6. Concepts and definitions:

(a) Economically active population: Comprises all persons aged 16-74 years who, during the reference week, were either employed or unemployed, according to the definitions given below.

(b) Employment: In the 2001 Census and in other register-based statistics, the objective is to use available data to produce a classification of employed persons that is as close as possible to the definition in the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The most important register for identifying employed persons is the Register of Employees, which holds information on duration of jobs and thus shows which jobs were active during census week. The other main data sources, the Register of Wage Sums and the Register for Personal Tax Payers, do not have information on the duration of jobs. In these cases, information on wages and income from self-employment as well as supplementary information from other registers and statistical systems is used to classify persons as employed. This method gives a figure for the total of employed persons that agrees with the corresponding figure from the LFS. Since the LFS comprises the age group of 16-74 years, only persons in this age group may be classified as employed.

The following categories are included:

i) employed persons, temporarily absent from work;

ii) working students with a part time job;

iii) seasonal or occasional workers;

iv) conscripts for military/civilian service;

v) apprentices and trainees.

(c) Unemployment: Considered as unemployed are all persons who were registered at Employment Offices as unemployed during the reference week. Persons, who are registered as both employed and unemployed during the reference week, are classified as employed.

7. Classifications used:

Only employed persons are classified by industry and by status in employment.

(a) Industry: For employed persons with several jobs in the reference week, one is selected as the main job. Information on industry refers to the main job. Industry is coded from the latest version of the Statistical Classification of Economical Activities in the European Community, NACE-rev.1, based on the UN's standard, ISIC-rev.3. Industry was coded by linking to the Business Register, giving all five digits in the NACE-code.

(b) Occupation: Occupation was not included in the 2001 Census due to problems with data quality and coverage.

(c) Status in employment: Information on status in employment refers to the main job. Only two groups are specified: Employees and self-employed persons.

(d) Level of education: The data source is Statistics Norway's Register of the Population's Highest Level of Education. This register is based on information from individual educational institutions and state and county municipal data systems. Information on education refers to 1 October 2001. For persons with several levels of completed education, only the highest level is given. Level of education is based on the Norwegian standard for the classification of education (NUS2000) and is a 6-digit code giving level, field of study, subject group, educational group and individual educational programme. This classification is linked to the International Standard Classification of Education, ISCED-1997.

8. Main differences compared with the previous census:

- In the 1990 Census labour market data were collected by using a questionnaire (sample survey). In the 2001 Census, register data were used. Even though the definitions used are the same, this change in the method of data collecting might still cause some changes in the statistics.

- Employed persons: In the 1990 Census only persons who stated that they were employed in the census year were asked to respond to questions on employment during census week. Variables such as occupation and industry, etc. were then related to the main employment that year. In the 2001 Census employment in the census week is determined irrespective of whether the person was employed at least 100 hours that year or not.

- Working hours per week: In the 2001 Census settled/usual working hours per week are used. In the 1990 Census questions were also asked about hours actually worked per week.

- Working hours per year: In the 2001 Census working hours per year were given at four intervals. In the 1990 Census questions were asked about the number of months in full-time and part-time employment.

- Industry: In the 2001 Census industry is coded using the latest version of NACE (based on ISIC-rev.3). In the 1990 Census the previous version of NACE was used (based on ISIC-rev.2).

- Occupation: For the 2001 Census an attempt was made to deduce occupation by use of register data. However the data quality for the year 2001 was not satisfactory so this variable is not included in the 2001 Census.

- Place of work: In the 1990 Census a question was asked about place of reporting for work during census week. In the 2001 Census information on place of work refers to the location of the establishment (local unit), which does not always correspond with the place of reporting for work for the individual person.

- Journey to work: In the 1990 Census, in addition to information on commuting, there were three variables related to journey to work: travelling time, number of journeys per week and means of travel to work (means of transportation). Since there are no register data for these variables, they are not included in the 2001 Census.

9. Publication of the census results:

The main results from the 2001 Census are published on Internet (http://www.ssb.no/fob ) in Norwegian and English. Most tables are also available in a database named Statbank Norway (http://www.ssb.no/english/statbank).

Figures from the Population and Housing Census 2001 are also published in a hard copy version in the series “Official Statistics of Norway”. A separate volume is published for every municipality and county (in Norwegian only). These publications are also available on Internet in pdf-format (http://www.ssb.no/fob ).

An overview of all variables available in the 2001 Census will be published in a separate handbook for the 2001 Census (in Norwegian and English).

The organization responsible for the publication of the census results is Statistics Norway, Division for Population and Housing Census, NO-2225 Kongsvinger, Norway.