With regard to the information presented inaccurately and in a biased manner concerning the purpose of the 2024 Population and Housing Census (PHC), published by the editorial office Комсомольская правда in the article ‘Налоги на недвижимость, особенно, на квартиры, в Молдове вырастут еще больше: Почему перепись жилищного Фонда похожа на отмывание денег и каковы будут последствия’, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) denies this, providing clarification on the purpose and importance of the census.

The Population and Housing Census is a nationwide statistical survey that is conducted on the territory of the country once every 10 years. Within this census, data on individuals and dwellings are collected. There are other censuses, with specific purposes, such as the agricultural census (the last one being conducted in the Republic of Moldova in 2011) or the enterprise census.

The purpose of the Population and Housing Census is to produce and disseminate statistics on the demographic and socio-economic structure of the population, households and family kernels, the housing in which the population resides and living conditions, as well as on the buildings in which housing is located. The purpose, objects and manner of conducting the 2024 PHC in our country are set out in Law No. 231/2022 on population and housing census and Government Decision No. 951/2022 on the organization and conduct of the population and housing census in the Republic of Moldova in 2024.

Attributing purposes to the 2024 Population and Housing Census other than those mentioned in the relevant normative acts, including the collection of property taxes on real estate, is totally unfounded. The purpose of collecting data on housing in the country within the PHC is to collect data on the standard of living of the population, the endowment of housing with the main amenities such as bathroom or shower, kitchen, sewerage system, heating installations, access ramps, etc. These data are used for the development of national and local public policies, administrative activities, research, business, etc.

For example, PHC data will help determine the share of homes with roofs made of slate sheets containing substances toxic to health, as well as those vulnerable to natural disasters. These data will be used by policymakers to develop policies to support the country's population in rehabilitating housing and building sustainable and safe housing.

The census will also provide other indicators that are missing from the administrative data sources held by the authorities of the Republic of Moldova. there are localities in the country where large-scale cadastral works have not been carried out and, consequently, a significant number of dwellings are not registered in the Real Estate Register. At the same time, in the localities of the country, where the massive cadastral works were carried out, only the basic building is registered by the rule. At the same time, the procedures for registering buildings in the Real Estate Register imply a certain degree of completion of constructions and for this reason many of the individual houses built by individuals, but not completed, are missing in the cadastral database, although people live in such houses.

At the same time, the census will provide demographic and social-economic statistics about the country's population, integrated with spatial data, at the level of small areas, including 1 km square grids, being extremely important for the elaboration and implementation of social development and infrastructure projects, including for better planning of urban transport, construction of kindergartens, schools, hospitals, etc.

In this context, the National Bureau of Statistics urges the media representatives and the population to be well informed about the purpose and performance of the census works, including on the basis of the varied information available on the official website of the NBS www.statistica.gov.md, with a special page dedicated to the LPL.

It should also be noted that the NBS guarantees that the data collected will be used exclusively for statistical purposes, namely for the production of official statistics on population and housing that will be made available to the public, and under no circumstances for other purposes, such as those mentioned in the article.

The NBS stresses the importance of census participation by every person living in the country.

Understanding the real demographic situation in each locality of the country depends on the participation of every resident in the census and on the provision of accurate and complete answers!