The Namibian Statistics Agency (NSA) will, after a year of postponements, conduct the population and housing census between August and October this year.

This was revealed by the NSA's Chief Executive Officer, Alex Shimuafeni, during a media conference.

After two postponements last year, the NSA says it is currently busy testing the data collection applications in the Zambezi, Erongo, Kunene, Ohangwena, Hardap, Omusati, and Kavango West regions.

"The NSA is happy to report that it has concluded the census mapping and pilot census as well as the PES pilot case part of the pre-enumeration phase. The field exercise started on February 27 and will run until March 10, 2023. The final testing will be done in the Khomas region from March 14–17, 2023. We are humbly requesting the selected households to assist our field staff when approached. The main purpose of the field testing is to ensure that all census tools are ready for the main census."

About 13,000 enumerators are expected to be employed during the census.

Namibia's census will for the first time be spatially enabled and done digitally.

The census consists of pre-enumeration, enumeration, and post-enumeration phases.

The pre-enumeration includes the mapping and pilot census; the enumeration speaks of the collection of data; and the post-enumeration refers to data analysis and reporting.

An amount of N$706 million has been allocated to carry out the data collection in the current budget tabled in the National Assembly last week.

The population and housing census provides information on the population and housing characteristics of the country to influence decision-making, guide development, and monitor development progress.