90% Reduction in Census Costs / Census Text Messages to Be Sent from October 17

The head of the Statistical Centre of Iran announced that the 2026 Population and Housing Census will be conducted using a register-based approach and new technologies. He said non-in-person census operations will begin on October 17, and field operations will be launched nationwide starting October 24. He added that census implementation costs have so far been reduced by more than 90%.

According to Ambassador Arjan, Gholamreza Godarzi, the head of Iran's Statistical Center, explained the details of the 1405 population and housing census at a press conference today (Tuesday) and stated: In our opinion, this census is considered a major development in the country's statistical system. Because we have been able to create a good cooperation between different devices to share data. Almost most of the executive bodies and institutions related to the Iranian Statistics Center have cooperated in this plan and provided the center with the data needed to implement the census based on the approved guidelines. Also, the private sector has helped us in advertising and promoting the census and providing some executive needs.

Gudarzi continued by appreciating the cooperation of the people and the enumerators: Most of the people who have registered to cooperate in this plan are among the youth of the country who will work as enumerators. Currently, census trainings are being held across the country through virtual space and offline.

Stating that the purpose of conducting the 1405 census is not just a statistical operation this year, the head of Iran's statistical center said: the main goal is to institutionalize this method for the coming years. From now on, we will no longer have 10-year censuses and move towards conducting censuses in shorter time periods. Whether the future censuses will be conducted in one-year, two-year periods, or other periods, depends on the approvals of the Council of Ministers, the Supreme Council of Statistics, and other competent authorities; However, the Statistics Center intends to provide the necessary preparation for conducting the census in shorter periods.

Emphasizing the importance of updating population statistics, Godarzi stated: Population is one of the important indicators for decision-making in the country, and in many cases, homework rules are specified based on population. Previously, the Iranian Statistics Center relied on the 1395 census and existing estimates to provide information, but we hope that with the implementation of this project, access to more accurate and up-to-date population statistics will be provided.

Cooperation between the government and executive bodies in the implementation of the census

Referring to the cooperation of the Program and Budget Organization with the Statistical Center of Iran, he said: "In the previous census, there was also cooperation between the institutions, but the distinguishing point of this period was the will of the country's Program and Budget Organization, and especially Mohammad Reza Pourmohammadi, the head of this organization, to be smart." In this framework, smart projects were implemented, one of which was the census project.

The head of the Iranian Statistics Center appreciated the president's support for the implementation of this plan and added: due to the nature of the census and the importance of preparing its infrastructure, the executive order of this plan was issued two years ago; While usually such a decree is issued in the months close to the time of the census. During these two years, the colleagues of Iran Statistics Center, Program and Budget Organization, various ministries and institutions such as Civil Registration Organization, Ministry of Interior, National Post Company and Faraja took the necessary measures. The government, the Islamic Council, the judiciary and other government departments also supported the implementation of this plan.

Stating that the effects of this change will not be limited to the population area, he said: With the preparations that have been made and taking into account the Iran Statistics Center's access to the data of various institutions, the approved guidelines and the cooperation between the ministries and the Statistics Center, we hope that more up-to-date, more practical and diverse statistics will be produced in the coming years.

Establishment of registration-based statistical system in the next year

Referring to the establishment of census headquarters in the provinces, the head of Iran's statistical center said: With the establishment of these headquarters, we hope that a great change will be made in the country's statistical system. After the implementation of the 1405 census, one of the most important projects of the statistics center in 1406 will be the establishment and development of the registration-based statistical system, which has already been prepared. This statistical system will be basic and intelligent and will be developed throughout the country. The production of provincial statistics and more detailed statistics based on the characteristics of different regions is one of the future plans of Iran Statistics Center, which will be the starting point of the 1405 census.

Saving more than 90% in census costs

Guderzi mentioned another achievement of the new census as a significant reduction in costs and said: If the census was to be carried out with the same method as in 2016, regardless of the limitations of infrastructure, information technology and required manpower, the country would have incurred a huge cost. Considering the country's economic conditions and the government's efforts to help the people's livelihood, imposing such a fee could have created more pressure; However, with the cooperation of various institutions, more than 90% of census costs have been saved and the cost of implementing this plan has reached an acceptable level from a very high level.

The head of the Iranian Statistics Center continued: "We are trying to reduce the costs again in the census implementation phase by using the guidelines of our colleagues, the government, the president and other officials, without affecting the quality and accuracy of the work." The implementation of this census has helped to improve the administrative records of devices. Also, the processes required to complete the data have been completed and these processes are going through their legal path.

Sending census SMS from October 25

Describing how the 1405 census was carried out, Guderzi stated: In the past censuses, we went to the people first, and it was necessary to provide information and justification about the census process. But in the new census, first, the information of various devices was collected and checked, and the necessary training and coordination with the devices was done. Now we have reached the stage of public information and communication with people. The administrative data has been received from various ministries and systems and has been provided to the Iranian Statistics Center in compliance with the confidentiality and principles set by the relevant authorities. The information of Civil Registration Organization and other institutions were among the main data used in this census.

Stating that the census is not limited to determining the number of the country's population, the head of Iran's statistics center said: the important issue is to determine how the population is distributed in different parts of the country and in which areas it is concentrated. For this reason, the Iranian Statistics Center is the official authority for announcing the country's population statistics, and other institutions also produce the necessary information within the framework of their missions.

Gudarzi also said about the time of announcing the initial results of the census: We hope that Iran's Statistics Center will be able to announce the first results of the census at the end of March and preferably in the beginning of March. Of course, the more complete results will be published in 1406, but we are trying to make the initial results available to people, media, researchers and policy makers as soon as possible. After receiving the data from the main institutions, including the Civil Registration Organization, the National Post Company, the Ministry of Interior and Faraja, the required statistical frameworks were formed. The information of higher education, education and other fields have also been used as auxiliary data.

Census text messages do not have links

Referring to the beginning of the non-attendance operation of the census on October 25, the head of the Iranian Statistics Center said: At this stage, SMS will be sent to a part of the society. These text messages will be sent by the Iranian Statistics Center and do not contain any links; Therefore, people should note that anonymous text messages or text messages containing links are not approved by the Iranian Statistics Center. Official SMS directs people to specific government system and smart government service unit window. More details will be announced at the right time through the national media, various media, provincial networks and virtual space.

Stating that SMS messages are not sent to all people, Godarzi said: the target community of this stage includes people whose information is found to be incomplete, whose information is not registered in the existing systems, or who need further investigation to verify the data. This process continues in the month of November, and through a specific communication system, people who have received SMS but did not act in the appointed time will be contacted to help them complete the information. The timing of this process will be determined based on the approvals of the census headquarters.

The beginning of field operations from the second of November

The head of the Iranian Statistics Center said about the field stage of the census: Field operations will begin on November 2 across the country and all provinces. At this stage, the census will be conducted using a combined method; This means that the registration and administrative data are the main basis of the work, and to complete the information, survey and field reference are also done. The use of this method reduces the share of survey compared to the past censuses. In this course, the ranges required for navigation are specified and the statistical blocks and units to be referred to are predetermined.

Emphasizing that the reference to the people will be targeted, Godarzi said: In each province, the provincial colleagues will inform the families that the enumerator is supposed to refer to. Officers come with specific clothes, identification card and specific equipment to conduct the census. Visiting households is done with purposes such as verifying information, fixing existing deficiencies, and completing statistical data. On the other hand, most of the people will not be addressed; Because the information they need has already been recorded based on the available administrative and statistical data, and there is no need to receive the same information again.

In the end, the head of Iran's Statistics Center thanked the media and said: since the census work started about two years ago, the media were with Iran's Statistics Center and helped inform the people. Especially in the last two to three months, when we are getting closer to the time of the operation, the media has increased. We hope that with the continued cooperation of executive bodies, provincial headquarters and media, the 1405 population and housing census will be well implemented and a successful experience in the country's statistical system.