The Bureau of Statistics today said the 2022 preliminary report will be released soon and will provide evidence-based exposition of Guyana’s Population. The bureau released a statement denying reports that the population had declined and that the delay in producing the 2022 report was due to political interference.
The Bureau described as erroneous the claims that political interference was responsible for the delay in the publication of the 2022 Population and Housing Census.
The delay in the publication was strictly a consequence of its unwavering commitment to professional diligence in the face of considerable challenges encountered during this census round.
Additionally, the bureau said censuses across the Caribbean region have been significantly delayed, with countries such as Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, Dominica, St. Lucia, and others experiencing protracted census activities extending up to and beyond two years.
According to the statement among the factors cited for the delays are respondent suspicion, apathy, and fatigue in a post COVID environment.
The Bureau said it was dedicated to ensuring appropriate statistical confidence in the accuracy of the census results and it was not politically constrained as suggested.
Further, claims that the 2022 Population and Housing Census showed that Guyana’s population had declined from 764, 955 in 2012 due to migration are unfounded and erroneous.
The Bureau said it is a semi-autonomous agency, legally mandated by the Statistics Act of (1965) Chapter 19:09 to collect, compile, analyse, abstract and publish statistical information relating to the social, agricultural, mining, commercial, industrial and general activities and conditions of the inhabitants of Guyana.”