1. Name and address of the organization responsible for the census:
National Statistical Service of Greece (NSSG), Population and Labour Market Statistics Division, 43-45 Agissilaou Str., 101 66 Athens.
2. Population censuses conducted since 1945 (years):
1951, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001. The present description relates to the 2001 census (held on March 18th).
3. Coverage of the census:
(a) Geographical scope: Whole country.
(b) Persons covered: All persons found in the country at midnight on 17-18 March 2001.
4. Reference period:
For labour statistics: the week preceding the date of the census and the 12 months preceding the census (i.e. March 2000 to February 2001).
5. Main topics:
(a) Total population, by sex and age: yes
Economically active population by:
(b) Sex and age group: yes
(c) Industry: yes
(d) Occupation: yes
(e) Status in employment: yes
(f) Highest educational level: yes
(g) Hours of work: yes
(h) Other characteristics: yes
Re (a): The age is defined in terms of years of birth.
Re (g): Hours of work are expressed in terms of actual hours worked by employed persons, at work, during the short reference period.
Re (h): The census also collected information on the place of work in relation to the place of usual residence.
6. Concepts and definitions:
(a) Economically active population: It comprises all persons aged 10 years and over who, during the reference periods, were usually either employed or unemployed, according to the definitions given below. Conscripts in compulsory military service are excluded from the definition.
(b) Employment: Considered as employed are all persons who, during the reference periods, did any work for pay or profit. To determine whether a person should be considered as employed, the questions asked were “What was your main occupation during the last 12 months (March 2000-February 2001)?” and “What was your main occupation during the previous week (11-17 March 2001)?”.
The following categories were included:
i) persons doing unpaid work in family business;
ii) persons engaged in the production of primary products for own consumption;
iii) employed persons, temporarily absent from work;
iv) working students with a part-time job;
v) seasonal or occasional workers (provided they were working at the time of the census);
vi) apprentices and trainees.
(c) Unemployment: Considered as unemployed are all persons who were without work during the reference week, currently available for work and actively seeking work. Young persons and first-time job seekers are also included in the definition. On the other hand, employed persons looking for a new job are not covered by this definition and are considered as employed.
7. Classifications used:
Both employed persons and unemployed persons previously employed are classified by branch of economic activity, by occupation and status in employment.
(a) Industry (branch of economic activity): The question asked concerned the type of activity of the firm, business, establishment or service in which the person currently works or last worked. For coding industry NACE Rev.1 was used to the group (3-digit) level.
(b) Occupation: The question asked concerned the exact nature of the person’s current, or most recent, occupation. For coding occupation, ISCO-88 was used to the unit group (4-digit) level.
(c) Status in employment: Based on the question “What was your status at this job?” and the answer included the following pre-coded cases: employer (employing one or more persons), self-employed, employee or wage earner, assistant in family business (firm or agricultural holding).
(d) Level of education: The questions asked concerned the highest level of studies completed by the respondent (13 pre-coded answers) and the academic qualifications of persons holding a degree (Doctorate, Master’s, University degree). For coding this variable ISCED-97 was used at the one-digit level.
8. Main differences compared with the previous census:
The 2001 census differed from the previous one in the following respects:
- A new type of questionnaire was used which could be read electronically with an optical magnetic reader (OMR) system.
- Special software was developed for ‘reading’ industry and occupation and converting them to codes.
- No information on the means and time of travel to the workplace was collected.
9. Publication of the census results:
The title of the publication containing the census results is “Results of the 18 March 2001 population and housing census”.
The organization responsible for this publication is the National Statistical Service of Greece, Statistical Information and Publications Division, 14-16 Lycourgou Str., 101 66 Athens.
The results of the 2001 census will also be available in the form of unpublished tables.