Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Rep. of

1. Name and address of the organization responsible for the census:

Statistical Office of Republic of Macedonia, Dame Gruev 4, 91000 Skopje.

2. Population censuses conducted since 1945 (years):

1948, 1953, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991, 1994 and 2002.   The present description relates to the 2002 population census (carried out 1 - 15 November).  The data in the census forms relate to the situation as of 31 October 2002 at 24:00 hours (i.e. at midnight between 31 October and 1 November).

3. Coverage of the census:

(a) Geographical scope: Whole country.

(b) Persons covered: All persons of all ages.  Questions concerning economic activity were not asked in respect of persons working abroad, or members of their families staying with them.

4. Reference period:

One week.

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) Educational level:  yes

(g) Hours of work:  yes

(h) Other characteristics:  yes

Re (a): The age is defined in terms of the complete date of birth.

Re (g): The census collected information on both actual and usual hours of work of employed persons during the reference period.

Re (h): The census also collected information on the place of work.

6. Concepts and definitions:

(a) Economically active population: It comprises all persons aged 15 years and over present in the country who, during the reference period, were either employed or unemployed, according to the definitions given below.  Regular members of the armed forces were included in the definition if they receive payment for serving.

(b) Employment:  Based on the questions: “Has the person worked during the last week for payment, profit or another type of recovery?”,  “Has the person worked during the last week at least one hour, including unpaid activity in a shop, enterprise or agricultural holding owned by other members of his/her family?” and “Even if the person has not worked, does he/she have a job (own shop, enterprise or agricultural holding) that he/she was temporarily absent from, during the last week?”.

It is reported that the following categories were included:

i)     persons doing unpaid work in a family firm or business;

ii)    employed persons, temporarily absent from work;

iii)   working students with a part-time job;

iv)   regular members of the armed forces who received payment for serving;

v)    persons temporarily laid-off (with formal job attachment).

Only persons belonging to categories (i) and (ii) can be identified separately.

(c) Unemployment: Based on the questions:  “What is the main reason why the person has not worked during the last week?”, “Has the person looked for a job in the last four weeks?” and “Is the person able to start work within the next two weeks, if he/she finds a job?”.  It is reported that students seeking work and persons temporarily laid-off (without formal job attachment) were included in the definition, while discouraged workers were excluded from the definition.

7. Classifications used:

Only employed persons were classified by industry, by occupation and by status in employment while both employed and unemployed persons were classified by educational level.

(a) Industry: For coding industry, 17 sectors of the national classification were used.  Links to ISIC-rev.3 were established at the class (4-digit) level.

(b) Occupation:  Based on the question: “What is the occupation of the person? Give title or description”.  For coding occupation, ten groups of the national classification were used. Links to ISCO-88 were established at the unit group (4-digit) level.

(c) Status in employment: For coding this variable, the following four groups were used:  Employed; Employer; Self-employed and Unpaid family worker.

(d) Level of education: For coding educational level, 11 levels of the national classification were used.  Links to ISCED were established.

8. Main differences compared with the previous census:

In previous censuses:

-     The age limit for inclusion in the economically active population was lowered when children aged 10 to 14 years who did not attend school performed some agricultural activities;

-      Questions on economic activity were also asked to persons staying abroad;

-      Concepts of usual activity and long reference period were used;

-      Persons engaged in production of goods for own consumption and seasonal workers were included among the employed;

-      Discouraged workers were included among the unemployed;

-      Employed persons were asked to specify their usual hours of work;

-      Unemployed persons were also asked for their occupation;

-      No links to ISIC or ISCO were established, and the national classification of industry had only 14 groups.

9. Publication of the census results:

All the 2002 census results will be available in the form of publications, unpublished tables, CD-Rom and on the website of the Statistical Office (www.stat.gov.mk). 

The organization responsible for the dissemination of the census results is the Statistical Office of Republic of Macedonia, Dame Gruev 4, 91000 Skopje.