Niue

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

Statistics Niue, Economic, Planning, Development and Statistics Unit, Premiers Department, Government of Niue, P.O. Box 40, Alofi.

2. Population censuses conducted since 1945 (years):

1951, 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996 and 2001.  The present description relates to the 2001 population census (held on 7 September).

3. Coverage of the census:

(a) Geographical scope: Whole country.     

(b) Persons covered: All persons of all ages.   

4. Reference period:

The week preceding the census day for economic activities.

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 determined in terms of date of birth.

Re (g): Hours of work relate to actual hours worked per week.

Re (h): The census also collected information on income level and various health-related topics.

6. Concepts and definitions:

(a) Economically active population:  It comprises all persons aged 15 years and over who, during the reference period, were either employed or unemployed, according to the definitions given below.

(b) Employment:  Considered as employed are all persons who, during the reference period, were working full time for wage or salary, were working for wages part time (incl. casual) or were working mainly to produce for sale.  The question used to determine whether a person is to be counted as employed is “What was your main activity last week?”.  Possible responses were as follows:  1) Working full time for wage or salary; 2) Working for wages part time (incl. casual); 3) Working mainly to produce for own use/household consumption; 4) Working mainly to produce for sale; 5) Unemployed; 6) Domestic duties and not working for wages; 7) Attending full-time education; 8) Other (please specify).    

It is reported that the following categories are included:                                        

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

ii)        persons engaged in production for own consumption;            

iii)       employed persons, temporarily absent from work;                            

iv)       seasonal or occasional workers.                                            

(c) Unemployment: Considered as unemployed are all persons who, during the reference period, were without work but were available for work whether or not they were looking for it.  The question used to determine whether a person is to be counted as unemployed is the same as that indicated above under 6 (b).

7. Classifications used:

Only employed persons are classified by industry, by occupation and by status in employment.            

(a) Industry:   Employed persons were asked to specify the industry in which they were employed.  For coding industry, four groups of the national classification were used

(b) Occupation:  Employed and unemployed persons were asked to state their occupation.  For coding occupation, 11 groups of the national classification were used.   

(c) Status in employment: For coding status in employment, the following groups were used: 1) Government worker; 2) Private sector; 3) Self-employed/Family business; 4) Other.

(d) Level of education: Based on the question: “What is the highest level of education you have attained?”.  For coding level of education the following groups were used: 1) No education; 2) Primary; 3) Secondary; 4) Tertiary; 5) Not stated.   Respondents were also asked to indicate the highest qualification they had formally attained.  Links to ISCED-97 have not been established.        

8. Main differences compared with the previous census:

No major difference.

9. Publication of the census results:

The final results of the census were published in November 2002 in “Niue – 2001 Census of Population and Housing: Report”.

The organization responsible for the publication is Statistics Niue, Economic, Planning, Development and Statistics Unit, Premiers Department, Government of Niue, P.O. Box 40, Alofi.

The census data are also available on the website of Statistics Niue (www.spc.int/prism/country/nu/stats).