The present Volume 5 of Sources and Methods: Labour Statistics is an updated version of the second edition issued in 1996 which presented methodological descriptions of population censuses carried out during the period 1989-94 in 115 countries, areas and territories. The first edition issued in 1990 covered the period 1945-89.

The purpose of this volume is twofold: first, to document national practices in the collection of statistics on the total population and economically active population, employment and unemployment derived from population censuses; and, second, to illustrate the comparability of the statistics provided by countries. These descriptions are presented under standard headings which allow for easy comparison of the different characteristics. They complement the data published on the ILO’s central statistical database, ILOSTAT (http://www.ilo.org/ilostat).