What is the census? « Scotland's Census: Shaping Our Future

Welcome to the census

Registrar General Duncan Macniven introduces the census.

What is the census?

Scotland’s census is the official count of every person and household, which takes place every 10 years.

We ask people to fill in a census questionnaire to reflect their circumstances on 27 March 2011.

The 2011 Census asks 13 questions about the household and up to 35 questions about each person who usually lives at your address. People who stay in managed residential accommodation are asked to fill in an Individual Questionnaire. These might be, for example, people living in care homes or students living in halls of residence.

The answers people give to the census questions will help shape Scotland’s future.

The results are used to produce anonymised (with personal details removed) statistics that help decide how billions of pounds of taxes will be spent every year on services everyone needs, such as education, transport and healthcare.