Bulgarian Statistical Institute Riven by Scandal over 2011Census Data

Ivan Balev, head of the Demographic and Social Statistics unit of Bulgaria's National Statistical Institute (NSI), has insisted that the 2011 census was deeply flawed.

Balev, as cited by Darik radio, claimed that the shortcomings of the 2011 census were due to mistakes of census workers and statisticians.

He argued that the 2011 census had been conducted within shortened time-limits and marred by serious flaws in the data collection and control methods.

To illustrate his point, he said that the 2011 census indicated a decrease by 64 000 in the total number of buildings in 10 years despite the construction boom in the pre-crisis years.

Balev insisted that the online data collection option, which had been used by some 40% of the people, had also introduced errors into the report, as well as the addition of the people who were not counted.

He drew attention to the fact that Eurostat had criticized Bulgaria about the statistics on Bulgarians living abroad.

Balev said that Bulgaria's domestic statistics pointed to around 300 000 Bulgarians living abroad permanently, while statistics of other countries indicated a much bigger number.

He declared that a micro-census would help iron out the mistakes.

Balev explained that the 2011 census provided incorrect information about residential buildings, the ethnic structure of the population, religion, and mother tongue.

Meanwhile, the two deputy chairs of NSI, Diyana Yancheva and Sergey Tsvetarski, rejected claims that the 2011 census contained manipulated data.

Yancheva and Tsvetarski admitted that a large-scale survey like the census could not possibly be error-free, adding that they had backed the drafting...