Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística

About - Results of the Coverage Analysis

The Population Census is the major reference for understanding life conditions of the population in every Brazilian Municipality and internal geographies, providing valuable subsidies for the public administration and for the economic and social planning of Brazil. 

As a result of its importance, national statistical offices carry out major efforts and investments in order that surveys of this nature reach a high level of coverage and quality. However, it is known that such operations are complex, subject to errors and imprecisions, since they involve many working phases, consume a large contingent of workforce and the complete coverage of the population is not feasible - persons can´t be enumerated or can be wrongly enumerated, and enumeration problems do not occur evenly in every region.

Gaps in the coverage of the data collection of the censuses and in the quality of the declared information are a common phenomenon in several countries, and the recognition of such gaps requires the assessment of the coverage and quality. In addition, the identification of the enumeration standards and levels is key in order that the information produced can be appropriately used and enhance the census data.

In Brazil, the IBGE implements sample surveys to assess the coverage and quality of census data since the 1970 Population Census. The accomplishment of the Post-Enumeration Survey (PPE) of the 2022 Population Census maintains this tradition and, as in the previous surveys, aims at providing subsidies to assess the associated census operation. It should be highlighted that the scope of such investigation was improved in this edition, also including the results of the coverage analysis in addition to the information on the results of the data collection and analysis of the content of the issues investigated in both surveys, originally released in the first publication of the 2022 PPE.

In this second approach, coverage standards and levels of the 2022 Population Census are assessed, presenting rates of gross error, net error, omission and improper inclusion of persons, obtained by the 2022 PPE. The results are presented for the levels Brazil, Major Regions, Federation Units and classes of Municipalities, according to the population size. The publication includes technical notes with methodological considerations on the 2022 PPE, including, among other aspects, the concepts and definitions adopted, as well as the general procedures used in the phases of preparation, collection, pairing and reconcilliation of the operation.

Altogether, the results of the 2022 PPE aim at enhancing the use of the valuable data of the 2022 Population Census, providing users with additional elements to better interpret its statistics.