ZAGREB, 28 Oct 2021 - The Croatian government will extend the deadline for the completion of the population census, which should have been finished by 29 October, until 14 November because of difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

"Considering the present circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, where our census-takers are encountering certain difficulties on the ground, and following consultations with the director of the National Bureau of Statistics, the government will today extend the deadline for the completion of the census until 14 November," the prime minister said.

Plenković said that the extension would give enough time for the census to be completed in the remaining small pockets of the country and to be done in the best possible way.

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ZAGREB, 27 Sept 2021 - Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS) director Lidija Brković said on Monday that self-enumeration, which was supposed to end at midnight on Sunday, was extended until midnight today because yesterday the system was slow "due to extremely high interest."

She told the press that over 100,000 citizens had self-enumerated since 3 pm on Sunday and dismissed journalists' claims that the system crashed yesterday.

Due to the prolongation, the second stage of the population census will begin on Tuesday, instead of today, with 8,000 census-takers visiting households across the country. Despite the prolongation, the census is expected to end on 17 October as planned.

Since 13 September, over 1.42 million citizens have completed census questionnaires online on their own, which Brković said surpassed expectations. The City of Zagreb accounts for over 50% of them.

She said 4,000 census-takers did not have a COVID certificate and that free testing would be ensured for them three times a week.

Brković added that citizens were free to ask census-takers to show them their certificates as well as DZS accreditation.

For more about the 2021 self-enumeration, be sure to check the official website HERE.

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September the 3rd, 2021 - The Croatian census is due to be carried out in two weeks, and every single resident of Croatia needs to partake. If you refuse to do so, a fine of between 2,000 and 5,000 kuna could be issued to you.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, every inhabitant single legal resident of the Republic of Croatia is subject to the Croatian Census Act, according to which every person who refuses to be enumerated faces a fine of two to five thousand kuna.

Lidija Brkovic, the director of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), spoke for local portal Glas Slavonije about the Croatian census, which is set to begin in two weeks following a coronavirus-induced delay earlier on in the year.

"The Croatian census is based on an individual statement, and the enumerator has no right to ask for documents or check the answers that a person gives. Every resident of Croatia is subject to is the Act on the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Croatia in 2021, which provides for the issuing of fines from 2,000 to 5,000 kuna for a misdemeanor of a natural person if they refuse to provide their data for the census. People can have full confidence in the Central Bureau of Statistics because all the data collected by the Bureau remains an official secret,'' assured Brkovic.

Two phases of the 2021 Croatian census - online and offline

The Croatian census will be conducted in two phases - the first will be a ''self-census'' of residents online through the e-Citizens (e-Gradjani) system, followed by a field census of those who didn't register online. The fieldwork begins on September the 27th and will run through until October the 17th, 2021.

“The first phase of self-enumeration through the e-Citizens system will last from September the 13th to the 26th, and just one person in the household who uses the system is enough and will be able to enumerate all members of their household. If more than one household member uses the e-Citizens system, it still must only be one person listing all of the household members,'' said Brkovic.

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