THE Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) has indicated to the Jamaica Observer that findings of the long-delayed 2022 Population and Housing Census should be made public in weeks.

The census, which began in September 2022, envisioned the collection of data from all 14 parishes — 6,611 enumeration districts (EDs) to be completed by December of that year.

However, after challenges with recruitment of data collectors, a new date of March 2023 was set, but there were further delays before the process was completed.

Late last year Statin’s Acting Director General Leesha Delatie-Budair reported that the entity was working simultaneously on completing the 2022 census, while preparing for the the next population count in 2031.

She added that the extended data collection for the 2022 census was unprecedented for Jamaica, but it was a feature of the 2020 round of censuses globally.

“Despite all of the challenges that we have faced in the 2022 Population and Housing Census, we are making every effort to conclude the census and ensure the quality and the reliability of the results,” Delatie-Budair said during the opening session of a workshop on’ Gridded Population Modelling and Small Area Estimation (SAE) for Census Imputation’, last November.

On Wednesday this week Statin — in response to questions from the Observer — said it is now in the final stages of data validation and is on track to release the officialpopulation count by the end of September 2025.

“This release will mark a major milestone in the dissemination of results from the 2022 Population and Housing Census. A more detailed analytical report is scheduled for publication later in the 2025/26 financial year,” the agency said.

Statin also reported that it has resolved the issues that contributed to the delay in payments to some census field workers.

“All payments due to census workers have now been processed and disbursed. The institute thanks the census workers for their patience and dedication and reaffirms our commitment to continuous improvement in the management of field operations,” the e-mailed response said.

Early last year several census workers expressed concerns regarding issues surrounding their remuneration.

At that time, then Statin Director General Carol Coy had argued that the processing of payments to workers was taking longer than anticipated for several reasons, including the fact that some workers had not completed the processes needed to facilitate payments.

“With the completion of the main data collection by contract workers, efforts are now focused on the processing of all outstanding payments to census workers. For those yet to be compensated, the non- and partial-submissions or inconsistencies of the visitation record, which is a critical part of the data collection process, pose a significant challenge. Statin, however, has put in place internal measures to address this issue,” Coy said.