DUSHANBE, September 21, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- The 2010 population and housing census is beginning in Tajikistan today.

Ms. Zebo Ismoilova, the chairperson of the population census department with the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan, told Asia-plus Monday afternoon that 27 million somoni (equivalent to more than 6.1 million U.S. dollars) have been allocated for the 2010 population and housing census and more than 30,000 people, including observers, consultants and others, will be involved in conducting the population census that runs through September 30.

According to her, the preliminary data will be published in May 2011 and the final findings will be published in 2013.

The census of housing is conducted in Tajikistan for the first time.  The housing census is reportedly conducted for the purposes of studying living standards of the population, housing conditions, and creating the housing stock in the republic.

For Tajikistan, it is the ninth population census (In Tajikistan, the latest census was conducted in 2000).

We will recall that in a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, Ms. Bakhtiya Muhammadiyeva, the director of the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan, revealed on July 23 that as of April 1, 2010, Tajikistan’s population was 7.562 million.

Population growth rate (PGR) is quite high in Tajikistan.  The country’s population rose from some 1.1 million in 1929 to 3.801 million in 1979; in 1999, Tajikistan’s population was more than 6.3 million.  UNFPA specialists expect Tajikistan’s population to rise to 11.8 million by 2025.