Multiround vital statistics survey in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Because reliable estimates of the population and related data are needed to guide national development planning, the first population census of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in 1985 was very important as a way of providing valuable statistics on the size, distribution and characteristics of the population. However, while the census provided good estimates of the population size and related measures such as fertility and mortality, it was less useful as a means of identifying the speed and manner in which the population was changing. Thus, a project was developed by the ESCAP secretariat with funding from UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) to assist the Government in improving civil registration and vital statistics. The project had two broad objectives. The first was to provide training and support to selected village chiefs as a way of strengthening their role as civil registrars in the hope that this would lead to eventual improvement in the national registration system. The second broad objective was to set up a system of statistical collection, involving regular visits to selected households, to provide good estimates of vital statistics. This system is referred to as a multiround survey. Although it has many methodological weaknesses, this type of survey can provide some valuable population data in a country where financial resources for conducting censuses and surveys are limited.