The Handbook provides guidance on the measurement of economic characteristics in population censuses, based on relevant experiences of countries, with a particular focus on the questions used and the requirements for processing of responses. The Handbook is intended to provide census planners with a variety of approaches to assess the questions and methods of collecting economic characteristics used in their national census, as they evaluate the performance in the past decade and plan for the 2010 round of censuses (2005-2014). Users of census results may also find the present text useful when evaluating the quality of census results.

This volume of the Handbook of Population and Housing Censuses deals with topics on economic activity status of the population. It analyses national experience with these topics in more than 350 population censuses carried out in 205 countries during the period 1965 to 1984 and summarizes these national practices relative to the United Nations recommendations for population censuses. It will serve users as a reference volume on economic activity status topics and tabulations.