The new Population Register at Statistics Austria Conceptualization and Methodology for Register-based Flow and Stock Statistics

With Statistics Austria’s new population register (POPREG) it is possible to display the population stock and flow for specific points in time and periods for all territorial sub-units in Austria. POPREG is probably the first population register worldwide in which stock and flow data for all relevant demographic categories are conceptualized under common methodological criteria. Thus the population stock no longer has to be estimated and/or annually updated. The multi-level plausibility checks of the Central Register of Residence (CRR) data on registrations and deregistrations of usual places of residence and of the CRR data on residents with their current main place of residence allow for an improvement in the quality to explain demographic processes. Statistics Austria’s new population register thereby forms a central component of Austria’s statistical system. It provides data on population structure and population development and at the same time forms the central information base for migration statistics. In the future, new synthesis statistics (census register) will be able to be produced through a networked analysis of available register data (e.g. criteria from POPREG networked with criteria from the building and dwelling register or the register of education).