Population censuses, conducted every 10 years, aim at a complete enumeration of
those who live in Greece at a given moment, and also intended to yield picture of the
inhabitants’ demographic, economic and other characteristics.
In detail, the censuses of population and housing in Greece have three main
targets (Redfern 1987):
a. To provide official figures of population
b. The census serves the constitutional function of counting the people that are
registered as electors in each Nomos (prefecture). These figures determine the
each area’s representation in the National Parliament
c. The census provides statistics of the demographics, social and economic
characteristics of the population and statistics of housing at national and local
levels.
The government body that organizes and conducts the censuses in Greece is the
National Statistical Service of Greece (NSSG). The NSSG is directly responsible to
the Minister of Economy and Finance, but it is an “independent office” within this
ministry. The NSSG budget and personnel cover functions carried out by the central
division of the Ministry, by the statistical services located in other ministries and by
the statistical offices in each of the 50 Nomos (equivalent to county or prefecture).