The Population and Housing Census is an extremely important national exercise and it is every citizen’s duty to cooperate according to the laws of Guyana, as the Census produces a huge body of information that is used in planning and development.

The Hon. Minister of Finance issued a Census Regulation (No. 7 of 2012) and a Census Order (No. 175 of 2012) dated 14th August 2012 that formally announced the commencement of the 2012 Population & Housing Census on 15th September 2012.

This was the sixth Census conducted in Guyana since 1945. Census 2002 was part of the global round of Censuses, and more importantly it was an integral part of the regionally coordinated round of Censuses under the aegis of the CARICOM Secretariat. The post World-War II Censuses have all been conducted on a regional basis, and with the advent of CARICOM, a Regional Census Coordinating Committee had been established since the 1970 Census to help plan and coordinate all Census activities of member countries.

By Ministerial Order made under Cap: 19:09 of the Statistics Act of the Laws of Guyana, Census day was set at 15th September 2002.