The State Secretary at the Finance Ministry, Zdravko Zrinusic, said on Friday that the coronavirus epidemic would make the planned census in 2021 more complicated than before.

Reporting to the parliament about the annual implementation of plans for statistical activities, Zrinusic said that the circumstances marked by the spread of this infectious disease would make the census taking more difficult, and added that about 10,000 people would be engaged for that purpose.

This February, the parliament adopted a law under which the census will take place from April 1 to May 7, 2021. It will be organised, coordinated and carried out by the national statistical office, for which the government has allocated HRK 177.3 million.

Zrinusic recalled that the plan was for the census to be taken in two stages: from April 1 to 10, citizens will be able to enter their details in the e-Citizen system, while from April 16 to May 7 census takers will visit households that did not fill in the census form electronically.

He said that an estimated 800,000 people use the e-Citizen system.