2025 Population and Housing Census

Considerations when selecting survey items

• The survey items of the Population and Housing Census are selected in consideration of international comparison, time series maintenance, data availability, and respondent convenience.
• When selecting survey items, social and economic changes are also reflected.

Number of survey items by year

Note¹⁾ The figures in parentheses represent survey items for metropolitan cities and provinces.
Note²⁾ Complete survey items collect data of all nationals through a register-based census.

Characteristics of survey items

• Survey items regarding foreigners and multicultural communities are as follows.
  • (Nationality / Year and month of entry into Korea) It provides basic data for understanding multicultural communities, and establishing policies for social integration of second-generation immigrants.
• Survey items regarding internal migration are as follows.
  • (Birth of place / Place of residence 1~5 years ago) It provides basic data for grasping the timing and scale of internal migration and taking measures for regional population distribution.
  • (Commuting) It provides basic data for taking transportation measures, constructing transportation network and establishing urban planning.
• Survey items regarding changes in family structure are as follows.
  • (Reason for living alone / Period of living alone) It provides basic data for family policies by grasping reasons for household division and the period.
  • (Animal companion (pet)) It provides basic data for establishing animal protection and welfare policies.
• Survey items regarding housing and living quarters are as follows.
  • (Type of living quarters / Residential floor area / Construction year) It provides basic data for establishing housing policies by grasping the actual conditions of housing.
• Survey items regarding safe society are as follows.
  • (Fire safety equipment / Drinking water) It provides basic data for establishing public safety and water resource policies.

Survey items of the 2020 Population and Housing Census

* Shading: A total of 15 common items of the complete and sample survey

Survey items regarding household members

• 1Name

  Respondent's name is filled out to prevent omission or duplication of the census and to make contact when there is an erroneous response or when there is a further question. And respondent's name is not used for a purpose other than statistical purpose.

• 2Gender

  Respondent's gender is filled out to compare demographic, economic, and sociological characteristics between men and women. To link gender information with other survey items makes it possible to carry out a wider statistical analysis.

• 3Date of birth

  Respondent's age is an important survey item for understanding the population structure. With a basic survey item "Age", the population is classified into characteristics groups such as the school-age population, the population for military services, the working-age population and the aged population.

• 4Relationship to household head
  • It is filled out to grasp family structure (nuclear family, extended family, etc.) and family type (one-person household, single-parent family, etc.) as well as family life cycle (family creation and extinction, etc.).
  • It is also used when estimating household projections on the basis of household head's gender, age and marital status.
• 5Nationality
  • Nationality is used as basic data for understanding multicultural communities, and establishing policies for social integration of second-generation immigrants.
• 6Year and month of entry into Korea

  Entry data is used when making policies for multicultural communities and foreigners.

• 7Educational attainment
  • Data on educational attainment by gender and age makes it possible to analyze the qualitative level and characteristics of Koreans.
  • It is also used when taking educational supply and demand measures and making educational facility expansion and teacher training plans.
• 8Field of study

  Data on detailed major field of study of people with educational attainment of 'college or more' is used to analyze the knowledge capabilities of the people, the relationship between education and industry (or occupation), and the characteristics of the potential labor market.

• 9Place of birth

  It is used to grasp the population size and life-time migration rates by place of birth.

• 10Child care
  • It is used to produce data related to the welfare of children, women and the elderly such as the demand, supply and use of child care facilities and the elderly's burden of caring for grandchildren.
  • The relationship between family formation, fertility and women's economic activities is analyzed, which is used as basic data for labor policies.
• 11Activity limitations
  11-1Activity limitations (period of limitations)
  • It is used to figure out the number of people with limitations in their daily life, the number of people with physical and mental limitations, their distribution and their social and economic characteristics (gender, age, educational attainment, etc.) and to make welfare policies by identifying disability problems and welfare needs for the disabled.
  • It is also used as population data for in-depth surveys on people with activity limitations and the disabled.
• 12Care for persons with activity limitations

  It is used as basic data when establishing welfare policies by figuring out the demand and supply for caring for persons with disability.

• 13 Commuting
  14Commuting place
  15Mode of transportation used
  16Commuting time
  • It is used to figure out the direction and volume of traffic by region and transportation mode and provide comprehensive information on traffic problems.
  • By grasping the actual conditions of internal migration, it is used as basic data when taking countermeasures against urban emptiness and carrying out researches on living areas.
• 17Economic activity status
  18Status of worker

  It provides comprehensive information on the structure of economic activity by figuring out the labor force participation level as well as worker status such as wage workers and self-employed persons.

• 19Industry
  20Occupation

  To figure out the industrial structure of Korea, the business field of employed persons and their type of work are surveyed.

• 21Period of working in the current occupation

  It is used to indirectly measure the accumulation of expertise and proficiency by occupation and to comprehensively analyze the knowledge level of the people in connection with data on gender, age and educational attainment.

• 22Work location
  • It is used as basic data when measuring the quality of labor and establishing labor and social welfare policies for the underprivileged groups including self-employed persons.
• 23Marital status
  24Year and month of marriage

  It is used to identify and predict changes in the population size, the formation and dissolution of households, to grasp the causes of low fertility and to take countermeasures for low fertility.

• 25Number of children
  26Period of childbirth
  27Planned number of children
  • As a basic survey item of fertility, data is used when analyzing the changes in the childbirth level and childbirth behaviors.
  • Data is used to indirectly estimate fertility by analyzing the population size and structure, as well as identifying the actual conditions and trend in women's burden of childbirth and child care.
• 28Employment prior to marriage
  29Career interruption

  Data on reasons for women's career interruption resulting from marriage is used as basic data when establishing policies on women's employment and low fertility.

• 30Social activity

  Data on social activities is used to measure the size of networks and social capital by region by identifying the actual conditions of organization membership and activities.

• 31Source of living expenses

  It is used as basic data for welfare policies by grasping the actual conditions of economic independence and financial planning of old age.

Survey items regarding households

• 32Household type

  In connection with the survey item of '4. Relationship to household head', it is used as basic data when identifying household structure.

• 33Reason for living alone
  34Period of living alone

  It is used as basic data when establishing policies by identifying the current status of increasing one-person households.

• 35Animal companion (pet)
  • It is used as supplementary data to measure the quality of life by identifying changes in family types, such as increasing one-person households and nuclear families.
  • It is used as basic data for the development of companion (pet)-related industries, and the establishment of animal protection and animal welfare policies.
• 36Drinking water

  It is used as basic data when making policies for water resources, health care and environment by identifying drinking water types by region.

• 37Fire safety equipment

  It is used as basic data for fire fighting policies to reduce damage and to protect people's lives and property from fire.

• 38Number of rooms

  It is used as basic data to measure the quality of housing and to identify households that don't meet the minimum housing standard by surveying the number of rooms in which household members sleep or that they use.

• 39Heating facility

  By identifying the type of energy that households use and the type of heating facilities by household type and region, it is used as basic data when making housing policies as well as short and long-term energy supply and demand policies, deciding residential facility standards, and producing house deterioration indicators.

• 40Parking area
  • It is used as basic data when making urban policies for traffic facilities and public safety by identifying parking spots when not driving a car.
• 41Number of floors in building and residing floor

  It is used as basic data to iden()tify the current status and trend of the number of floors in each residential area and to understand the quality of living spaces such as semi-basement rooms and rooftop rooms.

• 42Period of residency

  As a survey item to measure the stability of housing, it is used when establishing housing-related policies, in connection with the type of occupancy (owner-occupied houses, deposit-based lease, monthly rent, etc.).

• 43Whether to be used exclusively for residency or commercial purpose
  44Type of occupancy
  45Rent

  It is used to analyze housing ownership and use, such as housing status (owner-occupied houses, deposit-based lease, monthly rent, etc.), house supply rates, house rent, etc.