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The Survey of Essential Population and Housing Characteristics (ECEPOV-2021) provides information on people, dwellings and buildings. This information of great interest to the population and is either not available through administrative registers, or the quality with which it appears is insufficient.
The ECEPOV-2021 will expand and complete the quantity and quality of census information and will focus on providing information on:
Daily mobility: time spent, number of trips, means of transport used.
One last objective, no less important, is that, thanks to the completion of this survey and its level of detail, it will be possible to collect detailed information that helps to refine the imputation models for some variables of the census, such as the composition of the household and family relationships among its members, level of studies attained and marital estatus, among others.
Data will be offered at the NUTS-3 level. The sample is designed so that data can be offered for all municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants or provincial capitals.
This research is aimed at all persons residing in main family dwellings throughout the national territory.
It does not consider the institutionalized population..
Two types of statistical units are considered:
The population scope of the survey is made up of persons who live in main family households. Persons residing in institutions or collective establishments are excluded.
The survey is directed to the main family dwellings and all persons who habitually reside in these dwellings will be investigated.
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National territory
Results are provided at the national level, at the NUTS-2 level (autonomous communities) and at the NUTS-3 level (provinces and islands). The sample is designed so that data can be offered for all municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants or provincial capitals.
This is a new operation that will be carried out every five years.
2021
Number of people and main residences (Data provided, in general, in terms of absolute figures, and in some cases, in terms of relative figures).
The time period to which the data refers varies according to the nature of the variables to be investigated. In general, the reference period, i. e., the period to which the situation of the person interviewed refers, is the date on which the interview is conducted.
Given that most of the sample was collected in the central months of 2021, we can understand that in general terms the survey refers to the average for the year 2021.
Data referring to the period: ECEPOV 2021.
The compilation and dissemination of the data are governed by the Statistical Law No. 12/1989 "Public Statistical Function" of May 9, 1989, and Law No. 4/1990 of June 29 on “National Budget of State for the year 1990" amended by Law No. 13/1996 "Fiscal, administrative and social measures" of December 30, 1996, makes compulsory all statistics included in the National Statistics Plan. The National Statistical Plan 2009-2012 was approved by the Royal Decree 1663/2008. It contains the statistics that must be developed in the four year period by the State General Administration's services or any other entity dependent on it. All statistics included in the National Statistics Plan are statistics for state purposes and are obligatory. The National Statistics Plan 2021-2024, approved by Royal Decree 1110/2020, of 15 December, is the Plan currently implemented. This statistical operation has governmental purposes, and it is included in the National Statistics Plan 2021-2024. (Statistics of the State Administration).
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The Statistical Law No. 12/1989 specifies that the INE cannot publish, or make otherwise available, individual data or statistics that would enable the identification of data for any individual person or entity. Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society
The INE adopts the logical, physical and administrative measures necessary for the effective protection of confidential data, from the collection of data to its publication.
The survey questionnaires include a legal clause that states the protection covering the data collected.
During the information processing phases, data allowing direct identification is only kept for as long as it is strictly necessary to guarantee the quality of the processes.
In the publication of the results tables, the detail of the information is analysed to prevent confidential data of the statistical units being deduced.
Microdata files are always anonymous.
The advance release calendar that shows the precise release dates for the coming year is disseminated in the last quarter of each year.
The calendar is disseminated on the INEs Internet website (Publications Calendar)
The data are released simultaneously according to the advance release calendar to all interested parties by issuing the press release. At the same time, the data are posted on the INE's Internet website (www.ine.es/en) almost immediately after the press release is issued. Also some predefined tailor-made requests are sent to registered users. Some users could receive partial information under embargo as it is publicly described in the European Statistics Code of Practice
The Survey of Essential Characteristics of the Population and Housing (ECEPOV-2021) is a new statistical operation that the INE carried out for the first time in 2021 and that will be repeated every five years.
The results of the statistical operations are normally disseminated by using press releases that can be accessed via both the corresponding menu and the Press Releases Section in the web
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The operation project can be accessed through:
https://www.ine.es/censos2021/proyecto_caracter%C3%ADsticas_esenciales.pdf
All the information that has been released so far regarding the survey can be accessed through:
INEbase is the system the INE uses to store statistical information on the Internet. It contains all the information the INE produces in electronic formats. The primary organisation of the information follows the theme-based classification of the Inventory of Statistical Operations of the State General Administration . The basic unit of INEbase is the statistical operation, defined as the set of activities that lead to obtaining statistical results on a determined sector or subject based on the individually collected data. Also included in the scope of this definition are synthesis preparation.
Access to tables and time series in INEbase within the section "Demography and Population" in www.ine.es:
This is a new operation that was published for the first time in December 2022, so at the moment the number of queries to the results tables is AC1 = 4,233.
The anonymized microdata file of the ECEPOV-2021 will be available on the INE website.
In order to guarantee confidentiality, certain variables (name and surname, residence address, phone number, ...) will be eliminated. Users can request any unpublished variable under strict conditions of confidentiality. Requests should be addressed to the INE. A description of how to make a tailored request can be found here:
This operation makes it possible to satisfy requests for customized information that are not contemplated in the survey results tables, subject in all cases to a feasibility study by INE.
A detailed description of the ECEPOV-2021 methodology is available on the INE website.
Fields 10.6 to 17 of this document are considered the user-oriented quality report for this operation.
Quality assurance framework for the INE statistics is based on the ESSCoP, the European Statistics Code of Practice made by EUROSTAT. The ESSCoP is made up of 16 principles, gathered in three areas: Institutional Environment, Processes and Products. Each principle is associated with some indicators which make possible to measure it. In order to evaluate quality, EUROSTAT provides different tools: the indicators mentioned above, Self-assessment based on the DESAP model, peer review, user satisfaction surveys and other proceedings for evaluation.
For ECEPOV-2021, a series of measures have been implemented to help ensure the quality of the process and results. Among them are the following:
The information collection method of this survey has been multichannel sequential. The main one is the web interview (CAWI), completion by telephone interview (CATI), by mail with paper questionnaire and personal interview (CAPI) in the last instance.
In these cases (CAWI, CATI and CAPI), data collection is carried out through an electronic questionnaire supported by a computer application, which incorporates controls of range, flow, completeness and validity that are in operation during the collection in order to perform an in-field first purification in the home itself, where the information is collected.
-To facilitate survey response for all types of informants, the MAIL channel was also included, a collection method using paper questionnaires filled out by the informant themselves. Once these paper questionnaires are received through the mail channel, the recording agents pass them through the same electronic questionnaire used in the other channels.
-Specific training of the interviewers
-Periodic inspection of fieldwork
-Exhaustive review of the coding of questions requiring it (level of studies attained, employment status, … )
-Error control and post-collection warnings in order to corroborate the correct functioning of the applications and avoid systematic collection errors.
According to the measures implemented in the results collection and purification process described in the previous section, the strengths of the survey are:
-the completeness of the questionnaire when collecting the different characteristics of the dwellings and buildings in which the informants reside.
-the completeness of the individual questionnaires of all the usual residents of the dwellings selected for the sample when collecting the different characteristics of all the residents.
-the absence of errors and inconsistencies between the answers to the questionnaire thanks to the electronic questionnaire (CAWI, CATI, CAPI) and a preliminary in-field purification process. The same goes for the questionnaires received on paper through the mail channel that the recording agents pass through the same electronic questionnaire used in the other channels.
-absence of invalid values, flow errors and inconsistencies thanks to the subsequent purification carried out by the corresponding unit of the SGTIC of the INE in close collaboration with the promoting service.
-adequate classification according to sociodemographic variables due to the exhaustive filtering of the variables of employment status, level of education attained and household composition.
-results calibrated by age, sex, nationality, provincial totals, municipal totals of more than 50,000 inhabitants, households and household size.
As for survey limitations, it is important to point out those inherent to statistical operations by sampling, such as non-response and sampling errors or coefficients of variation of the estimates. In both cases, they are kept within reasonable limits.
Spain will carry out a Census based on administrative records for the first time with a reference date of January 1, 2021 and will join the small number of countries worldwide that are able to undertake this type of methodology.
The Survey of Essential Population and Housing Characteristics 2021 (ECEPOV-2021) arises from the convenience of completing the census information obtained from administrative records with information that, to date, does not exist at the administrative level and that can only be obtained through a survey.
Although many variables can be obtained through administrative records, there are a series of variables that are in great demand by users and that are not available through administrative records. The continuity of the census series of these variables can only be guaranteed by conducting a survey that collects information on them.
The INE has carried out general user satisfaction surveys in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 and it plans to continue doing so every three years. The purpose of these surveys is to find out what users think about the quality of the information of the INE statistics and the extent to which their needs of information are covered. In addition, additional surveys are carried out in order to acknowledge better other fields such as dissemination of the information, quality of some publications...
On the INE website, in its section Methods and Projects / Quality and Code of Practice / INE quality management / User surveys are available surveys conducted to date.(Click next link)
There is no specific user satisfaction survey for ECEPOV-2021; however, the INE user satisfaction surveys indicate the level of satisfaction of the group of users of the Demography and Population statistics in which this statistical operation falls.
The Survey of Essential Population and Housing Characteristics 2021(ECEPOV-2021) is included in the National Statistical Plan 2017-2020, with the code 7885 and in the National Statistical Plan 2021-2024 with the code 8884 and its code in the IOE (this code is a fixed identifier of the statistical operation, which does not change) is 30280.
This operation 100% complies (R1=100%) with the purposes entrusted by the National Statistical Plan 2021-2024, providing information on the characteristics of persons residing in Spain and the homes and buildings in which these persons reside, as can be seen in the 2021 Annual Program for the development of said Plan.
Part of the information collected by the survey is required by the European Census Regulation. These involve certain variables on homes and buildings. Specifically:
For the NUTS-3 level (provinces and islands):
For the NUTS-2 level (autonomous communities):
The Regulation recognizes that, for some Member States, where there is evidence based on previous censuses, administrative data sources or sample survey data, virtually all conventional dwellings meet a given characteristic and percentages of 100% may be assumed. When Member States choose this option, they must certify this hypothesis and explain this aspect in the metadata.
In the case of Spain this could affect the first two of the three variables required at the NUTS-2 level, but not the type of heating.
All the variables that have been set for the questionnaire have been collected and exploited. The variables with the highest partial non-response were the year of construction of the building, monthly household income, insulation problems in the house and whether the house has halogen light bulbs.
The sample design is aimed at minimising sampling errors and the different processes that make up the survey are aimed at reducing non-sampling errors, both in the collection phase and in the subsequent filtering and imputing phases.
Calibration techniques have also been applied to reduce bias due to non-response.
Information on sampling errors is available on the INE website, so users can assess the quality of the data presented.
The coefficients of variation diffused can be seen here:
https://ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736177092&menu=resultados&idp=1254735572981
The percentage variation coefficients of the main variables used in the tabulation of the definitive results are published.
These sampling errors can be found within the survey tabulation.
CV relative to some of the main variables:
People:
- People aged 16 or over whose main means of transportation used to go to the place of work or study is:
Private Vehicle: 0.41%
Public transport: 1.10%
Walking: 0.99%
Company or other means: 1.84%
- People according to the number of languages they speak well:
None:2.02%
One language: 0.27%
Two languages: 0.43%
Three languages: 1.26%
Four or more languages: 2.65%
Households:
- Households according to tenure regime of the main residence:
Own by inheritance or donation: 1.06%
Own, by purchase, fully paid: 0.40%
Own, by purchase, with outstanding payments (mortgages): 0.61%
Rented: 0.87%
Ceded free or at a low price (by another household, paid by the company, …): 2.17%
Another way: 1.38%
- Households according to whether or not they have a second home:
Yes: 0.80%
No: 0.15%
Main residences:
- Main dwellings with refrigeration system by level of household net monthly income:
All: 0.37%
Less than €1,000: 1.17%
From €1,000 to less than €1,500: 1.06%
From €1,500 to less than €2,000: 1.19%
From €2,000 to less than €3,000: 0.99%
€3,000 or more: 1.26%
- Main dwellings according to type of electrical appliance they have:
Washing machine: 0.04%
Dishwasher: 0.33%
Dryer: 0.6%
Oven: 0.11%
Microwave: 0.11%
Glassceramic/Induction: 0.25%
In the survey methodology, which is available on the ine website, non-sampling errors are reported.
The main source of error outside the sampling is due to the lack of response of the main dwellings selected for the sample.
The size of the theoretical sample was initially established at 300,295 main family homes, distributed throughout the national territory. However, the initial size was increased in the island territories in order to guarantee precision criteria in each one of the islands that could not be assured without such expansion. The final theoretical sample size was 309,353 main family dwellings.
Therefore, the initial theoretical sample consisted of 309,348 dwellings of which 204,369, 66.1%, were surveyable.
Of the 204,369 surveyable dwellings at the outset, 172,444 dwellings completed the complete questionnaire (Surveyed Dwelling or Effective Sample).
So:
Non-response rate over the total number of respondents: A4=15.6%
The over-coverage rate or proportion of units outside the scope of the survey was 5.1% (A2=5.1%)
The total number of both manual and automatic imputations has been less than 1.5% of the total number of data (A7=<1.5%).
The time interval between the end of the reference period (15/02/2022) and the publication date of the first part of the results is 308 days (TP2=308).
The time interval between the end of the reference period (02/15/2022) and the publication date of all the final results is 372 days (TP2=372).
The dissemination of the definitive results of the survey was published in accordance with the dissemination date established in the calendar of structural statistics that the INE prepares and publishes for each year (TP3=0)
The sample design and size allow the comparison of results at the level of provinces and islands (NUTS-3). As a new feature, the sample is designed so that data can be offered for all municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants or provincial capitals.
The definitions and concepts used in the survey questionnaire allow for the results of the ECEPOV-2021 to be compared with those of similar surveys in other countries.
This is a new operation, so the temporal comparability is partially limited.
However, ECEPOV of 2021 complements the 2021 Population and Housing Census by providing information not available in administrative records, in order to continue the existing census series up to now. This allows comparisons with the 2011 census data for some variables.
The main survey contribution is the possibility of knowing the characteristics of the dwellings and buildings in which the Spanish population resides and cross-checking these variables with the sociodemographic variables characterising the population.
It also allows information to be obtained about people in areas that cannot be obtained from administrative records, such as daily mobility in terms of the number of daily trips to work or school, time spent on these trips and type of vehicle, the social support available to people living alone, family dynamics in terms of the performance of domestic chores and care for dependents inside and outside the home, contact with new technologies and knowledge and use of languages.
The Survey of Essential Population and Housing Characteristics 2021 (ECEPOV) complements the 2021 Population and Housing Census by providing information not available in the administrative records, in order to give continuity to the existing census series. For some variables, this allows comparisons to be made with the 2011 census data, which are fully consistent with those of the 2011 census.
The coherence between the variables is compared when the respondent's data is collected via the computer application (checking for errors and warnings) that contains the electronic questionnaire (CAWI, CATI and CAPI) and is reviewed in the subsequent filtering process (CAWI, CATI, CAPI and EMAIL). This process has allowed all the variables collected in the questionnaire to be provided.
Additionally, the estimates have complete internal coherence, as they are based on the same data set and are calculated using the same estimation methods at all levels.
The use of an electronic questionnaire reduces the burden on the respondent in terms of interview time or duration, as opposed to the use of a paper questionnaire. Fundamentally, due to the fact that the electronic questionnaire has built-in flow controls that automatically direct the respondent through the questions to be asked according to their answers faster than using a paper questionnaire.
Also, when designing the questionnaire, the promoting service made a great effort to reduce its size, carrying out an in-depth analysis of the questions asked in previous censuses and user needs.
Total operational costs for the 2020-2023 period are estimated at 7.8 million euros including procurement and infrastructure, ICT development and human resources within INE.
The estimate of the budget appropriation required to finance this planned survey:
- in the 2020 Annual Program is 562.86 thousand euros.
- in the 2021 Annual Program is 5,008.15 thousand euros.
- in the 2022 Annual Program is 2,175.00 thousand euros.
- in the 2023 Annual Program is 71.82 thousand euros.
The INE of Spain has a policy which regulates the basic aspects of statistical data revision, seeking to ensure process transparency and product quality. This policy is laid out in the document approved by the INE board of directors on 13 March of 2015, which is available on the INE website, in the section "Methods and projects/Quality and Code of Practice/INE’s Quality management/INE’s Revision policy" (link).
This general policy sets the criteria that the different type of revisions should follow: routine revision- it is the case of statistics whose production process includes regular revisions-; more extensive revision- when methodological or basic reference source changes take place-; and exceptional revision- for instance, when an error appears in a published statistic-.
Final survey data are not reviewed.
In the event that it is detected any error in the definitive results, once published, and the data must be modified, an explanatory note will be added to the new information to warn the user that the data has changed.
No revisions are planned. In the event that they are subject to revision, an explanatory note will be added to the new information to advise the user that the data has changed and the reason for the change
The data obtained for this statistical operation is based on a personal survey that is carried out through a questionnaire: electronic (CAWI, CATI or CAPI) or on paper (POST MAIL).
ECEPOV 2021 will expand and complete the quantity and quality of census information.
The survey is aimed at all the people who reside in the housing that has been selected for the sample.
The questionnaire has been designed in order to collect information related to:
-People: on their sociodemographic characteristics, on their daily mobility (time spent, number of trips, means of transport used) and their changes of residence, on the languages they know (level of knowledge, frequency and place of use of them ), on their participation in household chores, on their level of familiarization with new technologies, on the kinship relationships between household members, the attendance of young children at schools or nurseries, on the care of minors or dependents outside and inside the home and on the sociodemographic characteristics of the second generation of immigrants, if applicable.
-Housings: facilities (heating, water supply system, toilet room, bath or shower, refrigeration, insulation problems, Internet) number of rooms, distribution of the house, waste separation, paid domestic service, external aid, availability of vehicles, problems in the environment, infrastructure in the environment or information on the second home.
-Buildings: (year of construction, state of conservation, accessibility, elevator, piped gas, sewage evacuation, central hot water or renewable energy devices).
The questionnaire has been structured in five blocks of questions: biographical or identification data of the residents in the housing, the housing questionnaire, the building questionnaire, the individual questionnaire for the person and the adult questionnaire (only for people aged 16 years or over).
Regarding the sample design, an independent sample has been selected in each of the provinces, making a distinction according to the size of the municipality in question:
The primary units (census tracts) were selected within each stratum with probability proportional to their size, measured by this number of main dwellings.
The second stage units (main dwellings) are selected in each section with equal probability through systematic sampling with random start.
This selection procedure leads to self-weighting samples in each stratum.
The framework used for the selection of the sample, both for census sections and for main family dwellings, is the Georeferenced Address Framework (MDG) with reference to September 2020.
In order to cover the objectives of the survey of being able to provide estimates with a certain degree of reliability at the level of the Autonomous Community, NUTS-3 and municipalities with a population of more than 50,000 inhabitants and provincial capitals, a final theoretical sample size of 309,348 main family homes.
The size of the theoretical sample was initially established at 300,295 main family homes, distributed throughout the national territory. However, the initial size was increased in the island territories in order to guarantee precision criteria in each one of the islands that could not be assured without such expansion. The final theoretical sample size was 309,348 main family dwellings.
In accordance with the disaggregation objectives indicated for the estimates, the distribution of the sample between the different levels has taken into account several aspects such as a criterion in terms of population and a minimum size in each of the study areas according to the required level of precision.
At the national level, the effective sample finally obtained was 172,444 homes capable of providing estimates with the following precision requirements:
1. Estimates at the Autonomous Community level. Characteristics corresponding to proportions of 5%, will be estimated with a coefficient of variation around 4%.
2. Provincial estimates. Characteristics corresponding to proportions of 5% must be estimated with a coefficient of variation around 5%.
3. Estimates in municipalities with a population of more than 50,000 inhabitants. Characteristics corresponding to proportions of 5% should be estimated with a coefficient of variation of 10%.
This is a new operation that the INE carried out for the first time in 2021 and that will be repeated every five years.
The information collection method of this survey has been multichannel sequential. The main method of collection has been the interview completed directly by the informant via web (CAWI), supplemented by telephone interview (CATI), paper questionnaire completed by the informant (MAIL) and computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI) in the last instance.
The survey is directed at the home and interviews all residents in it.
The collection of information has been carried out for nine months, approximately, between April 2021 and February 2022.
In the cases (CAWI, CATI and CAPI), the questionnaire was electronic supported by a computer application, which it incorporates controls on range, flow, completion and validity that are in operation during the collection itself. The same goes for the questionnaires received on paper through the mail channel that the recording agents pass through the same electronic questionnaire used in the other channels.
Collection by means of an electronic questionnaire allows the correction/confirmation of a large part of the information at the time of self-completion by the respondent (CAWI) and helps the interviewer to carry out the correction/confirmation of the information in the household at the time of the interview. Even so, some questionnaires may contain errors or incomplete information that must be cleaned up later.
Thus, most of the errors and inconsistencies can be purified at the time of the interview by the informant, since it warnings about slight inconsistencies or errors of range can be incorporated to prevent continuation until they are resolved.
Once the data are received, a debugging application, developed by the Subdirectorate of Information and Communication (SGTIC), allows for exhaustive data control, analysing errors, serious inconsistencies, slight inconsistencies, extreme values, follow-up of marginal distributions, crossing tables, etc. In addition, crosses are programmed or subsets of data are extracted to analyse specific variables.
Once the data was filtered, as explained in the previous section, the missing data was imputed using automatic imputation, applying the DIA program, based on the Fellegi & Holt methodology. On certain exceptional occasions, the correction of possible non-consistent or missing values had to be carried out manually. All of this work has been prepared by the corresponding unit of the SGTIC in close collaboration with the promoting service.
The next step is the calculation of the raising factors, to determine the estimates of the different variables used in the survey, by the INE Sampling Unit.
Finally, the most significant tabulations of the survey are published, for which a comparison of the sample data with the population data and their analysis have been previously carried out in order to control the representativeness of the sample in relation to the variables exploited. In the published tables, some cells for which the sample is considered to have been insufficient to collect this crossing of variables are blanked out, as a way of warning the user of the low quality of these data.
Adjustments are not made
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