Ref. Ares(2016)6874852 - 09/12/2016 Final Report on "Improvement of the use of administrative sources (ESS.VIP ADMIN WP6 Pilot studies and applications)" - Hungary - Application of 11/06/2015 Ares (2015) 2487712 August 2016 1 List of Contents I. About the project ................................................................................................................. 3 II. Actions executed ................................................................................................................. 3 1. Identification of main challenges and action .......................................................................... 3 2. Review of previous examinations in the field of register based census methodology ...... 3 3. Review of legal background ..................................................................................................... 4 4. Identifying potential partners among administrative data owners ....................................... 5 Main findings .............................................................................................................................. 7 5. Defining the evaluation methodology ..................................................................................... 8 6. Contact with most important partners ...................................................................................... 9 Lessons learned from the consultations ................................................................................. 11 Guidelines on the involvement of a new secondary data source for the production of official statistics ........................................................................................................................ 12 7. Preparation for the data linkage stage .................................................................................... 13 8. Data takeover – KARAT system ............................................................................................ 13 9. Record linkage .......................................................................................................................... 13 Conceptual checks ..................................................................................................................... 14 Data matching: steps and tools ................................................................................................ 16 10. Distribution of aggregated estimates of demographic data between Census data and the Population and Address Register’s data ................................................................................ 22 Distribution of basic demographics based on Census without imputation ........................ 23 Logical correction of Population and Address Register’s data ........................................... 23 Calculation of age groups .......................................................................................................... 24 Main results and analysis of the comparisons at the aggregated level ................................ 25 III. Conclusions and future actions ..................................................................................... 40 ANNEX 1 ........................................................................................................................................ 41 List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... 43 List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ 43 2 I. About the project On April 20, 2015 Hungary submitted a proposal in response to the invitation ref no. 967785 of 13/03/2015 "Improvement of the use of administrative sources (ESS.VIP ADMIN WP6 Pilot studies and applications)". As stated in the proposal, the main objective of the project is to examine the possibilities of using administrative data sources in order to develop a cost- effective way of executing Census 2021 and producing census type data in an annual basis that are less burdensome for the respondents. The analysis of the possibilities of use covers the aspects of data content (the correspondence and the difference of concepts and time of reference), IT issues (IT system of registers, the possible ways of data transfer), legislation (availability of legal permission to use the data) as well as methodology (method of linkage). Clarifications were requested on technical, budgetary and administrative aspects – among them an explanation about the differences with the actions financed by the grant "Usual residence population definition: feasibility studies" – that were supplied by June 11, 2015. We requested a starting date earlier than the recommended 1 October, 2015 to reduce as much as possible the overlapping with the 10 percent microcensus to be carried out by the reference date of October 1, 2016. On August 27, 2015 the contract was signed, establishing September 1, 2015 as a starting date. II. Actions executed 1. Identification of main challenges and action The project team consists of colleagues from the Census Department and the Methodological Department of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office. First the project team was set up and a detailed work plan was created with particular concerns to the actions identified as of high risk. The team comprises statisticians from different fields with different backgrounds: census experts, IT experts, methodological experts, etc. For this reason it was important to get to know in the first meetings each other’s knowledge and specialties in detail to utilize human resources in the optimal way. 2. Review of previous examinations in the field of register based census methodology Before starting to work first we reviewed in detail the results of the 2007-2008 Transition Facility Project, 4. Preparation for 2011 Population Census on the analysis of the possibilities of using administrative data sources in Census 2011. We examined the related Hungarian as well as the international best practices. Furthermore, we revised the methodologies of the register based and combined censuses. The experts of the Census Department shared this 3 information with the others while the Methodological Department shared the HCSO’s previous experience on data matching/linkage. 3. Review of legal background The legal background of population censuses was already reviewed in 2007 in the framework of the Transition Facility Project, 4. Preparation for 2011 Population Census. However, as the legal environment has been changed since 2008, the anew revision and description of the current situation was the first step of the present project. Legal acts regulating the population censuses, the use of administrative data and the issue of interoperability together with their relation to Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (and to Regulation (EU) 2015/759 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015 amending Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics) were reviewed in detail. The most important related information was summarized in the working document titled “The legal background of population censuses in Hungary and the use of administrative data for census purposes”. An important deficiency of the current Statistical Law (Act No. XLVI of 1993) in Hungary is that although it discusses data transmission closely but it is the object of the individual law of a certain register to stipulate the circumstances of access for statistical purposes. This legal background makes the data transmission rather difficult. At the moment bilateral agreements with register owners are always necessary. The Act CXII of 2011 on Informational Self-determination and Freedom of Information also mentions statistics as an important field of the use of personal data. This law gives permission to the use of personal data for statistical purposes. However in case of all those special acts that regulate a certain administrative register permitting the statistical use of non-identifiable data only, these acts require amendment. As the standardised use of addresses is a substantial issue of the use of administrative data in census, the governmental decree No. 345/2014. (XII. 23.) about the Central Address Register must be mentioned here. The decree established the central, uniform and complete address register (in development at the moment) as a certified database in order to create the uniform legal environment of address management in Hungary. The decree defined the technically uniform standard of addresses and appointed the Central Office for Administrative and Electronic Public Services as responsible body. Important changes in the legal situation regarding the use of administrative data are expected from the amendment of the Act No. CCXX of 2013 regulating the interoperability of administrative registers on one hand, and the adoption and entry in force of the new act on statistics on the other. Sectoral laws are currently being reviewed, those inconsistent with Regulation 223/2009 will be amended. As the adoption of these changes and amendments are in progress this document should not be considered as finalized. Therefore the actualization of the review of the legal background remains constantly on the agenda. EU legal obligations regarding census data may also have influence on the statistical use of administrative data. The requirements of the EU census regulations for the 2021 census are expected to be along the same lines as of