The Russian Census is taking place between 15 October and 14 November. In Moscow, almost 23,000 census workers will be going door-to-door during this month.

The Census is crucial for the federal and local authorities to better plan social policy. One of the main goals is to characterise migration processes, while other questions will be used to evaluate the major demographic indicators, including the educational level of the respondents, ethnic composition, marital status, and more.

In the upcoming weeks, a census worker may visit your home. This person must present their ID.

It will be also possible to answer the questions online on gosuslugi.ru, however this option will be available only between 15 October and 8 November. After you fill out the questionnaire, a QR code will be sent to your e-mail and mobile phone. You can show this QR code to the census worker when they come to your home. Thanks to this, data duplication will be prevented.

In Moscow, all people residing in the city for more than one year will be counted. All residents of Russia — with any citizenship — can participate in the Census.

People will be offered 3 types of survey forms — Form L, Form P, and Form V.

Form L contains 23 questions for permanent residents of Russia. Here, you will need to indicate your gender and age, employment, command of foreign languages, marital status, number of children, and sources of income.

Form P contains 10 questions about housing — the year when your house was built, the size of your home, and so on.

Form V is for foreign citizens. This form contains 7 questions about the purpose of staying in Russia and the duration of stay. Form V is intended for those foreigners who are staying in Russia for less than one year.

Other foreign citizens and stateless persons will be asked to answer standard questions (Form L) if they are staying in Russia for longer than a year. This also applies to students at Russian universities.

Paper-based questionnaires will only be available in Russian. However, the online version will be available in 10 other languages — English, Chinese, Korean, Uzbek, Bashkir, Buryat, Tatar, Tuvan, Chuvash, and Yakut.

No one will ask you about how much money you earn or who owns your home. You do not need to show your passport, however the census worker may ask you to provide your name. This is made to ensure that you will not be re-interviewed.

The preliminary results of the Census are expected to be made public in April 2022, and the final statistics should be ready in the fourth quarter of 2022.

In the recent Russian history, a census was conducted twice, in 2002 and 2010. It is recommended by the UN that a census should be carried out decennially.

Sechenov University invites its students, teaching and research staff, doctors, and other employees to participate in the Russian Census.

More information about the Census is available on the official website strana2020.ru.