Census Act
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Art. 1 Principles
1 Data shall be collected annually or at shorter intervals on the structure of the population and social developments in Switzerland. 2 Data shall be collected on: a. the status, structure and development of the population; b. families, households and living conditions; c. work and earnings; d. health and social issues; e. continuing education and training; f. migration; g. languages, religions and culture; h. transport and environment; i. buildings, apartments and workplaces and school establishments. 3 As far as possible, the survey is based on official registers. 4 For attributes not contained in the registers, random sample surveys shall be carried out.
Para. 2 let. e — The amendment in accordance with the Federal Act of 20 June 2014 on Continuing Education and Training, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 concerns the French and Italian texts only (AS 2016 689; BBl 2013 3729).
Art. 2 Subject matter
The census is a survey of persons, households as well as buildings and dwellings that provides the authorities, the business community, research institutions and other interested parties with statistical data that forms the basis for: a. planning; b. political decisions; c. research; d. information given to the general public; e. the compilation of other statistics.
Art. 3 Statistical populations and survey attributes
1 The Federal Council determines the statistical populations and the survey attributes for the census in an overview. 2 It updates the overview regularly. 3 It consults with the cantons in advance and seeks their cooperation.