Early European population
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Early European population statistics and censuses
In the last part of the 20th century, population censuses became a global phenomenon. More than 90% of the present world population is counted. Despite remaining issues of statistical confidentiality, census samples of individuals and households are increasingly used as analytic tools by researchers within historical and present-day demography. Efforts to harmonize census microdata chronologically and spatially are under way.
After lengthy discussions dating back to the 1730s, a royal decree was issued in Sweden in 1748 instituting Tabellverket (collection of statistical tables). The particulars from all 2500 parishes in the country included since 1749 both census-type data, that is, statistics on the size and structure of the population (population tables) and vital data on births and deaths (mortality tables). The former was produced every year in the period of 1749–1752, then every third year, and from 1775—every fifth year. The latter was produced every year between 1749 and 1830, also containing information about the causes of death. To avoid any misunderstanding, it must be added that the first census of the world was numeric, not nominal. Sweden got its first nominal census in 1860 in connection with a new reporting system and the establishment of the Central Bureau of Statistics in Stockholm.
