DRC Plans First Full Census Since 1984 With 145,000 Roles

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is preparing to conduct its first full national population and housing census in more than four decades, replacing paper questionnaires with tablets, digital maps and connected data systems.

The operation, known as the second General Population and Housing Census or RGPH-2, is expected to reach the population-counting stage in July 2027.

Before that can happen, teams must map the country and divide it into areas that census workers can cover. Officials say this national cartography phase will expand into the provinces from October 2026 and should be completed before the end of December.

The project could also become one of the DRC's largest temporary employment operations. The Bureau central du recensement plans to recruit approximately 130,000 enumerators, plus controllers and supervisors, bringing the expected field workforce for the population count to about 145,000.

However, those 145,000 positions are planned roles, not vacancies that are all currently open.

Why is the census such a major event?

The DRC last completed a nationwide census in 1984, when the country's population was estimated at about 30 million.

Since then, the country has experienced rapid population growth, new provinces and cities, repeated displacement, refugee movements and major changes in where people live and work.

Without a recent census, national and provincial authorities have largely depended on demographic projections and estimates. Those figures can be useful, but they cannot show with the same precision how many people live in a particular neighbourhood, territory or village.

That information affects everyday decisions.

If the government does not know the number and age of people living in a community, it becomes harder to determine how many classrooms, health centres, roads, water points or public-transport services the area needs.

The census should give planners a clearer picture of population size, household conditions, access to basic infrastructure, education, employment and the distribution of communities across the country.

How will the digital census work?

Unlike the 1984 operation, which relied on lengthy paper questionnaires, RGPH-2 is designed as an entirely digital process.

Officials say field workers will use tablets to record answers and transmit information to connected servers. Digital collection should reduce manual data-entry errors, identify possible duplicate counts and allow supervisors to follow progress more quickly.

The UN Population Fund says the system is being prepared to connect approximately 150,000 tablets to central servers. It also says field-worker payments will be handled digitally.

Henri Marie Kazadi, technical coordinator of the census bureau, said the required applications had been developed and servers installed. Vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles and communications equipment have also been acquired for field operations, according to his presentation reported by BETO.

Digital tools will not remove every obstacle. Teams will still have to reach isolated communities across a country of more than 2.3 million square kilometres, including areas affected by insecurity, weak roads, limited connectivity and humanitarian displacement.

What happens before the population count?

The first major field operation is census mapping.

Cartographers must identify settlements, roads, buildings and public or private infrastructure before dividing the country into manageable enumeration areas. This work will tell the census bureau where people are located and how many workers and devices are needed in each area.

Recruitment for cartographers began on June 1, 2026. Officials said nearly 24,400 online applications had already been submitted in Kinshasa.

Training is expected to begin in August, followed by deployment to the provinces from October. Physical application centres are also planned in less-connected areas so that candidates are not excluded simply because they lack reliable internet access.

After mapping is completed, training for the main enumeration operation is expected to begin in February 2027. The population count itself is planned for July and should take about two weeks.

Initial results could begin to appear from December 2027, although the schedule may still change if funding, logistics or security conditions cause delays.

Are 145,000 census jobs open now?

No.

The latest detailed staffing plan refers to approximately 130,000 enumerators and another 15,000 controllers and supervisors who would be mobilised for the 2027 population count.

That does not mean the government has already opened applications for every position.

The recruitment currently confirmed in public reporting concerns the earlier cartography phase. Separate notices will be needed for enumerators, controllers and supervisors.

Anyone interested in the future roles should follow official announcements from the Ministry of Planning, the National Institute of Statistics and the census bureau. Applicants should be cautious about social-media posts demanding fees or promising guaranteed positions before an official recruitment notice is released.

There is also a figure that authorities need to clarify. A July 4 UNFPA publication referred to more than 200,000 census workers, while the later census-bureau breakdown cited about 145,000 field personnel for enumeration. The difference may reflect separate phases or categories of workers, but a final staffing table has not yet been publicly presented.

Is the census connected to elections or national ID cards?

Government officials say no.

Planning Minister Guylain Nyembo has stressed that the census, national identification and voter registration are separate operations managed by different institutions.

RGPH-2 is intended to count everyone who lives in the DRC, including Congolese citizens and foreign residents. It is not limited to eligible voters and does not issue national identity cards.

The government says individual responses will remain confidential and that published results will use aggregated statistics rather than personal records.

Those assurances will need to be supported by strong data-security controls, clear access rules and transparent explanations of how personal information is stored and protected.

What could businesses gain from the census?

The benefits are not limited to government planning.

Reliable local population and employment data can help businesses decide where to open shops, banks, factories, mobile networks or transport services. Companies will be able to estimate market size, available labour and gaps in existing services more accurately.

The mapping phase is also expected to geolocate infrastructure and economic activity, including businesses, financial institutions and other facilities.

At a July 22 meeting, the government asked private-sector organizations to support the operation through technical cooperation, public awareness and youth participation.

The Congolese Press Agency reported that officials presented the census as a tool for market analysis, investment planning and understanding the scale of informal economic activity.

What questions still need answers?

The census could transform how the DRC plans development, but several issues require continued scrutiny.

Authorities should publish one clear and regularly updated timetable, an official recruitment calendar, eligibility requirements, pay rates and the final number of positions in each phase.

Public funding figures also need to be reconciled. Recent government reporting has placed the project's estimated cost between approximately $188 million and $192 million, while UNFPA said funding commitments announced after a March donor meeting reached $200 million.

The public needs a transparent explanation of which commitments have become available funds, what each partner is financing and how spending will be audited.

Officials must also show how teams will count people in insecure areas, displaced communities and remote settlements without leaving large parts of the population invisible.

If the operation is completed credibly, the result will be more than a new national population total. It will give the DRC a detailed map of where people live, what services they have and where the country's largest development gaps remain.

That is why the journey from 1984 to 2027 matters: better numbers can lead to better decisions, but only if the data is complete, protected and actually used.