Statistics Norway (SN) has been using registers for statistical purposes for decades. During the late 1990's SN agreed to establish common practices for developing, updating, and using statistical base registers. Gradually the concept of statistical population management was introduced as SN's common approach for the way the statistical base registers were being developed into statistical populations. In 2009 this approach was consolidated by an organisational change in SN. A separate Division for Statistical Populations under the Department of Data Collection was established. The paper will present the concept of population management, the duties of the population managers and the consequences of the approach for the producton of statistics. To exemplify the general principles of population management, the paper will discuss experiences and challenges from the work on establishing statistical populations for persons and households. This will also include the use of information on place of usual residence from other sources than the CPR. Even though the examples will be taken from the demographic realm, they will be of general interest. The principles, which will be discussed, are representative for the work on other statistical populations.

Keywords: Register populations; Management of statistical populations; Place of usual residence; Households

Biography: Ever since he started off in Statistics Norway in 1992, Mr. Coen Hendriks has been using and working on registers. After some years in wage statistics, where he used samples from the statistical Business Register, he moved to the Census Division in the late 1990's. The Norwegian Census of 2001 was based on a combined method, using a questionnaire for the count of houses and households, and registers for the rest. This year's Norwegian Census will be based on registers only. The contribution of Mr. Hendriks and co-author Mr. Johan Amberg to the next census will be as managers of statistical populations in the Division for Statistical Populations. This division was relativlely newly established under the Department of Data Capture in Statistics Norway.