Interior Minister Sar Kheng said the government would spend $10 million from the national budget to carry out the General Census of Cambodia next year, and it will be done without the support of any development partners.

“The census of Cambodia in 2019 serves to update the list of queries so that they are consistent with the requirements of the Sustainable Development Goals: 2016-2030,” said Kheng, when addressing the second meeting of The National Committee for The General Population Census in 2019, which was held at the ministry recently.

Next year’s funding for the census will come solely from the national budget, with technical support coming from the United Nations Population Fund, he said.

About 50,000 census-takers will fan out nationwide for the campaign which is expected to take a year to complete, Senior Minister at the Ministry of Planning Chhay Than said.

He added that Cambodia could touch 16 million people next year as its population grew 1.6 per cent annually.

According to the National Institute of Statistics, the current population is about 13.39 million with males making up 48.6 per cent and female 51.4 per cent.

The last general population census was done in 2008.