Chronicle Editor
Nqobile Bhebhe, Senior Business Reporter
Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) director-general, Mr Taguma Mahonde has said of the 8 721 947 people aged 16 and above found during the 2022 census night, 87,9 percent were issued with national identification documents.
Zimbabwe conducted its fifth population census in April last year and several questions to capture vital events were included in the census questionnaire.
Presenting a Vital Statistics Report based on the 2022 population and housing census that covered births, death registration, marriage and divorce yesterday, Mr Mahonde said: “The proportion of population aged 16 and above ever issued with IDs was 92.0 percent for urban areas compared to 84,9 percent for rural areas. In urban areas, the proportion was 91,1 percent for females compared to 93,1 percent for males.”
He added that of the total number of youths aged 16 to 34 in possession of IDs was 4,511 823, only 21.1 percent did not have IDs.
Civil Registry Offices across the country have been saddled with a backlog of documents for some time as Zimbabweans try to get identification documents.
Birth certificates and national IDs are crucial for Zimbabweans to obtain other documents such as passports and driver’s licences.
With the country set to go for general elections this year, the identity documents are crucial for one to register as a voter.
Last year, ZimStat revealed that the country’s population has increased by two million – from 13 million to 15 million – over the past decade.
Mr Mahonde said birth and death registration are a key source of demographic data for socio-economic development and population control in developing nations.
He said the main objective of the report is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the civil registration and vital statistics situation in Zimbabwe based on available data from the 2022 Population and Housing Census.
“Vital statistics provide basic demographic and health data needed to inform policy planning and assist in monitoring progress towards attainment of Government programmes and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
“Vital statistics are used to produce fundamental demographic and epidemiological measures that are needed in national planning across multiple sectors such as education, labour and health.”
According to the report, a total of 69,335 adolescent females aged 10 to 19 had live births 12 months preceding the census night.
A total of 442,659 children were under one year on the census night of which at national level, 20,5 percent of children under one year had registered births and 79.5 percent had unregistered births.
In rural areas, 15 percent of children under one year had registered births and urban areas had 30 percent of children under one year who had registered births.
“A total of 1 308 157 persons aged five to 24 had not acquired a birth certificate. Of these, 78 percent did not have a birth confirmation record. 22 percent were in possession of a birth confirmation record,” the report notes.
During census period, Mr Mahonde said people who were married constituted 56,1 percent and they included civil, registered customary and unregistered customary marriages.
He added that 29, 3 percent were never married.
“In all categories, save for the never married, females constituted higher proportions than males. Of the widowed, females constituted 88, 4 percent,” he said.
A total of 439,458 live births were recorded during 12 months preceding the 2022 census night, of which 27.6 percent (120,542) were by women aged 20 to 24,
The Civil Registry Department periodically conducts national blitzs to provide citizens with national documents which are critical in the enjoyment of their rights.
To ensure that members of the public access national documents, President Mnangagwa last year instructed the registry department to relax conditions which were restricting some citizens from obtaining birth certificates, IDs and even death certificates for their loved ones.
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