Chronicle Editor
Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
THE Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) will, starting on Monday next week, conduct a nationwide Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) whose input will inform the quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The survey will run for two weeks.
This is the first time that the country is conducting a quarterly labour survey as over the years Zimstat has conducted only annual labour surveys.
The survey will inform the country on the number of people who are gainfully employed in the various subsectors of the economy while dictating policy direction.
In a statement yesterday, Zimstat public relations and communication manager Ms Percy Chidemo appealed to the public to assist the statistics agency as it gathers information.
Zimstat is set to visit several households to capture data across the country.
“Zimstat will be conducting the QLFS from 2 to 13 August 2021. The survey is going to be conducted in selected enumeration areas across all the 10 provinces. During the survey trained Zimstat personnel comprising supervisors, team leaders and enumerators will be in the field undertaking the exercise and will be carrying official identification letters. The QLFC questionnaire will be soliciting for the following information for persons staying in the selected households: demographics, adult and child functioning, education, migration, employment and unemployment, social security and job losses,” said Ms Chidemo.
She said information derived from the survey will also give a picture of the size of the country’s economy.
“The survey intends to produce key labour market indicators which include but are not limited to level of formal and informal employment, unemployment and labour underutilisation indicators as well as job losses that have occurred during three months prior to the survey interview date. The survey data also feeds into the compilation of quarterly GDP. The QLFS is going to be conducted under the provisions of the Census and Statistics Act and information collected is strictly confidential and will be used for statistical purposes only,” she said.
Last month, the statistics agency said it was in the process of reviving some censuses that had been abandoned to ensure that policy makers have correct data as they plan for the future.
Zimstat director general Mr Taguma Mahonde said statistical information was critical if the country is to achieve Vision 2030.
Zimstat is set to revive the transport sector census while pioneering in conducting the economic and agriculture surveys.
Economists and industry experts have commended the planned resuscitation of censuses saying statistical information is key in shaping the country’s economy.
An economist with the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) Dr Nqobizitha Dube recently said there was a lot of information gaps desiring the intervention of institutions such as Zimstat.
“At the moment we are struggling to provide provincial unemployment rate, we are struggling to provide GDP per capita of some of the areas and we are also struggling to explain the composition of the economy,” said Dr Dube.
Agriculture and Rural Development Authority chief executive officer Mr Tinotenda Mhiko said that an agriculture census was necessary to determine how resources can be channelled into the sector.
“In light of the foregoing, it is impossible to overstate the significance of a census in the agricultural sector. As you might be aware, the agriculture sector is one of the key economic enablers to drive Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy (NDS1),” said Mr Mhiko. — @nqotshili
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