Population without double counting

Population without double counting is an English translation of the French phrase Population sans doubles comptes.

In France, for the purposes of the census, the INSEE has defined several population indicators that allow people who live in more than one place to be counted in each place, to study and keep count of population movement. So each commune in France does not have only one figure for the population, but several; for example students may be counted both where they study and where they live when not actively studying. A parallel may be drawn to English laws that allow students to register and vote in local elections in more than one place.

Statistical view

The figures given by INSEE for a particular commune are :

Population municipale 
a count of the people who live in a house, flat etc. in the commune
Population comptée à part 
those living in a collective or temporary manner (e.g. prisoners, soldiers, hospital patients, nuns, monks)
Population totale 
the sum of population municipale and population comptée à part
Doubles comptes 
a sub-division of population comptée à part, comprising those who have a second residence in another commune and are already counted in that commune's population municipale
Population sans doubles comptes 
the population totale minus the doubles comptes[1]

The population sans doubles comptes is therefore always no smaller than the population municipale and no larger than the population totale.

To evaluate the population properly, one should use the population sans doubles comptes.

Since 1999, places with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants have had a census every five years, with one-fifth of the places each year being subject to census.

Since 2004, places with 10,000 inhabitants or more have an annual census of a sample 8% of the population. This is carried out in January and February. A census collector leaves a questionnaire and collects it at a later date. Since this time, population municipale and population sans doubles comptes have had the same meaning.

Legal aspects

Census results are official by law.

The population totale is used when applying rules and regulations to budget and finance, in particular in section R2151-2 of the Code of Territorial Collectives.[1] But the population municipale determines the size of a council and the scrutiny of municipal elections, R2151-3.[1]

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 3 "POPULATION DE LA COMMUNE", Code géneral des collectives territoriales (in French), retrieved 2009-04-14

External links

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