The government has decided to change the way it conducts the census after participation dropped in the latest survey due in part to rising concerns about privacy.
By the end of the year the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry will form a panel that will examine the possibility of conducting the survey on the Internet or collecting census forms through the mail, officials said.
The census has been taken every five years since 1920.
The panel is also expected to review survey items for greater simplicity, the officials said. Current items include family makeup, workplace and size of residence.
The officials said the number of people who refused to complete census forms rose substantially earlier this month.
In addition, about 100 cases were reported in which people pretending to be authorized census personnel were found to be collecting census forms.
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