Towards census-like statistics for foreign-born populations

The main goal of the project is to develop methods for estimating the size of the foreign-born population in Poland and its characteristics using multiple data sources that contain potential errors. The aim of the project is twofold. On the one hand, we focus on estimating the size of the foreign-born population based on non-statistical sources such as admin data. The main motivation behind this approach is to provide census-like statistics without conducting a traditional census. Secondly, characteristics of foreign-born populations included in admin data are scarce and can be supplemented by non-random samples, such as big data derived from smartphones. The project aims to broaden the knowledge of the foreign-born population in Poland by using admin data and other non-statistical data sources and developing sound and novel statistical methodology.

The results of the project should also contribute to producing more reliable estimates of the contribution of immigrants to the labour force and to GDP growth in Poland. Project results will be the basis for conducting statistical analyses on the socio-economic situation of Poland’s regions and for projections of their development. We also note that estimators and results of our study are not only limited to migration statistics but will also have an impact on other fields, such as macroeconomics, economic policy or sociology.