The Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBoS) has revealed that the country’s population is set to increase as the nationwide census continues. 

GBoS has been counting the number of people in the country with more than 5,000 recruited data collectors deployed across the country.

Speaking at a media conference Thursday at his office, the nation’s top Statistician General, Nyakassi MB Sanyang, said that GBoS data collectors have enumerated 84% of households across the country.

 “As of Wednesday, June 12, 2024, 9:28 PM, data synchronized from the field show that 84% of households across the country have been enumerated, accounting for 80% of the total population, which translates to 2,261,724 persons, with the current average household size at the national level being 8.3,” he said.

He added: “Enumerators who have completed their listing and enumeration have been redeployed to other enumeration areas to ensure timely completion of the work. 

“In the past 24 hours, all field workers who have signed the contract and whose names have been submitted to the Project Implementation Unit have been paid or sent to mobile money agents for payment.”

Meanwhile, Sanyang said that out of a total of 366,677 structures mapped during the 2023 mapping exercise, 320,216 structures have been listed, corresponding to 87.3% of the total, and fieldworkers are working tirelessly to ensure that the remaining buildings/structures are accounted for and listed.

When contacted about the population projection, he told Gambiana that they’re not targeting any specific number but added that the census is a constitutional mandate to ascertain the number of people living in the country.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba