The census was conducted according to European methodology and the relevance of the data cannot be disputed due to dissatisfaction with the numbers, the director of the State Statistical Office (SSO), Apostol Simovski told MIA.

It is our obligation to show the real situation and we did it, we were not guided by whether we will meet someone’s expectations or not, said Simovski.

According to the director of the SSO, the comments about the under-representation of some ethnic communities in the Census or their non-acceptance of the results is completely unjustified, because the decrease is observed in all groups.

The census showed that there is a decrease in the population, but our obligation as the SSO is to give the real situation according to the definition of the resident population. If we make a comparison with the last census, we have 185,834 inhabitants less and that is noticeable in all ethnic communities, added Simovski.

The results of the census showed that compared to 2002, the total population in the country decreased by 185,834 people or 9.2 percent.

Dissatisfaction with the results of the census, but also the number of members of their ethnic community expressed several parties and organizations.