Missing Numbers: After 42 Years, DR Congo Takes On The Job Of Counting Its People

For 42 years, the Democratic Republic of Congo has had to estimate how many people live within its vast borders. Its only nationwide scientific census was conducted in 1984, when the country was still known as Zaire and its population stood at about 30 million.

Today, that figure has grown to an estimate of nearly 112.8 million. But the country has never conducted another nationwide count to establish how that population is distributed or how it has changed. Since 1984, Congo has experienced wars, administrative reforms, the creation of new cities, mass refugee movements and repeated waves of internal displacement.

That is now set to change.

In March 2026, President Félix Tshisekedi presided over a donor roundtable for the country's second General Population and Housing Census, known as RGPH2. More than $200 million in contributions were announced for the exercise, while UNFPA said the financing reached 83 per cent of the amount required. By July, the government had moved into the operational phase, beginning recruitment for census mapping.

But counting Congo is not simply a matter of sending enumerators from one household to another. The country covers more than 2.3 million square kilometres, parts of its east remain affected by armed conflict, millions of people have been displaced and infrastructure is uneven. The census is therefore an attempt to establish, for the first time in more than four decades, a reliable statistical picture of a country that has changed dramatically since its last count.

Why Has Congo Gone 42 Years Without A Census?

The gap is the result of years of institutional, financial and political difficulties rather than a single decision to postpone the census.

Preparations for a new census began in earnest in the 2000s. A working group began preparing the exercise in 2006, but by 2018, the census had still not been conducted. Research into the failed process identified several problems, including limited domestic institutional capacity, funding shortfalls, competing priorities and fragmented donor support. Administrative records were also in poor condition, making population estimates increasingly unreliable.

The government formally authorised the second population and housing census, or RGPH2, in 2009. But the process remained stuck largely in the preparatory phase for years.

That left the 1984 census as the country's statistical reference point even as Congo's population and administrative structure changed.

The problem has compounded over time. Without a new census, estimates have had to fill the gap. But estimates can tell authorities roughly how large a population is; they are far less effective at showing precisely where people live and how populations are distributed between territories and communities.

That distinction matters in a country where demographic change has been accompanied by major population movements.

What Has Changed Since 1984?

Congo is not simply a larger version of the country that was counted in 1984.

UNFPA states the population has increased substantially over the past 42 years, while life expectancy rose from 49 years in 1990 to 59 years in 2021. The country has also undergone administrative reforms, created new cities, received large numbers of refugees and experienced repeated waves of internal displacement and returns from neighbouring countries.

The result is a country whose demographic map has changed alongside its population.

That is particularly important in the east, where conflict has repeatedly displaced communities. Fighting involving armed groups has forced families to flee their homes, sometimes more than once, while insecurity has restricted humanitarian access to some areas.

Congo's wider humanitarian crisis showcases how violence in eastern provinces has driven mass displacement, disrupted livelihoods and placed already fragile public services under additional pressure. Insecurity has also made it harder for aid agencies to reach some communities.

For a census, that creates a basic problem: the people being counted may no longer live where older records say they do.

How Is The New Census Being Prepared?

The current RGPH2 process has been in preparation for several years, but 2026 has marked a significant shift from planning towards implementation.

UNFPA said in February that the government had already begun preparatory work, including pilot census mapping, while the National Institute of Statistics and the Central Census Bureau were receiving technical assistance. The government was also working with other African countries that had recently completed or were preparing their own censuses to share expertise.

The process is designed to be largely digital.

More than 200,000 census agents are expected to be deployed across Congo's 145 territories by July 2027. The exercise will use 150,000 interconnected tablets, with data transmitted to servers for compilation, archiving, security, preliminary analysis and the detection of duplicate entries.

The mapping phase itself involves around 137,000 enumeration areas across the country. UNFPA says 8,000 tablets will be needed for that stage, including 3,000 provided by Côte d'Ivoire.

The shift towards digital collection is intended to improve the speed and quality of the census while reducing some of the weaknesses associated with paper-based data collection.

But technology can only solve part of the problem.

Why Is Counting Congo So Difficult?

The first obstacle is geography.

The Democratic Republic of Congo covers about 2.35 million square kilometres, making physical access a major logistical challenge. The current census plan involves dividing the entire country into tens of thousands of enumeration areas and deploying a huge field workforce to reach them.

The second obstacle is insecurity.

Eastern Congo continues to experience armed violence involving groups including M23, the Allied Democratic Forces and other militias. The fighting has displaced millions and restricted access to communities in some areas.

For humanitarian agencies, insecurity already makes reaching vulnerable populations difficult. For a census, the challenge is even broader because enumerators need systematic access to households rather than occasional access to a population in need.

The third problem is population movement.

Congo has experienced large-scale refugee arrivals, repeated internal displacement and the return of Congolese citizens from neighbouring countries since the last census.

That means a census cannot simply reproduce old administrative boundaries and records. It has to establish where people actually live at the time of the exercise.

This is particularly important in conflict-affected regions, where population movements can change local demographics quickly.

Why Does Congo Need The Census?

The government sees the exercise as much more than a statistical update.

The Presidency has argued that continuing to plan without complete, reliable and current demographic data weakens the state's ability to respond to people's needs. It has linked RGPH2 directly to major public programmes, including free basic education, universal health coverage, free maternity care and the Local Development Programme covering the country's 145 territories.

UNFPA similarly describes the census as a foundation for national planning, public policy and the allocation of resources. It is also intended to provide data for Congo's national strategic development plan and for measuring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

The implications are practical.

A government deciding where to build schools or hospitals needs to know how many people live in a particular area. Authorities allocating resources between territories need reliable population figures. Planners assessing infrastructure needs need to know whether existing roads, water systems, healthcare facilities and schools correspond to the populations they serve.

In a country undergoing rapid demographic growth and repeated displacement, outdated population figures can mean planning for a country that no longer exists.

Can Congo Finally Complete It?

There is now more momentum behind RGPH2 than in previous attempts.

The March donor roundtable secured more than $200 million in announced contributions, while UNFPA said the financing represented 83% of the requirements. The African Development Bank separately committed $80 million to support the census.

The government has also moved beyond simply discussing the census. Mapping is underway, recruitment has begun and the infrastructure for digital data collection is being developed.

The timetable nevertheless remains ambitious. UNFPA says the government and the agency are working towards completing the process by July 2027, with more than 200,000 agents expected to operate across all 145 territories.

The biggest test will be whether the exercise can maintain nationwide coverage despite the realities that have made a census so difficult for four decades: vast distances, uneven infrastructure, conflict and population displacement.

After 42 years, Congo is finally attempting to replace estimates with a count.

The significance is not simply that the country will know how many people it has. For the government, the census is an attempt to establish where those people are, what has changed since 1984 and what the state needs to do next.