---
title: "The German Census Falls Short"
description: "This is a link to a FactTank posting about how the German census counted 1.5 million fewer people than the government expected, mainly because of poor government record-keeping. This lesson is relevant to plans for the next U.S. Census."
date: "2013-06-20"
authors:
  - name: "D’Vera Cohn"
    job_title: "Former Senior Writer/Editor"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/dvera-cohn/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2013/06/20/the-german-census-falls-short/"
---

# The German Census Falls Short

When the results of the 2011 German census were announced recently, they included an embarrassing error – at least in the demographics world. It showed the German population was [1.5 million people short of what the government had expected.](https://www.destatis.de/EN/PressServices/Press/pr/2013/05/PE13_188_121.html;jsessionid=BA2370EBB692E775960C5725FB854DD7.cae2) The news dealt a blow to Germany’s reputation for efficient record-keeping, and it’s also relevant to how the next U.S. Census is conducted. [Read more at FactTank.](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/06/20/lessons-from-the-german-census/)