Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai has signed a decision on the organisation of a nationwide rural and agricultural census, which will begin on July 1 next year, aiming to gather comprehensive data on various aspects, including the current status of agro-forestry-fishery production, rural conditions, and rural residents.

The monthlong work's preliminary results will be released in December the same year, and official ones in March 2026. Specialised analytical reports will be published in July 2026.

Under the decision, steering committees for the census will be established at various levels. The central committee will be headed by a Deputy Prime Minister and staffed by representatives from relevant ministries, associations, and agencies. Meanwhile, local committees will be headed by the chairpersons or vice chairpersons of the People's Committees of provinces, districts, and communes, and tasked with organising and overseeing the census implementation.
Notably, such steering committees are only formed in districts, towns, cities, wards, and townships where the proportion of households involving in the agro-forestry-fishery sector exceeds 30% of the total population.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment is responsible for developing the census plan, coordinating with relevant ministries, agencies, and localities to organise and oversee the work, and establishing a census database to share with relevant ministries and sectors, among other tasks./.VNA