Login
Login
|
Microdata at FAO
    Home / Food and Agriculture Microdata Catalogue / AGRICULTURAL-CENSUS / POL_2020_PSR_V01_M_V01_A_ESS
Agricultural-Census

National Agricultural Census 2020

Poland, 2020
Reference ID
POL_2020_PSR_v01_M_v01_A_ESS
Producer(s)
Statistics Poland (GUS, Glówny Urzad Statystyczny), Department of Agriculture (Departament Rolnictwa)
Collections
Agricultural Censuses
Metadata
Documentation in PDF DDI/XML JSON
Created on
Apr 28, 2026
Last modified
May 14, 2026
Page views
32
  • Study Description
  • Downloads
  • Get Microdata
  • Identification
  • Scope
  • Coverage
  • Producers and sponsors
  • Sampling
  • Survey instrument
  • Data collection
  • Data processing
  • Data Access
  • Contacts
  • Metadata production
  • Identification

    Survey ID number

    POL_2020_PSR_v01_M_v01_A_ESS

    Title

    National Agricultural Census 2020

    Translated Title

    Powszechny Spis Rolny 2020

    Country
    Name Country code
    Poland POL
    Study type

    Agricultural Census [ag/census]

    Series Information

    The first agricultural censuses in Poland were conducted in 1960, 1970, 1981, and 1990. Subsequent agricultural censuses were conducted in 1996, 2002 and 2010, the latter in conjunction with the Survey on Agricultural Production Methods. The most recent census was conducted in 2020 and was the second census conducted after Poland joined the European Union.

    Abstract

    The National Agricultural Census 2020 is a census of all agricultural holdings that takes place every ten years. It is part of an EU-wide programme of agricultural censuses carried out in 2020 under EU Regulation 2018/1091 on integrated farm statistics and conducted under the World Programme for the Census of Agriculture (https://www.fao.org/world-census-agriculture/en/). The objective of the census is to collect useful information for the purposes of monitoring, evaluating, and revising the common agricultural policy.

    Kind of Data

    Census/enumeration data [cen]

    Unit of Analysis

    Agricultural holdings

    Scope

    Notes

    The census scope covered agricultural activities (crops and livestock).

    The questionnaire collected data on:

    1. Identification and address data of the farm
    2. Land use
    3. Sown and other area
    4. Livestock
    5. Fertilization
    6. Crop protection
    7. Farm buildings
    8. Agricultural tractors, machinery and equipment
    9. Economic activity
    10. Income structure
    11. Labour force
    Keywords
    Structure of agriculture Land use Crops Livestock and poultry Agricultural equipment and facilities

    Coverage

    Geographic Coverage

    The National Agricultural Census 2020 covered the entire country.

    Universe

    The statistical unit was the agricultural holding, defined as a single unit, both technically and economically, that has a single management and that undertakes economic activities in agriculture in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 belonging to groups A.01.1, A.01.2, A.01.3, A.01.4, A.01.5 or to the "maintenance of agricultural land in good agricultural and environmental condition" of group A.01.6 within the economic territory of the Union, either as its primary or secondary activity, as it is stated in the Regulation (EU) No. 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council on integrated agricultural statistics. Regarding activities of class A.01.49, only the activities "Raising and breeding of semi-domesticated or other live animals" (except for raising of insects) and "Bee-keeping and production of honey and beeswax" were included.

    For the National Agricultural Census 2020, the country adopted the following thresholds:

    • 1 ha of agricultural land
    • 2 ha of arable land
    • 0.5 ha of potatoes or fresh vegetables and strawberries
    • 0.2 ha of aromatic, medicinal and culinary plants, flowers and ornamental plants, seeds and seedlings, nurseries
    • 0.3 ha of fruits trees, berries, nuts trees, other permanent crops excluding nurseries, vineyards
    • 0.1 ha of vineyards
    • 0.01 ha of greenhouses or cultivated mushrooms
    • 1.7 total livestock units

    Thresholds were lowered compared to Regulation (EU) 2018/1091

    Producers and sponsors

    Primary investigators
    Name
    Statistics Poland (GUS, Glówny Urzad Statystyczny), Department of Agriculture (Departament Rolnictwa)

    Sampling

    Sampling Procedure

    The frame of agricultural holdings for the census was the Agricultural Research Sampling Frame 2020. The list was built based on the Agricultural Research Sampling Frame 2019, the Statistical Units Database from Statistics Poland, administrative sources such as the National Official Register of the Territorial Division of the Country and the System of Identifiers and Place Names, and non-statistical collections; and it was updated before and during the census, eliminating duplicate or extinct farms or adding farms omitted from the frame. The final list included around 1.5 million agricultural holdings.

    The National Agricultural Census 2020 was a complete enumeration of all agricultural holdings who met the treshold requirements.

    Survey instrument

    Questionnaires

    One questionnaire was used for all data collection methods and for all farms, regardless of the type of activity, size or legal status. The census questionnaire covered 19 out of 23 core items recommended in the WCA 2020.

    Data collection

    Dates of Data Collection
    Start End
    2020-09-01 2020-11-30
    Time Method

    Reference day:

    • 1 June 2020, for land use, sown area, livestock, machinery and equipment

    Reference periods:

    • from 2 June 2019 to 1 June 2020, for use of fertilizers, plant protection, farm buildings, income structure, labour force, other gainful activities, manure management, animal housing, cultivation of edible mushrooms, irrigation and soil management practices
    • from 26 May to 1 June 2020, for the current activity in the economic activity section
    • from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2020, for rural development measures
    Mode of data collection
    • Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]
    • Computer Assisted Web Interview [cawi]
    • Computer Assisted Telephone Interview [cati]
    Data Collection Notes

    Census operations involved: 16 provincial census commissioners, 16 deputy provincial commissioners, 991 members of the Provincial Census Bureau, 426 members of the Provincial Management Centre, 84 helpline consultants, 226 provincial supervisors, and 7 334 census enumerators.

    Due to the concurrent COVID-19 pandemic, Statistics Poland had to adapt the established organization of the agricultural census and the mode of work to reduce face-to-face contacts. It was necessary to adapt the census systems to telework, and Statistics Poland changed the agricultural census legal acts for data collection, including changes such as: e-learning training of enumerators; use of CATI and CAWI besides the planned CAPI and administrative data; using personal protective equipment for data collection; publicity campaigns promoting self-enumeration as the safest way of data collection; and setting up a hotline for CATI.

    Mobile devices were adapted to work with the CAPI and CATI methods. Statistics Poland used the following administrative registers for data collection: Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS), rural development measures, bovine register, ovine register, caprine register, pig register, organic farming register, cadastre, and statistical business register.

    QUALITY ASSURANCE
    Statistics Poland has a quality management system. For the National Agricultural Census 2020, a data collection system with very detailed validation checks was developed. Surveillance of the interviewers was optimized by using the CORstat system. Automatic validation in the questionnaire was implemented as well as quality management tools in the central database. During the census and after its completion, the Content Module System was used to control, analyze and verify the consistency of the data collected. A census helpline was implemented prior to and during the enumeration period to assist CAWI respondents regarding questionnaire inquiries.

    Non-sampling errors were minimized by carrying out the following actions: removal of ineligible units from the records, leaving unchanged the weights for the other units to minimize over-coverage errors; the statistical farm register is regularly updated and additionally, during the census the option of adding a farm to the register of farms to minimize under-coverage errors was permitted; pre-testing questionnaire, pre-filled questions, explanatory notes or handbooks for numerators or respondents, on-line FAQ or hot-line support for enumerators or respondents, and training of enumerators to minimize measurement errors; reminders, legal actions and imputation to minimize non-response errors.

    Data processing

    Data Editing

    Data captured through the CAPI, CATI and CAWI methods were gathered and processed in the Operational Microdata Base built for the National Agricultural Census 2020. Interviewers, supervisors, and staff from local and central department validated data through data format checks, completeness checks, range checks, relational checks, comparisons with previous rounds of the data collection and with other domains in agricultural statistics.

    The processing of census data covered data control and correction, data imputation, supplementing of the census data with administrative data, calculating the typology of farms, and preparation of a dataset for the Eurostat database. Imputation was carried out using nearest neighbour imputation. The Statistical Data Acquisition, Processing and Integration System was used for data processing.

    Data Access

    Access conditions

    The data request procedure and the data request form are available at "How to apply for microdata access?" at https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata/farm-statistics.

    Contacts

    Contacts
    Name Affiliation Email URL
    Department of Agriculture (Departament Rolnictwa) Statistics Poland (GUS, Glówny Urzad Statystyczny) [email protected] https://stat.gov.pl/

    Metadata production

    DDI Document ID

    DDI_POL_2020_PSR_v01_M_v01_A_ESS_FAO

    Producers
    Name Abbreviation Affiliation Role
    Department of Agriculture (Departament Rolnictwa) Statistics Poland (GUS, Glówny Urzad Statystyczny) Metadata producer
    Statistics Division ESS Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Metadata adapted for FAM
    Back to Catalog
    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

    FOLLOW US ON

    • icon-facebook
    • icon-flickr
    • icon-instagram
    • icon-linkedin
    • icon-rss
    • icon-slideshare
    • icon-soundcloud
    • icon-tiktok
    • icon-tuotiao
    • icon-twitter
    • icon-wechat
    • icon-weibo
    • icon-youtube
    • FAO Organizational Chart
    • Regional Office for AfricaRegional Office for Asia and the PacificRegional Office for Europe and Central AsiaRegional Office for Latin America and the CaribbeanRegional Office for the Near East and North AfricaCountry Offices
    • Jobs
    • |
    • Contact us
    • |
    • Terms and Conditions
    • |
    • Scam Alert
    • |
    • Report Misconduct

    Download our App

    © FAO 2026