North Korea will conduct its first population and housing census in a decade next year, state-run outlet DPRK Today reported on Wednesday.

The DPRK Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said in the article that the North’s government had carried out censuses twice in the 25 years, in 1993 and 2008.

Both were sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

UNFPA – which has been working in the North since 1985 – provides the DPRK with assistance in generating reliable population data.

“UNFPA is currently supporting the DPRK in the preparatory activities for the 2018 Population and Housing Census