The national census has finally come to an end. Finance Minister Tendai Biti said results would be available at the end of the year, or early next year. 31,000 enumerators were employed to count an estimated 14 million people.

The head count exercise was surrounded by controversy when it began, when soldiers and police tried to hijack the process.

Biti said 98% of households had been counted, although other reports contradicted that. There were massive transport problems that meant enumerators couldn't get to remote areas, while others were walking up to 12 kilometres a day.

Many people expressed concern about the questions being asked. The forms were extensive and one enumerator noted that they contained twice as many questions as the last Census, but a report said there were no questions on religion and ethnicity. There was also no attempt to get an idea of how many people had left and moved into the Diaspora.

Residents in Binga criticised the process saying Ndebele and Shona speaking enumerators came to their area, but the fact that they were not familiar with local languages meant little information could be obtained.

The last Census in 2002 showed that Zimbabwe's population was 11,634,663.