The 2006 population by-census will be held in July and August, and 5,000 temporary field workers will be recruited for data collection, the Census & Statistics Department says.

Commissioner for Census & Statistics Fung Hing-wang said today the department will use the Geographic Information System to support the field operation, and let respondents furnish online data, and adopt Intelligent Character Recognition technology, to enhance the efficiency of data capturing.

The earliest set of 2006 by-census results will be released next February or March.

Mr Fung said the department will provide free downloads of detailed statistical data on its website.

The new initiative will promote statistical literacy and informed decision making in Hong Kong through enhanced availability and accessibility of official statistics.

The download policy will be initially rolled out at the Hong Kong Statistical Bookstore in June and the department's website later this year.