In the U.S., the government sends out 'Census' forms every ten years in an attempt to determine the size of our population.
Every place I've lived 'here', most people that 'I' know report throwing the forms into the trash. When the government follows up with 'hired' Census takers to visit addresses which didn't return the forms, they're usually told to "get the fuck out of here"
Yet...the Feds always manage in some mysterious way to determine and publish a finding that the population has "grown"...and...by 'what' percent???
I might add, that a' prerequisite' for obtaining employment at the Census Bureau is 'Mental Retardation'
Same thing happens in the UK, the only way they, them the few in supposed power have of knowing how many souls there are, is by birth certificates, though the question then is, how many African and Asian countries do the same, birth certs that is? Add illegal immigration and bingo, still no way of knowing how many souls are in any country. :-)
lol