Censuses provide population numbers, household or family size and composition, and information on sex and age distribution. They often include other demographic, economic, and health-related topics as well. The 1987 Cameroon census was both de facto and de jure. The census days were from April 14-28, 1987, and data were collected through face-to-face interviews.

A 10% self-weighted sample of households from the census (897,211 individuals) is available through IPUMS International at the University of Minnesota. Refer to the IPUMS website for guidelines on citing database versions.