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 West Germany de jure census collected data through self-enumeration on subjects of housing, household demographics, education, and employment. Population and dwelling questionnaires were used to obtain data. The census day was May 25, 1987.

A 5% sample of households from the census (3,160,224 individuals) is available through IPUMS International at the University of Minnesota. Dwellings and vacant units are not identified in the microdata sample. Refer to the IPUMS website for guidelines on citing database versions.