This survey, also known as ENAHO, was first implemented in 1995. From 1997-2002, data was collected on a quarterly basis. The 4th quarter of the survey was executed under the Program for the Improvement of Surveys and the Measurement of Living Conditions in Latin America and the Caribbean (MECOVI). Expenditure data was gathered to provide information on the living conditions and poverty status. Beginning in May 2003, the data collection became continuous and the sample of the 4th quarter of the 2002 survey was divided into 12 subsamples, each for a month of the year. From 1998, the survey included a panel.

In the 4th quarter of 2000, a sample of the national population was surveyed on topics of employment, income, education, expenditures, assets, health, social programs, household demographics, and housing. Community and agriculture questionnaires and a questionnaire on violence, security, and ethnicity were also administered. The sample, based on the 1993 Census, was 4,063 households.