Report on Population Growth in the Caribbean

CARICOM aims to analyse the population growth rates of individual countries and the entire region to assist in making informed decisions. The Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) has assigned a team to analyse the birth and death rates for the past 11 years in six member states and write a report on the population growth rate in these states and the region as a whole. From the data analysed the following observations and conclusions were made.

The data analysed for the report was obtained from two tables of data. The tables show the birth and death rates of Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Barbados, between 2002 and 2012. Table 1 displays the birth rates and Table 2 displays the death rates. From the data many trends and patterns were found.

The birth rates in Barbados, Grenada, Saint Lucia and Guyana are on the decline. However, Barbados’ birth rate has only marginally decreased. Jamaica saw a sudden increase in its birth rate in 2006 but it decreased in the following years. Grenada had the highest birth rate until 2010 when it dropped significantly from the previous year. Saint Lucia also had a significant drop between in 2008. However, while most nations’ birth rate has been decreasing, Trinidad and Tobago’s notably increased from 2007 to 2009 but still had the lowest average birth rate of the countries studied of only 13.5.

St. Lucia and Jamaica have seen their death rate steadily increasing with significant increases in 2006 and 2008 respectively. Trinidad and Tobago had the highest average death rate of the eleven year period. Furthermore, Trinidad and Tobago saw a dramatic increase in 2006 but the rate returned to previous levels in 2009. Guyana is the only country whose death rate has been gradually decreasing. Apart from a small increase in 2004, Barbados’ death rate has remained somewhat consistent. Grenada’s death rate steadily declined until 2010 where it returned to the death rate seen in 2002.

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