(Jamaica Observer) Jamaica recorded a second consecutive year of negative population growth last year.
According to the Planning Institute’s Economic and Social Survey of Jamaica (ESSJ) tabled in Parliament recently, the population remained estimated at 2.7 million people last year.
This resulted from the fact that there was a trade-off of 33,100 births, against 18,900 deaths and 15,900 emigrants.
According to the ESSJ, Jamaica is now a country at the advanced stage of demographic transition, with a median age of 31 years.
It said that the effects of the ageing population structure continue to be reflected in a declining child population (0-14 years); a relatively large working age group (15-64 years); and an increase in the dependent elderly population (65 years plus).
“The country has the potential to reap a ‘demographic dividend’, providing appropriate investments are made in human resources for social and economic development,” the publication said.
It added that this is achievable, as the majority of the population (over 1.9 million) or 69.7 per cent are people of working age.
“Urbanisation continues to play a major role in the distribution of the population,” the ESSJ noted.
