Demographics of the Cayman Islands

This article is about the demographic features of the population of the Cayman Islands, including population density, ethnicity, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Census population and average annual growth rate
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1802	933	—
1891	4,322	+1.74%
1911	5,564	+1.27%
1921	5,270	−0.54%
1934	5,930	+0.91%
1943	6,690	+1.35%
1960	8,511	+1.43%
1970	10,068	+1.69%
1979	16,677	+5.77%
1989	25,335	+4.27%
1999	39,410	+4.52%
2010	54,397	+2.97%
Source:[1]

Population

With its success in the tourism and financial service industries, the Cayman Islands have attracted many international businesses and citizens to relocate. The largest numbers of expatriates living in the Cayman Islands (as of the government's 1999 Census Report) hail from Jamaica (8,320), the United Kingdom (2,392), the United States (2,040), Canada (1,562), and Honduras (873). Approximately 3,300 more residents are citizens of various other countries. While the government doesn't restrict foreign land ownership, it does strongly enforce its immigration laws. Businesses are required to grant access to job openings to Caymanian citizens first; if none of them are suitable, the business may then seek employees from other countries. In order to work in the Cayman Islands, foreigners must have a job offer before immigrating.

The estimated mid-year population of 2014 is 59,200 (medium fertility scenario of The 2012 Revision of the World Population Prospects).^[2]

District populations

The vast majority of its residents live on the island of Grand Cayman. According to the 2010 census only 2,277 people lived on Cayman Brac or Little Cayman. According to the Cayman Islands 2010 census the estimated resident population is 54,878 people,^[3] broken down as follows:

• George Town: 27,704
• West Bay: 11,269
• Bodden Town: 10,341
• North Side: 1,437
• East End: 1,369
• Cayman Brac and Little Cayman (Sister Islands): 2,277

Vital statistics

^[4][5][6]

	Average population (x 1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births)
1950	6.4	198	58	140	30.9	9.0	21.8
1951	6.3	213	42	171	34.0	6.7	27.3
1952	6.2	197	46	151	31.5	7.4	24.2
1953	6.3	244	32	212	38.6	5.1	33.5
1954	6.5	237	48	189	36.6	7.4	29.2
1955	6.7	226	52	174	33.9	7.8	26.1
1956	6.9	235	62	173	34.0	9.0	25.0
1957	7.2	248	60	188	34.6	8.4	26.2
1958	7.4	207	66	141	27.9	8.9	19.0
1959	7.7	272	50	222	35.5	6.5	29.0
1960	7.9	264	54	210	33.6	6.9	26.7
1961	8.0	277	68	209	34.5	8.5	26.0
1962	8.1	290	51	239	35.6	6.3	29.4
1963	8.2	303	61	242	36.8	7.4	29.4
1964	8.3	270	73	197	32.5	8.8	23.7
1965	8.4	241	63	178	28.8	7.5	21.3
1966	8.4	267	67	200	31.6	7.9	23.7
1967	8.5	269	60	209	31.6	7.0	24.5
1968	8.6	282	54	228	32.7	6.3	26.4
1969	8.8	272	46	226	30.8	5.2	25.6
1970	9.1	313	71	242	34.2	7.8	26.5
1971	9.6	287	65	222	29.9	6.8	23.2
1972	10.1	351	68	283	34.6	6.7	27.9
1973	10.8	319	83	236	29.6	7.7	21.9
1974	11.5	281	84	197	24.4	7.3	17.1
1975	12.2	327	77	250	26.7	6.3	20.4
1976	13.3	282	81	201	21.7	6.2	15.4
1977	13.8	270	84	186	19.5	6.1	13.4
1978	14.7	273	78	195	18.6	5.3	13.3
1979	15.4	289	98	191	18.7	6.3	12.4
1980	16.2	326	105	221	20.2	6.5	13.7
1981	16.8	347	106	241	20.7	6.3	14.3
1982	17.4	339	107	232	19.5	6.2	13.4
1983	17.9	387	105	282	21.6	5.9	15.7
1984	18.5	414	114	300	22.3	6.1	16.2
1985	19.3	367	126	241	19.0	6.5	12.5
1986	20.3	360	141	219	17.8	7.0	10.8
1987	21.3	359	118	241	16.8	5.5	11.3
1988	22.5	380	124	256	16.9	5.5	11.4
1989	23.8	438	122	316	18.4	5.1	13.3
1990	25.0	490	120	370	19.6	4.8	14.8
1991	26.2	500	127	373	19.1	4.8	14.2
1992	27.4	520	128	392	19.0	4.7	14.3
1993	28.7	528	133	395	18.4	4.6	13.8
1994	30.1	531	149	382	17.7	5.0	12.7
1995	31.7	485	110	375	15.3	3.5	11.8
1996	33.5	560	125	435	16.7	3.7	13.0
1997	35.6	572	123	449	16.1	3.5	12.6
1998	37.7	545	117	428	14.4	3.1	11.3
1999	39.8	604	128	476	15.2	3.2	12.0
2000	41.7	619	137	482	14.8	3.3	11.6
2001	43.3	622	132	490	14.4	3.0	11.3
2002	44.7	583	120	463	13.0	2.7	10.3	13.7
2003	46.0	623	153	470	13.5	3.3	10.2	4.8
2004	47.3	611	165	446	12.9	3.5	9.4	6.4
2005	48.6	699	170	529	14.4	3.5	10.9	7.0
2006	52,819	710	182	528	13.4	3.4	10.0	8.7
2007	54,079	744	160	584	13.8	3.0	10.8	8.3
2008	55,998	793	166	627	14.2	3.0	11.2	2.5
2009	56,508	824	177	647	14.6	3.1	11.4	3.7
2010	55,521	821	164	657	14.8	3.0	11.8	2.5
2011	55,277	800	176	624	14.5	3.2	11.3	6.3
2012	56,732	759	172	587	13.4	3.0	10.3	4.0
2013	55,691	697	170	527	12.5	3.1	9.5	2.9
2014		710	153	557	12.2	2.6	9.6

Structure of the population

Structure of the population (31.12.2013) (estimates):^[7]

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	27 106	28 585	55 691	100
0-14	4 512	4 831	9 343	16,78
15-24	2 873	2 916	5 789	10,39
25-34	4 727	5 043	9 771	17,55
35-44	5 746	5 955	11 701	21,01
45-54	4 836	5 070	9 907	17,79
55-64	2 530	2 744	5 274	9,47
65+	1 881	2 025	3 907	7,02

Ethnic groups

Although many Caribbean islands were initially populated by Amerindian groups such as the Taíno and Caribs, no evidence of this has been found in the Cayman Islands. Therefore, native Caymanians do not have any Amerindian heritage from their own islands; however, a significant number of Jamaicans have settled in the Cayman Islands over the years, so they and their descendants may have some Amerindian blood via Jamaica. Slavery was less common on the Cayman Islands than in many other parts of the Caribbean, resulting in a more even division of African and European ancestry. Those of mixed race make up 40% of the population, with blacks and whites following at 20% each. The remaining 20% belong to various immigrant ethnic groups.

According to CIA factbook of 2013, Caymanian people of mixed-race of mixed black African and white European ancestry are the plurality ethnic group in the Cayman Islands, accounting for 40% of the country's population, with white 20%, black 20%, and expatriates of various ethnic groups 20%.^[8]

Language

The official language of the Cayman Islands is English. Islanders' accents retain elements passed down from English, Scottish, and Welsh settlers (among others) in a language variety known as Cayman Creole. Caymanians of Jamaican origin speak in their own vernacular (see Jamaican Creole and Jamaican English). It is also quite commonplace to hear some residents converse in Spanish as many citizens have relocated from Latin America to work and live on Grand Cayman. The Latin American nations with greatest representation are Honduras, Cuba, Colombia, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. Spanish speakers comprise approximately between 10-12% of the population and is predominantly of the Caribbean dialect. Tagalog is spoken by about 5% of inhabitants most of whom are Filipino residents on work permits.

Religion

The predominant religion on the Cayman Islands is Christianity. Denominations practiced include United Church, Church of God, Anglican Church, Baptist Church, Roman Catholic Church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, and Pentecostal Church. Many citizens are deeply religious, regularly going to church. Ports are closed on Sundays and Christian holidays. There are places of worship in George Town for Jehovah's Witnesses and followers of the Bahá'í faith. The Cayman Islands also hosts a Jewish community.^[9][10]

References

2. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision
3. "The Cayman Islands 2010 Population and Housing Census: Preliminary Report" (PDF). Economics and Statistics Office. 7 February 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
4. United nations. Demographic Yearbooks
5. Economics and Statistics Office
6. http://caricomstats.org/Files/Databases/Demography/KY.pdf
7. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm
8. "CIA - The World Factbook -- Cayman Islands". CIA. Archived from the original on 29 April 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-12.
9. Chabad Cayman Jewish Center
10. Jewish Community of the Cayman Islands

• Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce
• UNESCO report on education in the Cayman Islands