Population and Demographics

About 80% of the population of Grenada are descendants of the African slaves brought by the Europeans; no indigenous Carib and Arawak population survived the French purge at Sauteurs. About 12% are descendants of the Indian indentured emigration to St. Lucia and Grenada which started in 1855 with the rest of a mixture of African, Indian, and European descent.

Grenada, like many of the Caribbean islands is subject to a large amount of migration, with a large amount of young people wanting to leave the island to seek life elsewhere. With fewer than 100,000 people living in Grenada, estimates and census data suggest that there are at least that number of Grenadian-born people in other parts of the Caribbean (such as Barbados and Trinidad) and at least that number again in 'first world' countries. Popular migration points for Grenadians further north include New York City, Toronto and London.

The official language, English, is spoken by virtually everyone. Aside from a marginal community of Rastafarians living in Grenada, nearly all are Christians, about half of them Catholics; Anglicanism is the largest Protestant denomination with Presbyterian and Seventh Day Adventist taking up the remainder. Most Churches have denomination-based schools but are open to all. There is a small Muslim population mostly from Gujarati Indian immigrants who came many years ago and set up some merchant shops.

Facts and Figures

• Population: 89,971
• Age Structure:
  • 0-14 years: 32.8% (male 14,876/female 14,641)
  • 15-64 years: 64.1% (male 30,522/female 27,137)
  • 65 years and over: 3.1% (male 1,353/female 1,442)
• Median Age:
  • Total: 22.1 years
  • Male: 22.6 years
  • Female: 21.6 years
• Population Growth Rate: 0.336%
• Birth Rate: 21.87 births/1,000 population
• Death Rate: 6.61 deaths/1,000 population
• Net Migration Rate: -11.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population
• Sex Ratio:
  • At birth: 1 male(s)/female
  • Under 15 years: 1.016 male(s)/female
  • 15-64 years: 1.125 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 0.938 male(s)/female
  • Total population: 1.082 male(s)/female
• Infant Mortality Rate:
  • Total: 13.92 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Male: 13.57 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Female: 14.27 deaths/1,000 live births
• Life Expectancy at Birth:
  • Total population: 65.21 years
  • Male: 63.38 years
  • Female: 67.05 years
• Total Fertility Rate: 2.3 children born/woman
• Ethnic Groups:
  • Black 82%
  • Mixed black and European 13%
  • European and East Indian 5%,
  • Trace of Arawak/Carib Amerindian
• Religions:
  • Roman Catholic 53%
  • Anglican 13.8%
  • Other Protestant 33.2%
• Languages:
  • English (official)
  • French patois
• Literacy: 96%