Population and Demographics

Jamaica's population consist mainly of African-Black, Mixed, East Indian, White and Chinese. Immigration from countries such as China, Colombia, South Asia, and many parts of the West Indies have seen a steady rise.

Over the past several decades, hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans have emigrated, to the United Kingdom (because of an encouragement in the 1960's), the United States, Canada and other countries. Canada also has a guest worker program (Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program) that draws on workers from the Caribbean, and especially from Jamaica.

Research shows that over 60% of Jamaica's population are Christian. The majority of them are Protestants, which is primarily due to the influence of British colonialism, and later the influence of US denominations. The five largest denominations in Jamaica today are Church of God, Seventh-day Adventist, Baptist, Pentecostal and Anglican.

Non-Christian religions are numerous, the largest being the Rastafari movement which was founded on the island and reveres the late Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. The second largest non-Christian religion is Hinduism, due to the vast amount of immigration from India. Obeah is a belief system with roots in the West African Yoruba Orisha traditions and has similarities to Vodon, Santeria, Candomble and other imports to the Americas which arrived with enslaved West Africans, and the People's Republic of China. Islam, Buddhism and Judaism are less than half a percent.

Facts and Figures

• Population: 2,758,124
• Age Structure:
  • 0-14 years: 33.1% (male 464,297/female 449,181)
  • 15-64 years: 59.6% (male 808,718/female 835,394)
  • 65 years and over: 7.3% (male 90,100/female 110,434)
• Median Age:
  • Total: 23 years
  • Male: 22.4 years
  • Female: 23.5 years
• Population Growth Rate: 0.8%
• Birth Rate: 20.82 births/1,000 population
• Death Rate: 6.52 deaths/1,000 population
• Net Migration Rate: -6.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population
• Sex Ratio:
  • At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
  • Under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
  • 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
  • Total population: 0.98 male(s)/female
• Infant Mortality Rate:
  • Total: 15.98 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Male: 16.66 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Female: 15.27 deaths/1,000 live births
• Life Expectancy at Birth:
  • Total population: 73.24 years
  • Male: 71.54 years
  • Female: 75.03 years
• Total Fertility Rate: 2.41 children born/woman
• HIV/AIDS:
  • Adult prevalence rate: 1.2%
  • People living with HIV/AIDS: 22,000
• Ethnic Groups:
  • Black 90.9%
  • East Indian 1.3%
  • White 0.2%
  • Chinese 0.2%
  • Mixed 7.3%
  • Other 0.1%
• Religions:
  • Protestant 61.3%
    • Church of God 21.2%
    • Seventh-Day Adventist 9%
    • Baptist 8.8%
    • Pentecostal 7.6%
    • Anglican 5.5%
    • Methodist 2.7%
    • United Church 2.7%
    • Jehovah's Witness 1.6%
    • Brethren 1.1%
    • Moravian 1.1%
  • Roman Catholic 4%
  • Other, including Rastafarianism, Hinduism and some spiritual cults 34.7%
• Languages:
  • English
  • English patois
• Literacy:
  (Definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school)
  • Total population: 87.9%
  • Male: 84.1%
  • Female: 91.6%