Population edges towards 66,000
(CNS): The official population count at the end of 2018 was 65,813, an increase of 3.8%, according to official statistics published this week by the Economics and Statistics Office. The 2018 Compendium of Statistics paints a picture of Cayman by numbers that shows a growing economy and the largest work force in Cayman’s history. But at the same time the total number of families who received assistance from the Needs Assessment Unit increased, including a 5% increase in poor relief.
Despite the positive economic indicators, the picture was not all rosy. In addition to the increase in the number of people needing help from government, inflation was also running very high at 3.8%. And while revenue to the public purse grew to a whopping $835.2 million, core government spending reached almost $700 million, the highest on record.
Population statistics shows that nearly 35,000 people now live in George Town and that the number of people living in Bodden Town has surpassed that of West Bay, which is also putting pressure on infrastructure. The Department of Environmental Health managed 106,673 tonnes of garbage last year, compared to 106,054 the year before, while CUC generated 2.5% more power than in 2017.
The document also shows an array of statistics that reflect changes in society, such as a significant growth (more than 63%) in the volume of incoming mail handled by the Post Office, likely a result of online shopping. Our changing use of technology was reflected in a significant shift from fixed internet connection, which declined from 31,232 to 24,413, to cell phone connection, which increased from 96,656 in 2017 to a whopping 103,274 users last year.
The employment statistics show that the public sector remains the country’s biggest boss, with 6,390 people working either in central government or for public authorities, But work permits for those in the private sector rose to 25,599, compared to 25,305 at the end of 2017.
See the full document in the CNS Library or the ESO website
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Category: Community, Local News, Politics
Expats are already the majority in the capital, they’re 67% of town while Caymanians are 44%, this country can’t hold so many people, please wake up cayman!
I bet the population is far more than 66,000. We have that amont alone trying to drive into George Town from the eastern districts each morning!
Caymanians need to start waking up and releasing what is happening to our Island, cig is not on our side, they only care about money, Caymanians are gonna start being outnumbered if we aren’t already, and this country is gonna kick their own people to the side and move on without us, we need to start protesting and demand cig to put a hold on immigration and the constant construction and listen to what the people want in OUR country, this place is gonna become so overcrowded and packed with cars that tourists are gonna stop coming here because it’s just like America! They come here for peace and serenity because we’re SUPPOSED to be a safe, quiet island, but crime is gonna increase and pollution as well! we have to take a stand, we can save our island before it’s too late, we the people have the power, not them! And no this isn’t an anti-expat comment, it’s just that our island cant hold so many people, we aren’t as big as Jamaica, we have to remember that.
“Caymanian’s are gonna start being outnumbered if we aren’t already”.
Outnumbered from a very long time ago Bobo; that’s why imported labour / pemit holders are required to make this place tick……and that will always be the case.
it is time for these expats to finally go back from where they came from
Mini Jamaica!!!
E Nigjima you need help bobo! We xenophobic Caymanians don’t need or want your advice or imported issues or social problems we dealing with so many of our own uniquely Caymanian ones now. That is partly due as you rightly stated lack or leadership who’s idiotic views are just like yours. Your obvious or total disregard for our environment in your rant says a lot about where you came from and why you probably left.
And still no pavements/sidewalks. Such a basic thing. Not being funny, but, Cayman is still 3rd world when it comes to just ‘basics’. We are so backwards.
Yeah I’m so sick of my horse and carriage, and my rotary phone and my abacus and my plantain trash bed and coconut leaf hut and my grass skirt and the fact that there is nowhere to go to buy any of the things I need and I have to cook over an open fire and burn kerosene lamp every night and there is absolutely no industry here … but what would really really make Cayman good is if I had sidewalks on every street. I know there is street lighting but what happens if all those lightning bugs suddenly died, then the whole country would be in darkness. Oh I wish I could just go somewhere else to live but with no airplanes coming here I would be left to fend for myself on the open water in a boat made from whatever material washed ashore. Oh Calgon take me awaaaaaay!
Comment of the year!
Caymanians always funny.
People lived off the sea, had no trash and moved around on bicycles. Life was difficult, but people were happier, at least in warm climates by the sea.
The definition of happiness today is designer clothes, high speed internet, big houses and vehicles, regular shopping trips to Miami.
Oh but we nice though. Over a hundred different nationalities on the rock, complaining but too comfortable to leave. Some of them nice too!! Takes all kinds and all things! Love and hate, small minds, small things. Sidewalks coming on a street near you ,the new invention to make Cayman great again!!
Dearest e nikjima opinions are like your Pie Hole everybody has one as far as your Malta comment we are not Malta or anywhere else you want to compare us to. You are correct with your assertion about our leadership lacking many qualities that unfortunately is now due to quality of our imported electorate who been given and sold our xenophobic Caymanian Rights. You sound very bitter please get help soon!
They claim there are almost 33,000 Caymanians. They have to under-report the number of expatriates or the government’s own figures would confirm the truth: Caymanians are a minority. Politicians seem to be influencing numbers based on political considerations. Roper, you there?
It would be great if we could scrap the 9 seater busses and get a fleet of electric (or hybrid busses) that seat 30-40 people and have a proper public transport system… we could set the trend for the whole Caribbean.
Upset too many relatives bobo if you did that.
True, why is it that bus drivers seem to represent a single demographic?
Why don’t you get a job as one and change that?
Ummm, it seems certain “types” of Caymanian need not apply.
No Vacancy mon !
You mean a single demographic who can’t properly drive. They drive on the sidewalk too.
Yes. A habit often imported from elsewhere.
I agree, I live In Spotts which has become a nightmare for traffic during the working week. if there was a nice big air conditioned bus to take me to Camana Bay and back each day, stopping off at a sheltered bus stop outside the high schools on Walkers Rd. to drop off/pick up our kids on our way, I would be first in the queue to use it. Doing this would get a lot of cars off the road during the week and reduce road rage! Other nice buses could do the same for Gov. employees and other people who work in GT. Accompanied children would go free of charge or kids could have a student pass for a reduced fare. Everyone else would buy a monthly or yearly bus pass for a realistic price (no cash to hold the journey up). Would be nice to sit and chat to my neighbors etc. or sit quietly listening to music on my headphones. My mother lives in southern Spain and this is exactly how they do it there and it works. Let’s show the rest of the Caribbean how it’s done! How difficult could this be?
Hope they didn’t count Alden or McKeeva. Where are they this week? Monaco?
Cayman needs to stop & take a breath. How about CIG puts a hold on hotels, apartment complexes, strip malls (not private homes) for 18/24 months, let all the developments currently approved/in progress come on line and see the results of those before moving ahead with anything else. Between Grand Harbour and LPH there are 8 apartment complexes currently in development, at least another 3 in SS and more along the SMB corridor – do we really need anymore?
During this 18/24 months a plan should be put in place for Cayman’s growth for the next 20 years – I know we’ve done this before & nothing happened, the plans were ignored – but this time maybe we’ve learnt from our mistakes and can do something actually for the good of the country and its people.
Try Vision 2008 – been there done that now on a shelf
4:44 are you suggesting that Government not pay its employees. Low and frozen civil service salaries is what helped the Government deliver huge surpluses. Get the facts!!
Thank you civil servants for your sacrifices. I for one is very grateful for your service.
The surplus would be much higher if automation and private sector productivity and benefits were insisted on. The civil service benefits package will place severe financial strain on us all in the next economic downturn. Where do you think the money paid to create that surplus comes from? It is off the backs of the private sector who are working under far stricter conditions than those that spend it!
To the people saying there are too many people on the island that is just factually incorrect
The islands of Malta have a population of almost 500,000 people with a total area of 122 sq miles, Cayman has 66,000 with an total area of 102 sq miles
That is almost 8 times as many people in an area that is only 20 square miles larger than our islands
*Hypothetically you could double or triple the population of Cayman overnight and aside from there being a lack of infrastructure and horrible traffic there would be plenty of physical space for everyone *
That being said
Am I saying that we should stuff as many people onto Cayman as we can? No
Am I saying that I want rampant unplanned growth? No
What I am saying is this:
Cayman has a planning issue not an overcrowding issue
We have had repeated governments who approve all sorts of horrendous construction projects without any plans for physical growth, we have let George town become a heaping mess, built where there were once old dirt roads that leave little room for any real modern day infrastructure
People claiming the islands are overcrowded don’t know what they are talking about plain and simple
And there are too many xenophobic Caymanians willing to lay all their issues at the feet of expats instead of the people who are really responsible the series of PPM and CDP governments we have had for the last 20 years
Cayman needs a real vision for a future and stagnation is not an option
We have plenty of room for growth
We just need Caymanian leadership brave and wise enough to carve out a plan that works for all of us and not just their donors and their party buddies
Stop issuing work permits to every cat and dog, who applies. What we are creaing here is a huge liability on government/taxpayers. A permit is issued and renewed, time after time, until they apply for PR or marriage of convenience just to get to stay. Then they bring their children, who end up being a bigger liabilty on government. More schools/classrooms, teachers, transportation, tutors, uniforms and school lunches. Why is this madness being allowed. Pay attention to your own before you look after others.
What nonsense. We do not have plenty of room for growth. Bet you would like 50 storey buildings built in Grand Cayman too. 3% economic growth on Grand Cayman will kill the quality of our life’s. Even with planning there has to be sustainable growth.
Google, CONGESTION IN MALTA. Read the first 10 items that come up. Do we want these problems on Grand Cayman? Hello no. I am certain you have never been to Malta or you would not have made such a ludicrous statement.
It takes a lot more than planning living on a dinky island with over 100,000 people.
We need to start understanding the concept of sustainable development.
If the next generation of Caymanians want anything done at all then they need to forego the dollar for a while and concentrate on getting rid of the ‘Old Guard’. There are lots of young, smart Caymanians capable of transforming these islands but they are reliant on old money and family connections. Until they break free from that then they are stuck with the status quo.
The only thing that will save this place is the younger generation as the “Old Guard” has completely sold out to developers interests. A type of Green Party laying political emphasis on the environment and fixing basic problems like THE DUMP is urgently needed.
Malta has been facing a humanitarian crisis with said immigration (mainly African asylum seekers) for years now. There are a few documentaries with some pretty upset Maltese nationals saying some nasty things about these immigrants.
Well Enygma, off you go then. Send us a postcard from Malta.
66,000 population. 103,000 cell phones….
Hmmm….
Anonymous 27/09/2019 at 6:01 pm
Some people have 2 or 3 cell phones – one for the office, the other their personal phone. Easy enough to reach 103k
3 phones; 1 for the office and 1 personal. Lol. And a burner to call a friend who can count?
If the population is really 66000 then thats about 60000 between 8 and 80, 43000 of whom need 2 phones to get you to 103000. 43,000! Who are all these people? I don’t know a single person with 2 phones. Except you. Do you also have 24000 cars?
One for the side piece.
Manhattan Island is 22.7 square miles, population 1.63 million!
I’m a Caymanian with a personal cell and work cell. Not entriely impossible.
How many 8 year olds have cell phones?
Some people use their cell phones like earrings. One on each ear!!
Government revenue reached US$1 billion!, what have we got to show for all that money – overcrowded roads, sub standard public schooling and very dissatisfied taxpayers.
“taxpayers” lol
You are a tax payer! We do not pay direct income tax but we do pay indirect consumer tax on almost all of our imported goods. Then there’s tax on home purchases (‘stamp duty’) was tax on cars (annual ‘license’ fees) etc etc
I have my doubts about the accuracy of this figure. What is even more scary is this current government, like those of the past, doesn’t have one simple or comprehensive plan to deal with this size of a population!!! Don’t believe me??!!! Look at the “emergency meeting” Joey had a few days ago, concerning traffic.
The fact that he had to have an “emergency meeting” about this tells you plainly they have no plan!!!
The only “plan” they have is listen to whatever the greedy rich want!!!!
Caymanians have to start using their heads when it comes to voting these people in!
Basically a disgrace, 10,000 of those are no use at all to Cayman’s Infrastructure and need to take the boat home.
We have imported too many that come from dysfunctional societies. Yet we expect them to come here and act civilized on the roads. Waiting in line in an orderly fashion escapes them, much less driving with an ounce of courtesy.
The dysfunctional drivers are mostly from here. Driving while thinking of others is not a cultural norm.
The truth can be an offence to some, but it can never be a sin.
Would be good if the truth recognized the origins of many of the drivers of whom you complain.
Junior you and others, are too young to know when Caymanians, found a living in Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Cuba, Jamaica, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama,
Florida, New York, Philadelphia, Canada to name a few.
They took the boat home at leisure.
And they didn’t act uncivilized when they were were overseas.
That is correct. Caymanians living abroad caused no problem to their host countries. Caymanians were hired far and near by the boatloads!!
This may help you understand why Caymanians were readily accepted into most societies around the world without conflict.
An excerpt from the Royal Colonial Institute, United Empire journal, 1927 T.H. Dermot wrote – “The Caymanian is of sterling stuff. self reliant, not easily given himself away, sober, dependable in any work he undertakes, industrious. He is a home Lover and an excellent family man. As a sailor he ranks with the men of Newfoundland and Bermuda. And that it can safely be said that wherever he has gone the Caymanian has made a good citizen”.
Lots more out there where that came from. #qualityculture
The term ‘Behavioral Sink’ was used to describe a collapse in behavior resulting from overcrowding. It was based on the experiments when they put rats together in an enclosed space.
I’m no doomsday predictor, nor am I calling us rats, but with a complete lack of planning and infrastructure, I can see things getting heated.
A failure to plan is a plan to fail. Wake up Cayman!
So what’s your plan?
To wake up.
Start with fixing THE DUMP. Get ones priorities right. Don’t have to be a genius to have that in the plan as # 1 priority.
The Dump cannot be fixed. It is a big pile of garbage. We need one and have one. If you do not like living next to it, perhaps you should not have moved there.
Do we need to do better with our management of waste? Yes.
Is it more important than eduction, healthcare, school lunches, and controlling rampant growth. No!
Too much people are here on our tiny island. We need to get this sorted ASAP!!
When is the cull, and how much per head?
suggestions?
Yes. Stop allowing foreign civil servants to have unlimited numbers of dependents for free.
And start enforcing term limits!
4.25pm That will have little or no affect as there are very few foreign civil servants and they provide the specialized expertise the locals don’t have.
Nonsense. There are more than 1,000 expatriate government employees, and another 1,000 who became Caymanian after coming here.
They, between them, probably have more than 5,000 dependents, and likely make up 10% of the population.
BUT DO YOUR RESEARCH. We have over 120,000 vehicles on the island. More cars than people!
Which means that someone’s numbers are crap!
Closer to 100,000 people. The official numbers are wrong because the officials are lying.
No, it just means, too much cars on the island.
too much cars ,there is a big reward for the first person who gives up their car!
There are many more than 66,000 people living here.
the number is not the problem…its the lack of planning and vision at cig level to maintain the quality of life that people used to enjoy in cayman.
cayman is being strangled slowly with traffic congestion.
The number is the problem. It is so inaccurate that reliance on it makes us unprepared. The population is much higher than 66,000 but our government caters only to the official numbers. The result is an overstrained infrastructure because even if all is done efficiently, it is designed and operated for a lower population than it must actually deal with.
How inaccurate is the number and what facts are you basing your opinion.
For a start the ESO indicates there are only 29,000 expatriates here.
Immigration confirms there are 27,000 work permits. They have dependents (spouses and children) so add at least another 5,000. Then add 5,000 permanent residents, spouses of Caymanians and dependents on PR holders. That makes 37,000 expats before a single overstayer, expatriate prisoner, asylum seeker or wealthy condo resident is considered.
$700m in government spending? Just how? This is an insane number! CI$11,000 for every man, woman and child on the island!
$700 million must on a per capita person basis must be the highest in the world.
Yeah but come on, be fair, we have no crime, excellent education standards, first class public transportation, free health care, green energy, brilliant mental health facilities, 5 star care for our elderly, a waste management plant that is the envy of the world over, etc. etc.
this is the best one ive read! love this, Free Health Care for All woohooooo
Especially when you consider it doesn’t include healthcare or benefits or education for 2/3 of the population!
More like 5/6. Most Caymanians pay their own way. It is the civil service, Caymanian and expatriate, that reaps the rewards.
That’s what happens when the government employs 50% of the island.
And a high percentage of the population of other Islands…
How about the more than 1.5 tonnes of garbage produced by every man, woman and child each year! Staggering amount of waste per capita. Of course, this doesn’t take into account the waste produced in hotels, resorts and restaurants.
Let’s just call it an even tonne per person. WOW! Surely we can do better, in addition to FINally mitigating the dump.
Good point Big Beau. # 1 priority on Grand Cayman should be to immediately FIX THE DUMP. Not build a $200 million + port which will ultimately lower the quality of life for everyone in George Town and the Seven Mile Beach Corridor.
Let’s get our priorities straight.
Can’t wait for the new 50 storey building.
Let’s make the quality of life on Grand Cayman hell for everyone and build the greatest Mountain in the Caribbean, Mount Trashmore.
you people have a wonderful life and don’t even know it.
imagine a country where there is no media to criticize the Government!
I don’t want to imagine Russia or the People’s Republic Of China.
In Monaco, who dis?
Yes but that money does not go to every man, woman and child. It goes to civil servants.