Official estimate of population is almost 88,000
(CNS): As of June this year, the estimated population of the Cayman Islands had risen to 87,866, a more than 5% increase on the 2023 figure and a growth in headcount of around 3,000 people from December 2023, when the population stood at 84,738. The number of Caymanians rose by just 2.5% to 39,897, while the number of permanent residents grew to 7,822 from 6,433 in the spring of 2023. The non-Caymanian population is now estimated to be more than 40,000, a 4.8% increase from last year.
Cayman’s rapidly growing population is not a result of a growing birth rate but an increase in migrant workers. According to the Spring 2024 Labour Force Survey, more than 53% of the workforce (33,573 people) are expatriates. The overall population is made up of 44,936 men (up by 6.3% since last spring) and 42,930 women (up by 3.7%) — another sign that foreign workers are boosting the population.
Children under the age of 15 make up 14.6% of the population and people aged over 65 now make up more than 8.1%. Collectively termed as the ‘dependent population’, these two age groups accounted for 22.7% of the total population.
Non-Caymanians make up the largest proportion of the population, accounting for well over 54% of the population. Just under 9% of those are now permanent residents. Caymanians now make up 45.4% of the overall population.
Among the working population,, the largest group of workers is now in the construction sector, accounting for 12.3% of the workforce. Meanwhile, the financial sector is the fourth largest industry employer, with 7.7% of the workforce.
Despite government’s continued claims that small businesses are the backbone of the economy and a generator of jobs, in reality the vast majority of workers are employed in larger organisations with 50 or more employees. Almost one-third of the workforce and almost 40% of working Caymanians are employed by larger companies. By contrast, micro-business with five or fewer employees account for a quarter of the workforce.
The survey also revealed that the most people live in rented accommodation. Over 52% of households are rented while just over 44% are owned by residents. The vast majority of households, almost 98%, have cell phones, while just 17% still have landline telephones. 96% of the population has air-conditioning and 95% has internet connection, while 8% said they had domestic helpers.
In this survey the ESO also asked about rents and mortgage costs. The average rent paid by a tenant was $3,776, while the median was $3,000. The district of George Town recorded the highest figures, with anmean rent of approximately $4,009 and a median of $3,500. The Sister Islands had the lowest rents, with an average of $2,164 and a median of $2,000.
The estimated mean mortgage payment was $2,409, while the median was $2,000. Again George Town recorded the highest figures, approximately $2,637 and $2,150, respectively. The Sister Islands had the lowest estimates, with an average of $1,321 and a median payment of $1,138.
49% of households had housing structure insurance, while only 18.3% had content insurance.
See the full report on the ESO website.
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Category: Local News
There were more than 88,000 people in traffic this morning!
the number is not the issue…..its the lack of devleopment plan for the island. 90% of people try to get to gt/smb every day.
this island could handle 200k easy with proper planning and infrastructure.
Absolutely agreed. Many other places have far denser populations and move people far more efficiently. Our over-reliance on private cars and lack of public transportation only exacerbates the issue.
This would be good for Caymanians, how?
We don’t want that. We don’t want you either.
number of caymanians is much lower and number of non caymanians is much higher. Is a paper caymamian who hasn’t renounced their home country’s citizenship classified as a “caymanian” or foreigner ?
A person who has qualified for and been Granted “Caymanian Status” is legally “Caymanian”, that is, a citizen of the Cayman Islands. They can own and operate businesses, be self-employed, but cannot run for office, unless they renounce their birth country’s citizenship.
Caymanian Status used to be — rightfully — a somewhat arduous process, where those with heritage here were given priority, however they still had to comply with all the requirements. It wasn’t easy, nor should it have been. Then came changes which allowed MPs to grant it to various individuals, without the Immigration requirements.
Now, we are at a place where no country or territory wants to be: that where the expatriates outnumber the citizens.
There MUST be a legal avenue for good people who belong here to go through a process of qualification to become part of us. Prior to moving here decades ago, I was not aware of any other place that had degrees of citizenship, however I did and still do understand it, within context of our small size and large influence.
I believe that the privilege of Caymanian Status should be a very difficult thing to attain, as it once was. I greatly dislike that MPs can join people into our fold, simply because they are a benefit to them personally.
Rights of Caymanians are in peril. Caymanian companies used to have to be a majority holder, and employees used to have to be primarily Caymanian. Well, now a Caymanian can have a company or corporation, outsource construction and hire hundreds of expats to run their new moneypot. It isn’t right. It hasn’t been right for a long time.
We have to invest in Cayman and Caymanians, and by that I mean more than just giving them government jobs. We are falling behind our own culture, and have NO avenue of making change.
go back far enough, we all paper caymanians
theyre still foreigners to me, I only consider them Caymanian once they’ve assimilated with Caymanians
What are you classified as?
Police constantly dragging repeat offenders to court only to be frustrated by lenient sentences that release offenders after a few months.
There is no longer any fear of incarceration and deportation impeded by local MPS afraid of losing votes from the families of these criminals.
Do something Caymanians , if you want to have a safe community for your children.
It’s growing DAILY, even as over 800 hundred new graduates this week, as well as returning overseas students!
No jobs or housing for our OWN but cheap 3rd World Labor piles up!!
They are Willing to take slave labor wages of $4 to $5 hourly!!
Cayman is now untenable for local people.
All due to greed since we have “No Taxes” and most essential foods are Duty FREE!!
Destroying Cayman by land air and sea the population expansionist are wining Cayman to the detriment of our children’s future !
The onslaught continues unabated Cayman ! Stop electing imbeciles who preaching all these Caymanian whilst doing otherwise behind our backs stop supporting government officialdom from Cayman and elsewhere who are destroying the very fabric of Cayman with their hypocrisy agenda.
If you add part-time residents (persons here that own property but not on work permit), the population is over 100,000.
(Add to that the amount of stayover tourists at any given time to get a sense of the amount of people in Cayman at a point in time).
When I first arrived in the 90’s you could not change employers on a WP and you needed a full release from your existing employer. Also, you had two weeks to leave the island if you didnt have a WP. You could not just hang around without work. Why did we stop enforcing these rules?
Ask Alden, Saunders and John John.
Exactly. Consider also, who benefitted by those changes.
Cruise ship dock building, will just lead to move overseas workers here, rather than using Cayman labor.
And 51% of buildings have no structural insurance, that is a huge risk for Government finances, as the owners are relying on Government payouts to fix buildings after a hurricane
Why can’t Cayman get back to the good old days of 95% Caymanian, fishing, hunting and gathering to get food and where no one had to lock their homes.
Be careful. Do not tempt the Caymanian people. Your offer is quite attractive.
Used to leave keys in car ignition… there was no prison here. Any criminals were sent to Jamaica to serve their sentences, and believe me… NOBODY wanted to go to jail , and fear of incarceration meant a very low crime rate.
Now going to prison, over and over again, no big ting ….and with our planned $200Million prison, nobody will want to leave it.
Meanwhile, while our highly paid civil service provides its estimates, there are 100,000 people here. Too many of them shouldn’t be.
Less development = fewer workers looking to rent, clogging the road up, cheaper rents for everyone else.
Stop building gargantuan eyesores that benefit a tiny sliver of people here, be it residential or commercial.
we are literally drowning.. please, we just don’t have the capacity for so many people. Caymanians and long term PR/status holders need to be prioritised and looked after now.
If there are 37,500 people here on current valid work permits (and one assumes they are ALL expatriates and working or no work permit would be required); and
There are 7,822 people here as Permanent Residents (none of whom will be Caymanian and most of whom will be working); and
There are thousands of working age expatriate dependents on work permit holders, government contracted workers, Caymanians, and Permanent Residents who are seeking work or capable of working if the right opportunity arises;
Then HOW can the ESO possibly claim there are only 33,573 expatriates in the workforce?
They seem to be off by around 25%.
Are they saying there are at least 5,000 fraudulent work permits?
How much do we pay for this data?
need more housing.
Need fewer expats without full time employment. Then we would have more than enough housing.
Banning foreign investors from owning AirBNBs would certainly help as well.
This seems fair.
You have to live/work in Cayman.
Actually, if we actually looked at the data as to what is really happening in our housing market, and what will inevitably happen when whole categories of our expatriate workforce have little to nothing to do when the market shifts (construction, security, car cleaners) we almost certainly already have too much housing.
Who will stock the grocery stores, pump gas, build, wait tables etc……You?
Once upon a time, all hospitality services, all bartenders, all dive operations, all clerks, and most waiters were Caymanian. Then, someone in government got the bright idea that the elite could make buckets of money, literally buckets, by allowing low-paid expats to fill those positions.
Oh, there was lip service toward “advertising” for jobs, while they crafted those advertisements toward the lowly paid expat employees already in place. It’s NOT the fault of the expats. Nope. They are just trying to make their way in the world. Most of them well-educated and willing to sacrifice for their families.
No, we somehow decided that we would try to shuffle born Caymanians into government positions, and that was good enough. The other services could pay extremely low wages — wages which a Caymanian could not support their family on.
No worries, said government, those that can’t rise to the challenge, we’ll support by the NAU, and the elite continue to make buckets of money on the backs of their expats.
Well, I want those old days back, where we all worked together. Yes, there were expats, and they will always be necessary, but they were the exception, not the rule, and while not everyone grew wealthy, overall, we all had a very respectable level. Caymanians graduated from high school and either pursued higher education, or went to work, and a couple who both worked could afford two cars and a house that they would someday own outright, as they raised their family.
We have allowed government to embrace poverty, while they pursue huge projects that fill their coffers. Some of those projects should never have been allowed, because they damaged our natural resources, which is the gift from God to us. What will we leave our children? Will our children even be able to compete?
Woody would stock the stores (still does occasionally), Garth would build (he does now), and my kids can wait tables. I would continue to consult, and plant trees.
What would you do (other than complain about how cold it is out, and pay taxes)?
Need fewer Jamaicans, and we need to deport those. (even if they have status) who are unemployed repeat and often violent offenders constantly in and out of Northward.
Get a grip on Cayman , Caymanians.
Don’t worry SMB condos will soon be taken over by the sea, that should clear out a few.
Would that really change inventory and availability of housing?
If many of the so called part time expats (minimum wage expats) are living many to a home to survive financially, what changes if there are only 6 persons living in a 1 or 2 bedroom place instead of the current 8 persons?
phantom problem …