Home Issues Cayman by numbers: Population, education and healthcare

Cayman by numbers: Population, education and healthcare

27 October 2023

The Cayman Islands experienced its largest ever non-hurricane-related population increase last year, according to the latest statistics.

The percentage of Caymanian residents dropped below 50% for the first time, and government secondary school exam results were down across the board.

The population increase was the largest ever recorded, when not including residents leaving the islands and returning in 2004 and 2005 following Hurricane Ivan.

These and other data insights were revealed in the Economics and Statistics Office’s recently published Cayman Islands Compendium of Statistics 2022.

The annual data document features a comprehensive collection of statistics from various public and private sector sources.

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This week’s article covers population and vital statistics, education, health and social services, housing, protective services, elections and communications.

Population and vital statistics

In the first noteworthy statistic, Cayman’s population estimate in 2022 was 81,546 – up 10,441 people, or 14.7%, since the 2021 count of 71,105.

Of the residents counted in 2022, 40,957 were living in George Town, 16,943 in West Bay, 16,957 in Bodden Town, 2,274 in East End, 2,110 in North Side and 2,304 in the Sister Islands.

The percentage of Caymanian residents dropped to 48% in 2022, the first time they had accounted for less than 50% of the population. In George Town, nearly two-thirds of the population were recorded as non-Caymanian.

Most people fall within the 20-59 age range, and there are only 9,745 people living in Cayman aged 60 or over. The majority of non-Caymanians are aged between 30 and 49.

Census surveys were conducted in the Cayman Islands in 1989, 1999, 2010 and 2021.

Several of the charts from the 2021 Population and Housing Census, as well as statistics from previous census years, have been included in the compendium for comparison.

A chart detailing live births by sex and month shows the 798 births recorded in 2022 dropped from the previous year when there were 838 babies born.

Most mothers were between the ages of 25 and 39 – with 16 recorded as teenagers.

The number of deaths in 2022 was 310, with 45 of those reaching at least 90 years old. The death rate by population was 3.9%.

Education

According to a table on early childhood care and education enrolment, there were 2,056 children aged 4 or under enrolled across the Cayman Islands in 2022.

There were 4,515 children enrolled in primary education and 4,527 in secondary. Of those, 4,894 were in government schools and 4,030 in private schools.

Those numbers work out to a ratio of 11 students per teacher in government primary and secondary schools, and nine students per teacher in private schools.

National exam results in government high schools were down across nearly all categories, with passes in level two English and maths dropping 10.5 percentage points and 8.4 percentage points, respectively.

The number of students studying overseas on Education Council scholarships increased considerably, from 539 in 2021 to 724 in 2022, or 34%.

Health and social services

The number of outpatient and casualty visits at government health facilities in 2022 was 116,035 – down from 125,766 in 2021.

People visiting district clinics also dropped substantially, from 39,228 in 2021 to 29,992 in 2022.

However, ambulance calls saw a large increase from 8,174 in 2021 to 10,528 in 2022.

Meanwhile, the number of health professionals at Cayman Islands Hospital in George Town increased from 664 to 705, and at Faith Hospital in Cayman Brac from 54 to 63.

In 2022, immunisation coverage for children aged 0-24 months was the highest ever recorded for all vaccines, but down across the board for those aged 4.

The leading cause of death in the Cayman Islands in 2022 was cardiovascular disease, followed by malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumours) and unintentional injuries.

Assistance provided by the Needs Assessment Unit increased from 1,143 people in 2021 to 1,219 in 2022, while financial help with clothing increased from 92 to 118 people.

The total number of families who received any kind of assistance rose from 1,783 to 2,591 – with the majority of the help going towards food, rent, electricity, water and gas bills.

Housing

According to the statistics, in the Cayman Islands there were 34,133 households in 2022, up 4,434 from 2021.

Of those, 7,000 were owned with a mortgage, 8,267 owned without a mortgage and 17,691 were rented.

Most of the homes – 18,355 – were listed as condos or apartments, 12,512 were categorised as houses and 3,102 as one-room or studio.

Nearly all the homes are listed as having air conditioning but only 53.3% had home insurance.

Protective services

The total number of criminal offences recorded in 2022 was 3,881 – up slightly from 2021 when that number was 3,773.

In George Town 1,944 offences were committed, with 754 in West Bay and 685 in Bodden Town.

Of those, 854 were thefts – up from 758 in 2021 – 420 were common assault, 279 were assault causing actual bodily harm, 824 public order offences and 340 criminal damage or arson offences.

Serious violent offences – murder, manslaughter, assault causing grievous bodily harm and wounding – were up slightly from 55 in 2021 to 58 in 2022.

Meanwhile, drugs offences were down from 165 in 2021 to 154 in 2022, and recorded sexual offences decreased from 90 to 78.

Cases going to Grand Court increased significantly between 2021 and 2022, from 759 to 1,148.

Cases going to Summary Court also increased, from 10,449 to 11,355 – with 8,509 of those being for traffic tickets.

There were only 22 juveniles convicted of offences in 2022, with the majority of those for traffic, alcohol and drugs, or threatening violence and damage to property crimes.

The average number of people in prison in 2022 was 207 – 192 of those were male – the average age was 39, and 149 were Caymanian.

The fire service made 5,293 appearances in 2022 – 2,867 for fire prevention, while 2,295 were for domestic calls.

Of those domestic calls, 612 were for fire alarms, 271 for fire alarm tests, 193 for false calls and 122 for smoke-related calls.

The Fire Service was also called out 298 times for emergency medical services assistance, 124 times for police assistance and 77 times for brush fires.

The number of motor vehicle incidents was up to 2,915 in 2022 from 2,633 in 2021, another chart revealed; almost 80% of these took place in George Town.

There were 403 casualties and 15 people died from road accidents last year.

A total of 9,437 traffic tickets were awarded with 3,063 for speeding, 797 for tinted windows, 528 for using a mobile phone while driving and 234 for driving under the influence.

Elections

The elections statistics repeat those published in last year’s compendium because no election has been held since 2021.

The data shows that 23,609 people were registered to vote across the Cayman Islands.

Of those registered, 73.1% voted, compared to the previous three election years of 2017, 2013 and 2009, when the percentage of voters was 74.1%, 79.1% and 79.6%, respectively.