Cayman unemployment rises but remains below Caribbean average

The latest data from the Economics and Statistics Office shows that Cayman’s unemployment rate stood at 2.6% in December 2025, up from 2.4% in the same period in 2024.

Despite the increase recorded in the Labour Force Survey Fall 2025, Cayman still has the lowest unemployment of any Caribbean island economy. The Caribbean Market Overview, published in April by CIBC Caribbean, reported an average regional unemployment rate of 7.2% across Caribbean islands. For example, unemployment stands at 9.3% in the Bahamas, 7.2% in Barbados and 3.6% in Jamaica.

The survey also found that while overall unemployment rose in the jurisdiction, it fell among Caymanians. “The Caymanian unemployment rate declined to 4.1% in Fall 2025 from 4.6% a year ago,” reads a press release from the office. “The number of employed Caymanians was estimated at 24,358, an increase of 13.4% from Fall 2024. This resulted in higher employment among Caymanians relative to a year ago.” That means that the increase in overall unemployment in the islands was driven by non-Caymanians.

Growing workforce

The rise in unemployment came amid a larger increase in the total size of the jurisdiction’s labour force. The survey revealed that Cayman’s workforce increased to 64,989, up 6.6% from the previous year. That was made up of 63,289 employed workers and 1,700 unemployed people looking for work. So that means that while the unemployment rate has increased there were more people working in Cayman in Fall 2025 than in the same period a year previously.

The survey also presents a population estimate for the islands. It found that Cayman’s population increased by 2% to reach 90,577 in December 2025. The Caymanian population rose by 1.1% to 41,063 while the non-Caymanian population also increased by 1.1% to reach 40,453. But the biggest increase came from permanent residents, which the survey lists as a separate segment of the population, despite the fact they are non-Caymanian. There were 9,061 permanent residents in December 2025, up from 8,184 at the end of 2024.