T&T’s population up by 4.9 per cent

The 2011 population and housing census preliminary count has revealed there are 1, 324,699 people living in Trinidad and Tobago. Compared to the last census which was conducted in 2000, the population’s figure was 1,262,366. This represents a 4.9 per cent increase in the population. The 2011 figure included members of private households, those institutionalised (hospitals, prison, etc), street dwellers, people on board ships in the harbour, those at hotels and guest houses or people found at some other type of collective living quarters. However, the preliminary count said there were decreases in four of the 14 regions on Trinidad. The largest decrease was in Port-of-Spain. The report was made public at a press conference by the  Ministry of Planning and the Economy at the Eric Williams Financial Complex, Port-of-Spain, yesterday.

Planning Minister Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie said the entire cost of the census was $83 million. This final census report is expected to be made public in September. The preliminary report, as at January 9, 2011, Census Day, indicated there were 1,267,889 people in Trinidad and 56,810 in Tobago. It also showed there was a 22.5 per cent decrease in the population of Port-of-Spain, 9.2 decrease in San Fernando, 2.7 decrease in Diego Martin and 1.6 reduction in the population for the  San Juan/Laventille. Tewarie added: “What you are seeing you might call a de-urbanisation, in the sense that there are new settlements emerging, new housing developments that are both State and private sector. “Basically as these things grow and develop around malls and commercial areas and what you are seeing is the emergence of a decentralisation spread in Trinidad and Tobago.”

In 2000, the population in Trinidad was 1,208,282 and in Tobago 54,084 people were recorded. He said his ministry was focusing on rehabilitation of the city of Port-of-Spain by bringing it alive. He said: “We have talked about not just bringing the city alive in terms of commerce and entertainment but also in terms of residences.” The report cited no decreases in the parishes of Tobago as growth was evident in every parish, ranging from a low of .7 per cent in St Mary’s to 16 per cent in St George’s. “The population of Tobago is fairly stable, parish by parish. What you have had is slight growth,” Tewarie added.

Increase in households
The total number of households rose from 343,180 in 2000 to 406,198 in 2011, representing a growth of 18.4 per cent. When disaggregated, the increases in Trinidad and in Tobago were 18.1 per cent and 24.9 per cent respectively. The composition of the population by sex remained almost the same as in the 2000 census. “The slow growth in population, relative to the strong growth in the number of households, revealed a decline in  the average household size. “For the nation as a whole, the average household size declined from 3.64 in 2000 to 3.24 in 2011,” the report said. It added when compared to island, the decline was almost the same for Trinidad — 3.65 to 3.26 — while in Tobago, a steeper decline was observed — 3.51 to 2.95. The most populated area recorded in 2011 was the Tunapuna/Piarco with 211,741 people and the least was Point Fortin with 20,331 people. The sex ratio was 100.8 in 2011 compared to 1000.6 in 2000, showing a continued small excess of males over females, the report said.