May 27, 2025
Poverty rates nearly slashed in half in both urban and rural areas across the Caribbean nation.
Jamaica is celebrating a record drop in its poverty rates, with 8.2% being the lowest in its history.
The Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Wayne Henry, announced the news May 21. Henry shared the figures from 2023 during the PIOJ’s quarterly media briefing on the state of the economy.
According to Loop News, this percentage was nearly half of the recorded poverty rate of 16.7% in 2021. This latest 8.2% rate became the lowest ever recorded since Jamaica began measuring poverty rates in 1989.
Henry confirmed that figures for 2024 will be revealed later this year. The data is detailed in the Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions (JSLC), collected by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN).
While Jamaicans celebrate this achievement, Henry stated that these numbers remain unconfirmed. No poverty results were determined in 2022, with STATIN also revising the sample design and weighting methodology to the JSLC sample used to collect poverty rates.
Furthermore, Henry emphasized that rates from 2012 to 2017 were revised to better compare with later years. He reiterated that his fellow countrymen should remember this context while acknowledging this progress.
“Therefore, data prior to 2012 should not be compared with data for 2012 to 2023,” Henry advised. “While the trend in poverty reduction remains clear and credible, comparisons across years, particularly with pre-revision estimates, should be interpreted with caution,” he said.
He noted that the increased number in 2021 likely stemmed from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this variability, Jamaica has progressed in reducing its poverty.
“While this is a positive development, we observe that there was high variability around this estimate. As such, maybe [it was] less precise than others. It should therefore be interpreted with some caution,” said Henry.
These decreasing numbers impacted both urban and rural areas. The poverty rate in the Greater Kingston Metropolitan area dropped from 10.4% in 2021 to 3% in 2023. Rural areas’ rates slashed from 22.1% to 11.5% between these years.
Furthermore, Jamaica noted a decline in food poverty, also known as extreme poverty. The country also recently celebrated its lowest monthly murder toll in 25 years last March.
“In the Jamaican context, food poverty refers to the inability of a household to afford the minimum daily caloric intake required for good health,” explained Henry.
These decreased poverty numbers include Jamaica’s recovery from the impact of COVID-19 and a rise in employment. The progress also stems from an increase in the minimum wage as social protection programs better serve nationals.
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