Guyana’s Population Grows to Just Under One Million People

GEORGETOWN, Guyana - The Bureau of Statistics Monday said that Guyana’s population is officially 878,674 but at the end of 2024, it is recorded at 956,044.

President Irfaan Ali examining a copy of the preliminary report of the Guyana National Population and Housing Census 2022 with Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh with glasses and officials from the Bureau of Statistics looking on.Chief Statistician, Errol La Cruez , said there was 89 percent household coverage due to smaller households, more working people all due to the “changing nature of society”  and that there are more migrants, some of whom are undocumented and would not want to engage with officials.

“Overall we have a high degree of confidence in the data we have presented here,” La Cruez said, as President Irfaan Ali received the first copy of the preliminary report of the Guyana National Population and Housing Census 2022.

Deputy Chief Statistician and Census Officer, Vanessa Profitt, in presenting a snapshot of the preliminary report said that as at September 15, 2022 the population was 878,674.

The 2012 census had recorded a population of 746,955.

She said the figures represent the “highest population growth rate” since the Second World War, noting that in 2012, the local born population was 98 per cent and that now there has been a slight increase to three per cent and local born slightly decreased.

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh said many of them had migrated from neighbouring countries, in addition to investors, workers and students.

“We see that reflected in the expansion of the foreign-born population,” Singh said, adding that there would be a “far more comprehensive” preliminary report that would be posted on the Bureau of Statistics website.

He said the final report would “come in due course”.

Earlier, President Ali commended the Bureau of Statistics for the diligent and successful execution of the 2022 census, noting the magnitude and scale of the project, while also reaffirming the value of the data gathered from the census for the purposes of informed policymaking by his administration, including for the purposes of public investment decisions going forward.

The Bureau of Statistics, in a statement in 2024, disputed claims that delays in publishing the 2022 census results were due to political interference, noting then that the legal framework guarantees its independence, with work guided by scientific principles and international statistical standards.

The statement attributed any delays to “considerable challenges encountered during this census round,” noting that similar delays were experienced in other Caribbean countries including Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, Dominica, and St. Lucia.

Factors such as respondent suspicion, apathy, and post-COVID fatigue contributed to the slower enumeration process.