Jamaica’s poverty fee fell to a report low of 8.2 % in 2023, marking the bottom degree since such information has been recorded on the island beginning in 1989.
This represents a 50.8 % lower from the 16.7 % recorded in 2021, a big turnaround attributed to a robust post-pandemic financial rebound.
The information, introduced by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) at its quarterly media briefing, was drawn from the Jamaica Survey of Residing Circumstances (JSLC) compiled by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN).
PIOJ Director Common Dr Wayne Henry credited the decline to a mixture of things, together with elevated employment, an 85.7 % rise within the nationwide minimal wage, strengthened social safety programmes, and sturdy remittance inflows, which assist practically half of all Jamaican households.
“Along with this decline in poverty, there was additionally a discount in meals poverty additionally known as excessive poverty. In 2023 the meals poverty fee fell to 2.8 % down from 5.8 % in 2021 and 4 % in 2019, additionally marking the bottom degree on report,” stated Henry. He additional defined that “within the Jamaican context, meals poverty refers back to the incapability of a family to afford the minimal each day caloric consumption required for good well being.”
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Henry famous that no information was collected in 2022 as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted subject operations, and reminded that the 2018 revision of JSLC’s sampling and weighting methodologies means solely information from 2012 onward needs to be in contrast. “Whereas the pattern in poverty discount stays clear and credible, comparisons throughout years, notably with pre-revision estimates, needs to be interpreted with warning,” he stated.
The 2023 information displays positive aspects throughout all areas. Within the Better Kingston Metropolitan Space (GKMA), poverty declined from 10.4 % in 2021 to three % in 2023. Henry did warning, nonetheless, that this determine exhibits “excessive variability round this estimate” and needs to be “interpreted with some warning.”
In different city centres (OUC), poverty fell to 9 %, down from 15.5 % in 2021, reversing the upward pattern noticed since 2018. Rural areas, which traditionally report the very best ranges of poverty, noticed a big drop from 22.1 % to 11.5 %—a lower of greater than 10 share factors.
There have been additionally notable will increase in actual per capita consumption, notably among the many lowest 40 % of earners. Consumption rose by 12 % within the first quintile and 16.6 % within the second quintile, in line with Henry.
Henry concluded that the progress proven in 2023 “exhibits potential for sustained discount [in poverty] with the implementation of key insurance policies and programmes,” and famous that the estimate for 2024 shall be launched later this yr as soon as new JSLC information is obtained from STATIN.
