Jamaica’s Poverty Rate Hits Historic Low of 8.2% in 2023
Jamaica’s poverty rate dropped to a record low of 8.2% in 2023, the lowest figure recorded since official measurements began in 1989.
The announcement was made by Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr Wayne Henry, during the PIOJ’s quarterly media briefing on Wednesday.
Citing data from the latest Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions (JSLC), compiled by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), Henry revealed the sharp decline from 16.7% in 2021.
The survey was not conducted in 2022 due to the Population and Housing Census.
He noted that poverty data between 2012 and 2017 had been revised to align with updates to sample design and weighting methodology made in 2018, and warned against comparing these with pre-2012 estimates.
The 2023 figures show progress across all regions. In the Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area, poverty fell from 10.4% in 2021 to 3%, though this figure had high variability.
Other urban centres saw a decline from 15.5% to 9%, while rural areas recorded a significant drop from 22.1% to 11.5%.
Real per capita consumption rose across all income groups, with the lowest 40% seeing increases of 12% and 16.6% in the first and second quintiles, respectively.
Food poverty also hit a new low of 2.8% in 2023, down from 5.8% in 2021 and 4% in 2019. Food poverty refers to the inability of households to afford the minimum daily caloric intake required for good health.
Henry credited the decline in poverty to several factors, including Jamaica’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, increased employment, an 85.7% hike in the national minimum wage between 2022 and 2023, enhanced social protection programmes such as PATH and the social pension scheme, and continued support from remittances which supplement nearly 50% of Jamaican households.
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