Jamaica: population and ages

In mid-1950 there were 1.41 million people, so the population is now 2.0 times as large.

The UN projects 31,300 births and 24,100 deaths in 2026, 7,240 more births than deaths.

The UN projects the first year with more deaths than births in 2034.

More people leave than move in: net migration in 2026 is projected at minus 11,700.

The median age is 33.3, which is 2.2 years above the world’s 31.1.

18% of the people are under 15 and 8.8% are 65 or older (world: 24% and 11%).

The UN projects that people aged 65 and over will outnumber children under 15 from 2041.

Women have 1.3 children on average at today’s rates (world: 2.2), against 3.9 in 1950.

Life expectancy at birth is 71.9 years, below the world’s 73.8. In 1950 it was 56.6.

For mid-2050 the UN projects 2.45 million people, 13% fewer than now, with a median age of 46.0.

By the death rates of 2023, life expectancy at birth was 71.5 years. People who had reached 65 could expect 15.5 more years for women and 13.4 for men.

On 1 January 2026, there are 12.0 people aged 65 or more for every 100 aged 15 to 64. For 2050, the UN projects 27.9.

For 2100 the UN projects a population of 1.07 million, with a 95 percent prediction interval of 368,000 to 3.76 million.

Life expectancy at birth is a period measure. It sums up the death rates of one year and is not a forecast of how long the babies born that year will live.

In mid-2024, 24,000 international migrants lived here, 0.8% of the population.

In mid-2024, 1.25 million people from here lived in other countries.