2012 population and housing census figures made public

The long awaited results of the 2012 population and housing census have been made public.

According to the preliminary report, made available to the media, the resident/household population in St Vincent and the Grenadines in 2012 stood at 109,188. Forty-nine per cent or 53,353 of persons resident here at that time were females and 55,835 males.{{more}}

On average, the 2012 household population reflects an annual increase of 88 persons per year between 2001 and 2012, the smallest average increase since 1911. Censuses are held approximately every 10 years and in the censuses of 1911, 1921, 1931, 1946, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1991 and 2001, the average annual increases were 82, 257, 351, 912, 1,307, 700, 1,090, 787 and 252 respectively.

As at June 12, 2012, there were 85 homeless persons in the country, 383 in prison, 287 in hospitals or nursing homes and 48 in other institutions or other special living arrangements.

The largest household populations, accounting for 46.1 per cent of population, are found in the most southerly part of mainland St Vincent in Calliaqua, Kingstown and the suburbs of Kingstown.

The population density for St Vincent and the Grenadines in 2012 was 732 persons per square mile. The most densely populated area is the Kingstown Census Division, where there are 6,794 persons per square mile. This represents a reduction of 499 persons per square mile from the 2001 Population and Housing Census, which registered a density of 7,293 for this Census Division.

The number of private households in St Vincent and the Grenadines at June 12, 2012 was 36,829, an increase of 20.5 percent over 2001. Additionally, the average household size declined from 3.5 in 2001 to 3.0 persons per household in 2012.

There was a decline in the average household size for all Census Divisions over the last three censuses. The smallest households recorded were in the Northern Grenadines and the largest in the Sandy Bay Census Division.

The 2012 census report was done using data collected in 2012, as the Government was forced to redo the 2011 Population and Housing Census because the data was damaged by fire, after field workers had completed over four months of work and the data was being prepared for input and eventual analysis.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said investigators had determined that the fire was caused by a fan which had been left on overnight in the Census Office.

The 2012 report said the information presented is preliminary and will be revised when the data processing phase of the Census is completed.

More information on the 2012 census can be had from the website stats.gov.vc