Demographics of the Cayman Islands

Population

With its success in the tourism and financial service industries, the Cayman Islands have attracted many international businesses and citizens to relocate. The largest numbers of expatriates living in the Cayman Islands (as of the government's 1999 Census Report) hail from Jamaica (8,320), the United Kingdom (2,392), the United States (2,040), Canada (1,562), and Honduras (873). Approximately 3,300 more residents are citizens of various other countries. While the government doesn't restrict foreign land ownership, it does strongly enforce its immigration laws. Businesses are required to grant access to job openings to Caymanian citizens first; if none of them are suitable, the business may then seek employees from other countries. In order to work in the Cayman Islands, foreigners must have a job offer before immigrating.

The estimated mid-year population of 2014 is 59,200 (medium fertility scenario of The 2012 Revision of the World Population Prospects).

District populations

The vast majority of its residents live on the island of Grand Cayman. According to the 2010 census only 2,277 people lived on Cayman Brac or Little Cayman. According to the Cayman Islands 2010 census the estimated resident population is 54,878 people, broken down as follows:

Structure of the population

Structure of the population (31.12.2013) (estimates):

Ethnic groups

Although many Caribbean islands were initially populated by Amerindian groups such as the Taíno and Caribs, no evidence of this has been found in the Cayman Islands. Therefore, native Caymanians do not have any Amerindian heritage from their own islands; however, a significant number of Jamaicans have settled in the Cayman Islands over the years, so they and their descendants may have some Amerindian blood via Jamaica. Slavery was less common on the Cayman Islands than in many other parts of the Caribbean, resulting in a more even division of African and European ancestry. Those of mixed race make up 40% of the population, with blacks and whites following at 20% each. The remaining 20% belong to various immigrant ethnic groups.

According to CIA factbook of 2013, Caymanian people of mixed-race of mixed black African and white European ancestry are the plurality ethnic group in the Cayman Islands, accounting for 40% of the country's population, with white 20%, black 20%, and expatriates of various ethnic groups 20%.

Language

The official language of the Cayman Islands is English. Islanders' accents retain elements passed down from English, Scottish, and Welsh settlers (among others) in a language variety known as Cayman Creole. Caymanians of Jamaican origin speak in their own vernacular (see Jamaican Creole and Jamaican English). It is also quite commonplace to hear some residents converse in Spanish as many citizens have relocated from Latin America to work and live on Grand Cayman. The Latin American nations with greatest representation are Honduras, Cuba, Colombia, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. Spanish speakers comprise approximately between 10-12% of the population and is predominantly of the Caribbean dialect. Tagalog is spoken by about 5% of inhabitants most of whom are Filipino residents on work permits.

Religion

The predominant religion on the Cayman Islands is Christianity. Collectively, Protestants account for 67.8%, while the Roman Catholic Church accounts for 14.1%. Denominations practiced include United Church, Church of God, Anglican Church, Baptist Church, Roman Catholic Church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, and Pentecostal Church. Roman Catholic churches are St. Ignatius Church, George Town and Stella Maris Church, Cayman Brac. Many citizens are deeply religious, regularly going to church. Ports are closed on Sundays and Christian holidays. There are places of worship in George Town for Jehovah's Witnesses and followers of the Bahá'í faith. The Cayman Islands also hosts a Jewish community.