This is a demography of Guyana including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Guyana's population (Guyanese people) is made up of five main ethnic groups: Indians, Africans, Amerindians, Europeans (mainly Portuguese), and Chinese. Ninety percent of the inhabitants live on the narrow coastal plain, where population density is more than . The population density for Guyana as a whole is low: less than .

Guyana continues to be influenced by British and Indian culture as well as the cultures of the United States, Europe, Africa, the Islamic world, East and South Asian countries, and Latin America, especially the neighbouring countries of Venezuela and Brazil. It is one of two countries and three territories to form the Guianas, along with Suriname, the overseas territory of French Guiana, the Venezuelan region of Guayana, and Amapá in Brazil.

Population According to , the total population was in . The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 33.6%, 62.1% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 4.3% was 65 years or older. YearTotal population (1000)Population percentage in age bracketaged 0–14aged 15–64aged 65+ 1950 407 1955 483 1960 560 1965 640 1970 721 1975 749 1980 777 1985 752 1990 725 1995 728 2000 733 2005 746 2010 754 2020 750

Structure of the population

Age groupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 371 805 375 150 746 955 100 0–4 35 876 34 564 70 440 9.43 5–9 35 954 35 314 71 268 9.54 10–14 42 302 40 837 83 139 11.13 15–19 42 749 42 049 84 798 11.35 20–24 31 350 31 932 63 282 8.47 25–29 25 487 26 574 52 061 6.97 30–34 26 103 26 996 53 099 7.11 35–39 25 457 26 022 51 479 6.89 40–44 24 212 23 743 47 955 6.42 45–49 21 573 21 542 43 115 5.77 50–54 18 878 18 566 37 444 5.01 55–59 14 045 14 998 29 043 3.89 60–64 10 479 11 034 21 513 2.88 65-69 6 638 7 197 13 835 1.85 70-74 4 817 5 522 10 339 1.38 75-79 3 037 3 871 6 908 0.92 80-84 1 714 2 365 4 079 0.55 85+ 1 134 2 024 3 158 0.42Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 114 132 110 715 224 847 30.10 15–64 240 333 243 456 483 789 64.77 65+ 17 340 20 979 38 319 5.13

Age structure 0–14 years: 35.6% (male 135,629; female 131,518; total 267,146) 15–64 years: 60.2% (male 226,058; female 226,551; total 452,609) 65 years and over: 4.2% (male 14,347; female 17,120; total 31,467) (2002 census)Guyana Census 2002, population composition, Ch. 2 (p. 44) Total population 751,223, where 15–64 years is 452,609/751,223 ~= 60.2%.

Vital statistics UN estimates The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates of vital statistics of Guyana. PeriodLive birthsper yearDeathsper yearNatural changeper yearCBR*CDR*NC*TFR*IMR*Life expectancytotalmalesfemales 1950–1955 20,000 8,000 12,00049.418.131.46.6811849.246.552.0 1955–1960 23,000 8,000 15,00047.515.831.76.7710751.749.454.1 1960–1965 25,000 8,000 17,00041.513.627.96.159853.751.855.6 1965–1970 27,000 8,000 19,00040.012.527.56.119255.153.856.4 1970–1975 25,000 7,000 18,00034.111.023.24.908357.255.958.6 1975–1980 24,000 7,000 17,00031.110.021.03.947758.857.460.3 1980–1985 23,000 7,000 16,00028.79.619.13.267360.057.962.5 1985–1990 19,000 7,000 12,00026.49.816.62.706860.657.963.8 1990–1995 19,000 7,000 12,00023.59.813.72.556361.458.564.9 1995–2000 18,000 7,000 11,00022.08.913.02.505663.160.166.6 2000–2005 16,000 7,000 9,00020.17.612.52.434965.762.769.1 2005–2010 14,000 6,000 8,00018.85.912.92.334268.765.571.9 *CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Registered births and deaths

PopulationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rateInfant mortality rate 1932 10 8256 6944 131 1933 10 4617 8482 613 1934 9 3017 9801 321 1935 11 2626 7624 500 1936 11 7366 8004 936 1937 11 2277 3673 860 1938 10 0168 7041 312 1939 9 5996 7282 871 1940 12 0336 3975 636 1941 12 5305 5177 013 1942 13 8356 2337 602 1943 12 2048 9913 213 1944 10 5128 0602 452 1945 13 5426 6326 910 1946 13 4295 8957 534 1947 15 2095 7139 496 1948 16 5765 43711 139 1949 17 1375 26411 873 1950 16 9855 93811 047 1951 18 3575 63712 720 1952 19 5555 77213 783 1953 20 1485 87614 272 1954 20 2635 63514 628 1955 21 0735 55715 516 1956 21 6685 38016 288 1957 22 9835 72617 257 1958 23 6615 19518 466 1959 24 4675 31319 154 1960 23 7185 16718 551 1961 24 3235 06919 254 1962 25 3164 66420 652 1963 25 7964 57321 223 1964 25 5414 74820 793 1965 25 8304 70521 125 1966 26 3485 23421 114 1967 23 3355 38817 947 1968 23 4675 61917 848 1969 22 129 1970 23 7034 80818 895 1971 22 9335 24817 685 1972 25 0655 96219 103 1973 24 1005 59918 501 1974 23 1006 16116 939 1975 23 2005 92417 276 1976 24 2006 25116 949 1977 5 883 1978 23 2006 00017 200 1984 4 781 1992 712 415 1993 734 8544 5146.1 1994 745 9944 3045.8 1995 760 379 1996 770 139 1997775 1375 1176.6 1998 773 4324 9776.4 1999 770 5844 1975.4 2000 756 395 2001 753 8624 6296.1 2002 751 6475 0036.7 2003 749 7394 9866.7 2004 748 1445 1416.9 2005 746 86514 8605 2309 63019.97.012.922.0 2006 745 89814 8305 0209 81019.96.713.219.2 2007 745 24614 5005 0409 46019.56.812.720.3 2008 774 44315 2404 98010 26019.76.413.217.5 2009 753 22714 4615 2709 19119.27.012.210.8 2010 752 11314 2905 2609 03019.07.012.014.7 2011 750 66314 1105 1808 93018.86.911.914.4 2012 746 72413 7805 1608 62018.56.911.513.8 2013 742 00715 8065 19510 61121.37.014.32.612.9 2014 736 60915 7155 26810 44721.37.214.12.623.3 2015 738 59216 7274 92211 80521.76.715.02.7121.8 2016 746 37415 8965 10910 78720.66.813.82.6 2017 759 13415 2484 90910 33919.16.512.62.46 2018 790 94815 7494 55811 19118.55.812.72.33 2019 837 95416 2165 56010 65619.06.612.42.19 2020 859 83415 8603 50312 35717.94.113.82.06 2021 873 92415 4467 1548 29217.38.29.11.97 2022 895 60815 1546 8188 33617.67.610.01.89 2023 918,08314 7305 9428 78816.16.59.61.77 2024 956,04412 8326 3756 45713.46.76.71.49 2025 1,025,33413 1325 7777 35512.85.67.21.41

Demographic and Health Surveys Total Fertility Rate (TFR), Wanted Fertility Rate (WFR) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):

Year Total Urban Rural CBR TFR WFR CBR TFR WFR CBR TFR WFR 2005 21.3 2.6 20.3 2.4 21.7 2.8 2009 23 2.8 2.1 17 2.1 1.7 24 3.0 2.3

Ethnic groups

The present population of Guyana is racially and ethnically heterogeneous, with ethnic groups originating from India, Africa, Europe, and China, as well as indigenous or aboriginal peoples.

The largest ethnic group are the Indo-Guyanese, the descendants of indentured labourers from India, who make up 39.8% of the population, according to the 2012 census.Compendium 2: Population composition They are followed by the Afro-Guyanese, the descendants of enslaved labourers from Africa, who constitute 29.3%. Guyanese of mixed heritage make up 19.9%.

Indigenous peoples, known locally as Amerindians, make up 10.5%. The Indigenous groups include the Lokono, the Wai Wai, the Caribs, the Akawaio, the Arecuna, the Patamona, the Wapixana, the Macushi, and the Warao. The two largest groups, the Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese, have experienced some racial tension."Guyana turns attention to racism". BBC News. 20 September 2005."Conflict between East-Indian and Blacks in Trinidad and Guyana Socially, Economically and Politically". Gabrielle Hookumchand, Professor Moses Seenarine. 18 May 2000.International Business Times: "Guyana: A Study in Polarized Racial Politics" 12 December 2011

Most Indo-Guyanese are descended from indentured labourers who migrated from North India, especially the Bhojpur and Awadh regions of the Hindi Belt in the present day states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. A significant minority of Indo-Guyanese are also descended from indentured migrants who came from the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Among the immigrants there were many labourers from other parts of South Asia such as Nepal, Bengal, Chota Nagpur, and Northwestern India - the modern states of Punjab, Haryana - which was at the time a part of the state of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The distribution pattern in the 2002 census was similar to those of the 1980 and 1991 censuses, but the share of the two main groups has declined. Indo-Guyanese made up 51.9% of the total population in 1980, but by 1991 this had fallen to 48.6%, and then to 43.5% in the 2002 census. Those of African descent increased slightly from 30.8% to 32.3% during the first period (1980 and 1991) before falling to 30.2% in the 2002 census. With small growth in the overall population, the decline in the shares of the two larger groups has resulted in the relative increase of shares of the multiracial and Amerindian groups.

The Amerindian population rose by 22,097 people between 1991 and 2002. This represents an increase of 47.3% or annual growth of 3.5%. Similarly, the multiracial population increased by 37,788 persons, representing a 43.0% increase or annual growth rate of 3.2% from the base period of 1991 census.

The number of Chinese is about 0.2% and the White population (mostly consisting of Portuguese) is about 0.3%.

+ Population of Guyana according to ethnic groupGuyana Census 2002, population composition, Ch. 2 (pp. 27–28) Census year Indian Black Mixed Amerindian White Chinese Other Total # % # % # % # % # % # % # % 1946 163,434 143,385 37,685 16,322 8,543 3,567 2,765 375,701 1960 267,840 183,980 67,189 25.450 3,218 4,074 8,655 560,406 1980 394,417 234,094 84,764 40,343 3,790 1,864 294 759,566 1991 351,939 233,465 87,881 46,722 2,267 1,290 107 723,671 2002 326,277 227,062 125,727 68,675 1,974 1,396 112 751,223 2012 297,493 218,483 148,532 78,492 2,325 1,377 253 746,955

Language

English is the official language of Guyana, which is the only South American country with English as the official language.

Guyanese Creole (an English-based creole with African and Indian syntax) is widely spoken in Guyana.

A number of Amerindian languages are also spoken by a minority of the population. These include Cariban languages such as Macushi, Akawaio and Wai-Wai, and Arawakan languages such as Lokono and Wapishana.

Other languages include Chinese spoken by some members of the Chinese community, Portuguese spoken by some Portuguese Guyanese, Dutch spoken by Surinamese in Guyana, and Guyanese Hindustani and Tamil spoken by a few older members of the Indian Guyanese community, as well as Sarnami Hindustani spoken by Indians from Suriname. Second and third languages Portuguese is increasingly widely used as a second language in Guyana, particularly in the south of the country near the Brazil border. Dutch and French are spoken by those who frequently visit neighbouring Suriname and French Guiana respectively. French is widely taught in secondary schools along with Spanish as foreign languages. Spanish is also used by a minority of the population as a second language. Spanish is spoken typically by visitors and residents from Venezuela.Damoiseau, Robert (2003) Eléments de grammaire comparée français-créole guyanais Ibis rouge, Guyana,

Religion The religious breakdown of Guyanese people is: Hindu 28.4%, Pentecostal 16.9%, Roman Catholic 8.1%, Muslim 7.2%, Anglican 6.9%, Seventh-day Adventist 5%, other Christian denominations 20.5%, no religion 4.3%, Rastafarian 0.5%, Bahá’í 0.1%, other faiths 2.2%.

Notes

References

External links – Bureau of Statistics of Guyana Guyana profile – Caribbean Community Statistics