8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Latin America and the Caribbean / Caribbean

Born in Jamaica

About 1 in 4,003 people born in 2023 started life in Jamaica. A boy can expect to live 69 years and a girl 74, up from 55 and 58 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and 88% have basic drinking water.

1 in 4,003
odds of being born here
33,000 births · Ranked 142nd of 230
69 / 74
years of life, boys / girls
Was 55 / 58 in 1950
$7,556
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 90th of 203 · extrapolated
58%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 15 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 137 in every 1,000 births to 19.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth69.0 years for boys, 74.0 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 519.4 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year23,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.5World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles93%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV1.2%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year4 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 3.9 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.4, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0246195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.36UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth27.9 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 46 and the poorest fifth 6.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2021
6%Poorest fifth
10%Second
15%Middle
23%Fourth
46%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $7,556 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth46% / 6% (2021)World Bank PIP
Unemployment3.0% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises6.5% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person2.7% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming15% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed36% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment85% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Kingston, with 937,700 people.

58%
live in cities
98%
have electricity at home
88%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Kingston937,700
Spanish Town145,018
Portmore102,861
Montego Bay82,867
Mandeville47,115
Languages
Share of people who can use each
English98%
Jamaican Creole English95%
English is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Kingston937,700
Saint Catherine Parish294,563
Saint James Parish100,036
Manchester47,115
Clarendon44,755
Saint Ann Parish26,503
Saint Andrew Parish18,552
Westmoreland16,553

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

People on the move

About 44% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United States, United Kingdom, Canada.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United States910,748
United Kingdom146,646
Canada144,301
Residents born abroad0.8% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 44.0% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited States (910,748), United Kingdom (146,646), Canada (144,301)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $3.7 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

88% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

88%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 20243,611Our World in Data, from WHO
Hurricane-strength storms since 19807NOAA IBTrACS
Deaths in organized violence116 between 2001 and 2001UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Jamaica, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Jamaica

Elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences