By Julie Carrington
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (GIS) – Economic affairs, minister and senator Chad Blackman, has reinforced the seriousness of the challenges Barbados will face in the future as a consequence of low population growth.
Senator Blackman made the assertion while delivering opening remarks at the government of Barbados, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Joint SDG Fund’s five-day workshop on National Transfer Accounts Capacity Building, at the Sagicor School of Business, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus.
The senator cited the findings of the 2019 Barbados Population Situational Analysis Report prepared by the National Population Commission and the recently published 2021 Population Housing Census Report from the Barbados Statistical Service to highlight the urgent need for population growth.
Senator Blackman indicated that one of the issues raised in the 2019 report was that while Barbados’ overall population was expected to peak at 290,000 persons between 2029 and 2030, it was expected to decline after this period.
“In other words, in a few years, the population will reach its peak, as it were, its projection, and thereafter will start to go down as well,” he said.
The minister told participants that the results of the 2021 Population and Housing Census Report not only confirmed that Barbados’ population was on a downward trajectory, but it had “already begun its decline”.
“Now, furthermore, and importantly, in 2021 the resident population was estimated to have fallen from 277,821 persons, plus or minus, recorded in the 2010 census, to 269,090 persons in 2021.
“The current circumstances, therefore, will have significant, and I cannot stress this enough, will have significant implications for us as a country, and invariably, the ability of the country and the government and the state, as it were, to generate revenue, to pursue developmental priorities, and also meet more social care and security needs of the population as well,” Blackman warned, adding that the quality of life that was enjoyed was dependent on the island’s ability to grow its population, and he emphasised the critical role this played in the country’s ability to attract more investors.
Senator Blackman proffered the view that Barbadians had all of the necessary tools to be the “makers and shakers in our own space and sphere” in a globally competitive environment.
Acknowledging that Barbados had the capacity to be in a class of a powerful nature alongside other countries that faced the same circumstances, the minister suggested that we should devise ways to reorder “the ingredients that we have before us to allow us to move with haste as we move forward in that changed global competitiveness [arena].
“And therefore, the capacity of Barbados to achieve these goals is partly dependent on the size and structure of its population. I repeat, part of that overall success in achieving these objectives, notwithstanding the complexities which are within us to do and to achieve, largely depends on the size or lack thereof … of our population.”
Senator Blackman is optimistic that the workshop, scheduled to run until Friday, September 27, would help to improve the island’s ability to access the current demographic dynamics and trends that would assist government in developing informed policies on an ongoing basis.
Meanwhile, the UNFPA’s liaison officer for Barbados and the OECS, De-Jane Gibbons, said the workshop would allow attendees to expand their capacity to use the National Transfer Accounts to document the impact of the changing age structures on economic development and to inform population policies, among others.
“So, your support and participation are vital as we work together…to address these shared goals. By focusing on data-driven solutions and gender-sensitive approaches, we are aiming to create a world where every pregnancy is wanted; every childbirth is safe; and every young person’s potential is fulfilled,” De-Jane Gibbons stated.
