Jamaica saw a historic drop in poverty in 2023, with both general and food poverty rates falling by more than half — marking the lowest levels recorded since official tracking began in 1989. The latest data coming out of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) based on the official poverty prevalence estimates for 2023, computed from the Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions (JSLC) saw the country’s poverty level falling from 16.7 per cent in 2021 to 8.2 per cent in 2023.
No estimate was available for 2022, as the JSLC was not conducted that year due to the initiation of the National Population and Housing Census. The poverty data for 2024 is, however, to be made available sometime later this year when it is received from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin).
