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2011 Census of Population & Housing - Jamaica
xvii
HOUSING CENSUS 2011 FINDINGS
The basic unit of enumeration for the housing census is the household. For Jamaican
censuses the household is one person who lives alone or a group of persons who, as a
unit, jointly occupy the whole or part of a dwelling unit, who have common
arrangements for housekeeping, and who generally share at least one meal. The
household may be composed of related persons only, of unrelated persons, or a
combination of both. The dwelling unit is the living quarters of a household and as such
is any structure or part of a structure in which persons are living at the time of the
census.
Of the total population of 2,697,983 in 2011, 2,678,629 lived in 881,078 households.
Average household size was therefore 3.1 down from an average of 3.5 in 2001 when
2,587,831 persons lived in 748,329 households. Of the remaining 19,354 persons in 2011,
18,420 lived in institutions and group quarters and 934 persons were enumerated on the
streets. Institutions and group quarters include Convents and Monasteries, University
and College Residences, Hostels and Residences for Trainees and/or Graduate
Teachers, Nurses and Ministers of Religion, Military Camps, Police Training Schools
and Police Barracks, Boarding Schools and Other Residential Schools, Correctional
Institutions, Penitentiaries, Prisons, Rehab Centres, Juvenile Institutions, Mental
Institutions, Homes for Children, the Aged, Infirm and Needy, Hospitals and Homes
providing specialized care and Hospitals and Homes for the Blind, Deaf and Other
Handicapped.
Declining average household size has been a feature of population change for the past
three decades. Table (xiv) shows these changes for the intercensal periods since 1970.
The table shows the slowed rate of population growth occurring simultaneously with
the increased growth in the number of households. The result is a decrease in
household size.
Table (xiv) Changes in Population and Households and Average Household Size: 1970-2011
Census Year
Population in
Private
Households
Number of
Private
Households
Average Annual % Rate of
Growth
Average
Household
Size
Population Households
1970
1,797,400
420,008
4.28
1982
2,167,660
517,597
1.54
1.71
4.19
1991
2,292,265
587,891
0.81
1.32
3.90
2001
2,587,832
748,329
0.94
2.31
3.48
2011
2,678,629
881,078
0.36
1.72
3.04
Household questions relate to the conditions under which households live. In the first
place there are questions related to tenure, that is, the legal conditions under which the
space is occupied. Other questions included relate to the facilities available. Such
facilities include toilet, bathroom and kitchen facilities, the source of water for domestic