GUADELOUPE - Population
Growth in the adult population
In 1990, the population of Guadeloupe was 387 000, as against 328 400 eight years earlier. This substantial increase made up for two decades without growth. For 20 years the pattern had been simple: the birth rate in the mainly young population was high, but the lack of jobs meant that large numbers emigrated to metropolitan France. The upshot was that the natural surplus scarcely compensated for departures and there was little population growth.
In the 1980s the heavy negative net migration gave way to a very positive one, 88% of this surplus was due to the boom in the Îles-du-Nord and in particular to the population explosion in Saint-Martin (8 072 inhabitants in 1982, 28 518 in 1990). Outside the Îles-du-Nord, population growth in Guadeloupe has been mainly determined by natural movements, although the fact that new arrivals (or people returning) slightly exceeded departures marked a change from the pattern of the previous decades.
In 1999 there were 422 000 inhabitants. Guadeloupe account for 0.7% of the population of France. In terms of total population Guadeloupe ranks 23rd out of the 26 regions of France, but in terms of the population density ranks fifth with 249 inhabitants/km2.
Between 1990 and 1999 the population on average increased by 0.98% per year. The population is increasing by roughly 4 000 persons per year. Demographic growth in Guadeloupe is fuelled exclusively by the natural increase (+1.22% per year on average).
The natural surplus remains fairly high due to a fertility index of more than 2 children per women, a young population, and a life expectancy close to that of the metropolitan. On the other hand the net migration became negative during the nineties because of the departures of young people seeking work and training. Guadeloupe?s migration deficit ran at a rate of -0.24% per year on average.
Guadeloupe?s population is young, with 38% of its inhabitants aged less than 25, and only 14% aged 60 or more in 1999. Nevertheless, population forecasts for 2030 estimate a strong ageing of the population. The forecast is that in 2030 the share of the population aged less than 25 will be down to 28% and that the share of the 60 plus age band will make up 32%.
Compared to 1990 the number of live births fell from 7 600 to 7 400 in 1999 (-2.6%), but in 2000 the number of births was back to 7 600. The birth rate is above the national average. In 1999 the crude birth rate was 17.4 live births per 1 000 inhabitants compared to the national average of 12.9 live births per 1 000 inhabitants. The crude death rate is below the national average with 6.2 deaths per 1 000 inhabitants, compared to the national average of 9.1. However the infant mortality rate (6.9 deaths of children under 1 year old per 1 000 live births) is much above the national average (4.4).
In 1999 the foreign population accounted for 5% of the population of Guadeloupe. This is just below the national average (5.5%). EU nationals account for 12.5% of the foreign population.
Concentration around Pointe-à-Pitre
Guadeloupe has two main poles of activity: Basse-Terre, the administrative capital, and Pointe-à-Pitre, the economic capital. 41% of the region's population live in the urban area of Pointe-à-Pitre (171 773 inhabitants in 1999), which includes Les Abymes, the municipality with the highest population in the archipelago. 50% of jobs are within the conurbation of Pointe-à-Pitre-Les Abymes. 11% of the population lives in Basse-Terre, and 12.5% of jobs are concentrated there.
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