Demographics
In 2023, Trinidad & Tobago's population will be just over 1.4 million, 51.6% of whom will be women. The population has been growing slightly and steadily, by around 0.5% a year in recent years.
Population density. Despite its relatively small population, Trinidad & Tobago is a small country, and its population density of 300 inhabitants per square kilometer ranks it 48th in the world. It should be noted, however, that this density differs greatly between Trinidad and Tobago, as well as between the various areas of Trinidad. Tobago, a small island of 300 km2, has just 60,000 inhabitants. Trinidad's population density is particularly noticeable in the vicinity of Port of Spain, where the access roads are saturated every day at work arrival and departure times.
Life expectancy. According to the latest data published by the WHO, which dates from 2020 just before the Covid-19 pandemic and does not take into account its possible effects, life expectancy for the inhabitants of Trinidad & Tobago was 76.1 years. Women have a life expectancy approaching 80, compared with 72 for men.
Growth rates. Between 1960 and 2021, Trinidad & Tobago's population grew from 848,000 to 1.53 million. This represents growth of 79.9% in 61 years. The highest increase was recorded in 2016 at 7.22%. The sharpest fall was in 2020 with -0.12%.
Over the same period, the total population of all countries in the world increased by 160.2%, making the country a medium to low population growth country. The average age rose by 4.96 years between 2012 and 2020, from 32.84 to 37.80, demonstrating the need for a more effective birth policy. WHO forecasts are fairly pessimistic on this subject, predicting a steady decline in the country's population from 2030 onwards.
Distribution
96% of the country's population is in Trinidad and only 4% (60,000 people) in Tobago and the origins of these two populations are very different. In Tobago, the vast majority of the population is of African origin, while Trinidad has a greater variety of origins, thanks in particular to the descendants of Indians brought to the country by the British after the end of slavery.
The first peoples
Trinidad is considered the oldest inhabited area in the Caribbean. The first inhabitants of Trinidad & Tobago were indigenous groups from the Orinoco delta in South America who first settled at least 7,000 years ago. Until the 15th and 16th centuries, Trinidad was home to a number of groups related to the Arawak (Taino) and Caribe (Kalinago), including the Nepoya, Suppoya and Yao, while Tobago was occupied by the Caribes and Galibi. Spain was the first European nation to establish a presence in the country as early as 1532, but due to a lack of settlers, it eventually accepted any Catholic European as a colonizer alongside it. This open-door policy led to significant immigration from France and other Catholic countries.
Originally a sugar colony, most of the indigenous population was exploited to death or driven into exile, and very few descendants of these early peoples remain today. For over 200 years, hundreds of thousands of Africans were shipped in and forced to provide slave labor on the plantations to replace the decimated indigenous population.
The Afro-Caribbeans
Afro-Trinidadians and Tobagonians, also known as Afro-Tribagonians, are the country's inhabitants of African descent, and make up a large proportion of the country's population. Throughout the period of slavery, Tobago was one of the first islands to be reached by slave traders en route from Africa, thanks to the interplay of winds and currents. The origins of most African ancestors in the Americas lie in West and Central Africa. The most common ethnic groups of enslaved Africans in Trinidad & Tobago were Igbo, Kongo, Ibibio, Yoruba and Malinke. All these groups, among others, were heavily affected by the Atlantic slave trade. The 1813 population census shows that among African-born slaves, the Igbo were the most numerous. Around half of Afro-Trinidadians are descendants of emigrants from other Caribbean islands, particularly Martinique, Guadeloupe and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Other Afro-Trinidadians trace their ancestry to American slaves recruited to fight for the British during the War of 1812, or to indentured laborers from West Africa.
Immigrants from India
The relationship between India and Trinidad & Tobago began on May 30, 1845, when the first ship Fatel Razack brought 225 indentured laborers to Trinidad from India to compensate for the loss of manpower due to the abolition of slavery. Today, 37% of the country's population is of Indian origin. This number is slightly higher if we include multiracial individuals, mainly the Douglas, a mix of Afro-Trinbagonians and Indians.
The descendants of the settlers
There are still descendants of the first settlers in the country today. Many family names of French origin can be found, especially in the most bourgeois society of the country, such as Verteuil or Lopinot. The village of Lopinot, about 30 kilometers from Port of Spain, is a clear example of this presence and one can find the tomb of Count Charles Joseph de Lopinot de la Fresilliere who exploited cocoa there at the very beginning of the 19th century.
Newcomers
In recent years, Trinidad & Tobago has seen the arrival of large numbers of Venezuelans fleeing poverty or the political regime in their country just a stone's throw away. Often young, these new economic immigrants are gradually taking an important place in the consumer society, often accepting low wages that natives would not have accepted. In 2021, the government has decided to distribute more than 70,000 work visas to these new arrivals, most of whom were in an irregular situation, but who in fact contribute to the country's economy.
