<!-- "none" is a legitimate description when the title is already adequate; see WP:SDNONE -->
350px|alt=|thumb|upright=1.4|Bahamas [[population pyramid in 2020]]
This is a demography of the population of the Bahamas including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Ninety percent of the Bahamian population identifies as being primarily of African ancestry. About two-thirds of the population lives on New Providence Island (the location of Nassau), and about half of the remaining one-third lives on Grand Bahama (the location of Freeport).
The islands were sparsely settled and a haven for pirates until the late 18th century, when thousands of British Loyalists were given compensatory land grants following the American Revolution. Many new settlers were from the Southern United States and brought slaves with them to cultivate plantations. At the turn of the 20th century, the total population was 53,000.
School attendance is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 16. There are 158 public schools and 52 private schools in the Bahamas catering to more than 66,000 students. The College of the Bahamas, established in Nassau in 1974, provides programmes leading to associate's degrees and bachelor's degrees; the college is now converting from a two-year to a four-year institution.
thumb|300px|right|Demographics of Bahamas, data of [[FAO, year 2005; number of inhabitants in thousands]]
Structure of the population
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:80pt;"|Age group
! style="width:80pt;"|Male
! style="width:80pt;"|Female
! style="width:80pt;"|Total
! style="width:80pt;"|%
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| Total
|| 179 850
|| 188 540
|| 368 390
|| 100
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 0-4
|| 16 670
|| 15 660
|| 32 330
|| 8.78
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 5-9
|| 16 400
|| 15 090
|| 31 490
|| 8.55
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 10-14
|| 14 990
|| 14 730
|| 29 720
|| 8.07
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 15-19
|| 15 170
|| 15 320
|| 30 490
|| 8.28
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 20-24
|| 14 780
|| 15 250
|| 30 030
|| 8.15
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 25-29
|| 13 090
|| 13 780
|| 26 870
|| 7.29
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 30-34
|| 12 780
|| 13 000
|| 25 780
|| 7.00
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 35-39
|| 13 100
|| 13 720
|| 26 820
|| 7.28
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 40-44
|| 13 480
|| 14 480
|| 27 960
|| 7.59
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 45-49
|| 12 890
|| 13 860
|| 26 750
|| 7.26
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 50-54
|| 11 760
|| 12 570
|| 24 330
|| 6.60
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 55-59
|| 8 670
|| 9 570
|| 18 240
|| 4.95
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 60-64
|| 6 030
|| 6 830
|| 12 860
|| 3.49
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 65-69
|| 4 260
|| 5 080
|| 9 340
|| 2.54
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 70-74
|| 3 030
|| 3 860
|| 6 890
|| 1.87
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 75-79
|| 1 800
|| 2 480
|| 4 280
|| 1.16
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 80-84
|| 586
|| 1 747
|| 2 333
|| 0.63
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 85-89
|| 243
|| 873
|| 1 116
|| 0.30
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 90+
|| 121
|| 640
|| 761
|| 0.21
|-
! style="width:50px;"|Age group
! style="width:80pt;"|Male
! style="width:80px;"|Female
! style="width:80px;"|Total
! style="width:50px;"|Percent
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 0-14
|| 48 060
|| 45 480
|| 93 540
|| 25.39
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 15-64
|| 121 750
|| 128 380
|| 250 130
|| 67.90
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| 65+
|| 10 040
|| 14 680
|| 24 720
|| 6.71
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width="80pt"|Age group
! width="80pt"|Male
! width="80pt"|Female
! width="80pt"|Total
! width="80pt"|%
|-
| align="right" | Total
| align="right" | 186 480
| align="right" | 198 860
| align="right" | 385 340
| align="right" | 100
|-
| align="right" | 0–4
| align="right" | 14 910
| align="right" | 14 150
| align="right" | 29 060
| align="right" | 7.54
|-
| align="right" | 5–9
| align="right" | 14 290
| align="right" | 14 070
| align="right" | 28 360
| align="right" | 7.36
|-
| align="right" | 10–14
| align="right" | 15 800
| align="right" | 16 100
| align="right" | 31 900
| align="right" | 8.28
|-
| align="right" | 15–19
| align="right" | 15 860
| align="right" | 16 230
| align="right" | 32 090
| align="right" | 8.33
|-
| align="right" | 20–24
| align="right" | 15 760
| align="right" | 15 890
| align="right" | 31 650
| align="right" | 8.21
|-
| align="right" | 25–29
| align="right" | 15 040
| align="right" | 14 980
| align="right" | 30 020
| align="right" | 7.79
|-
| align="right" | 30–34
| align="right" | 12 960
| align="right" | 13 530
| align="right" | 26 490
| align="right" | 6.87
|-
| align="right" | 35–39
| align="right" | 12 980
| align="right" | 14 410
| align="right" | 27 390
| align="right" | 7.11
|-
| align="right" | 40–44
| align="right" | 13 490
| align="right" | 14 670
| align="right" | 28 160
| align="right" | 7.31
|-
| align="right" | 45–49
| align="right" | 13 630
| align="right" | 15 020
| align="right" | 28 650
| align="right" | 7.43
|-
| align="right" | 50–54
| align="right" | 11 970
| align="right" | 13 170
| align="right" | 25 140
| align="right" | 6.52
|-
| align="right" | 55–59
| align="right" | 10 670
| align="right" | 12 000
| align="right" | 22 670
| align="right" | 5.88
|-
| align="right" | 60–64
| align="right" | 7 370
| align="right" | 8 900
| align="right" | 16 270
| align="right" | 4.22
|-
| align="right" | 65-69
| align="right" | 4 870
| align="right" | 5 950
| align="right" | 10 820
| align="right" | 2.81
|-
| align="right" | 70-74
| align="right" | 3 200
| align="right" | 4 090
| align="right" | 7 290
| align="right" | 1.89
|-
| align="right" | 75-79
| align="right" | 2 020
| align="right" | 2 890
| align="right" | 4 910
| align="right" | 1.27
|-
| align="right" | 80+
| align="right" | 1 660
| align="right" | 2 810
| align="right" | 4 470
| align="right" | 1.16
|-
! width="50"|Age group
! width="80pt"|Male
! width="80"|Female
! width="80"|Total
! width="50"|Percent
|-
| align="right" | 0–14
| align="right" | 45 000
| align="right" | 44 320
| align="right" | 89 320
| align="right" | 23.20
|-
| align="right" | 15–64
| align="right" | 129 730
| align="right" | 138 800
| align="right" | 268 530
| align="right" | 69.69
|-
| align="right" | 65+
| align="right" | 11 750
| align="right" | 15 740
| align="right" | 27 490
| align="right" | 7.13
|-
|}
Vital statistics
{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under sticky-header-multi" style="text-align:right;"
|-
!
! style="width:70pt;"|Average population
! style="width:70pt;"|Live births
! style="width:70pt;"|Deaths
! style="width:70pt;"|Natural change
! style="width:70pt;"|Crude birth rate (per 1000)
! style="width:70pt;"|Crude death rate (per 1000)
! style="width:70pt;"|Natural change (per 1000)
! style="width:70pt;"|Crude Migration change (per 1000)
! style="width:70pt;"|Total fertility rate
|-
| 1935
| 64,000
|2,000||1,121|| 879
|31.3||17.5||13.7 || || ||
|-
| 1936
| 66,000
|1,902||1,056|| 846
|28.8||16.0||12.8 || 17,5|| ||
|-
| 1937
| 67,000
|2,084|| 914||1,170
|31.1||13.6||17.5 ||-2,6 || ||
|-
| 1938
| 67,000
|2,020||1,096|| 924
|30.1||16.4||13.8 || -13,8|| ||
|-
| 1939
| 68,000
|2,040||1,066|| 974
|30.0||15.7||14.3 || 0.4|| ||
|-
| 1940
| 70,000
|2,185||1,052||1,133
|31.2||15.0||16.2 || 12.4|| ||
|-
| 1941
| 71,000
|2,312|| 920||1,392
|32.6||13.0||19.6 ||-5.5|| ||
|-
| 1942
| 72,000
|2,409||1,011||1,398
|33.5||14.0||19.4 || -5.5|| ||
|-
| 1943
| 70,000
|2,502||1,043||1,459
|35.7||14.9||20.8 || -49.5|| ||
|-
| 1944
| 69,000
|2,485||1,103||1,382
|36.0||16.0||20.0 || -34.5|| ||
|-
| 1945
| 71,000
|2,174||1,326|| 848
|30.6||style="color:red" |18.7||11.9 || 16.3|| ||
|-
| 1946
| 73,000
|2,208||1,002||1,206
|30.2||13.7||16.5 || 10.9|| ||
|-
| 1947
| 74,000
|2,415|| 987||1,428
|32.6||13.3||19.3 || -5.9|| ||
|-
| 1948
| 76,000
|2,539||1,029||1,510
|33.4||13.5||19.9 || 6.4|| ||
|-
| 1949
| 77,000
|2,646||1,052||1,594
|34.4||13.7||20.7 || -7.7|| ||
|-
| 1950
| 79,000
|2,532||1,143||1,389
|32.1||14.5||17.6 || 7.7|| ||
|-
| 1951
| 80,000
|2,739|| 963||1,776
|34.2||12.0||22.2 || -9.7|| ||
|-
| 1952
| 81,000
|2,714|| 959||1,755
|33.5||11.8||21.7 || -9.4|| ||
|-
| 1953
| 83,000
|3,056|| 903||2,153
|36.8||10.9||25.9 || -1.8|| ||
|-
| 1954
| 86,000
|3,410|| 844||2,566
|style="color:blue" |39.7||9.8||style="color:blue" |29.8 || 5,1|| ||
|-
| 1955
| 89,000
|2,844|| 857||1,987
|32.0||9.6||22.3 || 11.5 ||
|-
| 1956
| 92,000
|3,290|| 849||2,441
|35.8||9.2||26.5 || 6.1|| ||
|-
| 1957
| 96,000
|3,126|| style="color:blue" |764||2,362
|32.6||8.0||24.6 || 17.1|| ||
|-
| 1958
| 100,000
|3,029||1,095||1,934
|30.3||11.0||19.3 || 20.7|| ||
|-
| 1959
| 104,000
|3,154||1,000||2,154
|30.3||9.6||20.7 || 17.8|| ||
|-
| 1960
| 110,000
|3,359|| 805||2,554
|30.5||7.3||23.2 || 31.3|| ||
|-
| 1961
| 115,000
|3,734||1,024||2,710
|32.5||8.9||23.6 || 19.9|| ||
|-
| 1962
| 121,000
|3,468|| 821||2,647
|28.7||6.8||21.9 || 27.7|| ||
|-
| 1963
| 127,000
|4,584||1,030||3,554
|35.8||8.0||27.8 || 19.4|| ||
|-
| 1964
| 134,000
|4,805|| 987||3,818
|35.9||7.4||28.5 || 23.7|| ||
|-
| 1965
| 140,000
|4,439||1,098||3,341
|31.7||7.8||23.9 || 19|| ||
|-
| 1966
| 146,000
|4,573||1,067||3,506
|31.1||7.3||23.9 || 17.2 || ||
|-
| 1967
| 153,000
|4,275||1,212||3,063
|27.9||7.9||20.0 || 25.8|| ||
|-
| 1968
| 159,000
|4,220||1,023||3,197
|26.5||6.4||20.1 || 17.6 || ||
|-
| 1969
| 164,000
|4,306||1,097||3,209
|26.1||6.6||19.4 || 11.1|| ||
|-
| 1970
| 169,000
|4,262||1,054||3,208
|25.1||6.2||18.9 || 10.7|| ||
|-
| 1971
| 174,000
|5,334|| 948||4,386
|30.7||5.4||25.2 || 3.5|| ||
|-
| 1972
| 178,000
|4,745||1,115||3,630
|26.7||6.3||20.4 || 2.1|| ||
|-
| 1973
| 181,000
|4,419||1,109||3,310
|24.3||6.1||18.2 || -1.6|| ||
|-
| 1974
| 185,000
|4,382||1,032||3,350
|23.7||5.6||18.1 || 3.5|| ||
|-
| 1975
| 189,000
|4,033||1,106||2,927
|21.3||5.9||15.5 || 5.7|| ||
|-
| 1976
| 193,000
|5,295|| 976||4,319
|27.4||5.1||22.4 || -1.7|| ||
|-
| 1977
| 197,000
|4,871||1,067||3,804
|24.7||5.4||19.3 || 1|| ||
|-
| 1978
| 202,000
|4,362||1,077||3,285
|21.7||5.4||16.3 || 8.5|| ||
|-
| 1979
| 206,000
|4,809||1,211||3,598
|23.3||5.9||17.5 || 1.9|| ||
|-
| 1980
| 211,000
|5,035||1,338||3,697
|24.0||6.4||17.6 || 6.1|| ||
|-
| 1981
| 215,000
|5,251||1,127||4,124
|24.4||5.2||19.2 || -0.6|| ||
|-
| 1982
| 220,000
|5,293||1,185||4,108
|24.2||5.4||18.8 || 3.9|| ||
|-
| 1983
| 225,000
|5,280||1,104||4,176
|23.6||style="color:blue" |4.9||18.6 || 3.6|| ||
|-
| 1984
| 230,000
|5,177||1,150||4,027
|22.6||5.0||17.6 || 4.1|| ||
|-
| 1985
| 235,000
|5,584||1,341||4,243
|24.0||5.8||18.2 || 3.1|| ||
|-
| 1986
| 239,000
|4,770||1,407||3,363
|20.0||5.9||14.1 || 2.6|| ||
|-
| 1987
| 243,000
|4,331||1,376||2,955
|17.9||5.7||12.2 || 4.3|| ||
|-
| 1988
| 248,000
|4,943||1,319||3,624
|20.1||5.4||14.7 || 5.5|| ||
|-
| 1989
| 252,000
|4,971||1,459||3,512
|19.9||5.8||14.0 || 1.9 || ||
|-
| 1990
| 256,000
|6,117||1,343||4,774
|23.9||5.2||18.6 || -3 || ||
|-
| 1991
| 261,000
|6,192||1,335||4,857
|23.7||5.1||18.6 || 0.6|| ||
|-
| 1992
| 266,000
|style="color:blue" |6,759||1,462|| style="color:blue" |5,297
|25.4||5.5||19.9 || -1.1|| ||
|-
| 1993
| 271,000
|6,674||1,493||5,181
|24.6||5.5||19.1 || -0.6|| ||
|-
| 1994
| 276,000
|6,104||1,538||4,566
|22.1||5.6||16.6 || 1.5|| ||
|-
| 1995
| 280,000
|6,253||1,638||4,615
|22.3||5.8||16.5 || -2.2|| || 19.0
|-
| 1996
| 284,000
|5,913||1,537||4,376
|20.8||5.4||15.4 || -1.3|| || 18.4
|-
| 1997
| 287,000
|6,022||1,670||4,352
|21.0||5.8||15.2 || -4.7|| || 16.4
|-
| 1998
| 290,000
|5,880||1,800||4,080
|20.3||6.2||14.1 || -3.8|| || 14.0
|-
| 1999
| 293,000
|5,367||1,644||3,723
|18.3||5.6||12.7 || -2.5|| || 15.8
|-
| 2000
| 298,000
|5,287||1,825||3,462
|17.8||6.1||11.6 || 5.2|| || 14.8
|-
| 2001
| 303,000
|5,353||1,609||3,744
|17.7||5.3||12.4 || 4.1|| || 12.7
|-
| 2002
| 309,000
|5,216||1,827||3,389
|16.9||5.9||11.0 || 8.4|| || 16.7
|-
| 2003
| 316,000
|5,054||1,730||3,324
|16.0||5.5||10.5 || 11.7|| || 17.2
|-
| 2004
| 322,000
|5,154||1,655||3,499
|16.1||5.1||11.0 || 7.6|| || 17.3
|-
| 2005
| 328,320
|5,548||1,824||3,724
|17.1||5.6||11.5|| 7.7
|2.05
|19.6
|-
| 2006
| 333,060
|5,296||1,730||3,566
|16.0||5.2||10.8 || 3.4
|1.93
|18.1
|-
| 2007
| 337,920
|5,854||1,798||4,056
|17.5||5.4||12.1|| 2.3
|style="text-align:right; color:blue;"| 2.14
|17.6
|-
| 2008
| 342,830
|5,480||1,863||3,617
|16.2||5.5||10.7|| 3.6
|2.00
|17.9
|-
| 2009
| 347,780
|5,348||1,981||3,367
|15.6||5.7||9.9|| 4.3
|2.03
|21.1
|-
| 2010
| 351,461
|5,049||2,023||3,026
|14.4||5.8||8.6|| 1.9
|1.94
|19.8
|-
| 2011
| 357,750
|5,000||2,127||2,873
|14.0||5.9||8.1 || 9.5
|1.69
|16.2
|-
| 2012
| 362,590
|4,345||1,937||2,408
|12.0||5.3||6.7|| 6.6
|1.76
|19.1
|-
| 2013
| 367,430
|3,935||2,062||1,873
||10.7||5.6||5.1|| 8.1
|1.73
|22.7
|-
| 2014
| 372,380
|4,155||2,132||2,023
|11.3||5.8||5.5|| 7.8
|1.69
|19.4
|-
| 2015
| 373,630
|4,253||2,243||2,010
|11.5||6.1||5.4|| -2.1
|1.57
|20.6
|-
| 2016
| 378,040
|4,093||2,288||1,805
|11.0||6.1||4.9|| 6.8
|1.50
|16.0
|-
| 2017
| 382,460
|4,017||2,372||1,645
|10.7||6.3||style="color:red" |4.4|| 7.2
|style="text-align:right; color:red;"| 1.42
|
|-
| 2018
| 386,870
|4,286||2,491|| 1,795
|11.2
Ethnic groups
African descent 90.6%, White 4.7%, mixed 2.1%, other 1.9%, unspecified 0.7% (2010 est.)
note: data represents population by racial group
Languages
English is the official language of the Bahamas and is the primary language of government, education and public life. In everyday speech, however, many Bahamians use a range of local varieties often referred to locally as “Bahamian dialect”, which linguists describe as involving both Bahamian English and an English-lexifier creole, Bahamian Creole (BahC), existing along a continuum rather than as fully separate “either/or” codes. One overview estimate places the number of speakers of Bahamian Creole at around 250,000.
In historical perspective, Bahamian English have been shaped both by long-standing ties to British English through colonization and by unusually close links with the United States. American influence (via mass media, tourism, education, and mobility) has been repeatedly noted in educated usage, while Bahamian Creole shows particularly strong North American connections (including links to creole varieties of the coastal American South and migration-era transmission).
Religion
In the 2010 census, the three principal religious denominations were Baptist, Anglican and Roman Catholic. In the 2022 census, the Bahamas National Statistical Institute (BNSI) reported a shift: the three largest groups were Baptist, Anglican and non-denominational (tabulated in the census tables within Other Christian Denomination (including non-denominational groups)), with Roman Catholic ranking fourth among the major denominations.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Religious affiliation in the Bahamas, 2010 and 2022 censuses
! 2022 (%)
! Change (pp)
|-
| Baptist
| 122,500
| 34.9
| 135,875
| 34.1
| -0.7
|-
| Anglican
| 48,006
| 13.7
| 47,456
| 11.9
| -1.7
|-
| Other Christian denominations (including non-denominational groups)
| 41,214
| 11.7
| 35,296
| 8.9
| -2.9
|-
| Roman Catholic
| 42,287
| 12.0
| 34,749
| 8.7
| -3.3
|-
| Pentecostal
| 31,358
| 8.9
| 31,971
| 8.0
| -0.9
|-
| Seventh-day Adventist
| 15,441
| 4.4
| 17,502
| 4.4
| 0.0
|-
| Church of God (including Church of God of Prophecy)
| 6,732
| 1.9
| 19,663
| 4.9
| +3.0
|-
| Methodist
| 12,512
| 3.6
| 10,996
| 2.8
| -0.8
|-
| Brethren
| 5,781
| 1.6
| 5,823
| 1.5
| -0.2
|-
| Jehovah's Witnesses
| 3,762
| 1.1
| 4,225
| 1.1
| 0.0
|-
| Assemblies of God
| 2,397
| 0.7
| 3,722
| 0.9
| +0.3
|-
| African Methodist Episcopal Church
| —
| —
| 1,043
| 0.3
| —
|-
| Presbyterian
| 728
| 0.2
| 916
| 0.2
| 0.0
|-
| Lutheran
| 376
| 0.1
| 501
| 0.1
| 0.0
|-
| Greek Orthodox
| 447
| 0.1
| 356
| <0.1
| 0.0
|-
| Latter-day Saints
| 301
| <0.1
| 182
| <0.1
| 0.0
|-
| Rastafarian
| 790
| 0.2
| 1,139
| 0.3
| +0.1
|-
| Islam (Muslim)
| 306
| <0.1
| 336
| <0.1
| 0.0
|-
| Hindu
| 428
| 0.1
| 296
| <0.1
| 0.0
|-
| Judaism (Jewish)
| 191
| <0.1
| 190
| <0.1
| 0.0
|-
| Baháʼí Faith
| 65
| <0.1
| 70
| <0.1
| 0.0
|-
| Other non-Christian religions
| 228
| <0.1
| 1,813
| 0.5
| +0.4
|-
| None
| 6,561
| 1.9
| 24,677
| 6.2
| +4.3
|-
| Atheist
| —
| —
| 293
| <0.1
| —
|-
| Not stated
| 9,050
| 2.6
| 19,075
| 4.8
| +2.2
|}
References
External links
- – Commonwealth of The Bahamas Department of Statistics
- The Bahamas profile – Caribbean Community Statistics