GDP per Capita · Data & Comparison
Jamaica GDP per Capita
How much does Jamaica's GDP per capita really buy, and why does the PPP figure differ so sharply from the nominal one?
In 2024 Jamaica's nominal GDP per capita was USD 7,859, while its PPP-adjusted GDP per capita stood at USD 13,110. The gap between the two measures, a ratio of 1.67, reflects the lower domestic price level for non-traded goods and services in Jamaica relative to the United States. The nominal figure places Jamaica in the upper-middle-income band, but the PPP figure, which adjusts for purchasing power, is the more relevant gauge of the income available to a typical resident for domestic consumption. GNI per capita, a related measure that accounts for net factor income from abroad, was USD 7,210 in 2024, slightly below nominal GDP per capita, indicating that a portion of income generated in Jamaica accrues to non-residents. The long-run series shows nominal GDP per capita rising from USD 1,247 in 1980 to the current USD 7,859, a more than sixfold increase over 44 years, though progress has been uneven across decades. This page sets out the latest figures, the historical arc since 1980, the structural drivers of Jamaica's income per person, and how the country compares with peers, alongside what the headline number does not capture.
What is GDP per capita (nominal)?
GDP per capita is a country's GDP divided by its midyear population. It is the most common shorthand for average income or output per person.
How it is measured. Nominal GDP in current US dollars divided by midyear population. Because it uses market exchange rates, it ignores price-level differences between countries and says nothing about how income is distributed.
How to read it. Use it to compare average economic output per person. A high value can reflect high productivity or a small population with large resource or financial income, and it is not the same as median household income.
Source: World Bank WDI. See our methodology.
Current GDP per capita: nominal versus PPP
Latest nominal and PPP readings
In 2024 Jamaica recorded GDP per capita of USD 7,859.24 at current prices and USD 13,109.66 at purchasing power parity. The PPP figure is 66.8 per cent higher than the nominal one, a gap of USD 5,250.42. Both measures sit at their highest values in the series provided, which runs from 1980. Nominal GDP per capita rose 45.4 per cent across the 2020s to date, from USD 5,403.93 in 2020, while the PPP measure rose 32.0 per cent over the same five years, from USD 9,931.18.
What the two measures capture
Nominal GDP per capita divides current-price output by population and converts to US dollars at market exchange rates. It reflects the dollar value of output actually traded and priced internationally. PPP GDP per capita instead applies purchasing power parities, which adjust for the fact that non-traded goods and services cost less in lower-income economies. The 2024 gap of USD 5,250.42 per head is the combined effect of Jamaica's price level being below that of the United States and of the exchange rate. The PPP series has exceeded the nominal series in every decade since 1980, when the values were USD 3,183.30 and USD 1,247.32 respectively.
Why the nominal figure matters
The nominal measure governs external comparisons that involve actual currency: debt service, import capacity and dollar-denominated obligations. Jamaica's gross domestic product reached USD 21.96 billion in 2024, up 46.0 per cent from USD 15.04 billion in 2020. Nominal GDP per capita of USD 7,859.24 places the island above the World Bank's upper-middle-income threshold, a classification driven by dollar income. GNI per capita, a related nominal measure, stood at USD 7,210.00 in 2024, 8.3 per cent below GDP per capita, indicating net factor income flows out of the country.
Why the PPP figure matters
The PPP measure better approximates the volume of goods and services a resident can actually buy. At USD 13,109.66, Jamaica's PPP GDP per capita is 1.67 times the nominal value, meaning domestic price levels are substantially below the US benchmark. For living standards, consumption capacity and cross-country welfare comparisons, the PPP series is the more appropriate anchor. The two series have also diverged in growth terms: nominal GDP per capita grew 40.1 per cent in the 1980s against 71.4 per cent for PPP, reflecting exchange rate and price movements that the PPP adjustment strips out.
Reading the pair together
Neither figure alone gives a complete account. The nominal series shows Jamaica's position in dollar terms and its exposure to global prices; the PPP series shows domestic command over goods and services. The 2024 spread of USD 5,250.42 per head, equal to 40.1 per cent of the PPP value, is a measure of the price-level discount rather than of income differences. Analysts comparing Jamaica with the United States or with other Caribbean economies should state which basis is used, because the choice changes the level by roughly two-thirds.
Latest income per capita measures for Jamaica, 2024
| Measure | Value (USD) | Year |
|---|---|---|
| GDP per capita, nominal | 7,859 | 2024 |
| GDP per capita, PPP | 13,110 | 2024 |
| GNI per capita, Atlas method | 7,210 | 2024 |
| GDP, total (USD billion) | 21.96 | 2024 |
The long arc since 1980: decade by decade
Jamaica entered the 1980s with a nominal GDP per capita of USD 1,247.32 (1980), a figure that fell to a decade low of USD 909.01 before recovering to USD 1,747.38 by 1989. The decade closed with growth of 40.1 per cent, though the mean of USD 1,319.52 reflects persistent volatility across the ten observations. PPP GDP per capita followed a steeper path, rising from USD 3,183.30 in 1980 to USD 5,456.16 in 1989, a gain of 71.4 per cent.
The 1990s: liberalisation and acceleration
The 1990s produced the strongest relative expansion of the nominal series. Nominal GDP per capita rose from USD 1,976.23 in 1990 to USD 3,497.57 in 1999, growth of 77.0 per cent, the highest decade rate in the dataset. PPP GDP per capita advanced 25.1 per cent over the same period, from USD 5,469.58 to USD 6,844.79. The gap between the two measures widened as exchange rate movements and inflation shaped the nominal series. GNI per capita grew 76.1 per cent, from USD 1,800 to USD 3,170, tracking the nominal GDP measure closely.
The 2000s: slower nominal gains
Growth decelerated in the 2000s. Nominal GDP per capita moved from USD 3,527.39 in 2000 to USD 4,526.27 in 2009, a rise of 28.3 per cent, the weakest decade expansion in the series. The decade peak of USD 5,148.64 was not sustained. PPP GDP per capita rose 26.2 per cent, from USD 7,000.74 to USD 8,834.25. The global financial crisis left its mark: GDP growth was negative 3.88 per cent in 2009, and the decade mean growth rate of 0.90 per cent was the lowest of the five decades.
The 2010s: steady, modest expansion
The 2010s delivered 24.6 per cent nominal growth, from USD 4,915.68 in 2010 to USD 6,124.55 in 2019, with a decade mean of USD 5,476.69. PPP GDP per capita crossed the USD 10,000 threshold, ending the decade at USD 11,021.88, up 25.6 per cent from USD 8,778.44. GNI per capita rose 32.1 per cent, from USD 4,490 to USD 5,930. Annual GDP growth averaged 1.11 per cent, and the decade minimum of negative 1.45 per cent in 2010 followed the prior contraction.
The 2020s: pandemic shock and rebound
The 2020s opened with a contraction of 8.30 per cent in GDP growth (2020), the deepest single-year fall in the dataset, and nominal GDP per capita fell to USD 5,403.93. Recovery was rapid. By 2024 nominal GDP per capita reached USD 7,859.24, a 45.4 per cent gain over the 2020 opening value, the second-highest decade growth rate recorded. PPP GDP per capita rose 32.0 per cent to USD 13,109.66. GDP growth turned negative again in 2024 at minus 0.54 per cent, leaving the decade mean at 1.21 per cent.
Comparing the two measures
- Nominal GDP per capita rose from USD 1,247.32 (1980) to USD 7,859.24 (2024), a multiple of roughly 6.3.
- PPP GDP per capita rose from USD 3,183.30 (1980) to USD 13,109.66 (2024), a multiple of roughly 4.1.
- The PPP-to-nominal ratio narrowed from 2.55 in 1980 to 1.67 in 2024.
- Decade growth rates for the nominal series were 40.1, 77.0, 28.3, 24.6 and 45.4 per cent.
The 1990s remain the fastest nominal decade at 77.0 per cent, while the 2010s were the slowest at 24.6 per cent. The 2020s partial decade already exceeds the 2000s and 2010s totals, though the 2024 growth contraction of minus 0.54 per cent signals a softer closing trajectory.
Decadal summary of Jamaica's nominal GDP per capita (USD)
| Decade | First year value | Last year value | Mean | Growth (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 1,247 | 1,747 | 1,320 | 40.1 |
| 1990s | 1,976 | 3,498 | 2,594 | 77.0 |
| 2000s | 3,527 | 4,526 | 4,162 | 28.3 |
| 2010s | 4,916 | 6,125 | 5,477 | 24.6 |
| 2020s | 5,404 | 7,859 | 6,673 | 45.4 |
What drives Jamaica's income per person
Tourism, Remittances and Services
Jamaica's income per person rests on a narrow service base. Tourism and remittances supply foreign exchange and household income, and both are sensitive to conditions abroad. GDP per capita rose from USD 5,403.93 in 2020 to USD 7,859.24 in 2024, a 45.4 per cent increase across five data points, while GDP grew 46.0 per cent over the same period. The 2020 contraction of 8.30 per cent illustrates the exposure: a collapse in visitor arrivals and remittance uncertainty hit output before the rebound. Services tied to tourism account for a large share of employment, so swings in external demand transmit quickly to household earnings.
Public Debt Legacy
Gross public debt peaked near 145 per cent of GDP in 2012 and 2013, a constraint that shaped fiscal policy for a decade. Interest costs absorbed revenue that might otherwise have funded capital spending. GDP per capita still advanced from USD 4,915.68 in 2010 to USD 6,124.55 in 2019, a 24.6 per cent gain, though the 2010s mean of USD 5,476.69 sat below the 2024 level. Fiscal consolidation and successive IMF programmes reduced the debt ratio, and the 2020s expansion to a mean of USD 6,672.74 reflects that improved fiscal space.
Bauxite and Goods Exports
Bauxite and alumina have long been a principal goods export, linking income to global metals demand and to the energy costs of refining. The sector's capital intensity limits direct employment relative to its export value. GDP per capita in purchasing power terms reached USD 13,109.66 in 2024, against USD 9,931.18 in 2020, a 32.0 per cent rise, and the gap between this measure and the nominal USD 7,859.24 indicates the weight of price-level differences. Commodity cycles in alumina therefore move national income without proportionally moving jobs.
Productivity and Informality
A large informal economy and low measured productivity restrain the conversion of output growth into broad income gains. GNI per capita reached USD 7,210.00 in 2024, below GDP per capita of USD 7,859.24, a difference consistent with net factor income flows. The 1980s mean GDP per capita of USD 1,319.52 and the 1990s mean of USD 2,594.35 show how much of the long-run rise came from nominal expansion rather than productivity. Formalisation and capital deepening remain the binding constraints on sustained real increases.
Vulnerability to Shocks
Small size, hurricane exposure and dependence on imported fuel leave income per person prone to reversals. GDP growth averaged 1.11 per cent in the 2010s, 0.90 per cent in the 2000s and 1.21 per cent in the 2020s to date, with the 2024 reading of -0.54 per cent following the 2020 trough of -8.30 per cent. The 1980s recorded a mean growth rate of 2.02 per cent but a decade growth change of -221.7 per cent, showing how single-year shocks distort averages. Each event resets the level from which per capita income must recover.
Selected GDP per capita and growth indicators
| Indicator | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|
| GDP per capita, nominal (USD) | 7,859 | 2024 |
| GDP growth (%) | -0.54 | 2024 |
| GDP per capita, PPP (USD) | 13,110 | 2024 |
| GNI per capita (USD) | 7,210 | 2024 |
How Jamaica compares with peers, and what the figure misses
Regional and income-group positioning
Jamaica's GDP per capita reached USD 7,859.24 in 2024, up from USD 5,403.93 in 2020, a 45.4 per cent increase across five years. On a purchasing power parity basis the figure is USD 13,109.66, roughly 1.67 times the nominal value. Within the Caribbean, this places Jamaica below the Bahamas and Barbados and broadly in line with Belize and St Lucia, though direct comparison is complicated by differing tourism and offshore-finance exposures. Against the Latin America and Caribbean average, Jamaica sits in the lower-middle band, consistent with its World Bank upper-middle-income classification.
GNI per capita and the gap to output
Gross national income per capita was USD 7,210.00 in 2024, some USD 649.24 below GDP per capita. The gap reflects net factor income flowing abroad, principally remittance-related and investment-income outflows, alongside the weight of foreign-owned tourism and mining assets. GNI per capita grew 34.5 per cent across the 2020s to date, against 45.4 per cent for GDP per capita, so the gap has widened. Households therefore experience a smaller income base than the output headline implies, a distinction relevant when comparing living standards with peer economies.
What the headline measure omits
GDP per capita is an average and conceals distribution. Jamaica's Gini coefficient has historically sat near 0.35 to 0.40, and the informal economy, estimated at a substantial share of employment, is unevenly captured in national accounts. The 2024 GDP growth rate was negative at -0.535 per cent, while GDP per capita still rose, indicating population effects or revisions rather than broad-based expansion. A single average also masks rural and urban divergence, with tourism-intensive parishes recording materially higher incomes than agricultural interiors.
Peer comparison caveats
- PPP conversion adjusts for price levels, lifting Jamaica's 2024 figure from USD 7,859.24 to USD 13,109.66, narrowing apparent gaps with higher-cost peers.
- Remittances, equivalent to a double-digit share of GDP, support consumption without appearing in per-capita output.
- Decade growth rates of 77.0 per cent in the 1990s and 24.6 per cent in the 2010s show volatility that annual comparisons with peers can obscure.
- Small-island economies with concentrated export bases, such as Jamaica's tourism and bauxite sectors, face terms-of-trade shocks that distort year-on-year peer rankings.
Cross-country ranking by GDP per capita therefore offers a starting point, not a verdict. The 2024 nominal figure of USD 7,859.24 and PPP figure of USD 13,109.66 bracket a range of plausible living-standard estimates, and the GNI figure of USD 7,210.00 sits within it. Distributional data and informal-economy estimates are required before the headline can be read as a welfare measure.
Jamaica versus peer averages (illustrative, based on available data)
| Group | GDP per capita (USD) | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Jamaica (nominal) | 7,859 | 2024 |
| Jamaica (PPP) | 13,110 | 2024 |
| Jamaica GNI per capita | 7,210 | 2024 |
| World average (nominal, approx.) | 13,200 | 2024 |
Frequently asked questions
What is Jamaica's current GDP per capita?
Jamaica's GDP per capita was approximately US$7,100 in 2023, measured in current US dollars, according to World Bank data. This places the island among the upper-middle-income economies of the Caribbean, though below regional high-income territories such as the Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago. The figure has risen from roughly US$5,300 in 2019, a gain of about 34 per cent across four years, driven by nominal growth and a stronger post-pandemic recovery in tourism and services. In purchasing power parity terms the level is higher, at around US$13,000, reflecting the lower local price level relative to the United States. Per capita output remains below the peak of the early 1970s in real terms.
Is Jamaica's GDP per capita growing or shrinking?
Jamaica's GDP per capita has been growing in recent years. Real GDP expanded by 4.2 per cent in 2022 and an estimated 1.9 per cent in 2023, both above the rate of population growth of roughly 0.1 per cent per year, so per capita output rose in each year. In current dollar terms, GDP per capita increased from about US$6,100 in 2022 to roughly US$7,100 in 2023. The trend contrasts with the 2020 contraction, when the economy shrank by around 10 per cent and per capita income fell sharply. Growth has since been supported by tourism arrivals exceeding pre-pandemic levels and by remittance inflows of about US$3.5 billion annually.
How does Jamaica's GDP per capita compare with other Caribbean countries?
Jamaica's GDP per capita of about US$7,100 sits in the middle of the Caribbean range. The Bahamas, with a figure above US$34,000, and Barbados, at roughly US$22,000, are substantially higher, while Haiti, at under US$2,000, is far lower. Trinidad and Tobago, at around US$18,000, benefits from energy exports. Jamaica's position reflects an economy dominated by services, which account for about 70 per cent of GDP, with tourism and remittances as principal foreign exchange sources. Within the Anglophone Caribbean, Jamaica is the largest English-speaking economy by population, at about 2.8 million people, but its per capita output trails several smaller, tourism-intensive neighbours.
What has driven changes in Jamaica's GDP per capita over the past decade?
Jamaica's GDP per capita has moved with a small number of dominant forces. Tourism, which contributes roughly 30 per cent of GDP directly and indirectly, rebounded to about 4.1 million visitor arrivals in 2023, above the 2019 level. Remittances, at approximately US$3.5 billion in 2023, equal around 20 per cent of GDP and support household consumption. Fiscal consolidation under successive IMF programmes reduced public debt from about 145 per cent of GDP in 2012 to near 72 per cent in 2023, lowering borrowing costs. Against these, low productivity growth of under 1 per cent annually and high emigration of skilled labour have capped per capita gains, leaving real income below its 1970s peak.
Why is Jamaica's GDP per capita lower than its GDP suggests?
Jamaica's total GDP of about US$19.4 billion in 2023 is the largest among English-speaking Caribbean states, but division by a population of roughly 2.8 million yields a modest per capita figure of around US$7,100. The gap between aggregate and per capita measures reflects a population that, while small, is large relative to the size of the domestic economy. Informal activity, estimated at 30 to 40 per cent of GDP, is only partly captured in official output, so measured GDP per capita may understate actual incomes. High dependency on imports, which equal about 50 per cent of GDP, and a persistent trade deficit also compress real living standards relative to headline output.
What is Jamaica's GDP per capita in purchasing power parity terms?
In purchasing power parity terms, Jamaica's GDP per capita was approximately US$13,000 in 2023, roughly double the nominal figure of about US$7,100. The adjustment reflects a price level around 55 to 60 per cent of that in the United States, meaning the same income buys more domestically. On this measure Jamaica ranks below Trinidad and Tobago, at about US$30,000, and Barbados, at around US$18,000, but above Haiti and several Central American economies. The PPP figure is the more appropriate basis for comparing living standards across countries, while the nominal figure is used for dollar-denominated flows such as trade, debt and remittances, which reached about US$3.5 billion in 2023.