Demographics ofTrinidad and Tobago
Population pyramid of Trinidad and Tobago in 2020
Population	1,405,646 (2022 est.)
Growth rate	0.14% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	10.79 births/1,000 population
Death rate	8.38 deaths/1,000 population
Life expectancy	75.94 years
• male	74.02 years
• female	77.93 years
Fertility rate	1.63 children
Infant mortality rate	15.83 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	-1.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population
Sex ratio
Total	1.01 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth	1.04 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Trinidadian and Tobagonian
Language
Official	English

This article is about thedemography of thepopulation ofTrinidad and Tobago includingpopulation density,ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

The total population ofTrinidad and Tobago was 1,328,018 according to the 2011 census,^[1] an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. According to the 2022 revision of theWorld Population Prospects^[2][3] the total population was estimated at 1,525,663 in 2021, compared to only 646,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 20.7%, 71% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 8.3% was 65 years or older.^[4]

Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 09.I.2011):^[5]

Due to decreasing fertility, the proportion of children below the age of 15 is decreasing, while the proportion of elderly is increasing. The median age has increased from 21.6 in 1980, 24.1 in 1990, 28.1 in 2000 to 32.6 in 2011.^[1] The estimated mid-year population of 2014 is 1,344,000 (medium fertility scenario of The 2012 Revision of the World Population Prospects).^[4] As of January 2019, the estimated population is 1,383,368.

Emigration from Trinidad and Tobago, as with other Caribbean nations, has historically been high; most emigrants go to theUnited States,Canada, and theUnited Kingdom. Emigration has continued, albeit at a lower rate, even as the birth-rate sharply dropped to levels typical of industrialised countries. Largely because of this phenomenon, as of 2011, Trinidad and Tobago has been experiencing a lowpopulation growth rate (0.48%). More recently, there has been some return migration, chiefly from the United States after the recession of 2008, which caused a population jump in the last census in 2011.

^[6][7][8]

Source:UN World Population Prospects^[10]

Indo-Trinidadians make up the country's largest ethnic group (approximately 35.43%).^[1] Indo-Trinidadians are primarily the descendants ofindentured workers fromBritish India.

Afro-Trinidadian and Tobagonian make up the country's second largest ethnic group (approximately 34.22%).^[1] Although enslaved Africans were first imported in 1517, they constituted only 11 percent of the population (310) in 1783.^[13] Many Afro-Trinbagonians have ancestors hailing from West and West-central Africa, akin to numerous other Caribbean islands and in some cases a result of later migration between the islands. This would have been from many kingdoms, states, and peoples from a range of modern-day Senegal in the north to Angola in the south. The majority of the enslaved Africans were brought in the last few years of Trinidad's Spanish colonial era, and the beginning of the British colonial period. TheCedula of Population transformed a small colony of 1,000 in 1773 to 18,627 by 1797. In the census of 1777 there were only 2,763 people recorded as living on the island, including some 2,000 Arawaks. In 1807, the UK Parliament passed theSlave Trade Act 1807 that abolished the trading of enslaved persons, and theSlavery Abolition Act 1833 abolished the practice of slavery itself. Numerous staples of Trinbagonian culture have Afro-Trinbagonian roots, such as Calypso, Carnival, and traditional dishes such as callaloo.

TheEuropean Trinidadian (or White Trinidadian) population is primarily descended from early settlers and immigrants. The recent census counted 8,669 people of European descent including those of Portuguese descent.^[1] These numbers do not include people who have at least some European ancestry or self-identify as African or Indian.

The French arrived mostly during the Spanish period to take advantage of free agricultural lands. Some Portuguese arrived in the mid-nineteenth century and more came at the turn of the century.^[14] The Europeans who remained in Trinidad live in areas in and aroundPort of Spain. Furthermore, British rule led to an influx of settlers from the United Kingdom and the British colonies of the Eastern Caribbean and descendants of English indentured workers brought in as overseers following the end of the Second World War.

The Portuguese came to Tobago and Trinidad as early as the 17th century, including groups ofJews, Catholics and Protestants. For over 140 years, from 1834 up to 1975, the ancestors of the modern Portuguese community in Trinidad and Tobago hailed mostly from the archipelago ofMadeira, starting from 1846, with the earliest registers being from the Azores in 1834.

Most Portuguese came directly from Madeira, and also via Guyana, St Vincent, Antigua and St Kitts.

Important communities settled in Port of Spain, Arima, Arouca, Chaguanas, San Fernando and Scarborough.

In 2011, the Madeiran Portuguese Community of Trinidad and Tobago celebrated their 165th Anniversary of arrival of the first Madeirans in Trinidad back in 1846.

Recalling the presence of the Portuguese in the nation today are over 100 Portuguese surname, some of which have become street nomenclature. As an independent nation, the country has recognised several members of the Portuguese community, through official awards.^[15]

InTobago, many white residents are retirees who have recently arrived there.^{[citation needed]}

Given the large number of ethnic identities in Trinidad and Tobago, many citizens have a mixed ethnic heritage due to influences fromEuropean,West African,Indian orHan Chinese ancestry. Common ethnic mixtures include people of African and European descent (Mulatto-Creoles) 15-20% and African and Indian descent (often colloquially known asDougla) 7-10%. This mixed population is estimated at 30%.^[16][17][18]

• Eric Willams
• Anthony Carmona
• George Maxwell Richards
• Nicki Minaj
• Giselle Laronde
• Kees Dieffenthaller
• Mervyn Dymally
• Andre Rampersad
• Gema Ramkeesoon

There are groups ofChinese who, like the Indians, are descended from indentured labourers. They account for about 4,000 people and live mostly in Port-of-Spain and San Fernando.

In Trinidad there were, about twenty years ago [i.e. about 1886], 4,000 or 5,000 Chinese, but they have decreased to probably about 2,000 or 3,000, [2,200 in 1900]. They used to work in sugar plantations, but are now principally shopkeepers, as well as general merchants, miners and railway builders, etc.^[19]

There are also more than 1,000Arabs, originating fromSyria andLebanon who live mostly in Port-of-Spain. The Syrian and Lebanese communities of Trinidad are predominantly Christian, migrating from the Middle East in the 19th century from theOttoman Empire later landing in the Caribbean and Latin America. Other Lebanese and Syrians came in the early to middle 20th century to escape the war and turmoil in the region.^[20]

Finally, there are the mixed racedCaribs who are descended from the native, precolonial people of the islands. They are organized around theSanta Rosa Carib Community and live mostly in and aroundArima.

In 2011, according to census data, Roman Catholicism was again the largest religious denomination with 285,671 followers (21.6% of the total population), having declined from a membership of 289,711 in 2000 (26% of the population).^[1] Other religious denominations that experienced decreases in their membership in 2011 were Hinduism (from 22.5% in 2000 to 18.2% in 2011), Anglican (from 7.8% to 5.7%), Presbyterian/Congregational (from 3.3% to 2.5%) and Methodist (from 0.9% to 0.7%). The number of persons claiming affiliation to Pentecostal/Evangelical/Full Gospel more than doubled from 76,327 in 2000 (6.8%) to 159,033 in 2011 (12.0%). The number of Muslims slightly increased but as proportion of the total population there was a decrease from 5.8% in 2000 to 5.0% in 2011. The category ‘None’ witnessed a small increase from 1.9% to 2.2%, while those who did not state a religion increased significantly, from 1.4% to 11.1%. Approximately 1.2% of the population are adherents of theBaháʼí Faith. The African religions and specifically Orisha have become institutions in Trinidad and Tobago's society. They serve not only the obvious religious needs but also as a source of inspiration for personal identity. Many people, motivated by the need to re-claim their African heritage can now openly support these religions because they see in them a source of understanding and a coming to terms with their enslavement and the colonial past.^[21]

English is the country's official language (the local variety of standard English isTrinidadian and Tobagonian English or more properly, Trinidad and Tobago Standard English, abbreviated as "TTSE"), but the main spoken language is either of twoEnglish-based creole languages (Trinidadian Creole orTobagonian Creole), which reflects the Amerindian, European, African, and Asian heritage of the nation. Both creoles contain elements from a variety of African andSouth Asian languages; Trinidadian English Creole, however, is also influenced by French andFrench Creole (Patois).^[23]

The variant that is spoken inTrinidad and Tobago is known asTrinidadian Hindustani,Trinidadian Bhojpuri,Trinidadian Hindi,Indian,Plantation Hindustani, orGaon ke Bolee (Village Speech).^[24] A majority of the earlyIndian indentured immigrants spoke theBhojpuri andAwadhi dialects, which later formed into Trinidadian Hindustani. In 1935, Indian movies began showing to audiences in Trinidad. Most of the Indian movies were in theStandard Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu) dialect and this modified Trinidadian Hindustani slightly by adding StandardHindi andUrdu phrases and vocabulary to Trinidadian Hindustani. Indian movies also revitalized Hindustani among Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonians.^[25] The British colonial government and estate owners had disdain and contempt for Hindustani and Indian languages in Trinidad. Due to this, many Indians saw it as a broken language keeping them in poverty and bound to the cane fields, and did not pass it on as afirst language, but rather as aheritage language, as they favored English as a way out.^[26] Around the mid to late 1960s thelingua franca of Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonians switched from Trinidadian Hindustani to a sort ofHindinized version of English. Today Hindustani survives on throughIndo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian musical forms such as,Bhajan, Indian classical music, Indian folk music,Filmi,Pichakaree,Chutney,Chutney soca, andChutney parang. As of 2003, there are about 15,633 Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonians who speak Trinidadian Hindustani and as of 2011, there are about 10,000 who speak Standard Hindi. Many Indo-Trinidadians and Tobagonians today speak a type ofHinglish that consists of Trinidadian and Tobagonian English that is heavily laced with Trinidadian Hindustani vocabulary and phrases and many Indo-Trinidadians and Tobagonians can recite phrases or prayers in Hindustani today. There are many places in Trinidad and Tobago that have names of Hindustani origin. Some phrases and vocabulary have even made their way into the mainstream English and English Creole dialect of the country.^{[27][28][29][30][24][31]}World Hindi Day is celebrated each year on 10 January with events organized by the National Council of Indian Culture, Hindi Nidhi Foundation, Indian High Commission, Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Cultural Co-operation, and theSanatan Dharma Maha Sabha.^[32]

In 2014, Spanish was the native language of 4,000^[33] (0.3% of the total population) people in Trinidad and Tobago, being mostly made up of Venezuelan immigrants. Due to Trinidad and Tobago's proximity to Venezuela, current government regulations require that Spanish be taught in secondary education. Spanish is estimated to be spoken by around 5% of the population^[34] and has been promoted by recent governments as a "first foreign language" since March 2005 due to the country's proximity to Venezuela.^[35][36]

The Tamil language is spoken by some of the olderTamilIndo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian population. It is mostly spoken by the few remaining children of indentured Indian laborers from the present-day state ofTamil Nadu inIndia. Other speakers of the language are recent immigrants from Tamil Nadu.^[37]

TheChinese language first came to Trinidad and Tobago in 1806, when the British had brought Chinese laborers in order to determine if they were fit to use as laborers after the abolition of slavery. About 2,645 Chinese immigrants arrived in Trinidad as indentured labour between 1853 and 1866. A majority of the people who immigrated in the 19th century were fromsouthern China and spoke theHakka andYue dialects of Chinese. In the 20th century after the years of indentureship up to the present-day more Chinese people have immigrated to Trinidad and Tobago for business and they speak the dialects of the indenturees along with other Chinese dialects, such asMandarin andMin.^[38]

The indigenous languages wereYao on Trinidad andKarina on Tobago, both Cariban, andShebaya on Trinidad, which was Arawakan.^[38] These languages have been extinct for over a century, but there are attempts to revive the Carib language by theSanta Rosa First Peoples Community.^[39][40]

• Official website – Central Statistical Office of Trinidad and Tobago
• Trinidad and Tobago profile – Caribbean Community Statistics

• Demographics of Trinidad and Tobago
• Society of Trinidad and Tobago

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