Guyanese diaspora is same as indigenous

Guyanese living abroad are the same numbers as those actually living in Guyana.

This is according to an analysis of the Guyanese diaspora done by the Washington based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

The analysis found that Guyana’s emigration rate is one of the highest in the world, numbering about 30,000 annually, a sizable portion for a country with a total population of 780,000.

A report on the analysis published recently explains that since the 1960s, the Guyanese emigrant population has increased due to difficult economic conditions, a tense social and political environment, a weak educational system, high levels of insecurity, and an inefficient healthcare system.

Simultaneously, favourable immigration laws first in the United Kingdom, and later in Canada and the United States, and better job and education opportunities abroad have helped to motivate high levels of emigration among Guyanese.

As the number of Guyanese living abroad has increased since the 1960s, the pull factor represented by a growing number of diaspora family members has only helped to keep the emigration flow steady, the report added.

The first-generation immigrant Guyanese diaspora today is estimated to be approximately 550,000 worldwide, not including their descendants.

The Guyanese diaspora immigrants in 2019 were: North America, accounting for 80 percent of Guyanese immigrants worldwide; the Caribbean and Latin America (12.4), the majority of whom reside in the Caribbean; and Northern Europe and the United Kingdom (5.9 percent) – around 30,000.