Which are the Best Caribbean Countries?

http://www.humantruth.info/caribbean.html

By Vexen Crabtree 2013

Social & Moral Development Index₁
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank₁
1	Barbados	70.3
2	Trinidad & Tobago	77.9
3	Cuba	78.3
4	Jamaica	81.9
5	Grenada	83.2
6	Dominican Rep.	87.0
7	Antigua & Barbuda	88.0
8	St Vincent & Grenadines	89.5
9	Bahamas	90.8
10	St Kitts & Nevis	91.2
	...
11	St Lucia	92.9
12	Dominica	93.2
13	Haiti	116.3
	The Caribbean Avg	87.7
	World Avg	86.8
q=13.

A popular tourist and recreation destination, much of the public face of the Caribbean is scenic and centered on tourism, despite setbacks caused by occassional destructive weather events. Social problems arise from much of the Caribbean being part of established narcotics trade routes between South America and the USA.

There are 30 locations that fall within this category. By adding up all the known populations that fall within these locations, and summing their physical land areas, we can calculate population densities. Some islands and territories can end up being counted twice depending on how they are classified and divided up politically, but, mostly such errors involve only small populations. So, some data on this collection of countries in total:

Population: 38.7m
Land Area: 222 100km²
Independent States: 13
Other Territories: 17
Compare to other regions of the world

1. Summary Data

#economics #human_development #population #wealth

Pos.		Population (2018) Population₂	Social & Moral Lower is better Avg Rank₁	Gross National Income (2021) Higher is better PPP $₃	UN HDI (2021) Higher is better Value₃	Land Area (2011) km²₄	People Per km² Lower is better
1	Antigua & Barbuda	96 286	88.0	$16 792	0.788	440	219
2	Bahamas	0.4m	90.8	$30 486	0.812	10 010	39
3	Barbados	0.3m	70.3	$12 306	0.790	430	667
4	Cuba	11.3m	78.3	$7 879	0.764	106 440	107
5	Dominica	71 625	93.2	$11 488	0.720	750	96
6	Dominican Rep.	10.6m	87.0	$17 990	0.767	48 320	220
7	Grenada	0.1m	83.2	$13 484	0.795	340	328
8	Haiti	11.1m	116.3	$2 848	0.535	27 560	404
9	Jamaica	2.9m	81.9	$8 834	0.709	10 830	271
10	St Kitts & Nevis	52 441	91.2	$23 358	0.777	260	202
11	St Lucia	0.2m	92.9	$12 048	0.715	610	298
12	St Vincent & Grenadines	0.1m	89.5	$11 961	0.751	390	283
13	Trinidad & Tobago	1.4m	77.9	$23 392	0.810	5 130	271
14	Cayman Islands					240
15	Turks & Caicos Islands					950
16	Puerto Rico					8 870
17	US Virgin Islands					350
18	Aruba					180
	The Caribbean Avg	3.0m	87.7	$14 836	0.75	12 339	241
	World Avg	39.0m	86.8	$20 136	0.72	620 450	63
q=18. No data: 12₅

Not showing due to lack of data: St Barthelemy.

This page only shows places where the database has enough data to be able to come to reasonable conclusions about each place. The main focus is on nation states, but, some distinct external territories may be listed if the database has enough information about them. Averages are calculated from as many valid data points as possible, meaning, that some territories and locations that are not listed above may still be used to calculate some of the average values. Some calculations only use Independent State data - hover the cursor over values to see hints.

Links:

2. Social and Moral Development

#climate_change #education #equality #gender_equality #health #human_development #human_rights #modernity #morals #politics #prejudice #technology #the_environment #the_internet #tolerance

Here are each country's overall scores across the categories that make up the Social and Moral Development Index. This is followed by lists of how each country scores in each individual data set.

Pos.		Social & Moral Lower is better Avg Rank₁	Modernity & Learning (2020) Lower is better Avg Rank₆	Health (2020) Lower is better Avg Rank₇	Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance (2020) Lower is better Avg Rank₈	Responsibility Towards The Environment (2023) Lower is better Avg Rank₉
1	Barbados	70.3	54.2	85.1	85.0	97.0
2	Trinidad & Tobago	77.9	69.1	86.6	81.4	73.5
3	Cuba	78.3	80.3	82.4	97.4	64.7
4	Jamaica	81.9	97.8	106.6	64.4	99.7
5	Grenada	83.2	68.5	86.6	128.2	111.3
6	Dominican Rep.	87.0	83.4	109.4	83.1	81.0
7	Antigua & Barbuda	88.0	84.0	75.6	105.0	78.7
8	St Vincent & Grenadines	89.5	90.3	96.8	89.2	121.0
9	Bahamas	90.8	80.0	92.3	105.0	93.0
10	St Kitts & Nevis	91.2	56.7	91.8	123.0	86.5
11	St Lucia	92.9	97.8	88.9	116.0	86.3
12	Dominica	93.2	83.8	98.0	105.2	91.7
13	Haiti	116.3	153.8	111.4	86.4	131.0
	The Caribbean Avg	87.7	82.2	93.2	97.6	93.5
	World Avg	86.8	83.2	93.5	87.9	85.7
q=13.

The Social and Moral Development Index concentrates on moral issues and human rights, violence, public health, equality, tolerance, freedom and effectiveness in climate change mitigation and environmentalism, and on some technological issues. A country scores higher for achieving well in those areas, and for sustaining that achievement in the long term. Those countries towards the top of this index can truly said to be setting good examples and leading humankind onwards into a bright, humane, and free future. See: Which are the Best Countries in the World? The Social and Moral Development Index.

For more, see:

"What is the Best Country in the World? An Index of Morality, Conscience and Good Life" by Vexen Crabtree (2020).

3. Demographics and Migration

#birth_control #demographics #emigration #health #immigration #life_expectancy #longevity #migration #overpopulation #population #the_caribbean

Population:

Pos.		Population (2018) Population₂	Life Expectancy (2021) Higher is better Years₃	Fertility Rate (2013) 2.0 is best₁₀	Old-Age Dependency Ratio (2016) Lower is better Per 100₁₁
1	Antigua & Barbuda	96 286	78.5		19.0
2	Bahamas	0.4m	71.6	1.88	22.4
3	Barbados	0.3m	77.6	1.57	35.6
4	Cuba	11.3m	73.7	1.45	36.2
5	Dominica	71 625	72.8
6	Dominican Rep.	10.6m	72.6	2.51	15.6
7	Grenada	0.1m	74.9	2.18	16.2
8	Haiti	11.1m	63.2	3.19	09.6
9	Jamaica	2.9m	70.5	2.28	21.0
10	St Kitts & Nevis	52 441	71.7
11	St Lucia	0.2m	71.1	1.93	19.9
12	St Vincent & Grenadines	0.1m	69.6	2.01	19.7
13	Trinidad & Tobago	1.4m	73.0	1.63	21.9
	The Caribbean Avg	3.0m	72.37	2.06	21.6
	World Avg	39.0m	71.28	2.81	18.3
q=13. No data: 17₁₂

Migration:

The countries in The Caribbean with the highest percent of immigrants in their populations are Antigua & Barbuda (28.1%), Bahamas (15.6%) and St Kitts & Nevis (13.7%), although the average for The Caribbean is 8%. When it comes to emigration the highest rates are Dominica (104.8%), Grenada (65.5%) and St Kitts & Nevis (61.1%), with an average regional rate of 37%.

For full commentary and data, see:

Which Caribbean Country Has the Most Immigrants Or Emigrants?

4. National Culture

#charity #corruption #happiness #morals #politics

Pos.		World Giving Index (2022) Higher is better %₁₃	Corruption (2022) Higher is better Points₁₄	Happiness (2018) Higher is better Score₁₅	Creativity & Culture (2017) Lower is better Rank₁₆	Open Trading, Aid & Development (2017) Lower is better Rank₁₆
1	Antigua & Barbuda				74	139
2	Bahamas		64.0		52	127
3	Barbados		65.0		18	32
4	Cuba		45.0
5	Dominica		55.0		73	104
6	Dominican Rep.	44.0	32.0	5.3	125	76
7	Grenada		52.0		50	155
8	Haiti		17.0	3.6	92	53
9	Jamaica	46.0	44.0	5.9	86	146
10	St Lucia		55.0		24	125
11	St Vincent & Grenadines		60.0		43	144
12	Trinidad & Tobago		42.0	6.2	71	28
	The Caribbean Avg	45.0	48.27	5.24	64.4	102.6
	World Avg	39.6	42.98	5.38	82.0	82.0
q=12. No data: 18₁₇

5. Peace Versus Instability

#extremism #human_development #peace #politics #religious_violence #terrorism

Pos.		Global Peace Index (2023) Lower is better Score₁₈	Peacekeeping & Security (2017) Lower is better Rank₁₆	Refugees & UN Treaties (2017) Lower is better Rank₁₆	Impact of Terrorism (2019) Lower is better Score₁₉
1	Antigua & Barbuda		103	131
2	Bahamas		94	148
3	Barbados		126	103
4	Cuba	2.10
5	Dominica		137	116
6	Dominican Rep.	2.02	129	51	0.18
7	Grenada		62	152
8	Haiti	2.40	144	140	2.18
9	Jamaica	1.99	74	86	0.47
10	St Lucia		139	157
11	St Vincent & Grenadines		142	134
12	Trinidad & Tobago	1.95	116	136	0.02
	The Caribbean Avg	2.09	115.1	123.1	0.71
	World Avg	2.07	82.0	82.0	2.78
q=12. No data: 18₁₇

6. Economic Inequality and Poverty

#capitalism #economics #health #inequality #life_expectancy #poverty #social_development

Pos.		Inequality in Life Expectancy (2019) Lower is better₂₀	Income Inequality (Gini Coefficient) (2017) Lower is better %₂₁	Multidimensional Poverty (2018) Lower is better Severity₂₂
1	Bahamas	6.80
2	Barbados	8.70		.009
3	Cuba	5.10
4	Dominican Rep.	17.00	45.7	.015
5	Grenada	11.20
6	Haiti	32.20	41.1	.200
7	Jamaica	10.00		.018
8	St Lucia	10.60	51.2	.007
9	St Vincent & Grenadines	11.30
10	Trinidad & Tobago	14.90		.002
	The Caribbean Avg	12.78	46.0	.042
	World Avg	14.59	38.1	.154
q=10. No data: 20₂₃

7. Modernity and Learning

#education #english #intelligence #it_security #maths #politics #religion #religiosity #research #science #secularisation #the_internet

Modernity and Education:

Pos.		Research & Development (2016) Higher is better % RDP PPP	Secondary Education (2018) Higher is better₂₄	Length of Schooling (2021) Higher is better Years₂₅	Intellectual Endeavours (2017) Lower is better Rank₁₆	Maths, Science & Reading (2015) Higher is better Score₂₆	Religiosity (2018) Lower is better %₂₇	IQ (2006) Higher is better₂₈
1	Antigua & Barbuda			14.2	91
2	Bahamas		88.4%	12.9	114
3	Barbados		92.9%	15.7	35
4	Cuba	0.47₂₉	87.4%	14.4				85
5	Dominica			13.3	51
6	Dominican Rep.		56.6%	14.5	122	1018	78	82
7	Grenada			18.7	22
8	Haiti		33.2%	9.7	132			67
9	Jamaica		66.3%	13.4	77			71
10	St Kitts & Nevis			15.4
11	St Lucia		46.0%	12.9	54
12	St Vincent & Grenadines			14.7	97
13	Trinidad & Tobago	0.05₃₀	73.4%	14.5	93	1269		85
14	Puerto Rico	0.44₂₉					77
	The Caribbean Avg	0.32	68.0%	14.2	80.7	1144	77.5	78.0
	World Avg	0.84	63.0%	13.5	82.0	1389	54.3	85.6
q=14. No data: 16₃₁

Technology and Information:

Pos.		Internet Users (2016) Higher is better₃₂	Internet Freedom (2012) Lower is better₃₃	IT Security (2013) Lower is better₃₄	IPv6 Uptake (2017) Higher is better Ratio₃₅
1	Antigua & Barbuda	65%			0.0
2	Bahamas	85%			0.0
3	Barbados	80%			0.0
4	Cuba	32%	86		0.0
5	Dominica	66%			0.0
6	Dominican Rep.	52%			1.1
7	Grenada	39%			0.0
8	Haiti	12%
9	Jamaica	43%			0.0
10	St Kitts & Nevis	66%			0.6
11	St Lucia	59%			0.0
12	St Vincent & Grenadines	60%			0.0
13	Trinidad & Tobago	69%			14.5
14	British Virgin Islands			1.08
15	Cayman Islands	74%			0.0
16	Puerto Rico	83%			0.2
17	US Virgin Islands	54%			0.0
18	Aruba	88%			0.0
	The Caribbean Avg	60.4%	86.0	1.08	1.03
	World Avg	48.1%	46.7	0.98	3.82
q=18. No data: 12₃₆

8. Health

#alcohol #birth_control #demographics #health #life_expectancy #longevity #mental_health #obesity #overpopulation #parenting #population #smoking #suicide #vaccines

The countries with the best overall approach to public health, in terms of both public policy and individual lifestyle choices, are Monaco, Hong Kong and The Maldives₃₇. These countries are worth emulating. And, although often through no fault of the average citizen, the worst countries are The Marshall Islands, S. Sudan and Palau₃₇.

The data sets used to calculate points for each country are its average life expectancy, its alcohol consumption rate, its fertility rate, its smoking rate, its suicide rate, its food aid and health contributions and WHO compliance, the prevalence of overweight adults, its adolescent birth rate and its immunizations take-up. The regions with the best average results per country are Scandinavia, Asia and The Mediterranean₃₇, whereas the worst are Micronesia, Australasia and Africa₃₇.

For more, see:

"Countries With the Healthiest Cultures and Health Policies" by Vexen Crabtree (2020).

Health:

Pos.		Life Expectancy (2021) Higher is better Years₃	Alcohol Consumption (2016) Lower is better Per Capita₃₈	Fertility Rate (2013) 2.0 is best₁₀	Smoking Rates (2014) Lower is better₃₉	Suicide Rate (2013) Per 100k₄₀	Food Aid, Health Contributions & WHO Compliance (2017) Lower is better Rank₁₆	Overweight Adults (2016) Lower is better %₄₁
1	Antigua & Barbuda	78.5	7.0		362		124	48.0
2	Bahamas	71.6	4.4	1.88	301	2.5	155	64.4
3	Barbados	77.6	9.6	1.57	333	7.3	103	52.4
4	Cuba	73.7	6.1	1.45	1 392	24.5		58.5
5	Dominica	72.8	8.2				111	60.3
6	Dominican Rep.	72.6	6.9	2.51	245	4.6	81	61.2
7	Grenada	74.9	9.3	2.18	224	0	133	51.4
8	Haiti	63.2	5.8	3.19	114	0	115	54.9
9	Jamaica	70.5	4.2	2.28	593		147	55.5
10	St Kitts & Nevis	71.7	9.4					52.3
11	St Lucia	71.1	9.9	1.93	232	4.9	151	48.1
12	St Vincent & Grenadines	69.6	8.2	2.01	338	7.3	162	55.0
13	Trinidad & Tobago	73.0	8.4	1.63	97	21.7	152	46.0
	The Caribbean Avg	72.37	7.5	2.06	385	8.09	130.4	54.5
	World Avg	71.28	6.2	2.81	819	20.93	82.0	49.0
q=13. No data: 17₁₂

Children's Health:

Pos.		Adolescent Birth Rate (2015) Lower is better Per 1000₄₂	Infant Immunizations 2011-2015 (2015) Higher is better Avg %₄₃
1	Antigua & Barbuda	44.8	98.0
2	Bahamas	29.6	96.2
3	Barbados	40.7	92.1
4	Cuba	45.6	97.9
5	Dominica		97.1
6	Dominican Rep.	97.9	86.3
7	Grenada	30.5	95.2
8	Haiti	39.3	65.7
9	Jamaica	59.7	90.9
10	St Kitts & Nevis		96.3
11	St Lucia	53.9	98.2
12	St Vincent & Grenadines	51.0	97.2
13	Trinidad & Tobago	31.5	91.4
	The Caribbean Avg	47.7	92.5
	World Avg	47.9	88.3
q=13. No data: 17₁₂

9. Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance

#equality #gender_equality #human_rights #morals #politics #prejudice #The_Caribbean #tolerance

Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance (2020)₈
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank₈
1	Jamaica	64.4
2	Trinidad & Tobago	81.4
3	Dominican Rep.	83.1
4	Barbados	85.0
5	Haiti	86.4
6	St Vincent & Grenadines	89.2
7	Cuba	97.4
8=	Bahamas	105.0
8=	Antigua & Barbuda	105.0
10	Dominica	105.2
	...
11	St Lucia	116.0
12=	St Kitts & Nevis	123.0
13	Grenada	128.2
	The Caribbean Avg	97.6
	World Avg	87.9
q=13.

The best countries in The Caribbean at protecting human rights, engendering tolerance and supporting equality, are Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Dominican Rep. but the bloc as a whole does poorly compared to the global average. The worst countries are Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis and St Lucia.

For full commentary and data, see:

Human Rights, Tolerance and Equality in The Caribbean

10. Responsibility Towards The Environment

#biodiversity #climate_change #deforestation #energy #food #meat #over-exploitation #sustainability #the_environment #veganism #vegetarianism

Pos.		Forest Area Change 1990-2015 (2015) Higher is better %₄₄	Environmental Performance (2018) Higher is better₄₅	Energy to GDP Efficiency (2014) Higher is better₄₆	CBD Earlier is better Signed	Rational Beliefs on the Environment (2011) Higher is better %₄₇	Meat Consumption (2021) Lower is better kg₄₈	Green Future Index (2023) Higher is better Score₄₉
1	Antigua & Barbuda	-04.9	59.2		1993 Dec 29		85.8
2	Bahamas	00.0	55.0		1993 Dec 29		111.9
3	Barbados	00.0	55.8		1994 Mar 10		86.4
4	Cuba	+56.9	63.4		1994 Jun 06		49.6
5	Dominica	-13.3	59.4		1994 Jul 05		81.6
6	Dominican Rep.	+79.5	64.7	16.95	1997 Feb 23	50.2%	53.5	4.0
7	Grenada	00.0	50.9		1994 Nov 09		78.6
8	Haiti	-16.4	33.7		1996 Dec 24	10.0%	21.6
9	Jamaica	-02.7	58.6	08.06	1995 Apr 06		63.4
10	St Kitts & Nevis	00.0			1993 Dec 29		96.6
11	St Lucia	-06.9	56.2		1993 Dec 29		89.6
12	St Vincent & Grenadines	+08.0	66.5		1996 Sep 01		109.5
13	Trinidad & Tobago	-02.6	67.4	02.07	1996 Oct 30	74.5%	58.5
	The Caribbean Avg	+07.5	57.6	09.03	1899 Dec 30	44.9%	75.9	4.0
	World Avg	+02.8	56.4	09.29	1899 Dec 30	39.9%	52.5	4.8
q=13. No data: 17₁₂

11. Religion and Beliefs

#belief #buddhism #christianity #folk_religion #god #hinduism #human_development #islam #judaism #no_religion #religion #religiosity #secularisation

Pos.		Religiosity (2018) Lower is better %₂₇	Disbelief In God (2007) Higher is better %₅₀	Jews (2010) %₅₁	Christians (2010) %₅₁	Muslims (2010) %₅₁	Hindus (2010) %₅₁	Buddhists (2010) %₅₁	Folk Religion (2010) %₅₁	Unaffiliated (2010) %₅₁
1	Antigua & Barbuda			0.1	93.0	0.6	0.2	0.1	3.6	1.7
2	Bahamas			0.1	96.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.3	3.1
3	Barbados			0.1	95.2	1.0	0.4	0.1	0.1	1.9
4	Cuba		40	0.1	59.2	0.1	0.2	0.1	17.4	23.0
5	Dominica			0.1	94.4	0.1	0.1	0.1	3.0	0.5
6	Dominican Rep.	78	7	0.1	88.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.9	10.9
7	Grenada			0.1	96.6	0.3	0.7	0.1	1.3	1.0
8	Haiti		0	0.1	86.9	0.1	0.1	0.1	2.2	10.6
9	Jamaica		3	0.1	77.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	4.5	17.2
10	St Kitts & Nevis			0.1	94.6	0.3	1.5	0.1	1.3	1.6
11	St Lucia			0.1	91.1	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.5	6.0
12	St Vincent & Grenadines			0.1	88.7	1.5	3.4	0.1	2.0	2.5
13	Trinidad & Tobago		9	0.1	65.9	5.9	22.7	0.3	1.9	1.9
14	Anguilla			0.1	90.6	0.3	0.4	0.1	2.9	4.0
15	British Virgin Islands			0.1	84.5	1.2	1.2	0.1	8.4	3.9
16	Cayman Islands			0.8	83.5	0.4	0.9	0.1	4.5	9.4
17	Montserrat			0.1	93.5	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	4.8
18	Turks & Caicos Islands			0.1	92.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	2.7	4.6
19	Puerto Rico	77		0.1	96.7	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.8	1.9
20	US Virgin Islands			0.3	94.8	0.1	0.4	0.1	0.1	3.7
21	Guadeloupe			0.1	95.9	0.4	0.5	0.1	0.4	2.5
22	Martinique			0.1	96.5	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.2	2.3
23	Aruba			0.4	91.9	0.2	0.1	0.1	1.3	6.0
24	Netherlands Antilles			0.3	93.9	0.2	0.2	0.5	1.2	3.3
	The Caribbean Avg	77.5	11.8	0.2	89.2	0.6	1.4	0.1	2.6	5.3
	World Avg	54.3	9.9	0.5	60.6	22.4	2.0	3.5	2.7	7.9
q=24. No data: 6₅₂

Links: