Census reveals ageing population

The median age is up to 41, compared to the 2000 figure of 37, while the number of seniors grew from 6,722 in 2000 to 8,678 last year – an 11 per cent increase.

But population growth is nearly stagnant with a rise of just 3 per cent since 2000, from 62,059 to 64,186. The number of children aged under five years old stuck at 6 per cent of the population.

The number of people of working age – 16 years or older – either in the workforce or job hunting was up 5 per cent to 39,727 workers.

The labour force participation rate, however, dropped by 1 per cent from 84 per cent, and 2,581 people were listed as unemployed in 2010, a 6 per cent unemployment rate.

Speaking as she unveiled statistics from the 2010 census, Premier Paula Cox said: “This isn’t surprising and its reflective of the unemployment levels that we experienced just prior to the commitment of the census undertaking.”

The survey collected information from 27,000 households across Bermuda in 2010, with a 92 per cent completion rate.

Ms Cox said: “From the data, it is evident that Bermuda’s population is growing at a very slow rate than that experienced in the past, but definitely in alignment with our expectations, considering we do have a declining birth rate and a below-replacement fertility level.”

She added: “Bermudians will be aware that the Government has implemented a number of initiatives to increase employment opportunities for our people.

“One of the major items to increase opportunities is the continued effort to develop our workforce by retraining Bermudians.

“The number of jobs in our economy still exceeds the number of Bermudians in our workforce and certainly we have continue to be committed to ensuring that Bermudians become qualified to fill these additional jobs.”

Ms Cox said: “The Government is also committed to providing for our seniors as we recognise the steady growth of our elderly population.

“Just this year, the Ministry of Health held a conference on ageing and that was to help us continue to draft and develop a national strategic plan to help our seniors.”

The survey also showed that women continue to outnumber men, with 30,833 males compared to 33,353 females.