The Turks and Caicos Islands is a British Overseas Territory located southeast of the Bahamas. An archipelago of approximately 40 islands and cays distributed in two groups (Turks Islands and Caicos Islands), it has a combined land area of 417 km2.
In 2000 the total population of Turks and Caicos Islands was 18 744 inhabitants; by 2023 this figure had risen to 46 062, representing a 145.7% increase. Regarding the country’s demographic profile, in 2023 people over 65 years of age accounted for 10.5% of the total population, an increase of 6.5 percentage points compared to the year 2000. In 2023, there were 98.8 women per 100 men and 63.3 older people (65 years or older) per 100 children under 15 years of age, as can be seen in the country’s population pyramids, distributed by age group and sex (Figure 1). Considering the population between 15 and 64 years of age to be potentially active (i.e., potential participants in the labor force), this group represented 72.8% of the total population of the country in 2023 (33 544 people). When we add these figures to the potentially passive population (7 666 under 15 years of age and 4 852 over 65 years of age), the result is a dependency ratio of 37.3 potentially passive people per 100 potentially active people. This ratio was 46.4 in 2000.
Life expectancy at birth in 2023 was 76.1 years, lower than the average for the Region of the Americas and 2.5 years higher that in 2000.