Population grew by 900 in 2023 as immigration continues to rise

The information has come from the Guernsey Quarterly Population, Employment and Earnings Bulletin, which was published by the States yesterday.

The 1.4% increase in population was much higher than the previous three years, which saw growth of 0.6%, 0.7% and 0.6% respectively.

There were more deaths than births, with a natural decrease of 154 people.

But immigration rates were about a third higher than emigration rates, leading to a net migration of 1,064 people during 2023, taking the population to 64,781.

Within those figures, there was an annual increase of 2.2% – 890 people – of working age people aged 16 to 65.

There was also a small rise in the number of people aged up 15 years old, with a 0.5% rise or 51 people.

The number of people of pension age up to 84 decreased by 0.3% – which equates to 36 people.

However, there was a big percentage increase in the number of people aged 85 and over, with the number going up by 5.8%, or 107 people.

Looking at employment, there were 32,067 employed or self-employed people in June 2024 – 0.9% more than at the end of June 2023.

There has been a small 0.4% drop in the number of employers, down to 2,217.

There have been some high profile casualties in the construction sector in recent years, but it still makes up nearly 9% of the workforce, with 2,974 people.

This compares with 2,943 last year and 2,742 in 2019. It is also the largest self-employed sector, with more than 850 people self-employed.

Looking at earnings, these had risen in nominal terms by more than 5% in the last year to £42,672.

However, with inflation running high, this was a 0.7% drop in real terms. The average annual wage compares to £33,622 five years ago.

There is still a sharp divide on terms on pay by gender, with more male earners in every category above £30,000, yet women outstripped men in every earning bracket below £30,000.

The best-paid sector is financial services, with median annualised earnings of £57,394 – 34.5% higher than the overall median.

This compares to £47,899 for those in public administration.