Volume No. 2 Issue No. 8 - Monday July 23, 2007
Look Out the Population is Falling
 By Thomson Fontaine
 Dominica�s population continues to fall as thousands chose to migrate to supposedly greener pastures. The continuing fall in the population poses a serious challenge to the economic viability of the country and should serve as a wake-up call to policymakers.
Following the 2001 census, Dominica ranked 183 out of the 193 countries in the world in terms of population size. Based on current trends, the population could reach just over 55 000 by the year 2025. In 1970, with Dominica�s population at 77, 690, there were 21, 320 students enrolled in primary schools. Today with the population at 71 073 the number has dropped to 8 031.
Failure to act now in attracting Dominicans back to its shores could clearly spell economic disaster for the country. In the past, remittances have played a crucial role in helping keep the economy afloat; but as more families migrate, there is less of a need to send money back to Dominica. Overtime, this could very well dry up as family ties to the country are completely severed.
Dominica has quite a history of migration. As early as the nineteenth century, Dominicans left the country in search of employment opportunities, but it was only after the Second World War that the pace of migration truly quickened.
Three distinct migratory periods have since been identified: 1959 - 1962 where
the majority of the migrants went to the United Kingdom and the United States Virgin
Islands; 1981 � 1993 featuring the migration of entire families to the United States, Canada, and the French Caribbean territories; and 1996 � to the present where the majority of those emigrating are going to the United States.
Migrating out of Dominica is relatively easy. Between 1983 -1992 when an estimated 25
percent of Dominica�s mean population migrated, approximately 8 percent of the population was granted immigrant United States visas and another 35 percent were issued with non-immigrant visas. Since 1993, the pace of granting visas have quickened and more people continues to migrate.
The vast majority of the young and those issued with student visas do not return to Dominica. The result has been a falling natural rate of increase in the population as those of child-bearing age are particularly affected. and thus the dramatic effect on primary school enrollment.
The challenge for policymakers is how to encourage those who have migrated to return to the island to contribute to its development. In my view, the focus has to be on the young, particularly those with marketable skills and retirees.
In order for the young to return, there must be opportunities for employment. As such, there should be a deliberate attempt to provide the kind of jobs that would entice highly skilled individuals to return to their country of birth.
With regards to the retirees, efforts at promoting Dominica as a wellness haven with very low crime, a robust health system and year-round good weather should offer retirees an exceptionally good option.
High profile coverage of a 127 year-old Ma Pampo and Dominica having the highest number of centenarians per thousand of the population are good indicators to what the country has to offer.
Time is running out for policymakers to seriously tackle the problem of out migration. The desire for Dominicans to migrate is as old as the country, and as such the focus must be on enticing those who have gone to return.
Read more on Dominica's migration
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