Poverty and Statistics in Trinidad and Tobago: An Introduction

Abstract

Early in 2005, national media attention in Trinidad and Tobago was drawn to the UNDP statistics on poverty presented in the Human Development Report 2004 (HDR 2004). According to that report, approximately 12% of the population of Trinidad and Tobago was living on less than US$1 a day and 39% on less then US$2 a day (HDR 2004:147). These figures were particularly disconcerting given Trinidad and Tobago's current economic position. Since the beginning of this decade, Trinidad and Tobago has been experiencing a kind of economic boom, largely due to its position as a producer of petroleum and increasingly natural gas for the world market.