Guyana Poverty Facts
- The poverty rate, the share of the population living below the U.S. equivalent of $5.5 a day, is about 38.8 percent, among the highest in the Caribbean and Latin America, according to the United Nations Development Programme.
- At 74 births per 1,000 among girls 15 to 19 years old, Guyana has the highest rate of adolescent pregnancy in the English-speaking Caribbean, a rate well above that of the countries of the Latin America and the Caribbean region, which itself has the second-highest rates globally. The rate is especially high among indigenous girls as well as among girls from lower wealth and educational backgrounds, according to the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation.
- Unemployment is 12.4 percent, according to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
- GDP per capita is $18,353.
- Guyana experiences high emigration and brain drain, with 39% of all Guyanese citizens currently residing abroad and roughly half of all Guyanese with a tertiary education having emigrated to the United States, according to The World Bank.
Help for Guyana
Food For The Poor (FFTP) began working in Guyana in 1991, delivering food and other basic items. Since then, the Florida-based nonprofit has expanded its services to meet the growing needs of the country’s impoverished residents. FFTP-Guyana is now the leading organization in the South American country providing aid from its distribution center in Georgetown.
*Tap each icon to learn more
Our Impact in Guyana
[timeline-events category=”guyana”]
Other Ways to Give
