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.