Dear Editor,
In 1992, the GDP per capita of Guyana was US$380, Barbados was US$6500 (or 17 times that of Guyana) and Trinidad was US$3363 (or 8.85 times that of Guyana).
In 2007, the GDP per capita of Guyana was US$1077, Barbados was US$11278 (or, 10.47 times that of Guyana) and of Trinidad was US$14064 (or 13.06 times that of Guyana).
The population growth rate for the period 1992 to 2007 for Guyana was 2%, of Barbados was 10% and for Trinidad was -17% (Trinidad population suffered a reduction of 17%).
As can be seen Guyana has closed the gap with Barbados as the GDP per capita has moved from 17 times to 10.47 times.
The gap with Trinidad has increased from 8.85 times to 13.06 times.
However, this figure is skewed as Trinidad suffered a 17% drop in its population which resulted in an increased GDP per capita. When a rationalization is done it can be shown that had the Trinidad population not been reduced by 17% in the period 1992 to 2007 the gap between Guyana ‘s GDP per capita and Trinidad’s GDP per capita was 10.8.
The interesting thing to note is that although it is claimed in Guyana that there is a “brain drain” this “brain drain” is not significantly different from the Region and less than that suffered by Trinidad.
The question needs to be asked why does Trinidad (having a bigger economy than Guyana and higher salaries) suffer such a dramatic reduction in population from 1,285,000 to 1,065,000 for the period 1992 to 2007.
It would seem that as Trinidad’s wealth rises the more people migrate. This is obviously of significant concern to Guyanese as the same might happen to Guyana should its wealth becomes comparable to that of Trinidad.
Yours faithfully,
Sean Brignandan
